A major airline warned it could go out of business. Another has drawn scrutiny for its use of artificial intelligence. There’s a new livery coming to a major U.S. carrier, plus a slew of new airline routes.
And have you heard about the California man who was the first to cash in on one of the most exciting frequent flyer promotions in recent memory?
There’s a lot to catch up on since our last newsletter, so let’s get to it.
We’ll start with AI. Delta Air Lines’ mention of the new technology on its latest earnings call may have seemed routine in the moment, but Delta’s plan to use it to help set airfares went viral. It drew a rare rebuke from a rival and caught the attention of Congress, including one U.S. senator who shared his concerns about it with TPG’s Sean Cudahy.
Elsewhere, Spirit Airlines warned investors of a cash crunch that could potentially put it out of business. For now, it’s business as usual, with another update expected by the end of the year.
Alaska Airlines unveiled a new paint scheme, but it won’t come to all of the airline’s fleet. Instead, look for it beginning next year on its wide-body flights from Seattle to Europe and Asia. That news accompanied the carrier’s reveal of its two newest European destinations.
American Airlines rolled out one of the biggest updates, unveiling six “new” transatlantic routes for next summer. Allegiant Air is adding a new city amid a broader five-route expansion. Scroll down for other route updates since our last newsletter.
And we’ll close with the story of Gurnaj Johal, a burgeoning points and miles enthusiast who just landed himself a boatload of them. He was the first to complete JetBlue’s “25 for 25” challenge, which doles out 350,000 points — and 25 years of elite status — for hitting 25 different JetBlue destinations.
“I have never flown so many flights in one go before,” he told us. We get you, Gurnaj, and I suspect a lot of my newsletter readers do too.
I’ll leave it there for now. Until next time …
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