United Airlines has released a statement following the circulation of a tweet that showed Apple as its largest account, spending $150 million on flights every single year.
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In a statement to Kif Leswing, United Airlines said that the information was displayed as part of a (intended to be) private project that has since been discontinued.
United said it contacted the companies featured in the banner and is ‘working to address their concerns’. Translation: Apple wasn’t very happy that this information leaked out.
The banner showed that Apple spends $150 million annually with United, primarily with flights between San Francisco International and Shanghai Pudong airports.
It said that Apple buys 50 business class seats every single day, presumably to transport members of Apple engineering and manufacturing to visit production facilities in China.
Big companies don’t like details like this being public knowledge, even if there isn’t anything too sensational about a big corporation buying a lot of flights for its employees.
United was aware of this from the outset of course, but they were still a bit sloppy in even revealing these details to a private group. If you look closely at the banners, the small text at the bottom reads ‘This is confidential information. Please do not share outside of United’. Clearly, this direction was not respected by whoever took the photo.
Today’s statement from United says that they will ‘further restrict sharing of internal customer information’ in the future.
At Washington Dulles International Airport, seen here in 2014, TSA, airport and airline officials decided to “consolidate checkpoints” Monday because of the absences related to the government shutdown. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Washington Dulles International on Monday became the latest airport to close screening lanes because of absences by unpaid TSA agents, adding to a pileup as the 24-day-old government shutdown strains air travel across the country.
Miami International and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport similarly announced checkpoint closures over the weekend because of a higher-than-usual rate of no-shows by TSA agents. Meanwhile, passengers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — the busiest in the world — were stuck in security lines more than an hour long Monday morning after closures of at least six security lanes, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
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“We are down a few security lanes because of the shutdown,” an Atlanta airport spokesperson told POLITICO. “The lines are long but there is a continuous flow; they are moving.”
The news came three days after TSA agents missed their first paychecks since the shutdown began. By Monday, the number of unscheduled absences at the agency had doubled to 7.6 percent, compared with 3.2 percent for the same day the previous year.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, laid the blame for airport delays and reports of baggage screeners calling out sick or quitting directly at President Donald Trump’s feet, saying it’s due to “President Trump’s childish refusal to reopen the government unless he gets his way.”
“Not only will continuing the shutdown increase airport delays and hinder commerce, it could have a negative impact on aviation security if a resolution does not come quickly. I hope President Trump realizes that being responsible for the longest government shutdown in history is no badge of honor — it will have untold negative consequences for months to come. Until he realizes his error, the American people should put the blame squarely on his shoulders,” Thompson said.
Meanwhile, the shutdown forced TSA to cancel training for 323 front-line employees — baggage screeners included. Basic training classes considered “mission critical” continue, but 18 supervisory and advanced training classes for TSA workers have been nixed, according to a TSA spokesperson.
At Dulles, TSA, airport and airline officials decided Monday morning to “consolidate checkpoints” because of the absences, TSA spokesperson Michael Bilello said. He partially attributed the absences to this weekend’s snowstorm but acknowledged that it was “slightly higher than a normal call-out rate.” However, all lanes at Dulles had been reopened by around lunchtime on Monday.
TSA has vowed that airport security will not be compromised by the shutdown. It has also tried to soften the financial blow to screeners by pledging to compensate agents for the first day of the shutdown and provide $500 bonuses this week.
Still, most airports expect that TSA staffing issues will worsen and, like Miami and others, have developed contingency plans to help them manage security lanes, Christopher Bidwell of Airports Council International-North America said.
The airports council and House Democrats have urged TSA to find another way to pay screeners. For example, it could consider tapping into security fee revenue that airline passengers pay as part of the price of a ticket.
However, TSA has said it doesn’t have access to that money. Congress annually takes more than a billion dollars of TSA fee revenue for general deficit reduction and the remainder is required to be deposited in the Treasury, Bilello told POLITICO.
