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.
It’s obvious why many people are leaving Ukraine: the Russian invasion is demolishing homes, bombing cities, risking basic utilities (including by attacking Europe’s largest nuclear reactor). But many Russians are also fleeing their homes. They fear they may not have long to leave, and limited space on planes and trains can be costly.
United Airlines has asked the government for authority to fly Washington Dulles – Cape Town, South Africa three times a week using a Boeing 787-9, effective November 17, 2022. They already offer scheduled service from Newark to both Cape Town and Johannesburg. But they may not be allowed to do this.
This is being promoting on social media by Airbnb’s CEO. But Ukranian refugees need a place to stay and this can easily take inventory off the market (restrict supply) and raise price.
Lufthansa sees first class as crucial to their brand positioning, but they quite correctly don’t see a market for it on all of their flights. They’ve offered the cabin on more routes than where it made sense because they didn’t want multiple configurations of the same plane, and have wanted the flexibility to deploy an aircraft across different routes.
I wrote three years ago that I expected them to continue offering first class, just with fewer seats, and “could imagine offering just one row of first” on new Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s. The A350 is getting first class, will debut next year, and is expected to be just one row.
There are several elements to Western response: assist Ukraine, cripple Russia’s ability to finance its activities and supply a war, and disrupt Russian life. This last makes life difficult for both oligarchs – but it also makes life difficult for ordinary Russians.
It’s an open question how much making life inside of Russia difficult matters for the outcome of the invasion.
The U.S. will extend slot waivers at New York JFK, LaGuardia and Washington National through October. United, Delta, and American asked for this jointly, to protect their turf without actually having to fly full schedules.
Among other reasons for agreeing, the FAA cites “global vaccination rates” as well as “continued unpredictability of [international] travel restrictions” and “the disparity between demand for domestic air travel and demand for international air travel” despite the fact that only one of the three slot-controlled airports in the U.S. (New York JFK) carries much international traffic at all.
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.
Sabre also provides passenger service and operations for Aeroflot. Those are not being halted. Sabre has the ability to ground Aeroflot and is not doing so.
JetBlue is bringing back fresh food to its premium cabin, and bringing back liquor to its flights starting March 15. American Airlines already brought back food to domestic first class, but its coach cabin remains dry. The airline has said it won’t bring back alcohol until the federal mask mandate is lifted.
When Southwest Airlines starting serving drinks again last month, that seemed like it would mean more pressure on American than JetBlue’s move. After all, both airlines are Dallas-based and Southwest is the traditional largest airline in the U.S. domestic market.
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 »
