Tag Archives for american airlines.
Two coach passengers reportedly sat down in first class on an American Airlines flight departing Miami and refused to move. Airport police were called, and the women were escorted out of the gate area in cuffs—caught on video.
American is testing route-specific First Class catering: starting February 11, Dallas–New York flights will offer Texas barbecue as a preorder option, It’s the same move Delta used to kick off what became its own catering upgrade—so this could be the start of something bigger.
Sixty-three Ole Miss fans were on the same tight connection through DFW, with a delay threatening to strand them short of the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix. Instead of holding the flight, American simply moved gates—turning what would have been a terminal sprint into a short walk, and the Phoenix flight still pushed back early.
Starting today, WiFi is free on most American Airlines flights for AAdvantage members, putting American alongside Delta and JetBlue while United and Alaska head toward free Starlink service. The catch is rollout: not every aircraft is enabled yet, widebodies come later, and customers paying for monthly or annual WiFi plans should watch for billing until American clarifies cancellations and refunds.
A cascading delay into Los Angeles was about to keep travelers from reaching the funeral of the Sydney rabbi killed in the Bondi Beach attacks. United wouldn’t hold its flight—but American Airlines did something airlines almost never do: it moved gates to eliminate the terminal scramble, held its own Sydney departure, and then comped a new ticket entirely. What followed was a behind-the-scenes relay from cockpit to operations to the gate that turned an impossible connection into a just-in-time arrival for the funeral.
An American Airlines passenger says he was physically shoved twice—once before boarding and again after taking his seat on AA4586 from JFK to Indianapolis. He claims an FAA inspector onboard urged the crew to remove the aggressive traveler, but that American instead kicked off the man who reported it, leaving him stranded overnight at JFK with an $829 hotel bill and later flagged as “disruptive.”
Former President Joe Biden was spotted boarding an American Airlines flight in Miami headed to St. Croix—standing in the same queue as everyone else, with only a low-key law enforcement escort. It is a refreshingly normal post-presidency moment, right down to an on-time operation.
American Airlines already cut basic economy mileage earning to zero, and it is a classic penny-wise move with a bigger hidden cost. The airline is giving up the cheapest hook it has to get price-sensitive flyers into AAdvantage and, ultimately, into its credit card funnel—the business that actually drives profits.
American Airlines is spending millions to add extra minutes to flight schedules, and it is not just to look better on on-time charts. At Dallas Fort Worth, where delays turn into missed connections and mishandled bags in a hurry, the math is straightforward: paying for a little slack up front can be cheaper than paying for recovery when the hub starts cascading.
American says it’s overhauling schedules starting in April—adding more realistic block times and de-peaking Dallas-Fort Worth—to begin running on time and cut missed connections. The airline is also investing in remote deplaning and more terminal capacity so weather and gate gridlock don’t spiral into diversions, delays, and lost bags.
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 »
