Gary Leff

While I don’t fly American as much as I once did – AAdvantage was once so rewarding that going somewhere meant just looking for flights at AA.com – they’re still a major player at my home airport. And there’s a lot that I am looking forward to with them in 2025. In fact there are five things I’m very excited for from American Airlines in the new year. We should see several big improvements have been years in the making.

Reader Barney wants to know why it’s gotten so hard to use his American Airlines AAdvantage miles to fly in premium cabins to Asia, or whether he’s imagining things? I’d say he’s right, and I think I know why.

United Airlines is adding free Starlink wifi to its planes over the coming years. They’ve updated the install timeline. Based on experience with Hawaiian Airlines and JSX, it should be faster – and with far less latency – than competitors’ wifi.

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

United Airlines flies the most seat miles – they fly a lot of widebodies great distances around the world. Delta Air Lines produces the most revenue. They get paid. American Airlines, though, flies the most passengers. Of course it’s El Paso to Dallas, Charlotte to Savannah and Phoenix to Reno.

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

Mike Johns was trying to get from Phoenix home to Los Angeles. He took a Waymo to the airport, only it wouldn’t stop looping around a parking lot instead of heading to the terminal.

One 91 year old reader – who is still a working actor – shared a story about United that shows initiative, customer service, and just what United employees can and sometimes will do to take care of a customer.

American Airlines flight attendants apparently have been leaving passengers on board aircraft. Everyone leaves the plane, and the sleeping passenger is still there. Sometimes they’re in a window seat and no one notices. Other times they’re in the lavatory.

The online social media Australian-Filipina Blackman family shared their travels with kids in coach – booking the bulkhead row and letting the kids sleep on the floor for their flight. While they’re mostly known among their millions of followers for cute family content, this has caused some consternation in aviation circles.