American Airlines Says They Cut Their LA – Asia Flying Because Of Too Much Competition

by Gary Leff

people walking through terminal
Dec 17 2022

American Airlines dropped Los Angeles as its gateway to Asia. The remaining long haul flights American operates from LAX are to joint venture partner hubs – Tokyo, Sydney, and London.

American Airlines was losing money on it’s Los Angeles – Asia flying before the pandemic because, they believe, these markets were too competitive. And South America doesn’t work for them out of LA, either. So they’re focused on domestic flying. That makes their LA-based pilots, who don’t have the opportunities to fly widebodies, unhappy.

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249 Hotel Nights Later: How Marriott, Hyatt and IHG Get It Wrong

by Gary Leff

outside marriott hotel
Dec 16 2022

An anonymous reader captures something in a guest post that I think is important, based on some pretty extensive experience on the road. Hyatt is great if you can stick to full service properties not owned or managed by bad actors, but there aren’t enough properties and too many limited service ones. So where you going to go? You’re stuck with Marriott, so Marriott can get away with failing to live up to promises and expectations. It’s still better than the alternatives.

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American Airlines Tells Employees Their Plans For Boeing 777-200s

by Gary Leff

first class cabin
Dec 16 2022

To the extent that American keeps the 777-200s over the long-term they may retrofit the interiors of these aircraft. There’s some chance that United’s big order for 100 firm and up to 200 widebody aircraft from Boeing could take delivery slots that leads to American keeping its 777-200s longer. There’s less opportunity for further replacement.

And already American is talking about keeping (at least some of) its Boeing 777-200s over the long term. At the same time, I’d expect some of the fleet to be retired and those aircraft never to be reconfigured.

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Air France KLM: Trying To Make Our Program Better So Americans Transfer Their Bank Points

by Gary Leff

Dec 15 2022

Ben Lipsey, head of Air France KLM Flying Blue who got his start in the airline industry by messaging Air Canada’s President on FlyerTalk to score an internship when he was 20 years old and eventually moved over with Ben Smith when he became CEO of Air France KLM, gave an interview where he talked about the importance of the program’s value proposition for Americans.

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More Hotels Seem To Be Playing Games With Award Nights, And Chains Aren’t Stopping Them

by Gary Leff

Dec 15 2022

My sense is that Hyatt clearly enforces the rules that it has, but there are loopholes a few properties drive a truck through. Marriott does have clear rules in its program guide for hotels, which largely exempts all-suite properties from minimum availability requirements. But they aren’t as strong on enforcement. And I’m trying to figure out the broader shift that seems to me to be happening at Hilton.

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