News and notes from around the interweb:
- With 51% on-time performance (that’s bad), British Airways is assigning senior managers to work flight departures to hopefully get them in touch with the realities of the operation.
- Ok, but they might have just redeemed Walgreens Cash for all of this stuff and resell it in order to monetize the points?
It’s not some huge mystery who is doing all the looting. In San Francisco, they literally set up shelves to sell stolen goods at the train station. https://t.co/ker7hKQdf8
— Wally Nowinski (@Nowooski) April 16, 2023
- The union wage premium – the extra amount union workers earn compared to similarly-situated non-union workers – has declined from 15% down to 4% – 7% and in many industries it’s not possible for unions to earn a premium (diminished ability for unions to gain monopoly rents). One of the greatest exceptions to this is airline pilot unions. They have created a genuine moat through government regulation which restricts entry into the profession, limiting supply and making them difficult to replace. And they’re in a position to wreak havoc on an airline’s operation.
Doubling down on unions makes sense for pilots (where I often question the value, say, for Delta flight attendants). And doubling down on lobbying for rules that limit the number of pilots similarly makes sense for them. Talks continue about folding the independent American Airlines pilot union into ALPA, the behemoth Air Line Pilots Association. (Skift)
- New set of 30% off Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer awards no business class to/from the U.S. though.
- How Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert
- Delta’s new design clubs are all very nice. I still prefer the aesthetic of the new American Admirals Club template but there’s only one of those open.
First shots from inside the new MSP Sky Club opening this Wednesday, courtesy of @jweinhagen from a tour earlier today.
Follow @nicholas_serati and @alliemjohnson21 for a full look inside tomorrow on @thriftytraveler! pic.twitter.com/SuIBdg5dJq
— Kyle Potter (@kpottermn) April 17, 2023
Unions are scum.
Wally Nowinski sounds like a racist, he should stop spreading disinformation and check his white privilege first. I will not be surprised if he is also a white supremacist, science denier, transphobe and conspiracy theorist. He should give up his blue check and deactivate his Twitter account
lol…51% is bad? Thats a good day for Air Canada.
They’ve been around 50% since summer of 2021. And noone cares. The managers just keep collecting bonuses while frontline staff makes minimum wage
Union premium should be negative based on AA FAs.
For one, the major difference between union/non-union these days is less about wage, and more about “compensation” or the broader work environment. As an example, contracts include provisions on advanced notice of scheduling, paid holidays, the rare retirement plan. For another, economic rent can only be extracted when there are barriers to entry. Pilots and doctors are obvious examples of professions whose unions have successfully lobbied for licensing restrictions that give their members monopoly power (yes, the AMA is a union). For baristas and flight attendants, the only real power comes from the notion that a large employer cannot easily replace a large percentage of staff in the event of a strike.