New and notes from around the interweb:
- Dave Neeleman’s new startup airline Moxy may not offer seat back video.
- What Mastercard does with your purchase data if it feels weird to you it’s nothing compared to what the FBI is doing.
- Focus on just one thing when you travel to become expert on a slice of a destination quickly like bars inside record shops and barber shops in Sydney or hawker centers in Singapore.
- Aircalin, the French carrier of New Caledonia, plans to replace their entire fleet in two and a half years. Besides replacing their two Airbus A320s and two A330s, they plan to “introduce new uniforms, on board menu, cabin interiors as well as the inclusion of new seat designs and lie flat beds with direct aisle access.”
- Qatar Airways continues to undermine competition in vital transatlantic routes the people lining up behind protectionism for Delta, United, and American are actually really funny. Competition is undermined by more flights, and the routes like San Francisco – Milan are o ‘vital’ that no US airline even flies them.
- Neither United nor American are rushing to match Delta’s improvements to international economy service.
On the one hand United President Scott Kirby views their schedule as their product, but sees the need for ‘keeping up with the joneses’ in what they offer. I’d expect United to do something to be able to say they’re doing something. On the other hand American Airlines could just announce improvements that they don’t actually make…
- I’m surprised Senator Rubio’s handlers weren’t more on the ball here. There was JetBlue space to Fort Lauderdale he could have been booked onto. Nonetheless my point remains:
DYKWIA?! If @marcorubio is thwarted by @AmericanAir irrops what chance do the rest of us have? https://t.co/SgnGhPcL0K
— gary leff (@garyleff) July 9, 2019
- Qatar Airways is introducing a new Platinum… member card. Yes, that’s useless, though it is heavy. I think they’re mistaken when referring to a US bank issuing a heavier card to those who have $1 million in assets, he must be talking about the JP Morgan Reserve Card for Chase Private Banking customers. The published requirement is $10 million in assets, though in practice it’s much lower than that. (HT: One Mile at a Time)
Let’s dispel with this fiction once and for all that Doug Parker doesn’t know what its doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing; he’s undergoing a systematic effort to change this airline and make American more like the ultra low cost carriers. If I’m elected we’ll embrace what makes United the greatest Airline in the world.
Let’s dispel with this fiction once and for all that Doug Parker doesn’t know what its doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing; he’s undergoing a systematic effort to change this airline and make American more like the ultra low cost carriers. If I’m elected we’ll embrace what makes United the greatest Airline in the world.
So the only time in recent memory that American and United don’t LEAP on the Delta bandwagon is when Delta actually does something that benefits the customer? That says nothing good about the state of competition in the domestic airline industry.