Are airline meal programs an easy way to earn points?

The queen of the skies and the jumbo jet. Whatever you call the Boeing 747, it changed aviation and opened up many new long-haul routes. Cargo and passenger aircraft are still in the air, with Lufthansa being the world’s largest remaining user of passenger variants (it owns the 747-400 and the 747-8i).

Significantly more fuel-efficient, lighter, longer-range, high-capacity twin-jets have drastically reduced the use of the 747 – a technological development. In August 2019, before the pandemic, the 747 had 6,700 scheduled round-trip passenger flights; five years later, that number had fallen to just 1,800.

What was your last flight on the 747? Mine was with British Airways from New York JFK back to London Heathrow in October 2019, not long before COVID-19 accelerated the significant but inevitable reduction of the 747.

There are three major airline alliances in the world. These are Oneworld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam. Frequent travelers often try to stick to the member airlines of an alliance, as their status within the alliance is reciprocal. Since I’m based in Frankfurt, I mostly fly with Star Alliance airlines, although I also like to fly with Oneworld airlines when I get the chance. Let us know which alliance you prefer in the comments below!

Demand for flights between the United States and Europe is at an all-time high, with 4,674 one-way flights scheduled between the US and the UK this month, according to Cirium data. British Airways dominates the number of weekly flights. However, there are a number of other airlines with a significant presence on both sides of the pond. It’s not just the major operators like the US Big Three and Virgin Atlantic that have a strong position. JetBlue, Aer Lingus, TUI and Norse Atlantic Airways are also regulars across the Atlantic. In addition, there are stalwarts across the Americas and continental Europe. So which of the many airlines is the best? Let us know below!

Virgin Atlantic announced this week that it will cease operations to Shanghai. The only other service in that region – Hong Kong – was suspended in 2022. Qantas has revealed plans to pull out of Shanghai on July 28, leaving only Hong Kong in its Far East network. Airlines from other countries, including the US, have expressed difficulties in maintaining China operations. The problem for many airlines is the closure of Russian airspace, which means longer journeys to destinations in China. For example, Virgin’s Shanghai route had to add an hour outbound and two hours return to accommodate the extended flight time. Making matters worse, Chinese airlines are not required to bypass Russian airspace, allowing them to operate westbound flights faster and with less fuel and crew than rivals. This lack of a level playing field has frustrated many airline leaders and is clearly taking the wind out of the sails of many airlines as they struggle to rebuild their pre-pandemic China footprint.

Airbus said today that it is in talks with Rolls-Royce over plans for a new narrow-body aircraft for the late 2030s. The manufacturer already has the successful A320 family and also took over Bombardier’s A220 program in 2018. Airbus Chief Sustainability Officer Julie Kitcher told Simple Flying at the Farnborough Airshow that her company wants to continue improving aircraft fuel efficiency. What other changes could we see on the type? Let us know what you think below!

Overall, FIA 2024 has felt a little slow in terms of orders. While there have been announcements, many of them have been previously announced commitments (LOIs or MOUs) and not exactly surprise orders. Middle Eastern and Asian carriers took the opportunity to sign up in a very public way, but there have been no orders whatsoever from U.S. carriers. Why? Personally, I think we’ve seen the last of large orders from U.S. airlines for a while. AA placed a huge order earlier this year, including both Boeing and Airbus aircraft; both Delta and United have significant pending orders, as do Southwest and JetBlue. In fact, it was reported earlier this year that JetBlue was slowing down its delivery schedule to solidify its position in the market. It’s been a rough first half of the year for U.S. airlines, as evidenced by this week’s earnings releases. Perhaps this is a sign that U.S. airlines should stop spending and focus on efficiency to remain competitive. What do you think?