What you should know if you’re about to fly on a Boeing Max 9
After seeing video of the frightening flight of a plane with a gaping hole in its side, passengers might reasonably be asking questions about safety.
The Federal Aviation Administration has detailed the process that airlines must follow to inspect — and if necessary, repair — the panels called door plugs, one of which broke loose on Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on Jan. 5. The plugs are used to seal holes left for extra doors on the Max 9 when an unusually high number of seats requires more exits for safety reasons.
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker says his agency’s review of everything that has happened since the accident, including gathering information about inspections of door plugs on 40 other planes, gives him confidence that they will be safe so long as the new inspection process is followed...read more
OAG: Delta Tops Large Airline On-Time Performance for 2023
Delta Air Lines was named 2023's most on-time airline among large global carriers in OAG's annual on-time performance report, released Thursday.
The airlines included in this category are based on their number of flights and available seat miles, or capacity, according to OAG.
Delta flights for the year were on time 83.2 percent of the time, followed by Latam at 82.7 percent and Azul Airlines at 82.4 percent. A flight is considered on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time. Delta repeated its 2022 performance for being the North American carrier with the best on-time performance and improved from last year's 81.8 percent. The carrier also was the top North American performer in Cirium's 2023 on-time report...read more
Frontier Airlines pivots away from leisure routes
Frontier Airlines will begin offering service on dozens of new routes that don't fit into the discount carrier's standard leisure portfolio.
Frontier has announced 52 routes that will begin in April through June, including significant buildups in Dallas/Fort Worth, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York LaGuardia, Chicago O'Hare and Detroit, all of which serve as a hub for a least one major airline.
"This is a massive expansion of our operation from coast to coast and internationally as part of our focus on growing in underserved and overpriced routes," said Josh Flyr, the carrier's vice president of network and operations design...read more
Chasing American Airlines elite status? Here are 15 ways to earn Loyalty Points
In early March 2022, American Airlines switched from elite qualifying miles, dollars and segments to Loyalty Points as the qualifying metric to earn elite status.
Nowadays, the number of Loyalty Points you earn is largely tied to your spending instead of how much you fly. As a result, you'd theoretically be able to spend your way to top-tier Executive Platinum status without stepping foot on a plane — not that we necessarily recommend doing that.
Beyond flying, you can earn Loyalty Points by spending and engaging with American Airlines' partners. American added a few new methods of earning Loyalty Points in 2024 when it unveiled 10 changes to the AAdvantage program, including new Loyalty Points rewards and the ability to earn Loyalty Points for upgrades.
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