Delta Airlines just announced that, effective last month, miles accrued in its ‘SkyMiles’ frequent flyer program will not expire, regardless of account activity.
Delta’s move underscores the major shift that has occurred among frequent flyer programs in recent years. The airlines’ main objective for their programs is no longer to promote loyalty; it’s to generate profits.
source: Chicago Tribune
Delta Air Lines Inc. must pay a $2 million civil penalty, following a Department of Transportation (DOT) investigation released Thursday that said the airline violated rules protecting passengers with disabilities.
Delta agreed to settle the case”the DOT’s largest fine against an airline in a non-safety-related case”without admitting wrongdoing.
Among the agency’s complaints were that Delta allegedly failed to properly assist passengers with disabilities on and off planes; respond adequately to written complaints; and report each complaint to the DOT.
source: The Wall Street Journal
Flights in the US were more on time in 2010 than in 2009, according to figures released February 10 by the US Department for Transportation, with Hawaiian taking the top spot.
The 18 major carriers in the US reported 79.8 percent of flights were on time last year, compared to 79.5 in 2009, despite several significant disruptions to travel caused by severe weather.
The most on-time airline (92.5 percent) was Hawaiian Airlines, taking the award for the seventh straight year – no doubt helped by nearly-permanent good weather at its hub at Honolulu International Airport.
source: independent.co.uk
Four Thai “‘ladyboys'” have been recruited as flight attendants for a start-up charter airline that says it will be Thailand’s first to include transsexuals among its cabin crew.
P.C. Air, which will fly to several Asian destinations starting in April, had its first training session this week for 30 recruits, including four from “the third sex.”
Thailand is known for its tolerance for transvestites and transsexuals, known locally as “‘katoeys'” or “‘lazyboys'”.
source: washingtonpost.com
An Alaska Airlines flight had to return to the gate at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when a rat was spotted on the plane.
Flight 676 was headed to Denver and had just pulled away from the gate at Sea-Tac when a passenger reported seeing the rat scurrying around the cabin.
The 737 aircraft returned to the terminal, and the crew and passengers boarded another plane for Denver about 90 minutes later.
source: Aol
Qantas has again been lauded for its on-board wine selection at the annual Cellars in the Sky Award ceremony.
The Australian flag-carrier, which took four awards last year, won a total of six at this year’s airline wine tasting event, including ‘Best First Class White’, ‘First Class Red’ and ‘First Class Sparkling’, as well as ‘Best Business Class Cellar’, ‘Best First Class Cellar’ and ‘Consistency of Wines Across Business and First Class’.
Business Traveller’s Cellars in the Sky competition has been running since 1985 to determine the highest quality fine wines available in Business and First Class on board the world’s flights.
source: independent.co.uk
A 7.4%’ ‘rise in premium passengers helped boost the British Airways-Iberia holding company International Airlines Group (IAG) last month.
The first results issued since the merger between the two airlines showed a strong level of long-haul traffic. IAG said that the good level of premium traffic growth was partly due to weak year-on-year comparatives due to snow in January 2010.
source: travelweekly.co.uk
Business and leisure travellers in over 75 countries can now pay for their British Airways flights, with PayPal at ba.com. PayPal offers a fast and secure way to pay online as well as protecting consumers’ sensitive information.
PayPal has over 26 million accounts in the UK, which represents two in every three British internet shoppers.
source: freshbusinessthinking.com
Chile’s antitrust court, TDLC, has ordered a suspension of the merger process between LAN and TAM while it conducts an investigation of the competitive impact of the merger. The court ordered the suspension while it hears a petition filed by the National Consumers Corp, a consumer rights organisation.
The organisation, known as Conadecus, argues certain routes between Santiago and São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro will be operated under monopoly control if the merger goes through. Shares in TAM were down 6.1% in trading on Monday, while shares in LAN declined 1%.
source: centreforaviation.com
The Catalan regional government – ‘la Generalitat’ – has come to Spanair‘s rescue last week with a 10.5 million euro loan to cover a share increase in the airline.
“‘Or the government stepped in now, or Spanair was going to fall,'” said Francesc Homs, the Generalitat’s spokesperson, describing the loan as an “’emergency credit'”.
According to Homs the only way the government could save the airline from imminent collapse was to extend this emergency credit and give Spanair some “‘financial stability'” at least.
The president of Spanair, Ferran Soriano, has been angered by Homs’ comments, maintaining that the credit was part of a programme of share capital increases that had been deliberate “‘since the summer'”.
source: The Reader.es
