The last 10 days have been irksome for many San Francisco travelers thanks to a closure of SFO Runway 28L. But the pain will end tomorrow night, a whole week ahead of schedule. Runway construction on 28L begin on September 7th at...
KLM Replaces Brussels Flight With Full-Service High-Speed Train
KLM will trial a high-speed train service between Amsterdam and Brussels next March in place of one of its flights. But the Dutch carrier promises more than just a seat. KLM currently flies five times per day between Brussels...
Watch An Air China 777-300ER Catch Fire Over Washington Dulles
An Air China 777-300 was forced to return to Washington Dulles after a flames erupted from the left engine after takeoff. An eyewitness captured the entire scene on video using a mobile phone. Air China Flight 818, bound from...
Germany Unites Around New Taxes, Higher Airfares (But Protections For Lufthansa)
Germany is moving closer toward raising taxes on domestic flights in hopes of reducing demand and eventually greenhouse gas pollution. But Lufthansa stands to benefit from the new taxes. Like other nations, Germany finds itself falling short of the...
Air India’s New “Diet” Crew Meals: Fat Shaming Or Cost Cutting?
Air India is introducing new low-fat “diet” meals for crews. Is this another not-so-subtle attempt at fat-shaming or just another cost cutting cutting move for a cash-starved airline? Effective immediately, Air India cabin crews (flight attendants and pilots) will...
Premium Award Seats Better For Balance Sheets
Airlines are happy to award more miles to customers who spend more money. But they sometimes forget that releasing premium award seats (business and first class) is better for the balance sheet too. If you are considering booking travel or signing up...
Who’s Excited About IHG Promotions? Nobody, Apparently
The purpose of offering a promotion is to gain interaction, drive incremental sales, and engage a customer base. But when your promotion is so bad that customers don’t respond, why run one at all? If you are considering booking travel or signing...
United Airlines Strategically Retools Winter Schedule
United Airlines is adjusting its winter longhaul schedule this weekend. The story is not just the upgauges and downgauges, but the strategy behind them and the versatility of the United fleet. First, let’s starts with the changes, which include...
Cockpit Coffee Spill Prompts Transatlantic Flight Diversion
Drinking hot coffee in the cockpit can be a very dangerous thing…and costly too. Just ask one Condor pilot. On February 06, a Condor flight traveling from Frankfurt to Cancun and operated by an Airbus A330-300 diverted to Shannon...
Airline Pilot Fails Sobriety Test Then Sues Police For Detaining Him
A SkyWest pilot is suing two police officers in Rapid City, South Dakota for false arrest, alleging defamation and slander. Police say they detained him on a tip that he reeked of alcohol and that he failed a sobriety...
Rumor: Qatar Airways Will Invest In TAAG Angola Airlines
Angolan media is reporting that Qatar Airways is exploring a sizable investment in troubled TAAG Angola Airlines. In a move aimed at turning TAAG from a steady loss-leader into a profitable airline, state-owned TAAG is selling a 39% stake...
Cathay Pacific Cuts Capacity, Axes Longhaul Routes
Cathay Pacific is responding to depressed demand by cutting or reducing a number of longhaul routes. August was a horrible month for Cathay Pacific, its worst since the 2003 SARS outbreak. Overall passenger traffic declined 11.3% versus the previous...
Amtrak Hints At Long-Haul Route Cuts
Amtrak is hinting that long-haul train service will remain, but will be scaled back from current levels. I’d call that wildly optimistic thinking. Speaking to Skift’s Brian Sumers, Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson explained: There will always be a place...
Unpopular: Variably-Priced Awards Are Better For Most
By November of 2019, the three largest airlines in the world (American, Delta and United) will all have variably-priced award flights in one form or another. Frequent flyers lament them, but for most travellers, it’s good news. If you...
Naughty: Spirit Pushed Credit, Not Refund, For Cancelled Flights
Hurricane Dorian brought many flight cancellations, Florida-based carriers like Spirit were particularly hard hit. But when flights started to cancel, Spirit flight refunds were hard to come by. They pushed credit not refunds for passengers. If you are considering booking...
American Airlines Mechanic Goes Too Far, Hurts Cause
It was revealed this week that an American Airlines mechanic was charged with sabotaging a flight from Miami, then he was arrested. This kind of action hurts their cause. If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit...
Shocking: American Airlines Mechanic Charged With Sabotaging Aircraft
An American Airlines mechanic in Miami was arrested and faces sabotage charges. He has confessed to deliberately disabling a navigation system on an aircraft in hopes of securing overtime pay. On July 17, Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani allegedly tampered...
SAS Plays Musical Chairs At LAX
SAS is shifting its service to Los Angeles. Stockholm is out. Copenhagen is in. What prompted this change? Effective January 13, 2019, SAS will launch year-around service between Copenhagen (CPH) and Los Angeles (LAX): SK931 Copenhagen – Los Angeles...
Three Major Chinese Airlines Synchronously Invest In Chinese-Made Jet Fleet
Major Chinese airlines are looking away from Airbus and Boeing and investing in Chinese-made aircraft in a peculiarly imitative order. Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern each announced identical orders for 35 Comac ARJ21-700 twinjets. The Comac ARJ21 is intended...
American Airlines Gives Apologies, Delta Gives Raises
American Airlines is in a never-ending war with their employees, so much so that they instructed how to apologize better while Delta gives their employees raises. A tale of two airlines. If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a...
