Airlines are much smaller today than they were a year ago. They expect to continue to be smaller even a year from now and perhaps even two years from now. So they need fewer people on staff.
United, which was the first and most vocal about the need to shed staff, is now out with their layoff plans and they’re looking at shedding 16,370 staff come October, according to an internal memo:
While I’ve been vocally against airline bailouts, one of my main frustration is that proponents have couched their support in terms of ‘the workers’ even though much of the money goes to the airlines themselves and protects investors and creditors. There’s been very little honest attempt to make the true case for payroll support grants.
So let me at least lay out what seems to be the strongest argument against my own position. It comes down to a bet that we’ll be past the virus in April 2021, that airlines won’t invest enough in their businesses to be ready to grow in the meantime, and that the country benefits most from having airline capacity.
The American Airlines flight attendants union, Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), is exceptionally weak. They’ve been dysfunctional for years. I’ve written in the past about efforts by the larger Association of Flight Attendants, which is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America and AFL-CIO, to get their nose in under the tent.
Reading through the mid-August minutes of the APFA’s Executive Committee meeting I was initially struck by just three things.
Airlines have been working to use their loyalty programs to shift customers to higher fares, and to make status a benefit for only those flying on those high fares. Eliminating change fees on the one hand, while doubling down on using Basic Economy as the tool to segment customers, is the latest attempt at doing this.
The Atlanta-bound passengers were part of a larger party. You can hear another passenger saying, “Come get Aaliyah, she’s fighting” and “Aaliyah, stop, stop” then a man and woman approach the battling ladies who hit each other in the head. One throws the other woman up against the jetbridge wall. And a crew member calls for backup.
As a result of the ruling, you can now sue TSA for any intentional battery they may inflict on you as a passenger in the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. They join Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands) in recognizing this right of redress.
In the 11th Circuit states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia you cannot sue under the 2014 decision in Jonathan Corbett v. TSA. Increasingly then we’re seeing a circuit split, making it possible that the Supreme Court may someday rule on TSA-imposed beatings and sovereign immunity.
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.
IHG hotels, the chain that includes Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Intercontinental, and related brands, is bringing its flexible cancellation policy to an end. All of the major hotel chains have sought to encourage new bookings by making them very low risk for consumers. IHG says, though, ‘no more’ after September 30.
There’s a huge desire to get hotel pricing and restrictions ‘back to normal’ but I don’t think the world is back to normal yet, and if other chains don’t follow IHG will be at a competitive disadvantage.
It isn’t often that Delta copies United but, like American, they’re also going to waive change fees. All three of course are copying Southwest Airlines – which doesn’t charge baggage fees either.
While Delta’s announcement was rushed out because of United’s move, they’ve actually been considering doing this for some time. They were talking about rethinking change fees at the beginning of 2020.
United announced an end to change fees on most domestic tickets. American matched in less than a day, including more destinations. They’re extending change fee waivers on international, basic economy, and award tickets to the end of the year. And they’re letting Basic Economy customers have elite benefits again, too.
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 »
