Smuggling in Style: The Surprising Link Between Drug Lords and Frequent Flyer Miles

by Gary Leff

first class seats
Jan 14 2024

If you’re a drug smuggler you’re in a big money business. Checked bag fees shouldn’t be a binding constraint. And buying business class, which comes with more checked bags, is almost always more expensive than paying checked bag fees.

So when drug smugglers and their money launderers are said to be buying business class tickets for the greater checked bag allowance it sounds like the travel management challenges at any big company, where employees are looking for greater comfort and justifying it based on the needs of the business. Drug lords have travel policies, too, and their mules have to try to stay in scope!

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Why It Would Be A Huge Mistake For Delta Flight Attendants To Unionize

by Gary Leff

gary standing next to a flight attendant
Jan 14 2024

Delta Air Lines earned $5.2 billion in 2023 and will pay out $1.4 billion in profit sharing with employees getting about an extra month’s pay.

Delta flight attendants have it better than their peers. They have something real at risk. This isn’t crew at the bottom where a union organizer can point to a better life somewhere else and say ‘we can get you that’. Unionized crew at American and (AFA-represented) United look at what Delta flight attendants have with envy.

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In-Flight Suspicion or Racial Bias? Delta’s Troubling Incident with Palestinian Passengers

by Gary Leff

Jan 14 2024

Four Delta Air Lines passengers were removed from a flight in Minneapolis on January 8 because a flight attendant determined it was suspicious that they were Palestinian Americans. They were taken off of the plane on arrival and questioned for an hour before being released. Two of the passengers missed their connecting flights. Apparently they were guilty of “speaking in Arabic and English and wearing Palestine necklaces.”

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Dad Turns Vigilante On Woman Sabotaging His Daughter’s Seatback Screen With Her Hair – Genius Or Creepy?

by Gary Leff

Jan 13 2024

A woman had her hair draped over her seat back, so that it covered the entertainment screen behind her. The man’s daughter, seated behind her, couldn’t watch her inflight TV. The dad got creepy on board the flight home from Mexico to put the female passenger in her place, and I’m trying to decide whether it was a genius move or crossed a line.

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8 Million Views For A Reason: The United Airlines Flight That Restored Our Faith in Humanity

by Gary Leff

Jan 13 2024

A young family with their 5-month-old baby, Romey, encountered a heartwarming surprise. Kelly Levine, Romey’s mother, was apprehensive about traveling with a baby, fearing her daughter’s fussiness might disturb other passengers. It was the baby’s second flight. The first had happened only the week before, heading from Newark to Cabo. Now they were headed home.

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