As Turkish tanks rolls deeper into northern Syrian, some Bay Area residents have used Turkish Airlines as a proxy for the Turkish government. Nearly 100 people showed up to the Turkish Airlines ticket counter at San Francisco International Airport...
American Airlines Management Shuffle, The Emperor Has No Clothes
American Airlines announced a handful of senior leadership changes this week ahead of quarterly earnings reports at the end of the month. But few left or even changed departments, does Emperor Parker have new clothes? If you are considering booking...
United Battles Alaska At LAX With New Route
United Airlines is challenging Alaska Airlines in Los Angeles with new nonstop service to Anchorage, Alaska. Next summer, United Airlines will offer daily nonstop service between Los Angeles (LAX) and Anchorage (ANC). The service will be operated by a...
SWISS Expands “Flugzug” Service
With the demise of Adria leaving a gap in its domestic network, SWISS is expanding it Flugzug rail service to Lugano. In German, Flugzug is literally flight train, though SWISS translates it as Airtrain. When SWISS abandoned Basel (BSL), it...
United MileagePlus Announces 2020 Qualification Requirements
United’s MileagePlus frequent flyer program is shaking up the way they track and award status in 2020 and it’s not all good news for loyalists. If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support...
Boeing Loses Large 787 Order
Aeroflot Russian Airlines has formally canceled its Boeing 787 order, further casting the future of Boeing’s Dreamliner program into uncertainty. Boeing ramped up production of the Dreamliner earlier this year from 12 to 14 aircraft per month at two...
Was It Something I Said? Icelandair Abandons San Francisco
The day after I published my review of Icelandair Premium Saga (business) class from Reykjavik to San Francisco, Icelandair announced it was dropping the route. Was my review that bad? I’m joking, of course, though it was not one...
Why Does Ethiopian Airlines Want To Invest In South African Airways?
Ethiopian Airlines is open to the idea of investing in South African Airways. In fact, it sees it as part of a broader strategy to save aviation in Africa. Not only has South African Airways (SAA) not reported profit...
Norwegian Hands Iberia An Unsolicited Gift
Norwegian just gave Iberia the best gift it could have asked for: it is abandoning the majority of its routes from Madrid. Profit has been elusive for Norwegian, which is seeking to shed unprofitable routes and navigate an aircraft...
American Airlines CEO Doug Parker’s Days Appear Numbered
I wrote earlier this year that I didn’t think American Airlines CEO, Doug Parker, would survive the summer. Now into October, it looks like that prediction may be true, depending on one’s definition of summer. If you are considering booking...
United Airlines Restores Key Philadelphia Route
After a suspension throughout much of 2019, United has reversed course and is restoring service between Philadelphia and Washington Dulles. Back in January, United cut this longstanding route, telling me: Service between Washington Dulles and Philadelphia was primarily operated...
Lufthansa Group Beefs Up Service To Ljubljana
In the wake of Adria Airways’ collapse, the Lufthansa Group is stepping in to fill the void. Starting this month, we will see new service from three members of the Lufthansa Group to four former Adria destinations. These include:...
Adria Airways Is Dead, Long Live Adria Airways 2.0?
Adria Airways filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations yesterday. Slovenia, which refused to give Adria a lifeline, is now floating the idea of a new national airline to take its place. The trouble really began three years ago when...
United’s Perplexing Rollout Of Premium Plus On Transcontinental Routes (New Details)
As far as I am concerned, United botched the official rollout of its premium economy product on premium transcontinental routes. It’s all about communication… Over the weekend, United began selling Premium Plus seats on select flights between Newark and...
United’s Plus Points Makes MileagePlus Best In the US?
United Airlines has changed their Regional Premier and Global Premier upgrade system, replacing them with Plus Points instead. And now it’s not just 1K flyers that benefit. If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click...
Why Isn’t Cathay Pacific Leveraging US Credit Card Markets to Shore Up Losses?
Cathay Pacific has struggled financially prior to the disruptions in Hong Kong. Why doesn’t the airline turn to the US credit card market for liquidity? If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support...
Why UK Pilots Are Livid Over Germany’s Condor Bailout
Pilots in the United Kingdom have expressed outrage over the German government’s bailout of Condor. Is this a case of jealously or do the pilots have a point? The British Airlines Pilots Association (BALPA) is the umbrella union representing...
Delta’s Investment In LATAM Is Pure Genius
Delta’s surprise announcement that it will spend $1.9 billion to acquire a 20% stake in LATAM is a shrewd move that will simultaneously strengthen Delta while hurting the competition. Yesterday, Delta announced it would form a significant relationship with...
Condor Survives After Bailout From German Government
Condor will survive the winter after the German federal government and the State of Hessen announced a so-called bridging loan to keep the carrier afloat. Condor is a profitable airline and forecasts stability and growth in 2020. But parent...
21-Year-Old College Student Runs Texas Hotel Alone…For 32 Hours…During A Tropical Storm
Satchel Smith’s eight hour shift turned in a marathon 32-hour effort at a Homewood Suites in Beaumont, Texas. By the time his shift had ended, he was hailed a hero for single-handedly caring for so many hotel guests. Tropical...
