On Thursday night an Atlas Air Boeing 747-8 cargo plane took off from Miami heading towards San Juan. As it climbed through 2,000 feet from runway 9, the plane’s number two engine caught fire. The plane returned to the airport and taxied to the apron under its own power. According to the FAA, “Inspection revealed a softball size hole above #2 engine.”
Four years ago, early in the pandemic, I wrote that business travel would never return to the way that it was in the Before Times. There would still be business trips, but the managed travel consultant class wouldn’t travel like they used to.
Some people thought this was true because of some sort of persistent concern about health. That was the Bill Gates take. But it seemed to me that something fundamental was going on that would last past lockdowns.
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.
Virgin Atlantic is offering 20% off awards booked by January 31 for travel through December 31, 2024.
The problem with the Port Authority of New York New Jersey isn’t corruption, and an inability to build gates a result of the National Environmental Policy Act. New York JFK airport would have more Delta gates except for.. diversity hiring? That’s the theory apparently, according to MAGA personality and podcaster Joey Mannarino that he’s laying out for his half million social media followers.
The internet is gong crazy to discover United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby in drag, trying to link it to his efforts at pilot recruitment from diverse communities.
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.
While United Airlines doesn’t have a formal, published program to support status extensions there are plenty of customer reports that a call or an email has gotten status extended for customers that didn’t re-earn it during 2023. They’re about to see their status drop February 1. If you’re in that boat, you might reach out to MileagePlus, too.
With Global Airlines convincing the co-founder of OnlyFans to invest in an all-Airbus A380 startup airline flying transatlantic, the ‘CEO’ of Avatar Airlines must think the time is ripe to dust off his business plan that hasn’t taken off in 30 years… and that’s sent people to prison along the way.
Points Path is a new browser extension that lets you search for award flights using Google Flights. When you search for paid travel, it also shows you the price of an award. And if helps you compare whether it’s a good use of points or not.
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 »
