Tag Archives for pilots.
The FAA just issued a new mandate requiring airlines to certify that pilot hiring is based solely on merit—not diversity initiatives—despite zero evidence of compromised safety. Is this regulation necessary, and even legal or just political signaling?
American Airlines pilots declared “no confidence” in the airline’s management and requested a meeting with the board over financial and operational struggles—but the board declined, sending them right back to the executives they criticized.
American Airlines pilots have joined flight attendants in revealing they were forced to sleep in airports during last week’s meltdown, with their union blasting management as “completely unprepared,” despite clear warnings ahead of the storm.
Alaska Airlines sold a customer a paid first class seat for an 8-hour Liberia–Seattle flight — then called them to the podium at boarding and bumped them to coach because two pilots were deadheading. Pilot contracts can require premium cabin seats, and Alaska’s language is unusually aggressive about it compared to how United, Delta, and American handle “pilots over passengers.”
A must-pass funding package to avoid a January 30 government shutdown is carrying quiet airline policy moves that will matter far more than the headlines about FAA dollars.
The major pilot union is celebrating “two fully rested pilots at all times,” but the language is really a spending restriction that prevents the FAA from studying new technologies that might improve safety, and separate language orders the Department of Transportation to revisit decades-old international aviation policy that has worked to open market access and foster competition.
A Taiwanese captain allegedly punched his Malaysian first officer multiple times during taxi out of LAX on an EVA Air flight to Taipei after a dispute over taxi speed. The first officer reportedly issued repeated “Speed” callouts and applied the brakes when the captain didn’t slow, after which the altercation turned physical—prompting an internal investigation and scrutiny from Taiwan’s aviation regulator.
India asked the U.N.’s aviation body to stop foreign airlines from hiring away its pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants — arguing that worker mobility disrupts the “orderly” growth of its carriers. The proposal effectively claims airlines, and the government behind them, own the labor of their people — a mindset summed up in one chilling message to pilots: “You don’t own your life — we do.”
Taking a pilot out of the cockpit when there’s any question over their fitness to fly just makes sense. ‘Prove me wrong.’
Rooms at the hotel feature bondage beds and swing frames; mirrored ceilings; “human-dog” cages and leather harnesses; sex toys – and one of their rooms contained a spa bath moulded in the shape of a vagina.
JetBlue and United Airlines are working to form a partnership. JetBlue’s pilots are coming out swinging against it. They say their contract forbids it, while the airline says they know what the contract says and have no plans to violate it.
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 »
