American Expresses New Flight Cancellation Feature!
American Express will now allow customers to cancel a flight for any reason, allowing cardholders to book their next trip with a little more peace of mind.
Going forward, travelers who book a flight through Amex Travel will be able to cancel that flight for any reason and receive up to a 75% reimbursement of the nonrefundable flight costs, according to the credit card company. To take advantage of the new benefit, called “Trip Cancel Guard,” travelers must cancel at least two calendar days before their departure date.
The new benefit extends to all American Express cardholders, regardless of which card they have, a company spokeswoman told Travel + Leisure.
“People are eager to travel, and as demand increases, there is a greater need to plan ahead. At the same time, a level of uncertainty still exists in this [ever changing] travel environment,” Audrey Hendley, the president of American Express Travel, said in a statement. “With ‘Trip Cancel Guard,’ we’re continuing to back our customers by giving them the value we know they want, along with the confidence to book flights with the flexibility to cancel for any reason if their plans change.”
Source: Travel + Leisure
Easyjet limits seating due to cabin crew shortages!
EasyJet will rip out an entire row of seats on some of its aircraft due to ongoing cabin crew shortages which are expected to intensify over the busy summer months. By removing a row of seats, easyJet will be able to reduce the number of cabin crew operating on certain planes while still complying with European air safety rules.
The aircraft in question is the Airbus A319 – the smallest model of airplane in easyJet’s fleet. The plane is part of the incredibly popular A320 series of single-aisle aircraft made by European manufacturer Airbus but it is shorter than easyJet’s other aircraft at just 111 feet in length.
In comparison, easyJet’s newest A321neo planes measure 146 feet in length, with a capacity for as many as 235 passengers. The A319, meanwhile, can only accommodate 156 passengers.
Crucially, however, that is six passengers more than the maximum permitted to allow easyJet to fly the planes with just three cabin crew rather than four crew members.
The rules for how many crew members are required are set by aircraft manufacturers and aviation regulators and can differ around the world. In Europe, the general rule is that there should be a minimum of one crew member on board for every 50 seats installed in the aircraft cabin.
Source: Paddleyourownkanoo.com
Spirit Airline flight attendants sleep on airport floors!
It is becoming “the new norm” for flight attendants to sleep on airport hallway floors, claims a top union boss who fears that airlines aren’t doing enough to look after frontline employees during operational meltdowns caused by bad weather, and air traffic control problems, and internal IT issues.
Gary Peterson, vice president of the air division at the Transport Workers Union (TWU) says the thought of flight attendants having to sleep in the airport during what the industry refers to as ‘irregular operations’ or ‘irrops’ for short was unheard of until recently.
“Sleeping in the hallway at the airport – that never used to happen in the industry, and now it’s becoming the new norm,” Peterson told The Guardian newspaper.
Source: Paddleyourownkanoo.com
British Airways train cabin crews for only two and a half weeks!
Spanish cabin crew hired on temporary contracts to work at British Airways will receive just two and a half weeks of training according to a leaked memo detailing the job offer and requirements of the role. In comparison, the standard training course for new cabin crew at BA lasts up to six weeks.
British Airways hopes to have its first batch of temporary Spanish cabin crew in the air by the end of May or early June at the latest in order to head off yet another operational meltdown at the beleaguered airline.
The Heathrow-based carrier confirmed on Friday that it would open a temporary crew base in Madrid with flight attendants hired on fixed six-month contracts to bolster BA’s cabin crew workforce over the busy summer months.
British Airways says the temporary base is necessary because, despite a high level of interest in cabin crew vacancies, mandatory security vetting and referencing checks are taking up to 12 weeks per candidate. As a result, there is still a squeeze in new recruits actually starting work.
The airline is also suffering from a post-COVID employee sickness rate of 7 percent which is well above historical averages.
According to the memo, the training course will take approximately two and a half weeks which includes days off. During that time, the contract cabin crew will learn BA’s operating policies and procedures, safety and emergency procedures, aviation medicine, aircraft-specific information, and customer service delivery.
Source: Paddleyourownkanoo.com
