Browsing: Travel Insight

Delta Air Lines Chief Operating Officer Mike Spanos is leaving the airline next month. According to Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian’s memo to employees on Friday, Spanos is taking on another role in a different company.   After just over a year at Delta, this announcement happened weeks after the CrowdStrike outage in July that severely affected the airline’s operations. CrowdStrike Outage  It was estimated that Delta lost approximately $500 million from the outage. And because of this, the airline is looking to get compensation from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft. Bastian said that he had no choice but to file a case…

A couple on an American Airlines flight was arrested after refusing to deboard when the man began profusely bleeding from a recent hair transplant surgery. The incident happened on a flight from Miami to Las Vegas on Monday.  Bloody Head from Hair Transplant Surgery Passengers involved in the incident were Eugenio Ernesto Hernandez-Garnier, 27, and Yusleydis Blanca Loyola, 32. Airline staff asked Hernandez-Garnier to clean up the blood coming from his head. The airline staff then asked Hernandez-Garnier to replace his bandage. However, he responded that he didn’t have any clean bandages.  That’s when crew members asked both Hernandez-Garnier and…

A mother from Georgia is demanding answers from Delta as a man without a boarding pass followed her family onto the plane. The alarming incident took place on August 2 at Washington Dulles International Airport. Lauren Benton was flying home to Georgia when the incident happened.  Benton was with her husband and their kids, aged 6 and 9, when she noticed a man following them throughout the terminal. The man followed them to their gate. At one point, the man even went to the female bathroom while she was with her daughter.  She told ABC News, “My heart started beating…

Ryan Seacrest’s ex, Shana Wall, sues American Airlines over sustaining injuries after drinking beverage with “broken plastic.” The former ‘Amazing Race’ contestant’s attorney, John Bailly, filed the documents on behalf of Wall on August 12. Wall alleges in the documents that American Airlines “had a duty to provide beverages and food that was uncontaminated and fit for consumption.”  The incident happened on Wall’s flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Rome on May 1. Because of this, Wall was seriously hurt after swallowing shards of plastic.  Wall added that American Airlines  “served a drink in a glass containing broken…

An American Airlines flight made an emergency landing after a passenger spotted lice crawling on a woman’s hair. The Los Angeles to New York flight happened on June 15. The incident was then shared on TikTok by Ethan Judelson. In the video, Judelson explained that there was no explanation from the staff as to what happened.  Emergency Landing Judelson said that a woman rushed to the front of the plane when it made an emergency landing in Phoenix. “I look around, no one’s on the ground, no one’s freaking out. I’m like, it can’t be that dire,” he said in…

Delta canceled thousands of flights after a CrowdStrike update caused an IT outage. According to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, the five-day meltdown cost the airline $500 million. Bastian said, “They haven’t offered us anything. Free consulting advice to help us.” In an interview, Bastian said the loss was “not just the lost revenue, but the tens of millions of dollars per day in compensation and hotels.” As to whether or not Delta is going to sue CrowdStrike for what happened, Bastian responded,  “We have no choice.” He added, “We’re not looking to wipe them [CrowdStrike] out, but we’re…

An American Airlines passenger was arrested after trying to open plane doors mid-flight. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, 26-year-old Eric Nicholas Gapco of Delanco, New Jersey, also intimidated and assaulted flight attendants on July 18.  Gapco was aboard the American Airlines Flight 2101 flying from Seattle to Dallas.  Because of the incident, the flight was diverted to Salt Lake City International Airport. The US Attorney’s Office wrote, “Gapco failed to follow instructions to remain in his seat, propositioned a flight attendant for sex, was repeatedly loud, vaped, bothered other passengers, locked himself in the…

United Airlines is looking to implement stricter measures that will prevent flight attendants from abusing the airline’s sick leave policy. The new sick policy says that flight attendants that will call out sick on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays will have to show a doctor’s note.  However, this new sick leave policy is being reviewed by the Department of Labor. In a statement on Thursday, the Labor Department said, “Through numerous recent inquiries from workers, the Wage and Hour Division has become aware of a possible change in United Airlines’ leave policies.” It added,  “We will be working with the airline…

The Department of Transportation is investigating Delta Air Lines’ poor response during last week’s tech outage.  Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced on Tuesday that the DOT is looking closely at whether Delta’s treatment of their passengers violated federal rules. The agency is also looking closely at the airline’s compliance with offering prompt refunds for passengers who experienced significantly delayed or canceled flights.  Tech Outage Disrupts Airlines Because of the tech outage, Delta asked its employees to pull extra duty, with its IT staff  working around the clock. The meltdown was caused Crowdstrike’s update late last week. The bug affected different businesses…

After over 50 years, Southwest Airlines declares the end of its open seating policy. Instead of its open seating policy, the airline will start having assigned seats and premium extended legroom options. The airline discovered that their passengers prefer having assigned premium seating. Based on their study, 80% of its customers and 90% of potential customers would like to have assigned seats.  According to the airline’s CEO, Bob Jordan, “Our implementation of assigned and premium seating is part of an ongoing and comprehensive upgrade to the Customer Experience, one that research shows Customers overwhelmingly prefer.”  This move wasn’t exactly a…