Three Black men have filed a federal lawsuit against American Airlines today, alleging racial discrimination after eight Black male passengers were forced off Phoenix – New York JFK flight 832 in January due to a complaint about body odor.
Notably, the men say they did not know each other before the flight and were not seated together. What they had in common was that they were black.
Once the plane takes off, and the middle seat in your row remains empty, does it now belong to you for the rest of the flight? That’s the question that a passenger wanted to know after a recent trip where they were called nasty names for trying to protect the space.
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According to CEO Robert Isom at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference this morning, they’re going to “get back on the road” to sell to corporate customers. The airline has shed sales staff, and also support staff for agencies.
Another element of the shift in strategy to “more carrots than sticks” in getting agencies to adopt New Distribution Capability – selling American ancillaries like paid seats, and at lower cost – is that they will restore the lowest fares to all agencies.
At the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference this morning, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom declared that the carrier’s plan to eliminate mileage-earning from some travel agency tickets is off.
There was a move to enshrine a legal right to opt out of TSA facial recognition in the recent FAA Reauthorization bill. The amendment didn’t make it in – killed by TSA lobbying.
TSA’s current policy is to allow passenger opt out, but wanted this left to their own discretion rather than requiring them to honor it.
Dallas experienced severe storms on Tuesday. That delayed my flights out of Austin, even though our weather wasn’t bad, and the plane I was on arrived early from Boston.
Just a week ago the airline went around on the record saying “Vasu’s not leaving.”
However today American Airlines announced that Raja “will depart the airline in June.” There was no quote from Raja. There was no quote from CEO Robert Isom. Nothing about the tremendous value he’s added to the company. He’s just out.
This lounge is too small for the volume of passengers and it turns an architecturally interesting space with tarmac views into a chaotic mess.
Passengers taking up the space behind them, covering up entertainment screens and tray tables, is sadly more common than you’d think. People just do not pay attention to the way they’re affecting neighboring passengers around them inside a metal tube. We all create a bubble of privacy, pretending like we’re alone. But that only works if we let others pretend they’re alone, too.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
