August 2024 Monthly Recap

I know it’s a few days early but I don’t plan on working much over the holiday weekend, so here’s the August 2024 Monthly Recap. August saw me finally get back in the air thanks to a crazy, six segment, single day itinerary as I did some mileage running for British Airways Tier Points. On the news front, things weren’t as crazy as July where we saw the Crowdstrike outage wreak havoc for airlines but it was still pretty busy.

Tampa Airport is Adding More Lounges

Tampa International Airport (TPA) is adding two new lounges as part of its Airside D expansion project. The Airside (Tampa Airport speak for concourse) will serve as the airports International Arrivals area and will also have an airline anchor tenant that will operate one of the two lounges. Delta currently operates international service from TPA, could they be the ones moving into the new space?

Delta Continues Building in Austin with Flights to New Orleans

Delta is once again expanding its footprint in Austin. Months after adding flights to Harlingen, McAllen, Midland/Odessa, and Nashville the carrier is launching twice daily flights between the Texas capital and the Big Easy in 2025. Delta is replacing American on the route as the Fort Worth based carrier pulls out of the market this fall. Delta’s regional partner SkyWest has opened a crew base in Austin in support of the expansion.

United Flight Attendants Authorize Strike

Flight attendants at United Airlines have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike. 99.99% of the votes cast were in favor, illustrating that there is very little disagreement over the directions these negotiations will take. Hopefully United management and AFA leadership can come to an agreement soon and get a new contract passed that is acceptable to all parties involved. United flight attendants have been working under an amendable contract for almost three years.

Flight Review: American A321 First Class

If you’re flying domestically with American Airlines, there’s a good chance you’ll end up on either the Airbus A321 or the Boeing 737. These two fleet types are the backbone of the airline’s narrowbody fleet and, while my experience wasn’t stellar, it was a very pleasant flight. The crew was friendly, the plane was clean, and we arrived early. The food was a miss for me but, I would happily fly with American on this route again which is something I wouldn’t have said a few years ago.

Lounge Review: American Airlines Flagship Lounge Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW)

Holding British Airways Gold status when flying American domestically not only provides access to American’s Admirals Clubs but its Flagship Lounges as well. On a recent trip through DFW I had a chance to make an early morning visit to the lounge. It had plenty of space to spread out, great views of the ramp, and an above average beverage selection. Unfortunately, the food didn’t live up to the expectations I had for an international Business Class lounge at American’s largest hub.

Summary

I finally got back in the air this month and managed to squeeze in quite a bit of flying. There are a few trips coming up in the fall that I need to put some finishing touches on but things on the travel front are shaping up nicely.

Thanks for checking out the August 2024 Monthly Recap and I hope you all have a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend. I’ll be spending the weekend watching college football and doing a whole lot of nothing!