I also have

I also have a letter to the editor in the January 2003 Inside Flyer, but this is only available to subscribers (either to the magazine or the website). For the infinitely curious, my letter is about the special inventory of award seats that United sets aside for its top level elite flyers on domestic flights (booking code ‘NY’).

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A Chicago Tribune piece predicts

A Chicago Tribune piece predicts that United’s bankruptcy will help drive down labor costs across the industry and places the blame for the industry’s current woes on a legacy inherited from the days of regulation. Many of the most onerous work-rule provisions date to the 1970s, when airlines had to fill only 55 percent of their seats to earn an 11.5 percent profit that was guaranteed by the Civil Aeronautics Board. As a result, there were few restrictions on the costs that the board allowed to be passed through to customers. I’m a bit undecided about this thesis. On the one hand, little has changed in the way airlines relate to their workforces since the regulated era. Moreover, labor-management relations are still highly regulated by the Railway Labor Act. The federal government has also consistently…

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As you can see, I’m

As you can see, I’m posting again. I was off for the holidays visiting family. I posted the full painstaking details of my travel over at Flyertalk. I gave American Airlines a shot, and their “premium transcon” (cross country) service compared favorably to United. They still offer hot towels They had a choice of pre-meal snacks, and they refilled the snacks They had four wines and champagne (United axed the champagne on their domestic flights). American had 10 inches more legroom on a comparable plane American offered a choice of desserts American still has warm freshly baked cookies prior to landing. On the other hand, my return flights connecting through Dallas weren’t as good, and American uses all plastic utensils (not just plastic knives).

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The Dallas Morning News had

The Dallas Morning News had a piece about a week and a half ago (which I missed at the time) on how airlines are treating their elite level flyers less well these days, how those flyers are looking around for other airlines, and how the policies may backfire on the airlines’ bottom lines.

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A woman tricked

A woman tricked her daughter and community into thinking the girl had cancer so she could raise money, even going so far as to shave the 7-year-old’s head and put her in counseling to prepare to die. She made over $10,000.

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An unreasonable question to ask?

An unreasonable question to ask? On Tuesday, December 24th a passenger was cited (and will have to pay a fine) for asking whether his Delta Connection (Comair) pilot had been drinking. Two days later, on December 26th, a Delta co-pilot was removed from an aircraft after testing positive for alcohol.

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