American Airlines says personal information of a “very small number” of customers and employees was compromised after hackers breached some employee email accounts. There is no indication that the attackers have misused any of the personal information, the company said. American notified customers last week that the breach was discovered in July, according to law enforcement officials in Montana. American said it locked down the breached accounts and hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate. American told customers that information in the compromised email accounts could have included their date of birth, driver’s license and passport numbers and medical information they provided to the airline. Affected customers were offered two years of identity theft-protection coverage, American said. The airline declined to say how precisely how many people had their personal information exposed or the nature of that information. “American Airlines is aware of a phishing campaign that led to the unauthorized access to a limited number of team member mailboxes,” American spokesman Curtis Blessing said. “A very small number of customers and employees’ personal information was contained in those email accounts. Blessing said American is putting in place “additional technical safeguards to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.”<br/>
oneworld
The rumors are true: American Airlines will be phasing out long-haul first class in the coming years. But well-heeled travelers don't need to fret too much. The airline is planning to consolidate its Flagship First and Flagship Business classes into a new Flagship Suites configuration on its most premium-heavy planes, promising direct aisle access and a privacy door for everyone up front on many of its high-value routes. American will also update and expand the premium economy cabins on those aircraft as part of the overhaul, installing new seats with headrest wings for greater privacy. "What's core to all of this is American Airlines continuing to listen to our customers and continuing to get feedback from our customers," Julie Rath, American's vice president of customer experience told USA TODAY. "Our Flagship Suites that we're delivering are really aligned with what the customer expectation is in the premium cabin." Flagship Suite seats will feature privacy doors and direct aisle access for every passenger, as well as increased personal space compared to existing Flagship Business class seats. Every new Flagship seat will convert to a fully-flat bed. "The privacy door is really really important to our customers," Rath said. Feedback from passengers also encouraged the airline to focus on maximizing personal space as they designed the new product. <br/>
American Airlines says the carrier’s revenue expansion is coming from an increasing number of trips that mix business and leisure. The number of such trips has almost doubled over about the last nine months and now accounts for about 50% of revenue, CCO Vasu Raja said at Skift Global Forum in New York. Passengers on blended trips more likely to join loyalty program, acquire airline’s credit card. American is now operating about 90% of its 2019 capacity, but producing 110% of revenue. About 65% of where American flies is in North America, likely to stay that way for “a while”. Short-haul markets have recovered faster than longer international trips. Use of airline’s co-branded credit cards has not declined with slowing economy.<br/>
The air up there is getting crowded -- and at least one major airline says other users need to pay their fair share. Companies launching rockets and satellite payloads, along with private jet operators need to pay -- or pay more -- to fund the nation’s monitoring grid for flights, which is seeing an uptick in airborne vehicles, says Robert Isom, chief executive officer of American Airlines. Gridlock in the skies over Florida earlier this year cast a spotlight on the combined effect of increased competition for space, severe weather and staffing shortages at air traffic control facilities in the region. Airlines and federal regulators have exchanged blame in lieu of an easy solution. “Airspace is going to be a critical, critical issue,” Isom said Tuesday at a Washington conference sponsored by the US Travel Association. “The only ones that pay for that are the airlines. Commercial airlines are paying FAA and ATC for all these other things. We’re going to have to find a way for new industries that are going to have to contribute.” Business jets pay far less in taxes than a typical airline flight over the same route. The National Business Aviation Association, a trade group for private jet operators, rejected Isom’s claim that business aviation isn’t paying enough. “Instead of trying to shift their responsibilities onto others, the airlines should work with all stakeholders to continue modernizing the aviation system,” it said. <br/>
Cathay Pacific announced today the signing of an offtake agreement with Aemetis for the supply of US$38m US gallons of blended SAF to be delivered over seven years beginning in 2025 from San Francisco International Airport. The SAF purchased can reduce more than 80,000 tonnes of lifecycle carbon emissions, equivalent to the amount of carbon sequestered by more than 1.3m tree seedlings grown for 10 years. The agreement is also part of the joint procurement initiative for SAF by the oneworld alliance. CEO Augustus Tang said: “Cathay Pacific continues to reaffirm its commitment to addressing climate change despite these challenging times. In the past few years, we have announced our carbon net-zero by 2050 target and our goal of achieving 10% use of SAF by 2030. In doing this, we have built a robust SAF procurement strategy to help meet our goals. We are pleased that this agreement with Aemetis will contribute to that effort, and we hope it will also send the right signal to the SAF industry to encourage the much-needed investment and scaling up of its supply chain.”<br/>