Delta Now Enthusiastically Supports Government Subsidies, Industrial Policy

by Gary Leff

Apr 15 2021

Delta Air Lines has plenty of cash. They never furloughed any employees. Travel is recovering and they’re expecting to return to profitability this summer. They’re even making large bonus payments to management employees.

Against this backdrop, Hunter Keay from Wolfe Research asked Delta CEO Ed Bastian during the airline’s earnings call whether they would turn down ‘PSP3’ the third government airline bailout that will offer them about $3 billion in exchange for continuing to pay employees through September.

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Delta Dunks On Southwest Airlines Devaluation, Says Not Considering Reducing Value Of SkyMiles

by Gary Leff

Mary Schlangenstein who covers airlines for Bloomberg asked CEO Ed Bastian during Delta’s earnings call about Southwest’s no-notice 6.5% devaluation of Rapid Rewards points yesterday and whether they’d considering doing something similar.

Bastian offered SkyMiles as a contrast to Southwest, “we’re not considering that, and we’re very excited about the value [of the SkyMiles program].” Wait, wut?

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The U.K.’s Airport Covid Screening May Be Spreading The Virus With 7 Hour Indoor Waits

by Gary Leff

Apr 15 2021

Wait times at London Heathrow immigration hit 7 hours on Monday and a passenger collapsed. An airport executive told U.K. parliament that “police were being called to deal with tensions that flare up as people queue for hours at a time.”

Manual U.K. Covid processing – checking of forms and tests and evidence of booked future tests – is taking so much time that it’s potentially increasing the spread of the virus.

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Why Outrage Is The Right Reaction To Southwest’s No-Notice Devaluation

by Gary Leff

southwest uniforms
Apr 15 2021

If it’s true that we shouldn’t trust loyalty programs, and that ought to become our base case, then the way that information gets out to the public is precisely by shaming loyalty programs when they behave badly. Rather than shrugging our shoulders at no-notice devaluations, it is important to shout it from the rooftops so that members know to build lack of trust into their base case.

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Department Of Justice Is Ramping Up Its Investigation Of The American Airlines – JetBlue Partnership

by Gary Leff

jfk art
Apr 14 2021

The Department of Transportation approved the American Airlines-JetBlue alliance in New York and Boston. Those airlines had to give up takeoff and landing slots in New York, and commit to increase their flying (or lose more slots).

However it’s a new administration and other airlines aren’t happy with the increased competition JetBlue and American will provide. So the Department of Justice is ramping up a probe of the deal, taking another bite at the apple for special interests.

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