The President of Belarus flew over Russian airspace – but his plane’s transponder was turned off until he had cleared it. Belarus is a vassal state of Putin’s regime. And Putin is facing a coup led by the boss of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
With Prigozhin’s forces targeting military aircraft, VIP aircraft movements taking steps not to be tracked seems… wise.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Pilot unions will fight against this, and as far as replacing them today there’s probably no one willing to push that button. But the technology will arrive that will make travel safer replacing a human at least as co-pilot, even if full automation is farther off.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
If you’re flying British Airways within Europe, bring wipes and hand sanitizer. British Airways now only allocates 6 minutes between flights for cleaning on European trips, no longer wiping down seats and tray tables, or even cleaning lavatories, between 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and between Noon and 5 p.m.
Christie famously fell asleep at a Bruce Springsteen concert (though he claimed he only put his head back and closed his eyes).
Here he’s flying commercial. And he’s crashed out.
Southwest Airlines, the largest U.S. domestic airline, is raising several fees effective August 15, 2023, the carrier has revealed to employees in a document reviewed by View From The Wing. They will be raising pet and unaccompanied minor fees, as well as fees for additional, oversize, and overweight bags. Third and beyond checked bag goes from $75 to 125. Overweight bags go from $75 for up to 100 pounds to $100 for up to 70 pounds or $125 for up to 100 pounds. Oversized bags go from $75 to $125. Unaccompanied minor fees go from $50 to $100. Pets go from $95 to $125 per carrier, with no change to intra-Hawaii pet fees. Southwest still doesn’t charge for seats (they don’t pre-assign seats), don’t have change fees or basic economy fares that are unchangeable, and…
In April 2022 a federal district judge struck down the Biden administration’s transportation mask mandate. Did you realize that litigation over the mandate, though, was still ongoing?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has issued a ruling dismissing the case as moot.
The FAA is calling out Brian Kelly (‘The Points Guy’) who sold his eponymous website years ago, and no longer manages it, but still represents them in media. He blamed summer 2023 flight delays on FAA staffing, but the FAA points out that weather is a bigger cause of delays.
The FAA also calls out volume of flights and runway capacity as bigger issues with delays than staffing, though this is misleading.
While American Airlines Flagship first class largely means a bigger seat, a soup course, and more stuff in the amenity kit – and little else – departing from Sydney means access to the excellent Qantas First lounge as well.
The day began heading over to the terminal from the Rydges Hotel across the street, checking in with American, and then having breakfast in the Qantas first lounge before our flight.
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 »
