Nestled off the coast of Thessaloniki is an autonomous peninsula under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. It is home to over 20 monasteries, forbids women from setting foot there, and is high on my bucket...
Turkish Airlines Engages in Self-Cannibalism With Catering Cuts
Did you know that some snakes die trying to eat themselves? For example, a rat snake was found dead, having swallowed 2/3 of its body. As crude of an analogy as it is, Turkish Airlines does more than starve...
Qatar Airways Threatens To Sever Business With Airbus And Boeing
Qatar Airways’ Chief Akbar Al Baker has a warning for Airbus and Boeing: allow us to defer orders or we will never do business with you again. Qatar Airways Has Many Aircraft On Orders Despite a young fleet, COVID-19,...
What Delta And United Are Saying About Death Of George Floyd
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines are talking about the death of George Floyd without mentioning him by name. Both carriers, one more publicly than the other, are stressing general principles of equality rather than addressing the incident directly....
Balkans Day 8: Racism In Skopje + A Pirated Hollywood Premiere
It is timely that Day 8 of my Balkans trip report comes today. As cities burn across the United States over the death of George Floyd and frustration over decades of structural inequality, an encounter in Skopje, North Macedonia...
United Airlines Is Cutting Upper Management Positions
It’s not just frontline employees and office clerical workers at United Airlines who will be taking a hit; some long-term, high-level management employees will also be forced out of the company this autumn. Live and Let’s Fly received a...
American CEO Doug Parker Has Earned My Respect
It’s what we do when no one is watching that actually defines our character. For Doug Parker, that involved reading a book, trying to seek understanding, and unwittingly touching the life of another human being, in this case a...
United Airlines’ Expanded July 2020 International Schedule
United Airlines will be adding more international service to its July schedule. During the month of July, United will add: Additional trans-Atlantic flying from Newark (EWR), Washington (IAD), and San Francisco (SFO), including resumption of service to Brussels (BRU),...
Balkans Day 7: Refreshment In Kosovo
My brother and I were in Berlin on February 17, 2008, the day that Kosovo declared independence. At the time we considered flying immediately to Pristhina to join the celebration. That proved difficult, but visiting Kosovo was always on...
Fearful Flight Attendant Union Hits Back At United CEO
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), the powerful union representing flight attendants at United Airlines, is not pleased with new CEO Scott Kirby…and it’s only his first full week on the job. But the AFA is also afraid that...
Lufthansa’s Shrewd Slot Deal Costs Little, Nets Billions
Lufthansa has reached a compromise with Germany and the European Union over its €9 billion bailout package. While Lufthansa must give up slots, the recipients of those slots will be far less likely to harm the entrenched German carrier....
Scott Kirby’s Plan To Save Jobs At United Airlines
United CEO Scott Kirby has reached out to employees with a broad vision to avoid furloughs and job cuts in October. But the devil remains in the details… In the first of a new video series to employees called...
Let The Conspiracy Theories Begin: Unexplained Heaps Of Cash Found In Downed PIA Airbus Jet
Investigators have found an unusually large amount of cash onboard the downed Airbus jetliner that crashed into a Karachi suburb last week. Let the conspiracy theories begin? The crash of an Airbus A320 jetliner killed 97 of 99 passengers...
Beautiful New Ad From United Airlines
United Airlines is out with a simple but powerful new coronavirus ad that truly makes me want to fly. The ad offer a series of metaphors linking different treasures of nature to different parts of our home. Imagery is...
Boeing Debates Future Of 747 Program
A furious internal debate at Boeing over the future of the 747 program will either extend the life of the program or end it by 2022. Supply Concerns Threaten Future Of Boeing 747 Program The problem is Triumph, which...
United Airlines Extends Travel Waiver To June 30th
United Airlines has matched American and Delta by extending its change fee waiver another month, now through June 30, 2020. In a memo to employees, United CEO Scott Kirby mentioned that demand for travel was slowly returning: “There are...
100,000 (And I Don’t Mean Miles)
Usually when I write about 100,000 I am talking about a credit card offer or achieving top-tier status. Not so today, sadly. Over the weekend, the New York Times ran a poignant front cover simply listing the names of...
United Airlines Forced Out Of HQ Due To Severe Flooding
Record-setting rain in Chicago forced United Airlines out of its world headquarters in Willis Tower. Two weeks later, the building remains closed. Heavy Rains + Flooding Hit Chicago, Including United Airlines From May 15-17, 2020, heavy rains pummeled Chicago,...
American Airlines Offers 250,000 Miles + Travel Benefits In Latest Termination Offer
While American Airlines CEO Doug Parker downplayed the risk of furloughs as recently as this month, a leaked document reveals AA plans to shed at least 30% of its management and support staff (MSS) in October. Voluntary separation packages...
C-Suite Leadership Shuffle At United Airlines
With Scott Kirby now in the captain’s seat, United is implementing a number of leadership changes effective June 1, 2020. Most notably, a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) has been appointed. A New Role For United COO Greg Hart...
