Robert DeNiro Claims His Assistant Stole 5 Million Delta Miles, Which He Values At 4.3 Cents Apiece

by Gary Leff

Nov 06 2023

Robert DeNiro says his assistant stole 5 million Delta SkyMiles from his account. A lawsuit previously claimed it was 7 million miles, valued at 4.3 cents apiece.

He says his former assistant-turned-Vice President of Production and Finance, who is suing him, misappropriated company funds including using the corporate Amex for personal trips. She says that as his $300,000 a year personal assistant he had unreasonable expectations (like ordering UberEats for him at 11 p.m.) and creepy ones (like scratching his back).

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JetBlue’s Surprising Merger Play: Why Alaska Airlines Was Once the Target

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines
Nov 06 2023

JetBlue’s consideration of a merger with Alaska Airlines before proceeding with Spirit Airlines, as revealed in an anti-trust trial, raises questions about strategic fits and anti-trust issues, given their respective strongholds on the East and West coasts. The complexities of airline mergers, such as fleet commonality and culture integration, along with the current administration’s stance against mergers, make the JetBlue-Spirit deal contentious, despite potential benefits to competition and market growth.

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Wide Open JetBlue Business Class Award Space To Europe, Book With Credit Card Points (7+ Seats!)

by Gary Leff

Nov 06 2023

JetBlue’s award travel has been restricted, offering low value for their points and making transfers from credit card programs unattractive. However, the partnership with Qatar Airways now allows for point redemption for JetBlue flights, with a distance-based award chart and wide availability for transatlantic business class bookings.

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Why Your Next Layover Might Surprise You: How Charlotte and Atlanta Are Redefining Airline Hubs

by Gary Leff

delta airplanes on tarmac
Nov 05 2023

The traditional hub-and-spoke model, once dictated by local traffic generating high fares, is being redefined by cities like Charlotte and Atlanta, which have become central nodes for connecting flights. Despite their non-central geographic locations, these hubs thrive by leveraging strategic north-south connections, outperforming traditional expectations and contributing to the evolving dynamics of airline profitability.

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Flight Attendant Caught Taking Video Up Passenger’s Skirt

by Gary Leff

Nov 05 2023

A flight attendant working Aeromexcio flight 520 from Mexico City to Cancun was filmed taking video that appears to be up a passenger’s skirt as she walks by the galley of the Boeing 737 MAX to board.

The man appears to slide his phone across the galley floor, while pretending to check the drawer of a galley beverage cart. The camera moves as the passenger moves.

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Delta Passenger Unleashes On Seat Recline Critic Behind Her

by Gary Leff

Nov 05 2023

A Delta Air Lines passenger reclined her seat, and the woman behind her – she says – began pushing her seat back throughout the rest of the flight. In response, she didn’t ask for help from a flight attendant. Instead she began yelling at the woman behind her. And another passenger caught it on video.

The passengers behind the woman denied pushing her seat and that just drove the her to the brink, unleashing a tirade defending her right to recline. The battle had gone on silently until she just couldn’t take it anymore at the end of the flight.

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How American Airlines Pilots Took Down The Austin Focus City

by Gary Leff

Nov 05 2023

The airline is required under its pilot deal to have 85% of its regional flying in and out of hubs (defined as the legacy American Airlines hubs, plus airports where they operate 100 or more flights). Austin isn’t a 100-plus flight city. American runs a peak of 78 flights (low 50s on Saturdays, 60s on Tuesday and Wednesday). They don’t have the gate space for more than that, and even if they did that would likely mean more losses. So Austin regional flying to non-hub cities falls under the pilot contract 15% of total regional flying cap.

American isn’t allowed to build an operation which doesn’t support mainline pilot union jobs, and given passenger demand and gate limitations in Austin that means they aren’t allowed to build an Austin focus city as they’ve been doing.

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