Delta Air Lines pilots got an incredible contract. American Airlines says they’ll match and that means pilots who make up to $590,000 per year. United Airlines and Southwest pilots are also negotiating new deals, and have a benchmark of what to expect.
The American Airlines pilot contract is so rich that the increased cost is much greater than the airline’s current profits. Combined with massive debt, American Airlines has a problem if fares do not go up.
American Airlines CEO went around their pilot union, telling cockpit crew that they’re ready to pay them up to $590,000 per year, essentially matching Delta’s new pay rates and improving on scheduling and other quality of life issues.
Immediately following this message, the board of the Allied Pilots Association agreed to seek authorization from pilots for a strike.
A LATAM Airlines Boeing 787-9 from Miami to Santiago landed Wednesday morning with armed gunmen waiting for it, tipped off that it was carrying $32.5 million in cash that was supposed to be taken to banks via armored car.
Ten gunmen laid in wait, and engaged in a shootout with security officers. Both an officer and one of the armed thieves died in the attack, while the remaining nine shooters fled – covering their tracks by burning the vehicles they’d used.
In the fall former President Donald Trump had dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes. Several Republicans denounced the meeting. The white supemacist views of Fuentes are so outside the mainstream of conservatism that he was denied a platform at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), so he set up his own meeting around the corner… at the Residence Inn by Marriott National Harbor.
JSX planes have StarLink internet which I’ve found to be crazy fast, with low latency. That’s not just great for checking email and web browsing. It also works for video conferencing. And they’re the first carrier certified by FAA to allow it.
So when you fly JSX you can use Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, or your other app of choice – to participate in a meeting at work, call home at dinner time or bed time, and to… annoy your fellow passengers?
want to see Spirit Airlines continue as a standalone company. I think that is better for airfares and for diversity in business models. I also don’t think buying Spirit is a good idea for JetBlue. They are operationally challenged to begin with and the complexity of a merger and integration won’t make air travel better. JetBlue is massively overpaying.
As a result I’ve maintained that the JetBlue deal to acquire Spirit is bad for customers and bad for shareholders. However bad business decisions are not in themselves, illegal.
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Bilt Rewards has introduced a new partnership with Lyft. All Bilt members can now earn 2 points per dollar spent with Lyft by linking their account. Bilt credit card members separately earn 5 points per dollar on Lyft spend. So you can earn 7 Bilt points per dollar spent with Lyft.
Last month I broke the news, based on an Austin city permit that Chase would be opening a space in the Austin airport. Then I shared further details that it would be an indoor-outdoor space next to the Delta Sky Club taking over the public outdoor deck, opening in March and likely offering grab and go food.
Chase is now offering more details on the space. The “Sapphire Terrace” will open March 20.
With tensions rising among pilots at American Airlines, management has put out a message directly to cockpit crew – rather than staying quiet in negotiations with its union – letting them know just how generous an offer they’re making: by the fourth year of the company’s proposed deal, a narrowbody captain would make as much as $475,000 – and a widebody captain up to $590,000 per year.
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 »
