News and notes from around the interweb:
- DC travel meetup August 22
- 500 Lufthansa Miles & More miles for downloading and logging into their app for the first time (HT: @IadisGr8)
- Saudi Arabia plans to create a visa free resort destination “along its northwestern Red Sea coast” where women can drive and don’t have to wear veils.
- Qantas and American are still working towards approvals for a joint venture.
“If you want any café or restaurant recommendations around DoJ or DoT headquarters, I can tell you, given the amount of time we’re spending there at the moment,” Qantas Group Executive Government, Industry & International Affairs Andrew Parker quipped at the CAPA Australia Pacific Summit in Sydney.
- Smoke on SriLankan flight likely caused by lithium-ion battery (HT: Paul H.) Thank goodness the electronic devices were in the cabin and not in checked luggage.
- The federal government may buy two Boeing 747-8 air frames that have been in storage in the desert and in Everett and use them as eventual replacement Air Force One aircraft. The frames had been intended for defunct Russian carrier Transaero.
Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016
- Sabre shedding 9% of its workforce
- With American’s first Boeing 737 MAX off the assembly line offering the tightest seat pitch ever from a US legacy airline, it’s worth highlighting another new aircraft American once took delivery of.