Norwegian Air, the low cost carrier, was struggling before the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s already been bailed out by the government, but that’s not enough. Now they’re in talks with the government over nationalization.
So now, with global travel depressed, seems like the perfect time to start another Norwegian airline, of course!
Yesterday American Airlines added former Northwest Airlines CEO Doug Steenland to its board. Steenland led Northwest through its bankrutpcy and merger with Delta.
This seems significant.
Southwest put a model in a bikini on the side of one of their planes. Their original flight attendant uniform was hot pants. Their first self serve ticketing machines were called quickies. And they used to refer to peanuts as “love bits.” Yet they seem to keep kicking women off their planes over how they’re dressed.
The woman got a full refund even though she traveled on her original itinerary. The real hero of the story, though, is the flight’s captain.
A couple of weeks ago China threatened to shoot down civilian aircraft. They claimed US spy planes were disguising themselves as commercial flights, and that put all commercial flights in jeopardy.
The Philippines reports that the U.S. continues to spy on China disguising its aircraft as civilian.
This month we lost ‘Eskimo Pies’ in a renaming to Edy’s Pie. So, too, the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort which is being renamed Hilton Phoenix Resort at the Peak because they’ve decided ‘Squaw Peak’ is racist.
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American Airlines CEO Doug Parker pressed the case for another bailout today, saying without more government aid they’ll eliminate service to some small cities. And that’s true, but misleading.
Avatar Airlines is the gift that keeps on giving. Barry Michaels has been trying to start an airline for about 30 years. Now he’s floating the idea that 22% of a business plan nobody wants (and that’s even garnered prison time) will interest British Airways to gift him 26 Boeing 747s.
How is it that spending on airlines, supported by both Republicans and Democrats, is what’s under consideration and nothing else. How did we get here?
Another airline bailout isn’t just something being snuck into a $2.2 trillion piece of legislation, but is the only standalone action Congress might take at this point. That may be shocking, but it also makes a lot of sense.
JP Morgan, in an investor note, says American Airlines would have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection if they get down to $8 billion in cash. The airline has shared its loan covenants require it to retain $2 billion in liquidity, but that’s not the trigger for a filing.
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 »
