News and notes from around the interweb:
- The Charlotte airport master lease expires in 18 months. American says the reason for their hub – which is 78% connecting passengers – is because it’s cheap.
That’s why CEO Robert Isom – whose priority is “not spending any more than we have to” – says “the reason we’re able to have a hub here that is one of the largest in the world is because we’re able to do it in a really cost-efficient fashion.”
- Yeah, boyeeeeee!
LA —> TAYCOUVER
Shout out to @united for blasting our girl over the loud speakers pic.twitter.com/IlwLv2Amb6
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) December 8, 2024
- If I were getting paid on each American Airlines amenity kit, I’d say nice things about the AAdvantage Business program, too even though base earning in the program is about a 75% devaluation compared to its predecessor and I’ve found that the tech often doesn’t work for simple tasks.
- Pan Am bombing wreckage moved to US for bombing trial
- Delta’s new small Boston business class lounge opens Wednesday.
Guests can receive a three-course meal in less than an hour, with elevated seafood dishes like a warm Maine lobster roll, octopus carpaccio and cod Milanese on the menu. A chef’s daily local fish selection will be served a la plancha.
Non-seafood lovers will have plenty to enjoy, too, with options like prime steak tartare, crispy cauliflower, the fan-favorite steak frites, and more.
- Patrick McKenzie on debanking
Cheap? More like greedy. You need to invest in your people and customers.
Totally unrelated, but bookings at the historic New York Hilton Midtown are filling up fast!
@ Gary — Small, but MOST PREMIUMEST, EVER!
@ 1990 — WTH does “bookings at the historic New York Hilton Midtown are filling up fast!” mean?
@Gene
It’s a ‘great’ hotel. In 2016, Dear Leader held his victory party there. You’re always welcome in NYC!
The new Delta One lounge at Boston could be a big deal if Delta can actually deliver a three-course meal that is better than the in-flight meal in less than 1 hour, as they claim. The transatlantic flights from Boston are short. Like 5-6 hours, depending on winds. The dinner takes an hour and the breakfast takes an hour. That leaves maybe 4 hours for sleeping. Can Delta incentivize Delta One customers to skip an in-flight meal and instead eat in the lounge? And, of course, nobody is talking about the potential loss of lounge access if Delta goes ala carte or unbundled business-class.
It will be very much worth watching if the City of Charlotte decides to increase AA’s rent in order to pay for the upgrades that everyone knows CLT needs. We are not talking about building facilities but repairing facilities and increasing cleaning in a facility that is severely over capacity.
AA has nowhere else to go for a hub in the SE. Charlotte needs to do what needs to be done to protect their image – which is very tattered because AA shoves so many more passengers through the facility than it was designed to handle.
ATL handles a lot more passengers but does it far better than CLT.
Traveling through the Charlotte airport is a bit like a time machine, it’s basically the original 1960s ATL terminal design but with five concourses that far-exceed its design capacity.
Didn’t know that nearly 80% of passengers at CLT are connecting, but it explains the overcrowding. This has to be the most of any domestic airline hub by a wide margin.
It’s well known CLT is an absolute hell hole of an airport to originate from let alone connect through. They spent an assload of money to update the interiors and seemingly expand what’s before security but did literally nothing but update the interior of B & C and do some small expansion at A after security. The airport is a joke. You’re better off connecting in PHL if you have no other choice.
When an airline shifts NY to Europe traffic from non-stop to connecting flights, it loses my business. But, it’s a number game and that’s the way it goes. Nothing said here will change a thing.
@ 1990 — Oh, you are speaking of Agent Orange!
Yet compare AA’s financial performance to UA and DL. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Now the good new is that the airport authority is expanding the airport. The new A concourse is quite nice. But the Admiral Club’s situation at CLT, a major hub, is an embarrassment. That C club looks like something out of 1984. You mean AA can’t find new club space in A and can’t at least install outlets in C? Really, does Isom think people still travel with leather brief cases filled with files of paper?
The PHX B club also has the 1984 vibe to it. But PHX like CLT is treated as the ghetto hub.
After CLT got rid of the bathroom attendants the whole operation went to $h!t.
In my opinion, they could use a management overhaul.
Why are they deemphasizing LAX and JFK airports for crying out loud?
@Gene. @1990 is hoping for another CEO murder. Common thinking for leftist/klAntifa drones.
@ Gary
thank you for the debanking article. ++++++