Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago. What’s the...
Emirates Wants To Add More Fifth Freedom Flights To USA
Emirates is walking a fine line between targeting commercially lucrative routes and trying to keep protective U.S. carriers quiet. Even so, it is exploring options to add new Fifth Freedom routes between the USA and Europe. Fifth Freedom routes...
Man Impersonates Lufthansa Pilot For Free First Class Upgrades
Catch me if you can? The man has been caught…and wait till you hear his defense. Man Arrested For Impersonating Lufthansa Pilot Rajan Mahbubani is a self-identified frequent flyer. The 48-year-old acquired a Lufthansa’s pilot uniform and fake ID...
Mother Gives Birth On American Airlines Jetway, Names Her Daughter “Sky”
How does a flight arrive with 165 passengers when it left with 164? Ask Nereida Araujo. Araujo was 38 weeks pregnant and had to fly from Tampa (TPA) to Pittsburgh (PIT) via Charlotte (CLT). She was cleared by her...
Delta’s Outstanding TUMI Amenity Kit
While my overall flight on Delta from Los Angeles to New York was average at best, I want to commend Delta for offering passengers a very practical and useful amenity kit. Although I have a huge collection of amenity...
KLM Flight Reaches North America Before Returning To Amsterdam
Talk about a long day. Passengers had little to give thanks about on KLM685 yesterday. The flight returned to Amsterdam…after already reaching North America. The flight was headed to Mexico City, where Popocatepetl had earlier erupted. A volcanic ash...
Atlanta Airport Wants To Help You Stop Smoking With Absurd Smoking Ban
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport will soon close all its smoking rooms. At the same time, it wants to help you stop smoking through a free nicotine lozenges. I’m strongly of the opinion that indoor, airside smoking lounges should remain. While smoking...
Does Lufthansa Think It’s Above The Law?
Lufthansa is in trouble with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for operating “illegally” from two U.S. cities. In fact, the FAA implies that Lufthansa knowingly flouted regulations. That plays into a common theme: does Lufthansa think it’s above the...
The Golden Era Of Airline Travel? We’re In It.
To all those who wistfully talk about the golden age of travel in the past tense, I’d argue we are in it now. Someone recently shared the video below with me. It captures what service was like onboard Korean...
South African Airways On The Brink Of Collapse
South African Airways is facing collapse and liquidation as it desperately tries to raise capital to pay staff salaries and other operational expenses. Blaming the recent strike for its “sudden deterioration” in cashflow, South Africa’s flag carrier now faces...
Thanksgiving Letter from United CEO
In his annual Thanksgiving letter to United Airlines employees, CEO Oscar Munoz admonishes his employees to offer better service while thanking them for the great year. As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., I hope all...
Great Coffee In Downtown Los Angeles
Los Angeles is my home and as such, I have favorite coffee shops all over this sprawling metropolis. Today, however, I want to share of my favorite coffee shop in the heart of the city. Downtown LA has really...
Mass Arrests Across USA As Airport Catering Strikes Bring Civil Unrest
Catering workers are being arrested at airports across the United States as they protest for higher wages and benefits. A nationwide series of strikes and sit-ins have blocked traffic and terminals at airports across the nation. Arrests have been...
Checking Baggage Before Your Flight? Arrive Early. Get Aggressive, If Necessary.
What happens when you attempt to check-in late for your flight with baggage? The answer is, you get stuck. And may even forfeit the value of your ticket. This is the busiest travel week of the year and many...
O (Air) Canada: Problems At Aeroplan
Just a friendly warning: if you are considering an Aeroplan redemption, you may want to wait a few more days. Last week, Air Canada and Aeroplan transitioned to Amadeus, a back-end reservation system. The change did not go smoothly...
Emirates’ German Dilemma
Berlin wants Emirates. Emirates wants to fly to Berlin. But German law prevents it…unless Emirates gives up another lucrative German route. Welcome to the politics of Emirates in Germany. Michael Müller, the mayor of Berlin, is courting Emirates. He...
Top 20 Airlines In 2020?
AirlineRatings is out with a list of its top 20 airlines of 2020. What should we make of the list? I always hesitate to even write about these lists, since they are so inherently arbitrary. Yet since this top-20...
Hoping For Trump Pardon, Two Turkeys Take Up Residence in Luxurious Willard InterContinental Hotel
Part of the pageantry of the White House is the annual turkey pardoning, which takes place today in the Rose Garden. For the two turkeys vying for one pardon, this has been a relaxing week at the Willard InterContinental...
United Scales Back Hong Kong And Australia Service
Adjusting to weaker demand, United Airlines is trimming service to both Hong Kong and Melbourne, Australia. United’s Hong Kong Reductions With civil unrest leading to weaker demand, United already cut back service to Hong Kong earlier this year. Chicago...
Lufthansa CEO Scorns Flight Shaming As “Fake News”
In a rare pushback in the politically correct world of corporate capitulation via lip service to the environmental movement, Lufthansa’s chief is scorning the flight shaming movement. Speaking at the IATA Wings of Change conference in Berlin, Carsten Spohr, Lufthana’s CEO,...
