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...
Woman Gets Six Months In Prison For Slapping Immigration Official
A British woman faces six months in jail for slapping an immigration official in Bali. Auj-e Taqaddas overstayed her visa in Indonesia by 160 days. Upon trying to fly out of Bali, a passport control official noted her illegal...
How The Weather Hurts The Pocketbooks Of United Employees
United Airlines posted a dismal January in terms of operational performance and all employees are likely going to feel the pain. Data released on Thursday shows that United ended the month of January a distant fourth place (behind American,...
Gross: Passenger Finds HUGE Cockroach In Meal
Honestly, I have a much greater fear of biting into a cockroach on a plane than my plane ever crashing. One airline passenger encountered a massive cockroach in his lunch…and flight attendants just ignored him when he complained. With...
1-Day-Sale: Up To 40% Off United Awards To Tahiti
United Airlines is offering up to 40% off springtime award tickets to Tahiti for MileagePlus members. Depending upon your MileagePlus status, you can pay anywhere from 42K-49K round-trip for a trip to Tahiti in economy class. Taxes/fees will run...
Review: Lufthansa A340-600 First Class Frankfurt To San Francisco
Lufthansa provides a comfortable first class experience with superb food and drink and excellent service aboard the A340-600. First Class service starts on the ground with spectacular lounges in Frankfurt. Leave time for a visit to the First Class...
Intoxicated Pilot on American Airlines Forces Flight Cancellation, Big Payouts
An American Airlines flight from Manchester to Philadelphia was cancelled after a pilot was found to be under the influence of alcohol. The pilot’s name has not been released, but the 62-years old was arrested on suspicion of performing an...
Was The Delta Inflight Napkin Really That Creepy?
Delta and Coca-Cola have apologized for a “creepy” napkin that sparked passenger complaints. I’m failing to see the controversy… The napkin, pictured below, gave passengers the chance to record their name and phone number and encouraged them to share...
Could Airlines Realistically Reduce Change Fees?
Are airline change fees, as they currently stand, penny-wise but pound-foolish for airlines? For purposes of this discussion, my focus will be on U.S. legacy carriers American, Delta, and United. I note that Southwest has no change fees and...
This Airline Has Been Profitable For 72 Consecutive Years…
The key to sustained airline profit is apparently to have non-airline businesses. For one South African airline, that has resulted in profit for 72 years in a row. Comair was founded in 1946. For the last 72 years, it...
SWISS Unveils Beautiful New Check-In Experience In Zurich
Zurich Airport is one of my favorite in the world. And it is getting even better if you fly SWISS. I see ZRH a lot when visiting my in-laws and appreciate that there never seems to be too much...
Passive-Aggressive Mom Battles Passive-Aggressive Passenger Over Crying Baby
The only thing worse than openly complaining about a crying baby on an airplane is passive-aggressively complaining about a baby. And perhaps the only thing worse than that is passive-aggressively complaining about the passive-aggressive passenger… Stephanie Hollifield, a parenting...
Bombardier CRJ 550: A New Regional Jet Experience On United
United revealed a brand new aircraft today, the CRJ-550, that I call the business-friendly regional jet. It’s quite a leap from United’s current 50-seat jet. Currently, United operates CRJ-200s through its various United Express partners. These 50-seat aircrafts are single-cabin,...
United Massively Increases Premium Cabins Across Fleet
United Airlines announced it will add 1,600 United Polaris Business and United First Class seats to almost 250 international and domestic aircraft. I’d call 25-50% increases in the size of premium cabins massive. Last week I wrote about the increase...
Review: Lufthansa First Class Lounge & Spa – Frankfurt (B Gates)
During my last trip on Lufthansa, I skipped the First Class Terminal to check out the First Class Lounge in the B Gates of Terminal 1. While the First Class Terminal is intended for passengers originating in Frankfurt, Lufthansa...
How Airlines Are Going To Great Lengths To Avoid Venezuela Layovers
As the economic and political crises in Venezuela continue to worsen, more airline crews are choosing to avoid ever even stepping out of the airport during layovers. That has forced airlines to get creative. While many carriers have scaled back...
