Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- transportation:airlines [2025/08/29 03:33] – [Purchase] timb
+++ transportation:airlines [2025/11/23 05:39] (current) – [Air India] timb
@@ Line 559: / Line 559: @@
+===== Loyalty =====
+== $30,000 In Loyalty, Still Stuck In Coach—Airlines Now Sell First Class To Once-A-Year Flyers For $40 ==
+Gary Leff - September 20, 2025
+Frequent flyer loyalty is a promise that if you stick with one airline, they’re going to treat you better on your future flights. You ‘build up’ status, and benefit most elite flyers cherish is the upgrade. In the U.S., if the airline doesn’t sell first class seats they say they’ll hand those out to passengers in the order of their status… starting several days prior to departure.
+For years this was a consistent benefit that flyers could count on, and it kept them loyal – buying less convenient flight schedules, connections instead of non-stops, and paying more for tickets to stick with their preferred airline. But the upgrade benefit has become a mirage.
+Here’s one American Airlines passenger complaining that their status only gets them upgrades “5-10%” of the time, and they’re frustrated because there are of open first class seats for a flight they’re about to board – more empty first class seats than there are elite flyers hoping to upgrade, even – and the airline hasn’t awarded any yet.
+https://viewfromthewing.com/30000-in-loyalty-still-stuck-in-coach-airlines-now-sell-first-class-to-once-a-year-flyers-for-40/
@@ Line 930: / Line 946: @@
 https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/air-india-russia-diversion/
+== Air India Just Discovered a Missing Boeing 737, Forgot They Owned ==
+At the time, taxpayers were responsible for losses, and the outdated processes allowed this lapse to persist.
+Shweta Shukla - November 22, 2025
+GURUGRAM- Air India (AI) identified a missing Boeing 737 at Kolkata Airport (CCU), uncovering an aircraft that had been abandoned for 13 years and overlooked across successive administrative cycles.
+The jet, a 43-year-old Boeing 737-200, remained unnoticed until Kolkata Airport requested its removal.
+The discovery triggered an internal audit that revealed how the aircraft vanished from official records before privatization.
+The case reflects legacy gaps that once shaped the former state-run airline’s asset management practices.
+https://aviationa2z.com/index.php/2025/11/22/air-india-just-discovered-a-missing-boeing-737/
@@ Line 1150: / Line 1186: @@
 https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/07/21/2025255/alaska-airlines-resumes-operations-after-system-glitch-grounds-all-flights
+== Alaska Airlines’ statement on IT outage ==
+Alaska Airlines - Oct 23, 2025
+Friday, Oct. 24 – 6 a.m. Pacific Time
+Alaska Airlines is working to restore operations to normal as quickly and safely as possible after a significant IT outage led to a systemwide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights. The ground stop was lifted at 11:30 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, Oct. 23; the issue began earlier that day at approximately 3:30 p.m. when a failure occurred at our primary data center.
+Throughout Thursday and into Friday morning, we have canceled more than 360 flights on Alaska and Horizon. Additional flight disruptions are likely as we reposition aircraft and crews throughout our network. Hawaiian Airlines flights are not impacted. The IT outage is not a cybersecurity incident.
+We sincerely apologize to our guests whose travel plans have been disrupted. We’re working to get them to their destinations as quickly as we can. Before heading to the airport, we encourage flyers to check their flight status.  A flexible travel policy is in place to support guests as operations return to normal following the IT outage.
+https://news.alaskaair.com/on-the-record/alaska-statement-on-it-outage/
+== Alaska Airlines grounded by mystery IT meltdown ==
+Failure at primary datacenter leaves planes parked and passengers angry, second incident since July
+Richard Speed - Fri 24 Oct 2025 11:58 UTC
+**Updated** Timing is everything – except when it isn't. US carrier Alaska Airlines has grounded its fleet once again due to a mystery IT issue.
+The problem began at 3:30 pm Pacific Time on October 23 with a "failure" at the company's primary datacenter. Alaska Airlines insisted it wasn't a cybersecurity event or related to "any other events."
+The result? A system-wide ground stop of Alaska and Horizon Air flights, though Hawaiian Airlines (which joined Alaska in 2024) was apparently unaffected.
+"The IT outage has impacted several of our key systems that enable us to run various operations, necessitating the implementation of the ground stop to keep our aircraft in position," Alaska Airlines said. "The safety of our flights was never compromised."
+The ground stop wasn't lifted until 11:30 pm Pacific Time, by which point more than 229 flights had been canceled. The company didn't confirm delay numbers but warned that "additional flight disruptions are likely as we reposition aircraft and crews throughout our network."
+Customers took to social media to express their dissatisfaction with both the airline and its customer service. Some reported being on hold for hours as they attempted to contact the airline to find the fate of their flight, while others found themselves stranded.
+https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/24/alaska_airlines_calls_a_ground/
@@ Line 1533: / Line 1599: @@
 https://viewfromthewing.com/american-airlines-flew-passengers-on-the-wrong-plane-for-8-hours-too-big-to-land-diverted-to-rome/
+== American Flying Empty Airbus A321neo Across The Atlantic 20 Times ==
+Ben Schlappig - 6 September 2025
+Well here’s something you don’t see that often, as flagged by JonNYC. This month, American Airlines is intentionally operating 20 roundtrip flights across the Atlantic without any passengers or cargo. What’s the logic for this? Well, there’s an interesting explanation, as you’d expect…
+American’s empty Philadelphia to Edinburgh flights
+American operates a daily seasonal flight between Philadelphia (PHL) and Edinburgh (EDI), using a Boeing 787, which is currently scheduled for several more weeks. Separate from that, between September 4 and September 24, 2025, American is operating daily flights in the market using a standard domestic configured Airbus A321neo. The flight has no passengers or cargo, and operates daily with the following schedule:
+AA9805 Philadelphia to Edinburgh departing 8:40PM arriving 8:30AM (+1 day)
+AA9806 Edinburgh to Philadelphia departing 9:30AM arriving 12:00PM
+The flight is even expected to be operated by the same exact aircraft every day — a brand new A321neo with the registration code N471AN. Why would American operate 20 empty roundtrip transatlantic flights? Well, it’s about training check airman.
+https://onemileatatime.com/news/american-flying-empty-airbus-a321neo-across-atlantic/
@@ Line 2331: / Line 2413: @@
 A passenger flying American Airlines out of Orlando Melbourne International Airport says he was effectively removed from his flight thanks to understaffed and unresponsive employees. “Rules are rules.”
- * He arrived at the airport roughly 50 minutes before departure—within American’s published 45-minute cutoff for checked bags at most airports.
+* He arrived at the airport roughly 50 minutes before departure—within American’s published 45-minute cutoff for checked bags at most airports.
- * There was no one at the check-in counter. Eventually, an employee emerged from the back – he says that she was eating food as she came out.
+* There was no one at the check-in counter. Eventually, an employee emerged from the back – he says that she was eating food as she came out.
- * After handing over his ID, she told him he had missed the baggage cutoff by two minutes and could not check his golf clubs.
+* After handing over his ID, she told him he had missed the baggage cutoff by two minutes and could not check his golf clubs.
 Thinking quickly, the customer handed his golf club bag to his friend that had taken him to the airport to ship them separately and headed to TSA. But his mobile boarding pass had been deactivated. His electronic check-in was canceled.