American Airlines flight attendants have a generally weak union. Sara Nelson’s larger Association of Flight Attendants has eyed coming in and taking over. AFA-CWA even sent masks to legacy US Airways flight attendants during the pandemic, telling me they still consider those crewmembers to be members of their union.
It’s no wonder that they aren’t seeing the concessions they’re after from American Airlines in contract negotiations.
Markets began tanking this morning on a higher than expected 8.2% increase in the Consumer Price Index. Food and energy costs are drivers of this, but so is airfare.
Here’s why fares are going up, and why the airlines – through their conscious decisions – have caused a piece of inflation that’s driving down markets.
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A woman flying six weeks before the due date of her pregnancy gave birth on an American Airlines flight to the Dominican Republic. American Airlines allows travel up until the fourth week prior to a due date without a doctor’s letter.
The woman’s water broke inflight and then mere minutes later her baby was born. She named her son “Skylen” because he was born in the sky. His birth certificate will reflect his actual place of birth, too.
Airlines get an outsized portion of blame for carbon emissions. While global air travel represents perhaps 4% of emissions, half of that is cargo. In response to the criticism airlines are pledging to do better and reduce emissions. Long-term that may be real, but short-term measures are largely greenwashing.
Even as Hilton offers double elite nights for the last two and a half months of 2022 against still-reduced elite requirements for 2022, Honors has laid out what elite status-earning will look like in 2023: a snap-back to pre-pandemic rules, mostly.
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.
Delta and Starbucks have a new reciprocal earning partnership, which is only upside. There’s even a bonus for linking your accounts, which you should do in order not to leave miles on the table.
Two comedians are suing over being searched for drugs at the Atlanta airport while boarding their flights. The stops and searches lack probably cause, and are generally based on racial profiling (duh). Over a 9 month period, police stopped 402 passengers at the jet bridge in Atlanta. 68% of those were minorities. Fewer than 1% – just 3 – yielded ‘drug seizures’ like THC gummies and six prescription pills.
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.
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 »
