Tag Archives for India.
I think everyone’s ready to get back to normal after 2020 and a rocky start to 2021. Vaccines hold that promise, but the rollout is slow. And those with the means will go to lengths to accelerate their shots. That’s why I wrote back in November that I expected vaccine tourism to become a trend in early 2021. Last month we started to see travel agencies advertising vaccine tourism packages.
And now trips are actually happening.
In mid-February, just as the coronavirus pandemic was gaining steam, American Airlines announced a partnership with Alaska Airlines and plans to serve Seattle – Bangalore, India. It was to be American’s return to India, and the first U.S.-Bangalore non-stop.
The flight’s launch as been delayed to next year, but American Airlines President Robert Isom told his airline’s pilots last week that they’re still committed to it – even though United Airlines has just announced plans to fly San Francisco – Bangalore and will likely pick up most of the non-stop tech corridor business, and they’re planning to launch their flight before American begins its service.
With India rounding towards 5 million lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19, hundreds of millions of cases based on antibody testing and where lockdown may have increased virus spread, and most foreign nationals banned from entering the country, the government has chosen an odd time to care about the scourge of… inflight photography.
On Tuesday United Airlines teased new international long haul routes and this morning the airline briefed media about their plans. The airline made media promise not to place guesses on their social posts after the briefing. Now they have a new social post with the reveal.
Like American, United set a goal of reducing management head count by 30%.
Yet United Airlines is actually hiring – just in Gurgaon, India. And they aren’t offshoring the way you normally expect, looking for cheap coders or call center employees. They’re hiring for more analytical, and traditionally white collar, positions. This includes Senior Analyst, Manager, and Senior Manager roles
United operates three different routes between the U.S. and India and all three have wide open business class award space looking out into 2021 – for months at a time.
I decided to show connecting availability also because it’s worth flagging business class award space for four or more people on Swiss through Zurich and Turkish via Istanbul. There’s even Air Canada business class Delhi – Vancouver for four passengers on Tuesdays.
Effective March 13th all Visas for India are suspended until April 15th. This applies to point of departure, which means that passengers leaving their home country prior to March 13th should have their visas honored. Visa-free travel for Overseas Citizenship of India cardholders is also suspended until April 15
American and Alaska are partners again. The previously-announced March 1 breakup isn’t happening. Alaska Airlines is joining oneworld. And American will fly from Seattle to Bangalore, India (and Seattle – London).
Based on comments by American Airlines top executives at an employee meeting last week, the airline is working on a Tokyo Haneda shuttle schedule at LAX. They’re preparing to send Boeing 787s into the Pacific. And they’re looking forward to new Boeing 787 aircraft deliveries that they intend to fly 7000 miles – to places like India and Africa.
It’s great to see the airline deploying their new premium-heavy 46 business class seat 767s aggressively, and not just out of Newark or even on pure business routes.
The new Polaris business class seat is a competitive advantage not because it’s better than what Delta, American, or Air France offer – or what British Airways or Virgin Atlantic will offer – it isn’t. It generally lags all of those. However they’re able to offer fully flat direct aisle access business class seats, attractively designed, using less cabin space. That allows them to fit more seats into the same footprint, or add seats without taking out as many from a lesser cabin.
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 »
