This week’s featured link
American Elevates Corporate Customers During Disruptions – FlightGlobal
I was critical of American for rolling out a change to how it reaccommodates passengers recently. (They won’t put non-elites on non-partner airlines.) Now, apparently, they’ve realized this policy sucks… but they’re only fixing it for corporate customers who aren’t elites. There’s something about this change that makes it feel even worse.

Two for the road
After Years of False Starts, California Pacific Airlines Takes Flight – Los Angeles Times
You have to give it to Ted Vallas, the nearly century-old founder of California Pacific. He did not give up. And now, after many false starts, California Pacific is airborne. As if it wasn’t a long enough road, the airline had to contend with a mechanical issue on its first flight. Ouch. Now we can start playing another game. How long will it keep flying? Carlsbad isn’t a bad place for an airline, but I still don’t have high expectations that this will work out.
What Ever Happened to Berlin’s Deserted ‘Ghost’ Airport? – BBC Capital
Remember the Berlin airport that was supposed to open several years ago? Yeah, it still hasn’t happened. I like to post periodic reminders every so often. It’s fun to highlight the ineptitude. There are little bits in here I hadn’t heard before. For example, in 2013, there was a computer glitch that wouldn’t allow them to turn off the lights… for months. What a mess.