Tag Archives for austin.
As if to underscore just how little Delta cared actually cared about flying to Midland in the first place, they didn’t even tell the airport they were going to launch service until 48 hours before announcing it, let alone discussing any of the logistics like ticket counter space.
Delta Air Lines just announced three new destinations Austin – Denver, Columbus, and Kansas City – as well as increased frequencies to San Francisco and Indianapolis.
The worst United Airlines club lounge is in Austin. It is small, and it is overcrowded. There is just a single window. A legacy Continental Airlines Presidents Club, for a long time it just hasn’t been a priority. United is the number four airline in the city. But finally they have a plan to make things better, and it has to do with the game of musical lounge chairs that will go on at the airport starting next year.
I FOIA’d the airport for correspondence with airlines and potential other lounge operators to see what interest there is, matching the airport’s internal plans that I was first to reveal. Here is their responsive material.
Southwest Airlines just laid off 15% of its corporate staff, letting workers go for the first time in its history. But they’re not done with cost-cutting. They revealed inside the company today that they will be closing two flight attendant bases – in Austin and Fort Lauderdale. In January, the company cancelled employee rallies. Maybe these weren’t the best way to engage staff and drive the culture, but there’s not a new plan to replace them either. And the messaging was that this is part of cost-cutting in the important “fight to return to excellent financial performance” which they plan to do by “enhancing efficiencies, and capturing value throughout the Company.” Southwest CEO Bob Jordan Southwest isn’t done cutting personnel costs, though. In a memo to employees today, the airline announced that they will eliminate…
Some of the routes Delta has been running have been ‘intra-Texas’ flights that seemingly make no sense, other than they are short flights using cheap outsourced planes. Cities include Harlingen, McAllen, and Midland, Texas. Harlingen and McAllen seemed like super-strange choices at first, since they’re just 45 minutes apart from each other by car.
Austin airport is currently tendering a request for proposal for a financial institution lounge project. Their goal is to open an American Express Centurion lounge, Chase Sapphire lounge, or Capital One lounge as part of the “West Infill” project that’s currently under construction.
American Airlines flight 2863 from Austin to Charlotte was delayed four and a half hours on Friday afternoon because a passenger named their wifi network “I have a bomb.”
Police boarded the aircraft and asked the passenger with that network name to identify themselves, but they did not. Passengers were all taken off the aircraft and held, cordoned-off in the gate area.
Several spots that did make the list are overrated. It seems like they’re stretching because once they agreed to rate Austin they needed to rate restaurants in Austin and while the city’s food scene is across-the-board above average there’s actually very little that’s great. Some of the spots that made the list wouldn’t have come close in other cities that the guide rates.
It seems worth noting that the plan that American Airlines announced for a new 15,000 square foot lounge near gate 14 three years ago is not happening.
They’re still getting a new lounge, despite pulling back significantly in Austin and eliminating around two-thirds of destinations served. But it won’t be as large, and it will be in a different space.
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 »
