I spoke with Brett Catlin, Alaska Air Group's vice president for loyalty, about the decisions behind the decisions for the new Atmos program.| www.theairlineobserver.com
Piedmont has long seemed like an airline living on borrowed time. For years it was the airline flying the smallest and least desirable fleets. On more than one occasion, it seemed like its time was up, but it never was. And once again, the airline has avoided death as it has received an allotment of Embraer 175s from its parent, American. The mighty Pacemaker lives on… well, sort of.| Cranky Flier
This week on The Air Show, we are talking about JetZero and its proposed aircraft. With the episode just going live — if you don’t see it, keep refreshing — I’m putting up a bonus Thursday post with some visual aids that will help you understand what we’re talking about. You really have to see it, I think.| Cranky Flier
I’ve long had an unhealthy fascination with airline schedule change policies. I think it’s because they tend to reflect the personality of the airline itself in funny ways. But ever since the Department of Transportation pushed through new rules on refunds, Delta’s policy has stood out for being the complete and total opposite of what people think when they fly Delta. It is unfair to the traveler, and I imagine that this will drive up volume to the call center where a sympathetic age...| Cranky Flier
Alaska announced its Q2 earnings yesterday, and the results were predictably very good. The airline beat estimates and came through with a 15.8 percent margin while running a solid operation. Sure, Q3 guidance was softer, but it has been for everybody and there’s some noise in there anyway. The reality is that Alaska just continues to do well… most of the time.| Cranky Flier
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Two weeks ago, the rumors began to swirl. American Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja was out. Or he was at least taking a leave of absence. Or he was working from home. Something was going on, and people in the know began talking. The saga has now ended after a fortnight. Vasu was unceremoniously booted from his job this week. While many of the policies that Vasu drove have not delivered, the ultimate blame has to lie with his boss, CEO Robert Isom.| Cranky Flier