Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has criticized airlines for previous disruptions, said “meltdown” was the only word he could think of to describe this week’s events at Southwest. But at this point, the many years of failure by management, despite many unions’ demands to modernize, has left flight attendants fatigued, stranded, hungry and cold."Ĭaptain Casey Murray, SWAPA president, on Tuesday called the situation "disgraceful," "catastrophic," and a "failure at every level." "We know winter storms.We know about stepping up and putting in long work hours when we are called to do so we are flight attendants. "We know the demands of holiday travel," the union's statement goes on to say. And those are perhaps good reasons, along with avoiding referral fees, why airlines would rather that you book direct with their websites.It wasn't just passengers who were stranded.Īccording to a release from TWU Local 556, Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant Union of more than 18,000 members, "thousands" of crew members are also stranded across the country, "some forced to sleep on cots in airports, some in hotels without power or water, and far too many working long hours well past acceptable duty days, and more." The hotel buying power of Expedia and its ilk offers advantages that most airline sites cannot match, plus they allow passengers to combine airlines in one booking to get a lower airfare. Not only did Expedia save me money by suggesting I combine airlines (in this case, American plus Delta, a strategy that would of course not propose) but it offered the flights basically for free. So that is one clear advantage that OTAs offer, and why they haven’t gone out of business despite years of attacks by their airline partners. So yes, booking air and hotel together basically meant that the airfare would cost me $8 (or, as Expedia put it, I got a 100% discount on the flight). But Expedia would sell me a round-trip airfare plus the same room type, same dates, same hotel for $778. On Comfort’s website, that one-week stay was offered at a lowest rate of $770. More: Basic economy: Are the savings worth it? Rather, it offered a non-stop basic economy airfare (meaning I’d have to pay for a carry-on bag unless I have status in American’s frequent-flier program or carry one of their co-branded credit cards) on the outbound flight with a return on Delta, and further suggested that if I book a one-week hotel stay at the Comfort Inn Metro Airport along with my airfare, then the airfare would actually be free. It didn’t suggest that I fly on JetBlue at all. In any case, Expedia had other plans for me. Plus, the airline probably has to pay Expedia for a referral (although exactly what OTAs charge airlines and hotels for sending them business is a closely guarded secret). JetBlue also forfeits any opportunity to market its credit cards, vacations and other products if a consumer doesn’t book directly on. It only showed the lowest “Blue” fare on JetBlue, which means the airline misses a chance to lure consumers into other fare options. Then I looked at Expedia to book my imaginary New York to Detroit trip.
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