Why There Aren’t Enough Air Traffic Controllers, And Airlines Are Melting Down Because Of It

by Gary Leff

Jul 22 2023

The FAA asked airlines to reduce their flying in and out of New York this summer, because of a shortage of air traffic controllers. New York TRACON has been staffed only at around 60% and the FAA hasn’t acted. And yet they still can’t handle the volume that remains. Most people suppose this is a lagging problem coming out of the pandemic, since staffing across the board has been a challenge for businesses and especially in hospitality and transportation. But that’s actually not the issue.

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I Got Yelled At By A Hyatt Manager For The First Time

by Gary Leff

Jul 22 2023

I never ask for very much and I rarely ever complain. I certainly never ask for special treatment. I would rather experience hotels the same way everyone else does, at least the way other frequent travelers earning elite status do.

I am never rude to hospitality staff. When they’re having a bad day, I try to empathize and joke with them about it. I’m far more self-effacing than demanding. So I’ve never experienced this before.

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American Airlines Employee Killed By Poorly-Maintained Tug, Tried To Call It A Suicide

by Gary Leff

Jul 22 2023

The tug had “several mechanical issues” including brake faillure. It collided into a guardrail 10 days earlier. On this day the employee started to push back an aircraft, but the tug went faster than usual. It veered right. And the 14-ton vehicle crashed near gate 24 and pinned the man between the vehicle and the jetbridge. One 911 call suggested that the vehicle’s accelerator pedal got stuck.

Tug had been “marked out of service numerous times for failed brakes” it reportedly was not serviced and continued to be used. Maintenance of the vehicle is “managed by Menzies Airlines.”

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Be Careful Redeeming American Airlines Miles: Price Goes Up After You Put Award On Hold

by Gary Leff

Jul 22 2023

American Airlines has had technical issues when AAdvantage members put frequent flyer mile award travel on hold, sometimes only holding a reservation for three days instead of the five days promised under their policy. There’s another glitch members are dealing with, and it’s costing them more miles if they don’t pay attention.

Many customers are reporting that when they put an award ticket on hold the flights are stored, but the price quoted doesn’t stick. Here’s one example where a single traveler was asked to pay an additional 122,000 miles:

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Passengers Didn’t Get Breakfast On British Airways Flight For A Strange Reason

by Gary Leff

Jul 21 2023

Normally when passengers don’t receive their meals it’s because of a catering issue. And it’s limited to a few passengers. Maybe they didn’t get their special meal choice, or their first choice wasn’t loaded. If it’s United Airlines, maybe they just ran out of food. But British Airways flight 56 on July 20 may have had the most surprising reason I’ve seen for passengers not to get fed on a long haul flight: the crew rest seats were broken. What does that have to do with feeding passengers, especially since it doesn’t appear that there was trouble catering the aircraft? Crew on an 11 hour flight get rest breaks. Normally on a widebody aircraft they get time in the crew rest area. But if those seats are unavailable they’ll assign business class seats for this…

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4 Reasons American Airlines Is Headed For A Disastrous Third Quarter

by Gary Leff

Jul 21 2023

J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Baker points out that American Airlines has provided guidance that their third quarter operating margin will decline by over 700 basis points, and that American hasn’t done this poorly outside of Covid in the last thirteen years – and they’re guiding to performance over 800 basis points worse than Delta. And they don’t explain what’s going on.

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United Airlines Flight Diverts When Coach Passenger Wouldn’t Stay Out Of Business Class

by Gary Leff

airplane seats
Jul 21 2023

United Airlines flight 871 from San Francisco to Taipei diverted and returned back to the U.S. on Thursday when a coach passenger refused to stay in their cabin. They kept going up into business class, and refused to stay in their seat. In grist for inequality commentators everywhere, two hours into the thirteen hour flight, the captain made the decision to turn back.

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