Another group of essential personnel also working without pay — air traffic controllers — are also victims of the shutdown. Their union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, has filed suit against the government over the matter. A court hearing on a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction was supposed to be held Monday, but it has been rescheduled for Tuesday due to snowy conditions in the region.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association also filed a lawsuit against the administration on Friday to force the government to pay its members for the hours they’ve worked since the shutdown began.
Besides the essential workers, a nearly equal number of federal workers are not deemed “essential” and have been placed on temporary leave. Their absence is affecting some functions ranging from FAA inspections of aircraft to CBP interviews with applicants for Global Entry status.
For example, about 3,300 safety inspectors under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have not been working. These are regulatory workers who certify the inspections done by the airlines and companies that repair aircraft. To offset this, the FAA has recalled a small number of inspectors to work, and has reassured travelers that their safety is not being compromised. Yet.
Sidley represented United Airlines on the transaction
United execued its $456 million loan agreement to an affiliate of Synergy Group Corp. and Avianca Holdings, S.A.
United Airlines, Inc. provides air transportation services in North America, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Sidley represented United Airlines with Kevin Lewis (Picture) and included Anna Ha, Eduardo Marquez (MA), Alan Gabbay and John Bonacum (Global Finance).
United Polaris lounge seating area at Los Angeles International Airport. Credit: PRNewsfoto/United Airlines.
United Airlines has opened its United Polaris business class lounge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in the US.
Located in Terminal 7 between Gates 73 and 75A, the lounge imitates the distinct culture of Southern California and offers a host of food and beverages to member passengers.
The new lounge is said to be United’s most recent investment at LAX after it recently completed a $573m renovation of Terminal 7.
United Airlines California president Janet Lamkin said: “Los Angeles is one of United’s most important gateways, particularly to Asia and Australia, and this lounge provides our customers with a best-in-class experience before they board their flights, especially for those customers with late-night departures and early-morning arrivals.
“We continue to expand our presence in Los Angeles, connecting customers from all over California and the US to our global network. The addition of the United Polaris lounge is yet another way we provide customers with the best possible travel experience at LAX.”
United Polaris lounge at LAX is spread across 12,000ft2 and features 140 seats with a range of seating areas for productivity, privacy and dining.
The lounge also features shower suites with rainfall showerheads as well as private daybeds outfitted with Saks Fifth Avenue bedding.
The new lounge joins other United Polaris lounges located at Chicago O’Hare Airport, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Newark Liberty Airport and San Francisco Airport.
Apple buys 50 business class flights every day from San Francisco to Shanghai, China, spending over $150 million per year on United Airlines.
That’s according to a photo of a “confidential” United sign posted to Twitter.
Apple needs to fly its employees to Asia in order to keep an eye on its electronics supply chain.
There are some frequent flyer miles stacking up in Cupertino.
The iPhone giant spends $150 million on a single airline per year, according to a photo of a United promotional sign posted to Twitter by LAflyer.
Apple spends so much money flying its employees to China, where most of its products are manufactured, that it buys 50 business class seats daily from San Francisco to Shanghai, according to the sign.
Shanghai is a logical connection to Zhengzhou and Shenzen, which have been called “iPhone Cities” for the amount of electronics hardware manufacturing that takes place there.
Apple also flies a lot of people to Hong Kong, and Taiwan Yaouyuan International Airport, presumably to stay close to its supply chain. Former Apple engineers have said that frequent travel to China is one of the defining features of some hardware roles at Apple.
The top non-manufacturing destination for Apple is London.
The sign also revealed other top United clients, although they don’t spend as much as Apple. Facebook, Roche, and Google all spend over $34 million on United flights per year, according to the sign.
One Apple employee who is not flying United is CEO Tim Cook, who flies private at the request of Apple’s board. Cook spent $294,082 on private air travel in 2018, according to a recent SEC filing.
