View from the Wing Archives.
After a jury found SkyWest liable for relentless sexual harassment at its DFW maintenance operation, the airline argued the victim should have reduced her emotional suffering through therapy and psychiatric drugs. The Fifth Circuit said Title VII imposes no such duty.
FAA is proposing to override state meal and rest-break rules for flight attendants, arguing that federal aviation safety rules already govern crew duty and rest and that state requirements can conflict with the need for crew to remain available in emergencies. The rulemaking would strengthen airlines’ preemption argument, but unions, states, and courts will still have a say before any final rule actually blocks these laws.
United showed off a premium CRJ-450 regional jet meant to offer first class, Starlink, and a luggage closet, but the same aircraft is now flying with its old CRJ-200 cabin.
The flight back to Detroit was cancelled due to lack of crew, and without additional later flights that day passengers were rebooked for the following day.
United’s new tentative agreement really does deliver what the union is selling on the headline items: roughly 30% higher base pay, 50% boarding pay, a richer 401(k) match, and meaningfully better hotel language. But after reading all 425 pages, the fuller story is that the gains come with real tradeoffs too — profit sharing still trails Delta and American, the retro pay is not truly full retro, and the union gave up the restriction that had blocked United from owning a regional airline without using mainline flight attendants.
Passengers on a Delta regional flight say the plane sat on the ground waiting for a late-arriving traveler tied to airline leadership. They also say a man who had already been upgraded was removed from first class so the traveler could take his seat.
United is taking one of the most disliked aircraft in U.S. aviation, the 50-seat CRJ200, stripping it down to 41 seats, adding first class, a luggage closet, and free Starlink Wi-Fi, and rebranding it as the new CRJ450. It is a real upgrade over today’s cramped regional flying, but not a substitute for mainline (or even a larger regional jet).
American Airlines was reportedly offering passengers as much as $4,000 each to volunteer off an oversold flight to Aspen, a stunning number for a carrier that usually avoids paying much to solve these problems. The twist is that saying yes may have been the best deal in the cabin, because the original flight later diverted to Grand Junction and passengers wound up finishing the trip to Aspen by bus.
United flight attendants appear close to finally getting a new contract after more than five years without a raise, but the price of that deal may be something unions almost never surrender: scope. A reported trade for pay on the ground could give United room to own a regional airline outright.
Victoria, Texas is offering residents $100 to book a roundtrip flight from the local airport—an effort to prop up lightly used United regional service to Houston that already draws nearly $7 million in federal subsidy. It’s a perfect snapshot of how the Essential Air Service program has evolved from a “temporary” deregulation bridge into a permanent, growing entitlement—often funding near-empty flights even when bigger airports are a short drive away.
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 »
