Southwest Airlines Offering Some Passengers Just 5% Of Their Requested Reimbursements

by Gary Leff

Jan 12 2023

Southwest Airlines expects the cancellation of 16,700 flights over the holidays to cost them up to $825 million though the exact amount depends on how much passengers seek reimbursement for after having to find other means of travel – and how much Southwest actually approves in claims.

While the Department of Transportation is pressuring Southwest not just to provide the refunds, but also to do so quickly (noting that credit card payments must be refunded within 7 days), the sheer volume of requests is taking time to work through and also invariably means that some passengers get stuck in a Kafkaesque bureaucracy.

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American Airlines Passenger Accesses Computer At The Gate, Gets Taken To Jail

by Gary Leff

Jan 12 2023

On December 31, a passenger waiting for an American Airlines flight at Dallas – Fort Worth’s gate E22A walked behind the counter, and starts typing on the computer – and taking photos. When confronted over this, he initially claimed to be “Homeland Security.” The Department of Homeland Security doesn’t just walk up to computers and start typing. He was asked for ID, and changed his story. Police were called.

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Delta Bans Employees From Its Airport Lounges Until Further Notice

by Gary Leff

airport lounge
Jan 11 2023

Starting February 3, Delta Air Lines is banning employees on nonrev travel and who are traveling on company business from accessing their lounges. Delta acknowledges the “lines out the door” of their clubs and that this includes “360 and Diamond Medallion Members – waiting for seats once inside” and says they’re eliminating access for employees who pay for membership in order to “ensur[e] our most loyal and valued customers have adequate access.”

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United Airlines Is Going To Be Quickly Changing The Interiors On Its Domestic Planes

by Gary Leff

Jan 11 2023

The idea that United Airlines could convert 175 domestic aircraft in 2023 seems unbelievable at first, considering they haven’t completed changes to prototype aircraft yet. However this is a scaled back ambition from 200 planes, and it’s not a notional number but one that’s tied to a real plan. It could still slip, but having over 300 planes including new aircraft with the new interior in service this year is a real possibility.

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NFL Great Kicked Out Of First Class On American Airlines, Calls It Racism

by Gary Leff

Jan 11 2023

NFL great Hardy Nickerson was downgraded from first class to coach on an American Airlines flight from Charlotte to San Francisco on Tuesday, along with his wife and son.

The five-time NFL Pro-Bowler and four-time NFL All-Pro linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took to social media to complain about how the situation was handled, noting that his family is black and everyone else in first class was white.

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“Security Vulnerability” In CLEAR Leads To Calls For Members To Have IDs Checked At Security

by Gary Leff

Jan 11 2023

CLEAR is a private, fee-based service that takes your biometrics and lets you identify yourself with your fingerprints or retina scan instead of showing an ID. At airports where they’re located you can then skip to the front of the security line – whether PreCheck or regular security.

But the TSA now says CLEAR’s systems have a security vulnerability and some key lawmakers want everyone using CLEAR to still have to have their IDs verified at the security checkpoint.

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