A group of identity thieves posed as Wu-Tang Clan to scam hotels out of more than $100,000. They also scammed a Rolls Royce. They stiffed The Georgian Terrace Hotel for $45,000 and Hyatt Regency Atlanta for $39,000. But they were no match for a suburban Fairfield Inn.
British Airways Devalues Awards For Flights Up To 2000 Miles
Award prices in British Airways Avios have increased without notice for flights up to 2000 miles.
The British Airways Executive Club pricing system is based on flight distance. Flights in the first 3 distance bands (1-650 miles; 651 – 1150 miles; 1151 – 2000 miles) have gone up by 750 Avios each way (1500 roundtrip).
Leaked Early: JetBlue May Be About To Announce Service To London Heathrow
JetBlue first announced they’d be flying to London two years ago. They have a brand new Airbus A321LR with new premium seats to carry passengers across the Pond. And they have landing slots in London.
However it wasn’t the slots they’d wanted. They couldn’t get into London Heathrow, and they weren’t given enough slots to operate their desired flights into Gatwick either. Three hints from JetBlue today – since removed – suggest this may all have changed.
Capitol Riot Zero Tolerance $35,000 Fines And Jail For Bad Inflight Behavior Extended Indefinitely
After the January 6th riots at the U.S. Capitol, the FAA instituted a zero tolerance policy for inflight disturbances including failure to follow airline masking rules. These were temporary rules set to expire March 30, 2021. They have now been extended indefinitely, at least until the end of the mask mandate.
Air Serbia Introducing New Business Class For Its Sole Long Haul Jet
Air Serbia is replacing its lone 13 year old long haul Airbus A330 aircraft with a new one – a twelve year old ex-Aeroflot A330-200 in new livery featuring Nikola Tesla on the tail.
The airline uses this aircraft to fly to New York JFK, and plans to increase its frequency from 2 to 3 times weekly and then 5 times a week over the summer. And it’s getting a new business class product.
About-Face: Delta Says Strength Of The U.S. Airline Industry Is Because Of Government Subsidies
Despite a years-long campaign against government subsidies for airlines, Delta CEO Ed Bastian thanked Congress for subsidies at the JP Morgan Industrials Conference and criticized foreign governments for not ponying up as much cash as the U.S. has given to its airlines.
Phuket, Koh Samui Thailand Expect To Open To Vaccinated Tourists October 1
Thailand is expected to roll out ‘vaccine passports’ this month, but this would only allow those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to reduce their required quarantine from 14 days to 7 days.
Two popular resort areas are planning to re-open fully to vaccinated tourists by October, though: Phuket and Koh Samui.
Norwegian 787s Are Returning With Low Cost Transatlantic Fares – Under A New Name
Norwegian ceased its transatlantic business and is trying to stay afloat as an intra-European carrier. But the founder of Norwegian thinks his ultra low cost long haul business model – that has never worked before – is suddenly ripe for success. And he’s trying again with Norse Atlantic Airways.
OSM Aviation, which provided staff outsourcing to Norwegian, is 53% owner of the new venture. Expect low cost labor flying 9 to 12 ex-Norwegian Boeing 787s and even planning to offer connections with Norwegian.
American Airlines CEO: Our Goal Is To ‘Passionately Pursue Efficiencies’
At the beginning of February I wrote that American Airlines has 3 corporate goals, and two of them are weird. What stood out was the carrier’s goal to “passionately drive efficiencies.”
He presented the company’s goals to ‘come out ahead’ of competitors in front of investors at the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference.
American’s New Domestic Interior Was Such A Disaster They Now Build Cabin Mockups For Testing
American Airlines failed to build a mockup of its new domestic interior, and that’s how obvious mistakes were made. In CEO Doug Parker’s telling, they cared about squeezing seats onto the plane not what it was like to sit in those seats or for employees to work the new configuration.
That’s changing for upcoming retrofits and new products like the Airbus A321XLR and Boeing 787-9 new interior.