View from the Wing

Where Was Ed? Delta CEO Fled To Europe During Airline Meltdown

by Gary Leff on July 24, 2024

Jul 24 2024

The most dangerous place in Atlanta is usually between Delta CEO Ed Bastian and any tv camera. But he wasn’t giving interviews. He wasn’t out talking to employees or customers. He wasn’t even taking responsibility for the mess – days after all the other airlines recovered from the CrowdStrike outage, he was blaming CrowdStrike and not his own carrier’s IT mess that followed, that their own staff couldn’t recover from.

Instead he left the country while passengers were still stranded and employees struggled to get things moving again.

Behind Delta’s Meltdown: The Real Reason Executives Lied To Passengers All Week Instead Of Taking Responsibility

by Gary Leff on July 24, 2024

Jul 24 2024

The airline is out with another statement from the CEO and it’s appalling. All other airlines were up and running quickly after the CrowdStrike outage. He still accepts zero responsibility. That shouldn’t be surprising.

Earning Elite Status Backwards: The Quest for Hyatt’s Undiscoverist and Unexplorist [Roundup]

by Gary Leff on July 24, 2024

Jul 24 2024

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.

Bikini Airline Makes $7 Billion Jet Purchase

by Gary Leff on July 24, 2024

Jul 24 2024

Vietnam’s VietJet has placed an order for 20 Airbus A330neo aircraft, valued at $7.4 billion at list prices.

Airline Chaos Next Week: Gate Gourmet Strike Means Cold Box Meals or No Meals

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2024

Jul 23 2024

Major airline caterer Gate Gourmet is scheduled to face a worker strike starting July 30th. I told you we wouldn’t see an American Airlines strike. We aren’t. But unless there’s a last-minute breakthrough in negotiations, this will happen.

Southwest Airlines Under Fire: FAA Orders Safety Audit After Series of Near-Misses

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2024

Jul 23 2024

The FAA has launched a safety audit of Southwest Airlines. This comes after the airline came within feet of the water while still miles from Tampa less than a month after another of the airline’s 737s descended to just over 500 feet while still 9 miles out from the Oklahoma City airport.

Qatar Airways To Reveal New First Class Suite Prototype To CEO On Thursday

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2024

Jul 23 2024

In March CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer said that the new first class seat was ‘70%-80% done.’ Now he reports that he’ll be shown a prototype of the new first class seat this Thursday.

Department Of Labor Investigating United Airlines Unfair Practices Over New Flight Attendant Sick Policy

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2024

Jul 23 2024

Employees are furious about this new policy. While the union says it’s filing a grievance, individual flight attendants have been bombarding both federal and state agencies with complaints on their own.

According to a voicemail recording received by a United flight attendant in response to a complaint regarding the new weekend sick policy requiring an absence certificate, the Department of Labor has assigned an investigator and is launching an investigation.

Green Shoots: Passengers Won’t Notice It Today, But Internally Delta May Have Turned A Corner To Fix Its Mess

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2024

Jul 23 2024

Delta Air Lines may be starting to turn a corner with their internal operations finally, after melting down on Friday, cancelling thousands of flights (nearly 3 times as many as in all of 2019 and more cancellations than in all of 2018 and 2019 combined), and displacing hundreds of thousands of passengers.

Passengers won’t notice it today but the pieces are beginning to come into place to get to a better place.

American Airlines Doesn’t Allow Dogs To Have Their Own Seats, Here’s The Sneaky Way Passengers Do It [Roundup]

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2024

Jul 23 2024

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.

Where Was Ed? Delta CEO Fled To Europe During Airline Meltdown

Behind Delta’s Meltdown: The Real Reason Executives Lied To Passengers All Week Instead Of Taking Responsibility

Earning Elite Status Backwards: The Quest for Hyatt’s Undiscoverist and Unexplorist [Roundup]

Bikini Airline Makes $7 Billion Jet Purchase

Airline Chaos Next Week: Gate Gourmet Strike Means Cold Box Meals or No Meals

Southwest Airlines Under Fire: FAA Orders Safety Audit After Series of Near-Misses

Qatar Airways To Reveal New First Class Suite Prototype To CEO On Thursday

Department Of Labor Investigating United Airlines Unfair Practices Over New Flight Attendant Sick Policy

Green Shoots: Passengers Won’t Notice It Today, But Internally Delta May Have Turned A Corner To Fix Its Mess

American Airlines Doesn’t Allow Dogs To Have Their Own Seats, Here’s The Sneaky Way Passengers Do It [Roundup]

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About Gary Leff

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