![](https://i0.wp.com/crankyflier.com/wp-content/uploads/2024CWRPBSFBOIAlogo.jpg?resize=984%2C641&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/crankyflier.com/wp-content/uploads/cwr1-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C100&ssl=1)
American Airlines announced this week that EVP and CCO Vasu Raja would leave the carrier early next month after two years in his current role and 20 years at the airline. Raja has been the driver of a new corporate strategy designed to pull focus away from managed corporate travel and other business-related sales while driving traffic to AA.com, and the carrier’s other preferred booking channels.
Raja’s body wasn’t even cold yet in the wake of announcing his departure before AA CEO Robert Isom began walking back many of the changes Raja had already implemented and others he was planning to implement in the future. These include limiting access to AAdvantage miles and loyalty points for bookings made directly from the carrier or its preferred booking channels, limiting many of its lowest fares to its New Distribution Capability (NDC) offerings and away from third party booking services, and beating Basic Economy passengers with a stick upon boarding.
For more on the corporate shakeup at American and where it goes from here, please check out yesterday’s post on crankyflier.com.
![](https://i0.wp.com/crankyflier.com/wp-content/uploads/cwr2-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C100&ssl=1)
JetBlue will open a new base for both pilots and flight attendants in San Juan by the end of the year as the carrier grows its presence in Puerto Rico.
The new base will open in phases, and will eventually be the home of up to 120 pilots and 325 FAs. The staff additions come as the carrier is growing its presence on the island, adding flights to six new destinations from SJU this fall. It will give JetBlue 18 destinations from the airport, and to its credit, none of those are Newark.
In addition to adding new destinations, the carrier is stepping up its in-flight product as well, as it plans to make San Juan its latest minty-fresh destination, adding its Mint experience on flights to New York/JFK.
![](https://i0.wp.com/crankyflier.com/wp-content/uploads/cwr3-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C100&ssl=1)
Alaska and Contour have joined forces for the partnership we didn’t know we needed, but now that we have it, we wonder how we survived all these years without it.
Customers flying on Contour who book through Alaska with a ticket issued on Alaska’s stock with its 027 code can now earn both redeemable miles and elite qualifying miles in the carrier’s Mileage Plan program. This includes nonstop flights on Contour booked through AS — actually flying on Alaska or part of a connecting itinerary on Alaska isn’t necessary to earn the miles.
Contour flies mostly EAS routes in the southeast, only making it as far west as Utah and Arizona, so its map doesn’t exactly complement Alaska’s very well, but more mileage-earning opportunities are always better than less.
![](https://i0.wp.com/crankyflier.com/wp-content/uploads/cwr4-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C100&ssl=1)
Southwest Airlines stumbled through its operation for a brief period on Wednesday after a power outage at a Dallas-area data center caused issues for the carrier. The outage was caused by a line of severe storms that rolled through Central Texas as punishment for the Mavericks choking away Game 4* of the Western Conference finals against Minnesota.
About a third of Southwest’s flights were delayed Wednesday, or as Newark calls it, “a great day!” The hiccup came about 17 months after Southwest’s Great Holiday Meltdown of 2022, but unlike the days-long mess created then, the carrier recovered relatively quickly this time.
*They redeemed themselves last night in Minnesota.
![](https://i0.wp.com/crankyflier.com/wp-content/uploads/cwr5-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C100&ssl=1)
WestJet’s original timeline of shifting all of Sunwing’s fleet to operate under its AOC has been delayed from this October to April 27, 2025.
While WestJet will continue to integrate Sunwing into its brand, the two airlines will operate separately through the IATA winter season of 2024/25, ensuring several more months of wild, non-sensical schedule changes at the sunny subsidiary. The transaction to combine the two companies was completed last year, and WestJet was able to absorb Swoop and end it as a standalone brand also late last year.
When the integration is complete, WestJet says it will be responsibile for selling one in two vacation packages sold to Canadians through its various brands, with the carrier saying the half that book elsewhere can “go to hell.”
![](https://i0.wp.com/crankyflier.com/wp-content/uploads/cwrpotpourri-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C100&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/crankyflier.com/wp-content/uploads/cwrandrewlevitynew.jpg?resize=1000%2C83&ssl=1)
What sits on the bottom of the ocean and has anxiety? A nervous wreck.