American CEO Clarifies Mask Stance as Southwest CEO Gets COVID
In a hearing on Capitol Hill this week (questioning starts at 53:15), Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said “the case is very strong that masks don’t add much if anything in the air cabin environment.” American CEO Doug Parker gave a vague mention suggesting he agreed with Kelly, but he has now taken to the internet to set the record straight.
Parker put a clarifying statement on Instagram saying in part:
…I agreed with my fellow CEOs that being onboard a plane is proven to be a safe and healthy indoor environment. I did so by saying, “I concur”, and then talked about air quality. I didn’t mention masks or the federal mask mandate, but my concurrence was ambiguous and it is my fault for not being clearer in my response.
We support the federal mask mandate. Full stop….
The mask mandate, which has been extended through March 18, has been contentious in some circles mostly for political reasons, so it wasn’t surprising to hear discussion of this arise while the airline CEOs were being grilled in the Capitol Building.
Kelly, who made the original comments, has now tested positive for COVID. We can’t help but wonder if wearing masks could have helped him avoid that fate….
United Rolls Out Free Inflight Messaging
United turned on free inflight messaging for travelers starting today, following a trend that has already taken hold at several other airlines in previous years.
Reports say WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage are supported. The entire United and United Express fleet has it active as of today with a few exceptions:
- Embraer 170/175s have it on select aircraft with the full fleet to follow by January.
- Boeing 757-200s and 767-300s have it on select aircraft with the full fleet to follow by March.
- Boeing 787-9s have it on select aircraft with the full fleet to follow by June.
Both the Embraer 145 and CRJ-200 fifty-seat jets will not have the service installed. United was concerned that installing the system would give a brief flicker of enjoyment to travelers flying on those airplanes and wanted to ensure a consistently unpleasant experience.
JetBlue Rolls Out Changes To Its Mosaic Elite Program
JetBlue has made several changes to its Mosaic elite program as it looks to beg attract people to continue flying the airline as the pandemic grinds on and business travel remains depressed.
Starting next year, and for next year only as of now, Mosaic members will get a 100% rebate on points redemptions for Even More Space seating, credited after flying is complete. They will also be eligible for FoundersCard membership, and lastly they will get free upgrades from Express to Business First on Heathrow Express. In other words, Mosaic members get free Even More Space and not much else interesting.
JetBlue will also introduce a new higher Mosaic+ tier which again is only planned to exist in 2022. Travelers who earn 45,000 Mosaic Qualifying Points or spend a cool $150,000 on the JetBlue credit card will get the coveted perk of 4 Mint upgrades… 24 hours before departure if a seat is available, and this excludes London. They will also get FoundersClub Elite membership.
Earning Mosaic+ by flying is easy. Just purchase 152 flights on a $99 fare that’s not in Basic Economy and you’ll be there.
- Air Europa may not be joining IAG’s stable, but the Spanish government says it will make sure the airline doesn’t fail.
- Alaska is celebrating Ugly Sweater Day today by letting anyone wearing an ugly sweater board early. We have no idea who will be judging if it’s ugly enough to qualify.
- Delta has officially declared it will fly to Stockholm this summer, even though we already knew that from last weekend’s schedule load.
- Delta is celebrating snatching the Olympics sponsorship away from United by painting a pretty airplane.
- Emerald Airlines is getting started early with first flights under the Aer Lingus brand starting March 17, 2022… St Patrick’s Day, naturally.
- Frenchbee, the low-cost carrier that flies to New York, San Francisco, and soon Los Angeles, has taken delivery of its first A350-1000 with a terrifying yet impressive 480 seats onboard.
- SpiceJet and De Havilland have cumin to an agreement to settle their spat over outstanding debt.
- WestJet and Transat have applied to the US DOT to begin codesharing to the US.
After hundreds of years of speculation, aliens have finally contacted earth. They prepare a simultaneous broadcast to all humans to give us their message:
Hello people of Earth! We have been trying to reach you about your planet’s extended warranty