United Airlines, fourth largest at HIA, “to lead industry switch to sustainable aviation fuels” – ABC 27 HarrisburgHow did I get connected with a local news station in Harrisburg, you ask? We… | Continue reading
Word came out last week that United had finally backtracked off its plan to force travelers to forfeit residual value when changing a ticket to a cheaper fare. On the surface, this looks like Unite… | Continue reading
It’s been a difficult year for all airlines, but for United — an airline with a heavy international focus that’s been plagued by 777 engine issues — it’s been even mor… | Continue reading
Intermodal transportation involving airplanes is pretty rare in the US, especially compared to the rest of the world. United, thanks to Continental, had been more ahead of the game than others with… | Continue reading
After nearly five years away, United is finally returning to New York/JFK with flights to both LA and San Francisco. You’ve undoubtedly heard about this, because it’s been written about… | Continue reading
There’s a good chance you know someone who has told you, “oh yeah, I know someone who got COVID on an airplane.” That’s most likely not true. Not only is it unlikely that so… | Continue reading
This week’s featured link Gary Kelly Outlines Plans to Avoid Layoffs and Furloughs Through 2021 – Southwest MediaI thought this 10 minute video from Southwest CEO Gary Kelly was really … | Continue reading
Tuesday was a productive day until 11:30am when United posted a teaser video in advance of its big 2021 international route announcement. Within minutes I was on a call with a couple of friends, pi… | Continue reading
I never thought I’d see the day come, but the floodgates are now open. United — the airline that was the first to raise domestic change fees to $200 back in 2013 — announced that … | Continue reading
Of the big three US carriers, United is by far the weakest in Florida. Much of that is due to the lack of a hub located in the Southeast US, but that isn’t stopping United from taking a swing… | Continue reading
I fear my relationship with Diio by Cirium is becoming unhealthy. Every Friday night, I run to Diio to learn about that week’s airline schedule changes, but Diio remains emotionless. Maybe I&… | Continue reading
Friday nights are now one of the most exciting times of the week. Each Friday, | Continue reading
The story of the summer so far has been American’s aggressive approach to capacity in the domestic US market. The airline put out far more than United and Delta, and throughout June, it benef… | Continue reading
We’ve long known that airlines make big money from their loyalty programs, but the exact structure has been shrouded in secrecy. That is now changing as airlines look to leverage these money-… | Continue reading
It’s time for another episode of The Cranky Flier Interview. Patrick Quayle, VP of International Network and Alliances for United Airlines sat down with me to talk shop. Below, you’ll f… | Continue reading
Much of my analysis on schedules so far has focused on the Big 4 — American, Delta, Southwest, and United — but there is a whole world beyond them that I’ve been ignoring. It̵… | Continue reading
Over the weekend, Delta and United filed their June schedules, and again, I dove into Diio by Cirium data to see how things look. Compared to the American filing from last week, United and Delta lo… | Continue reading
Of all airlines, United has by far had the most dire predictions for the arc of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Scott Kirby rightly set the tone early by sounding alarms when others thought it cou… | Continue reading
I’ve already looked at how American, Delta, and Southwest scheduled themselves in May, and now it’s time to round this out by looking at United. A quick peek at schedule data via Diio b… | Continue reading
In April of this year, United and United Express were planning to operate 151,861 flights on 1,761 directional routes. (That means both Los Angeles to Newark and Newark to Los Angeles are included … | Continue reading
I was going to write today about the details of United’s big schedule change, but I’m pushing that off. Instead, I’ve decided that there’s more to write around United’… | Continue reading
This was a close one. When the news came out Saturday night that United was altering its schedule change policy to severely restrict refunds, I immediately dusted off the Cranky Jackass award and b… | Continue reading
United has eight different airlines flying under the United Express banner owned by seven different companies. Does it really need all of those? Probably not; so it’s good to see that United … | Continue reading
It was time to get back in the saddle again after a nice, long holiday lull away from flying. This time, I was heading to New York for Wendy Perrin’s WOW List Summit. The last time she had on… | Continue reading
