American Airlines will offer restaurant-style dining for first-class customers at 4 airports as the carrier steps up competition for the most-prized travellers. In addition to creating tableside Flagship Dining, American is expanding its Flagship Lounge program, the airline said Wednesday. The lounges are sections of the carrier’s Admirals Club locations restricted to people traveling in first class. The improvements are part of about US$1b that American is spending to improve its service, including the creation of Premium Economy class, updating premium meals, resuming free snacks in coach and adding power outlets. Flagship Dining will debut next year with complimentary service at New York’s John F. Kennedy International before expanding to hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Miami. <br/>
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It’s tough to overstate the tide of troubles that faced Alan Joyce, the CE of Qantas Airways, just 2 years ago. Losses had ballooned amid a capacity war with Virgin Australia and its foreign backers. Australia’s govt wouldn’t guarantee Qantas’s debt, which was junk-rated at the time. The airline’s share price wallowed near an all-time low and thousands signed a public petition for Joyce to be sacked. Now he’s pulling off one of the fastest turnarounds in Australian corporate history. Qantas stock has almost quadrupled and the airline is set for a record profit this year. Next week, Joyce may announce another cash return to shareholders, cementing his transition from embattled CE to investor darling. Underlying pre-tax profit will jump to A$908.7m (US$645m) for the 6 months to Dec. 31 from A$367m a year earlier, according to estimates. <br/>
Cardboard meal boxes for Qantas economy passengers have been found smouldering in ovens at the back of planes and on one occasion caught alight. In an incident just over 2 weeks ago, flight attendants discovered flames in an oven on a Qantas 737 aircraft just 5 minutes after they had begun heating cardboard boxes full of food. The cabin crew used a fire extinguisher on the food which they had heated at the correct temperature of 275 degrees Celsius. The plane was on the ground at the time in preparation for take-off. Flight attendants have been taking scores of photographs of scorched boxes for the past few weeks to document their concerns. The Flight Attendants Association of Australia had been demanding for several weeks that the airline remove the affected cardboard boxes from service and carry out an independent review. <br/>