My oldest credit card account is my Marriott American Express. It was opened as a Starwood Amex 20 years ago. Account longevity is one of the key attributes of American Express. Cards print your ‘member since’ date on the front. American Express Centurion lounges even use member since as their internet password.
Last week’s Airlines Confidential podcast was recorded at the Boyd International Aviation Forecast Summit, and Mike Boyd was on briefly and dropped – almost as an aside – “one little thing drops out of a lab in Wuhan..” and aviation is upended.
I’d walk through the ‘conspiracy theory’ of the virus, not just because of what SARS-CoV-2 has done to aviation (since it’s done even more to human lives) but also because the conspiracy actually involves the Wuhan airport.
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.
On Friday evening’s American Airlines flight AA2205 from Dallas Fort-Worth to Miami a passenger reports that a woman got up from coach and moved into first class on the Boeing 777-200 in order to sit with a friend while the plane was still boarding. She hid in the friend’s seat.
The aircraft was completely full, with every seat taken. So a flight attendant noticed that while the plane was taxiing out a passenger was missing from their seat in back. There was “a purse sitting in the seat” and passengers around the empty seat reported that a woman had gotten up and left, never to return.
New York State has had a challenging set of rules for travel. Anyone arriving from a state with more than 10 positive cases per 100,000 residents on a rolling average basis, or greater than 10% of Covid-19 tests coming back positive has had to quarantine for 14 days on arrival. Enforcement has been spotty.
With very few states left on the list of allowable travelers entering New York, the state is replacing that regime with mandatory pre-travel testing and shorter quarantine on arrival with a second test for everyone as an alternative to a 14 day quarantine.
The subject of Steenland’s addition to the American Airlines board came up at the end of the carrier’s ‘State of the Airline’ question and answer session with employees following their third quarter earnings call, and Parker explained that Steenland was added for his airline experience – something the board previously lacked – and not for a 15-month mechanics strike where he called management and replacement workers “the dream team” of maintenance groups.
Last week a passenger in a Burger King crown got booted off a JetBlue flight to New York JFK – and banned from the airline – after a racist rant prior to departure from Kingston, Jamaica. It all began when there wasn’t overhead bin space available for him to use.
The man tried to get up in the air again to head back to the States. He got kicked off an American flight on his next attempt to depart Jamaica. There aren’t that many airlines left. At some point could he have no options left but to swim?
Possibly inspired by Goodfellas, two former New York JFK truck drivers and a Delta Air Lines employee pled not guilty to a $6 million heist of luxury goods from the airport this week. Prosecutors allege they showed up with paperwork for the goods, bearing the flight details and serial numbers for the items, and they drove off with their haul. Destination: a “defunct beauty shop in Queens.”
The guest was arrested for possession of crack and disorderly conduct. His car had an “improper license plate” and he had no insurance, either. But he didn’t apparently have to pay extra for overstaying checkout time.
American Airlines courted controversy when they began allowing employees to wear makeshift ‘Black Lives Matter’ pins.
The official Black Lives Matter pin is now available for American Airlines employees. It’s called “Stand for Change” and “celebrates the diversity of our team members and our customers.” It must be ordered by any employee who wants one by November 13.
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 »
