Woman Who Took Private Plane To Storm The Capitol Feels Persecuted, Asks President For Pardon

by Gary Leff

Jan 16 2021

Passengers from all over flew to DC this past week on American Airlines, Delta, Southwest and others to protest – and some to riot – at the Capitol. Many were maskless, some were kicked off flights. Others harassed Mitt Romney on the way to DC (and on the way home, harassed Lindsey Graham). Still others projected “TRUMP 2020” onto the ceiling of their aircraft. And others sat peacefully.

But Dallas-area realtor and radio host Jenna Ryan took a private plane. And this was all because – with no self-awareness of having flown private to DC – “they’re taking everything” away from her. Now she’s been arrested, and is asking the President for a pardon, because she’s the real victim here.

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Don’t Expect American Airlines To Require Vaccination For Travel (They Won’t Require It For Employees)

by Gary Leff

Jan 16 2021

In November the CEO of American Airlines joint venture partner Qantas announced they planned to require vaccination in order to fly. U.S. airlines have had internal discussions about following suit. However I do not see how American Airlines could require passengers but not crew to have been vaccinated in order to travel.

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Marriott Tells 100 Night Elites: Stop Emailing Your Ambassador, You Won’t Get A Reply

by Gary Leff

Jan 15 2021

When Marriott acquired Starwood they also acquired the Ambassador program which offered a single point of contact for the chain’s top customers, to make reservations, interface with hotels on requests, and act as a concierge more broadly.

First Marriott had mass layoffs of concierges. Now they’ve decided emails to individual concierges can no longer be answered – everything goes into a single customer service pool.

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The ‘No Pee Rule’ Returns to DC Airports For Alaska Airlines Flights

by Gary Leff

alaska airlines plane
Jan 15 2021

After 9/11 passengers on flights to Washington’s National airport were required to remain seated for the last 30 minutes of their trip, and for the first 30 minutes on any flight departing the airport.

Dubbed by frequent flyers the “no pee rule” it was meant to immediately identify anyone that might be trying to take over the aircraft when it was close enough that it could hit the White House, U.S. Capitol or other high value target. More than 30 minutes out, presumably, the government thought it would be able to shoot down the plane.

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Inflight Mask Fights Will Rise This Winter. The New CDC Testing Rule Will Make It Worse.

by Gary Leff

Jan 14 2021

Back in November I predicted that mask disputes on planes would become more common over the winter and that seems to becoming the case, at least based on social media reports and continued reporting from airlines on the number of people banned over masks. Even tiny Alaska Airlines is now over 300 passengers banned.

Starting January 26 the CDC will require all passengers flying to the U.S. to have received a negative Covid-19 test within 3 days of travel. For everything else that’s been written about the new requirement, it’s likely to accelerate mask disputes since everyone on board will have tested negative on flights to the U.S. already.

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