When Denver International Airport replaced Stapleton in the 1990s, it was designed to grow. Granted, at the time, it was hard to imagine an actual need for that since it was gigantic. But here we a… | Continue reading
I love that airlines are starting to release more information about the most watched onboard entertainment each year. Mostly, I’m happy because it’s proof they actually pay attention. T… | Continue reading
If there’s a regional airline with more lives than a cat, it’s Mesa. Somehow, despite all odds, the airline has rebuilt itself time and time again. Just when you think it’s going … | Continue reading
It was only this summer when American announced an order for 50 A321XLRs. At the time, nobody seemed surprised. American is a customer of both Airbus and Boeing, and the A321XLR was the right airpl… | Continue reading
I awoke Thursday morning to a flurry of emails about the personnel changes at the top being announced at United. One from a United spokesperson included the press release and said simply, “ca… | Continue reading
United’s Scott Kirby Finally Gets a CEO Job: Now What? – SkiftBrian Sumers asked me about my experiences with Scott when he was running revenue management, and I was a pricing analyst and, ev… | Continue reading
After a few days in Washington, it was time to move on to Chicago for United’s Global Media Day. Even though I flew into Dulles for the weekend event, I had moved into the District for a coup… | Continue reading
Ah, October. Fall has arrived, thunderstorms have diminished, and the weather is about as good as it usually can be. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect — it never is — but Octob… | Continue reading
To say I don’t fly United often is an understatement. The last time I set foot on a United-operated airplane was more than two years ago when I flew back from Kona to LA. Before that, it was … | Continue reading
The fact that United had a media day at all should tell you something. In the more than 13 years I’ve been writing about the industry, I don’t recall United ever having one. That’… | Continue reading
This week’s featured link: DOT proposes changes to extended tarmac delay regulation – ATWJust when you thought the tarmac delay rule was set in stone… the FAA looks to make some c… | Continue reading
I wrote about the commercial side of United’s new CRJ-550 regional jet last week, and now it’s time to talk product. While I was in Chicago last Thursday for United’s media day, t… | Continue reading
United had its first global media day (at least, first that I can remember) on Friday, and it was an event well done. That being said, I didn’t expect there would be homework…. Chief Co… | Continue reading
United has been talking about this for some time, but last week the airline finally loaded flights operated by the CRJ-550. Initial markets will focus on Chicago with Newark to follow. From what I … | Continue reading
One of the knocks on United’s loyalty strategies over the years has been that the airline just takes what Delta does and slaps its own name on the change. When it comes to qualifying for elit… | Continue reading
This week’s featured link: Norwegian’s bondholders accept debt relief plan – ch-aviationNorwegian has once again found a way to burn enough furniture to make its way through the l… | Continue reading
This week’s featured link: Canceled flights, wrecked vacations and leaky planes: Passenger frustrations rise as American Airlines struggles – Dallas Morning NewsThe media coverage conti… | Continue reading
I’m back, and that means so is the weekly 3 Links post. This does bring up a question… did you miss it while I was traveling? Or should I just drop this entirely? Feel free to leave a c… | Continue reading
It’s been truly enjoyable watching United’s rise from the extended depths of merger hell, and the airline’s recent roll-out of ConnectionSaver — though relatively minor in i… | Continue reading
This week’s featured link: ANALYSIS: What makes a focus city for Delta? – FlightGlobalHere’s an interesting look at how Delta views its network. Focus cities are great and all, bu… | Continue reading
There has been quite the mess unfolding down in Latin America. South America’s second largest airline has been falling apart, and United is stuck right in the middle. To fix this mess, United… | Continue reading
The big expansion of flights between the US and Tokyo’s close-in Haneda airport is now set. While every airline that applied got something, some fared better than others. Delta is the big win… | Continue reading
The big three US airlines (American, Delta, and United) have been hammering on the big three Middle East carriers (Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar) for illegal subsidies for many years now. I’ve … | Continue reading
I have always felt that the whole airlines point system and loyalty system is a big giant scam. The bigger the airline, the pointless the whole scheme and its perceived benefits. This morning, I wa… | Continue reading