✈ AA beats Delta for best frequent flyer program, Breeze adds 7 cities and more! ✈

November 8, 2023

Award drama

by Ben Mutzabaugh, Managing Editor for Aviation

Hello TPG readers!

Which airline has the best frequent flyer program in the U.S.?

That would be American Airlines, which dethroned reigning champ Delta Air Lines to win Best U.S. Airline Loyalty Program at the 2023 TPG Awards on Monday.

Delta appeared to be on track to win the award for a second year in a row, leading in early voting by TPG readers that began Sept. 1. But on Sept. 13, Delta announced drastic changes to its SkyMiles program that elicited an outcry from many of its elite Medallion members. Delta’s lead began to fade in the wake of the announcement and by the time voting ended Sept. 30, American had taken over the top spot.

Delta has since walked back some of those changes, but it remains to be seen just how much that will placate upset frequent flyers.

Elsewhere, startup carrier Breeze Airways unveiled a major expansion this morning that will add seven cities and 14 new routes to the airline’s route map. The new destinations are mostly smaller airports, ranging from Colorado’s Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) in the West to Pennsylvania’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport (AVP) in the East.

One interesting addition comes at Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport (BTV), where news of Breeze’s expansion to the city comes just a week after JetBlue announced it would leave the airport after nearly two decades of service there. Both JetBlue and Breeze were founded by serial airline entrepreneur David Neeleman.

Speaking of cuts, JetBlue’s exit from Burlington came as part of a much bigger cut that saw JetBlue drop 14 routes. American was in cutting mode too, axing a whopping 21 routes from what had been a fast-growing operation in Austin. The cuts also came at Spirit Airlines (it’s leaving Denver) and United Airlines, which is ending its longest Hawaii route and trimming flights to Auckland.

One airline not in cutting mode this month is Southwest Airlines. It announced 30 new routes and 66 returning seasonal ones for next summer.

We’ll close with news from Boston, where the antitrust trial pitting the Department of Justice against JetBlue and Spirit began last week. The trial will take weeks — and a verdict even longer — but the outcome will decide whether JetBlue and Spirit can merge to create the nation’s fifth-biggest airline or if they’ll be forced to call it off.

Until next time …

Ben

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Photo Credit: BEN MUTZABAUGH/THE POINTS GUY.

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