United Airlines

United Frequent Flyer Program to Move to Fare-Based Model March 1

United Frequent Flyer Program to Move to Fare-Based Model March 1

Starting March 1, United Airlines will change how members of its frequent flyer program earn miles.
Following Delta Air Lines’ lead, which has already made a similar change, United flyers will no longer earn points based on mileage flown.  Instead, the award points will be calculated based on the fare paid.
Ordinary or general members of United’s MileagePlus program will earn five points per dollar spent on airfare.  Those with elite status …

United Traffic and Capacity Up in January

United Traffic and Capacity Up in January

United Airlines announced operational results for January 2015.  Both the carrier’s consolidated traffic and consolidated capacity for the month were up slightly year-over-year, while its load factor decreased marginally.
Total traffic for the Chicago-based airline during the month of January was 15.401 billion RPMs, or revenue passenger miles, an increase of 1.1% from 15.228 billion RPMs in January 2014.  The carrier’s total capacity for the month also increased by similar margins, …

Southwest Adds Flights to Nine Cities from Dallas Love Field After United Moves Operations to DFW

Southwest Adds Flights to Nine Cities from Dallas Love Field After United Moves Operations to DFW

Southwest Airlines announced plans late Friday to add additional flights from Dallas Love Field in Texas, saying that customer demand for flights from the airport have exceeded expectations.
The carrier said it had acquired the rights to two additional Love Field gates following an announcement that United Airlines will cease its operations at the airport and only operate out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Southwest, which has its headquarters on the grounds …

United Airlines Announces New First, Business Menus for North America

United Airlines Announces New First, Business Menus for North America

United Airlines announced it will begin to serve all new meals and snacks on flights within North America in its first- and business-class cabins.
The Chicago-based airline said that, starting February 1, it will “elevate” everything on its menus from entrees to desserts to snacks for United First and United Business passengers.  It will also add meals to shorter flights, offer passengers a greater variety of choices, and expand its meal …

United Adds Extra Flights for Super Bowl

United Adds Extra Flights for Super Bowl

United Airlines announced that it has added 55 new and additional flights to Phoenix for the 2015 National Football League Super Bowl.
The game will take place on February 1, with the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks competing for the title of Super Bowl Champion.
United Airlines added extra flights to Phoenix from Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, and San Francisco between January 29 and February 2.  In addition, …

Lobby Bar – January 9: A Bite of Apple, Sunny and Subzero, Ultimate Hand Gestures, and Unconscious Flying

The Lobby Bar – A bizarre and mostly inaccurate Summary of FBT News and Views
Please fly. We’ll pay you. United is upset that you’re not taking free flights – so upset, in fact, that it is suing a 22-year-old web developer for $75,000 in tantrum compensation.
Good practice. Check out our tips on how to write better e-mail in 2015. Make sure to keep e-mail short and to the point, and sprinkle a …

United Launches In-Flight Wi-Fi on Regional Fleet

United Launches In-Flight Wi-Fi on Regional Fleet

United Airlines announced that it added in-flight Wi-Fi service to the first of its United Express regional planes, an Embraer E175.  The carrier plans to outfit over 200 E175s, E170s, and CRJ700s with Gogo’s ATG-4 in-flight service.
ATG-4 is significantly faster than the original ATG system.  The service supports three times the peak bandwidth to the aircraft, or 9.8 Mbps versus 3.1.
In addition, the airline said that it plans to expand …