News and notes from around the interweb:
- 80 year old woman discovered her cane had a built-in sword while going through airport security (HT: Heels First Travel)
- American Airlines CEO didn’t join the airline executives meeting with Donald Trump because it conflicted with one of the dates for the airline’s leadership conference, 5000 American employees come to Dallas split across four separate dates and Parker would be noticeably absent.
United’s pilots made a direct plea to Trump for protectionism, and American’s pilots think it’s absurd that Parker didn’t go to the meeting in person to do the same.
Carey’s union, the Allied Pilots Association, and the larger Air Line Pilots Association, are targeting Norwegian Air, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways. The unions and big U.S. airlines say those foreign carriers avoid labor laws or get huge subsidies from their governments that let them expand and threaten jobs at U.S. airlines.
That subject came up only briefly Thursday, and it did not go well for the U.S. airlines.
No doubt if Parker had gone, he’d be criticized for wasting his time in Washington and neglecting American’s leaders and future leaders.
- “[T]here are so many seats sold annually between New York and London that we’ll be wildly successful with just a tiny slice of that” is exactly what every transatlantic startup says. But without frequency, a loyal customer base or corporate contracts, and competitive price, getting that 1% or 2% of the market doesn’t happen. Eos, MAXJet, Silverjet… and La Compagnie even killed their New York – London service.
- AirAsia is selling $99 flights between Honolulu and Osaka, $179 to Kuala Lumpur. Their flat bed premium seats are just $799 one-way Honolulu – Osaka – Kuala Lumpur.
- “How to recover from a long ass flight, according to flight attendants” compare to my own how to beat jet lag every time.
- The City National Bank Crystal Visa Infinite Card has a 70,000 point signup bonus.
- A former Air India Airbus A320 has been turned into a restaurant (HT: Varuna P.)