Neither United nor LAflyer immediately returned a requests for comment, but that shouldn’t be surprising given the sensitivity of this information. At the bottom of the poster, small text says that it is “confidential information” and shouldn’t be shared outside United.
According to a statement, Miami International Airport will shut down one of its courses (Concourse G) for several days beginning Saturday, as TSA officials have been calling in sick at twice the regular rate, according to multiple sources.
United Continental Holdings Inc., which operates flights departing Concourse G, will try to ensure that customers are not impacted by the closure, according to reports.
“We will work to ensure we do everything we can for our customers and we do not expect any operational impact,” Frank Benenati, a United spokesperson, told Bloomberg.
Over 51,000 TSA security agents have been working without pay since December 22, after Congress refused to throw its support behind a bill to satisfy US President Donald Trump’s $5.6 billion demand for a 2000-mile, 30-foot-tall, concrete border wall with Mexico.
Currently, nine of 15 federal departments, as well as dozens of other agencies and federal programs, have closed or decreased services due to the refusal of the president to sign a budget bill that does not include spending for his wall.
In addition, around 800,000 federal employees have been on furlough or are being forced to continue working without pay, costing the US economy an estimated several billion dollars to date.
On Thursday, the TSA saw a 55 percent increase in the number of employees calling in sick compared to a year ago, according to spokesperson Michael Bilello, Bloomberg reported.
Although travelers have not yet been impacted by airport screening, it could easily become intractable, according to Christopher Bidwell, a senior vice president at the Airports Council International-North America in Washington, cited by Bloomberg.
“We’re very concerned that the current situation with government employees going without pay is unsustainable in the long term,” Bidwell told Bloomberg. “We certainly have to be mindful of the potential for cascading operational impacts.”
Other federal workers involved with key airport security and operations whio are going without pay include air traffic controllers and airplane safety inspectors.
Last week, Trump said he was “very strongly” considering declaring a national emergency if Democrats in Congress refuse to rubber stamp the money for his wall.
“We’re looking at a national emergency, because we have a national emergency,” Trump told reporters outside the White House, in spite of overwhelming evidence that the president’s dire warning is not based in fact.
“We have a crisis at the border of drugs, of human beings being trafficked all over the world,’ Trump raved, adding, “They’re coming through. And we have an absolute crisis, and of criminals and gang members coming through. It is national security. It’s a national emergency.”
Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States appear to be on the rise again after years of decline. The Rhodium Group recently released preliminary estimates showing carbon dioxide emissions overall surged 3.4 percent in 2018, with the transportation sector leading the way as the largest source of emissions for the third year in a row.
Interestingly, the bump in transportation emissions didn’t come from cars. Car travel increased compared to 2017, but gasoline consumption decreased. That’s in part because overall fuel economy in passenger cars is improving as engines become more efficient and electric cars become more popular.
Instead, emissions from trucking and air travel helped contribute to the overall increase: Demand for both diesel and jet fuel increased about 3 percent in 2018.
Emissions relating to air travel are on the rise in the United States. Rhodium Group
On the one hand, this shows just how hard it is to bring down greenhouse gas emissions when the US economy is growing — growth was 3 percent in 2018. With that came more manufacturing, more power use, more travel, and, yes, more greenhouse gases.
But it’s also a clear sign of just how difficult it is to decarbonize the airline industry, for which surprisingly few low-carbon technologies or fuels have been developed so far. That said, there are steps airlines can take to modestly reduce their impact on the environment. And on this front, a recent report from the German nonprofit atmosfair shows that US-based airlines have fared poorly compared to air carriers in other countries, failing to take climate change as seriously as some of their competitors abroad.
Demand for air travel is surging just when our window to limit catastrophic global warming is closing
In 2018, the total number of air passengers increased in the US, with some periods of the year experiencing all-time high air travel volumes. Around the world, airlines carried 4.3 billion passengers in 2018, an increase of 38 million compared to the year before. Aviation accounts for about 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and that share is poised to grow.
