American Airlines upgrades on Qantas are now live. It’s managed by PlusGrade, the company that sells ‘bidding for upgrade’ programs to airlines. And it’s a “cash or miles” upgrade option. Basically you have the ability to upgrade on Qantas, as a Qantas member might, but pay using AAdvantage miles. And this is the oneworld upgrade program.
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A baby was born on a VietJet flight from Taipei to Bangkok. The boy was delivered by one of the pilots, after learning that a passenger had gone into labor in the lavatory. Medical personnel met the aircraft on arrival.
The pilot noted, “He will be able to tell everyone for the rest of his life that he was born in the air,” he said of the newborn baby boy.” The crew gave the baby the nickname “Sky.”
Southwest has a government-granted near monopoly at Dallas Love Field airport. The airline, which fought tooth and nail for the right to be allowed to fly there as an upstart, now uses government to keep out competition.
During the American Airlines Investor Day on Monday afternoon, an analyst asked whether American would be open to re-starting its partnership with JetBlue. When the government sued to break up the deal, the judge in the case argued that it’s carving up who flies where that was an anti-trust violation. The judge’s decision was clear that a partnership along the lines of how American and Alaska Airlines work together in their ‘West Coast Alliance’ would have been legal.
American Airlines held its Investor Day on Monday afternoon. There was a surprising amount about the AAdvantage program in the discussion, in addition to what you’d expect about airline strategy.
We can expect to see some changes in how miles are awarded (more miles), new redemption options, and better redemptions for members with status. And there’s an explicit commitment not just to defend the value of their miles, but to ensure their currency provides greater value per mile than competitor airlines and even banks do.
Quality and safety at Boeing is now a late night comedy skit. They’ve faced years of production and risk issues from the Boeing 787, 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9, and other aircraft. There is a fundamental problem that’s caused even their most loyal airline customers to publicly put them on blast.
A week ago I wrote that American Airlines would announce a big order for new planes on March 4th. Now they have done just that, placing an order for 260 planes: 85 Airbus A321neo, 85 Boeing 737 MAX 10, and 90 Embraer E175 aircraft.
Delta Air Lines has a corporate American Express card with a $1.1 billion credit line. They use it for fuel purchases – they’re one of the biggest buyers of jet fuel in the world. And they own an oil refinery.
The crazy thing is that they have to pay off this card monthly and they still max it out!
It seems clear that JetBlue is better off without the distraction and cost of a Spirit Airlines acquisition. They should work on a new American Airlines alliance similar to American’s deal with Alaska, which the anti-trust judge outlined would be permissible (and American in its earnings call said they’d consider a new partnership).
They need to get their operation under control, rebuild service to Boston, shift away from long haul international growth where they’re bleeding, and walk away from Southern California. Or else, expect Carl Icahn to dismantle the carrier and sell it for parts.
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 »
