American Airlines took a Boeing 737 MAX out of service on Monday after it experienced a pitch trim issue enroute from Miami to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
Ultimately the pilots of the aircraft remained in control and landed safely. The system worked as it should. Extra attention, though, will be likely paid to this incident because it involved elevator trim and the MAX, even though it doesn’t appear to have involved the MCAS system.
Air France KLM just announced that they plan to move to ‘continuous pricing’ rather than filing fares and managing availability on specific flights. They think that, on average, they can charge consumers about 10% more for tickets than they do today.
Several other airlines are working on the same thing. Here’s how it works.
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.
The Director of the CDC today urged Americans not to travel, claiming it exacerbates the spread of Covid-19.
However she fails to explain how she thinks this happens, makes no distinction between those who have been vaccinated and those who haven’t been, and offers an argument that is simply false based on the CDC’s own data to bolster her case.
Sunday morning 185 baby turtles were found wrapped in plastic inside a red suitcase at the Baltra airport in the Galapagos Islands. The passenger and his luggage were bound for Guayaquil, Ecaudor.
These animals were declared as ‘souvenirs’ but were discovered going through x-ray. Sadly, 10 of the tortoises had already died. An additional five died on Monday. The rest “were not in good health.”
With the CDC continuing to recommend against non-essential travel during the pandemic – even for those that have been vaccinated, despite their own science – a reporter asked the White House Press Secretary whether that guidance applies to the President and Vice President.
Jen Psaki said that it does not. Her reasons why are revealing.
We already know that approved vaccines are highly effective protecting you against Covid-19, especially for serious cases. We now have great data showing they protect others from you as well. In other words – if you’re vaccinated you aren’t just preventing yourself from getting sick, you’re preventing yourself from being a carrier of the virus too.
The Biden administration is driving a project to introduce vaccine passports, which could be used not just for travel but also for return-to-work and attending events.
While many countries will require proof of vaccination for entry, it’s entirely unnecessary for domestic use since by the time it’s introduced everyone who wants a shot will already have protection – and the compromises necessary for the passport project will render them next to useless.
Want to change your flight, change your seat, or try to score an upgrade? You won’t be able to use an American Airlines gate-side kiosk to do it anymore starting April 1.
American Airlines reports internally that its online sales volumes are nearly back to 2019 levels, which were record-setting. They’re seeing the strongest revenue performance they’ve had since before the pandemic.
And last week they filled nearly 80% of their seats systemwide, which for an airline is nearly completely sold out.
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 »
