Tag Archives for trump.
Donald Trump used to own a whole airline. He purchased the Eastern Shuttle in 1989 and renamed it the Trump Shuttle. He lost $100 million on the deal, and also lost big in a takeover attempt of American Airlines the same year. The Trump Shuttle is now the American Airlines shuttle.
Trump does still own a Boeing 757 (as well as a Cessna). He acquired the jet in 2011.
They were both on American Airlines regional flights. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the son of the President, or if you have an unlimited scope and the full resources of the federal government at your disposal to investigate that President. Everyone is brought down to size at Gate 35X. Truly, it is the most humbling aviation experience in the country.
I’ve written before that the previous administration could have closed the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and just moved terrorism suspects to this gate.
Transportation committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Airlines for America) gave up on reform at the end of February. Just weeks before “word had been passed quietly to supporters that Shuster finally believed he had enough votes to bring the FAA reauthorization bill (which included the ATC corporation section) to the House floor the week of March 12th” yet the idea quickly died.
Here’s why.
The aviation world was apoplectic this week at the suggestion that President Trump’s personal pilot John Dunkin could be named to head the FAA. It may have just been payback for the FAA eliminating navigation waypoints named for Trump in 2015. However Trump has been on record for awhile saying the agency should be headed by a pilot.
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 »
