In Sweden, flying has become a social faux pas. That’s causing great concern for Swedish Airports and Scandinavian Airlines. Swedavia AB, which operates 10 airports in Sweden, noted two startling stats: In 2018, Sweden had its weakest overall growth...
U.S. Secretary Of State Looking “Very Closely” At Qatar-Air Italy Deal
Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, was grilled by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week. Many topics were raised, but the one that raised my eyebrows was Air Italy. A group of U.S. Senators—a motley bipartisan crew—are...
Meanwhile, One Airport Seeks To Punish JetBlue
With all the excitement surrounding JetBlue’s London announcement yesterday, news of a crackdown at an airport on the other coast slipped off the radar. JetBlue has big expansion plans to Europe. Service will start with London in 2021 from...
United May Replace 757s With A321XLR
In the coming years, United plans to replace its aging fleet of Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. Now United is floating the Airbus A321XLR as a potential replacement. Speaking to employees in a video that was seen by Flight...
An Explosive New Theory On The Ethiopian 737 MAX Crash
A new and detailed theory suggests that a potential bird strike plus pilot error, coupled with faulty sensors, resulted in the ET302 crash. I’ve been following the ET302 crash closely as we all try to better understand what happened...
I Like The New Virgin Atlantic Seats, But…
Virgin Atlantic unveiled new a new business class product for its A350-1000 aircraft yesterday and there’s a lot to like about it. But talk about an anticlimactic moment… Let’s start with the positive. The new business class seat appears...
Is Delta Messing With JetBlue?
Delta, in partnership with Virgin Atlantic, announced plans to serve London Gatwick from New York and Boston. Is this really about pursuing two lucrative new routes or is it about discouraging JetBlue from the same routes? Like One Mile at a...
United, Delta Dynamic Awards Hurt Loyal But Infrequent Flyers Most
This week, United joined the ranks of Delta in removing their award chart and switching to dynamically (variably) priced award redemptions. While in some cases consumers may benefit from the change, infrequent but loyal flyers are hurt the most....
Boeing CEO Accepts Blame For 737 MAX Crashes
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg issued an extensive statement concerning the preliminary report on flight 302 by Ethiopian Airlines. In it, he seems to apologize and accept blame for both the Lion Air and Ethiopian 737 MAX crashes. He also promises...
Huge Changes To United MileagePlus Coming On November 15, 2019
United Airlines is making big changes to the MileagePlus program this November. I just got off the phone with Luc Bondar, United’s Vice President of Loyalty and head of the MileagePlus program: we spoke for 35 minutes. I’ll have...
United Flight Diverts To Dallas After Cockpit Screens Malfunction
A United Express flight bound for Houston diverted to Dallas after two pivotal cockpit screens shut down without warning and could not be restored. United flight 4390, a CRJ-200 operated by Express Jet, departed from Knoxville, Tennessee on time...
United Airlines Suspends Service To New Delhi
Citing the continued closure of Pakistani airspace and strong seasonal winds, United Airlines will suspend its service to New Delhi for two weeks. A flight attendant shared a note she just received: Due to seasonal winds and the continued...
The Conspiracy To Crush AirAsia In Indonesia
Two airlines in Indonesia…and arguably the Indonesian government as well…have teamed up to squeeze AirAsia out of Indonesia. It’s a fascinating story of deception and duplicity. Imagine a circular rope. In the center is AirAsia Indonesia. Around it are...
Former United Executive Is Starting (Another) New Budget Airline
United’s former Chief Financial Officer, Andrew Levy, wants to start a budget airline to serve secondary airports in the USA. Levy also helped to establish Allegiant Air, but hopes to establish a more “reliable” airline than the current batch...
United Airlines Partners With Sunday Riley For New Amenity Kits
So long Cowshed, hello Sunday Riley. United has unveiled new amenity kits and a partnership with a niche American beauty brand. Later this month, United will roll out new amenity kits in Polaris (business class), Premium Plus (premium economy),...
A Fresh “Green New Meal” Era For Airline Food
You’ve heard about the Green New Deal, but have you heard about the Green New Meal? Singapore Airlines (SIA) embraced a “From Farm to Plane” concept a couple of years ago and has slowly been expanding it. This year, Singapore...
United Will Trial New Express Dining Service Concept In Business Class
United will trial express dining service for all Polaris Business Class passengers on late-evening transatlantic departures from Washington Dulles next month. I’ve written about the problem of late-evening departures to Europe before. Eastbound transatlantic flights from the East Coast are short...
Details On The New Breakfast Coming To American Airlines
American Airlines will “enhance” onboard meal service in several areas next month, but breakfast in economy class will actually improve. Citing an internal memo, View from the Wing reported several negative changes to AA catering set to kick in soon....
Passengers Hospitalized After United 737-800 From Baltimore Diverts To Washington Dulles
A United flight from Baltimore diverted to Washington Dulles after passengers and crew became sickened by noxious fumes. The smell of fumes was present upon boarding only worsened as the flight took off. Passengers complained of nausea, headaches, chest pain,...
Warren Buffett’s Delta “Mistake”
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Warren Buffett’s company, now owns more than 10% of Delta Air Lines. Buffett calls that an unintended mistake. Last month, independent of one another, Delta bought back more of its own stock. Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathway increased its...
