I received a nifty valentine in the mail from United Airlines. First off, happy Valentine’s Day! Although the holiday has been commercialized even more so than Christmas, it originally began as a Christian feast day to remember a pair...
Korean Air Loses Monopoly On Lucrative Route
After a nearly 30-year monopoly, Korean Air will no longer be the sole Korean carrier flying between Seoul Incheon and Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. In 1991 Korea and Mongolia signed an aeronautical agreement. The agreement allowed for only one carrier...
The A380 Is Dead, Long Live The A380
Airbus announced today that it would be shutting the A380 production line in 2021. The move is sadly not a surprise. 17 A380s will still be built, including 14 to Emirates and 3 to ANA. In a written statement,...
I Doubt Air Canada Deliberately “Dupes” Passengers On Oversold Flights…
A CBC story has gone viral in which two anonymous Air Canada employees share that their airline instructs employees to “dupe” passengers in danger of being bumped from oversold flights into thinking that everything will be fine. My response:...
“Indecent Exposure Incident” Leads To Closure Of South Carolina Airport, Flight Cancellations
A half-naked woman sighted running down a runway at Florence Airport in South Carolina led to a temporary airport shutdown and two flight cancellations. The Florence County Sheriff’s Office reported “a partially clothed woman sprinted through the airport’s runway and into...
Review: SWISS A340-300 First Class Shanghai To Zurich
Here’s a classic report from 2011, but published for the first time and for good reason. I recently flew the A340 on Lufthansa in first class and am compiling a series of comparison posts from the four European airlines (Air...
Novel United Flight Attendant Books A Special Volume Of Love
When one United flight attendant found that a passenger had left a book behind thousands of miles from its home, she took it and mailed it home. Flight attendant Lin Kullick noticed the book, The Lemon Grove, left behind on...
United’s Bold New Growth In Denver
United Airlines will restructure its schedule on Thursday at Denver International Airport, adding more than 60 mainline flights each week. I’ve written about United’s domestic growth strategy and rebanking strategy before. Rebanking means clustering arrivals and departures together to...
Prepare For A Fare War To Hawaii
Southwest Airlines is expected to announce schedules for its new Hawaii service this week. Brace yourselves for a fare war. Southwest already has a dedicated page on its website for Hawaii and hints that a service announcement is imminent....
My Prediction: Lufthansa Hidden City Lawsuit Will Backfire
Hoping to dissuade passengers from engaging in the practice of hidden city ticketing, Lufthansa is suing a passenger for skipping a flight from Frankfurt to Oslo. I’m betting the lawsuit is going to backfire. With stiff competition from Norwegian...
Teen Arrested For Hijack Attempt In Alaska
A 16-year-old was arrested for briefly commandeering the controls during a commercial flight in Alaska. So much of Alaska is traversed by air travel and a number of airlines most of us are not familiar operate regional “milk” routes...
The Real Reason Air New Zealand 787 Was Denied Landing in Shanghai: Taiwan
There’s a new twist in the Air New Zealand 787 diversion story…it appears China denied the aircraft landing rights over a reference to Taiwan on the flight paperwork. In case you missed my story yesterday, an Air New Zealand...
When Afghanistan Was An Oasis Of Tranquility
Few nations have faced turmoil like Afghanistan. From a disastrous Soviet occupation to an even bloodier civil war to an imposition of a strict variant of Islamic law to a western invasion…oh, what turbulent times. But it wasn’t always...
British Airways Calls This A Lounge?
Lounge overcrowding is a problem around the world, but nowhere have I seen it as bad as in London. My recent visit to the British Airways’ Galleries South Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 is the perfect example. Here is...
United Slashes Flights To Australia
United Airlines will reduce its Los Angeles and Houston flights to Sydney during the Australian winter. Citing lower demand during the northern summer season, United will serve Sydney four times weekly from Houston and three times weekly from Los...
Air New Zealand 787 Denied Landing In Shanghai…Five Hours Into Flight!
Chinese authorities forced an Air New Zealand flight to turn back to Auckland five hours into the flight, citing a permitting issue. But don’t blame China for this one. Air New Zealand Flight 289 was halfway to Shanghai on...
United Listening To Customers, Your Move American
United recently announced a number of fleet changes that will be welcome news to elites at the 1K and Global Services level, clearly listening to customer feedback. Will American follow suit? If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a...
Relax: Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal Won’t End Air Travel
Last week, Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released an FAQ to accompany her co-sponsored Green New Deal. Among the many dramatic and far-reaching statements was that the Green New Deal would make air travel unnecessary. But you can relax, it’s...
American Airlines Loses Revenue By Restricting Systemwide Upgrade Availability
American Airlines previously offered excellent availability of their eVIPs or systemwide upgrades (SWUs) distributed to elite Executive Platinum flyers. Restricting access to premium space and halving the number of eVIPs given out should lead to more cash with fewer...
A Ploughman’s Lunch On British Airways
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. I was...
