American Airlines Expands Domestic First Class

United announced Thursday it will allow friends and family to create joint accounts to pool frequent flier miles through its loyalty program. 

The Department of Transportation is reviewing how the 10 largest U.S. airlines handle, use and collect passengers’ personal information. 

American Airlines previously announced a new flight service to begin this summer from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport (HND). However, the service was pending the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) review. The service has been approved and will be the only U.S. airline to offer nonstop service between JFK and HND.

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) continues to push back against American Airlines' controversial New Distribution Capability (NDC) rollout.On Monday, the Alexandria, Virginia-based organization launched a weeklong ad campaign in POLITICO magazine in hopes of influencing lawmakers in Washington, D.C.Beginning May 1, American will stop awarding AAdvantage miles and loyalty accrual points through agencies unless they are deemed "preferred," a status achieved by having a 2024 incentive agreement with the airline or by booking through American NDC channels and reaching progressive sales thresholds of 30 percent by April 21, 50 percent by October 31 and 70 percent by April 30, 2025."This latest development doubles down on American Airlines' clear agenda since last year to force the travel agency industry to adopt immature technology, monopolize distribution channels, and squeeze channel partners and customers for cost-cutting and profit," ASTA stated.Additionally, ASTA is offering a toolkit for travel advisors to reach out to their congressional representatives. The organization is also encouraging members to send their clients to SaveMyMiles.com to take action."Tell them to stop AA from disenfranchising customers who book through travel agencies by telling Congress—don’t let American Airlines eliminate consumer choice," says ASTA.

After a spate of high-profile airline industry incidents, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has issued a memo addressing safety concerns.In the memo Kirby said safety is the airline’s top priority, according to a report from The Points Guy.The airline CEO also discussed United’s own safety incidents, including acknowledging the airline has had “a number” of such incidents."While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus," Kirby wrote, per The Points Guy. "Our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups.”The memo from the CEO also indicates that United is working on rolling out a variety of new safety measures. Though Kirby also explained that the new safety upgrades were in the works before United’s recent spate of safety episodes. Some of the new measures the airline will be implementing include an extra day of training for pilots and new curriculum for maintenance technicians."I'm confident that we'll learn the right lessons from these recent incidents and continue to run an operation that puts safety first and makes our employees and customers proud," Kirby added.Kirby’s memo comes on the heels of a rocky few months for the airline industry as a whole. The most significant of which was the January 5 incident involving a Alaska Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max flight during which a door plug blew off after take-off and the plane was required to make an emergency landing.A handful of passengers who were on that Alaska Airlines flight have since filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Boeing, alleging negligence on the part of the plane manufacturer.As for United Airlines, one of its flights involving a 737 Max rolled off the runway at George W. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston recently. Part of the plane’s landing gear collapsed as a result. That United incident followed a tire falling from a Boeing 777-200 plane (also flown by United) one day earlier.

A United Airlines flight that took off on Friday morning from San Francisco International Airport landed in Oregon in the afternoon missing an external panel, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Delta Air Lines is returning to Israel – but not quite as quickly as expected.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci has called the decision to block the JetBlue-Spirit merger a “positive” — because it now sets the stage for its merger with Hawaiian Airlines. 

American Airlines AAdvantage® members should take note. American Airlines just announced its biggest miles redemption offer ever. One-way flights can be redeemed for as little as 5,000 miles. However, this offer is only available for a limited time, so booking soon is essential to get the most options.

United Airlines is pausing pilot hiring in the spring due to aircraft delivery delays from Boeing.

United Airlines passengers will have new and expanded nonstop options starting this year as the carrier beefs up its already gigantic international network.

United Airlines is in international expansion mode once again.