The International Civil Aviation Organization anticipates that by 2020, global international aviation emissions are projected will be 70 percent greater than in 2005. By the middle of the century, they are slated to increase by upward of 700 percent. Every round-trip trans-Atlantic flight emits enough carbon dioxide to melt 30 square feet of Arctic sea ice.
But the planet needs to cut its emissions from today by more than half to get on a path to limiting global warming this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The world may only have until 2030 to reach that milestone.
However, it’s a bit tricky for conscientious fliers to figure out just how much they’re contributing to climate change.
“Car drivers are used to easy and absolute climate efficiency indicators: grams [of] CO2 per kilometer or gallons per mile,” according to a December report from atmosfair. “This is not the case for aircraft: Every plane has to take off [and] climb out to a minimum altitude, regardless of how far it goes after that.”
Since planes take a huge amount of energy just to get off the ground, shorter flights actually have a larger CO2 footprint per passenger per mile than longer ones, so their overall carbon intensity can be higher.
Fuel consumption in liters per passenger for an Airbus A340 relative to distance traveled. atmosfair
One also has to factor in the age of the aircraft, the type of aircraft, and the distance traveled. And aircraft emit more than carbon dioxide: They spew particles, nitrogen oxides, and sulfates. These compounds also trap heat and have an outsized effect on warming when they’re emitted at cruising altitude.
Aircraft emit a variety of compounds that can influence the climate. atmosfair
Accounting for all these factors, atmosfair indexed 125 of the world’s airlines. The rankings are also subdivided in to short-, medium-, and long-haul flights. The methodology accounts for meteorological conditions on routes, passenger load, cargo load, aircraft type, engines, and efficiency ground operations. Airlines are then awarded efficiency points and are then ranked.
US air carriers have a lot of room for improvement in cutting their carbon emissions
The overall highest-ranked airline, according to atmosfair, was United Kingdom-based TUI Airways because of their efficient aircraft and high occupancy rates.
Airlines ranked by emissions efficiency in 2018. atmosfair
The highest-rated US-based airline was Alaska Airlines, coming in at 22. The highest-ranked US legacy carrier is United Airlines, ranking 50th. All US air carriers slipped in the rankings compared to the year before, except for American Airlines, which ranked 58, rising from 66 in 2017. For country home to some of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, this is a dismal showing.
American Airlines’ fleet includes a combination of newer aircraft like the Boeing 737-800 and older, less efficient aircraft like the MD-80. The company has average to below-average occupancy on their shorter flights. “American Airlines still earns points compared to the previous year due to high occupancy on long-haul flights in combination with more efficient aircrafts,” according to the report. The company is aiming to retire its entire MD-80 fleet this year.
A big challenge for cutting emissions from aviation is that cleaner technology is still in its infancy. Fuel is the single-largest expense for airlines, so they have an incentive to use less fuel per passenger. That’s part of the appeal of new fuel-efficient aircraft like the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350. But airlines make money filling seats, so they want to encourage more air travel.
Right now, we have almost no alternative that can match jet fuel’s energy density — no battery is going to get an airliner across the Atlantic. The engines themselves are pretty much at their upper limit for fuel economy and performance, so there’s little room for improvement there.
There is talk of electric aircraft and hydrogen-powered engines, but those flights are decades away. Airlines are now experimenting with biofuels that can be carbon-neutral. The big hurdle right now is price, but if oil prices rise and if production costs come down, biofuels could become a viable way to decarbonize air travel. Manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing are studying new wing designs that save fuel and hybrid systems, like electric motors for taxiing aircraft on the ground. The US Department of Energy and the military meanwhile are researching biofuels.
Regulations to limit carbon dioxide emissions from air travel would be a major step to spur more research on this front. The European Union has implemented some carbon rules for aircraft, but in the United States, the Trump administration is moving as far as possible from regulating greenhouse gases. That means the problem is likely to get worse before it gets better.
