Good morning, and welcome to today's community discussion thread! Today's posts will appear here throughout the day, but this thread is for going off-topic. Did you love/hate something about today's coverage? Are you tracking other news I missed? Or, do you just have a general question about rewards travel? This is the place for your wandering thoughts.
Today's posts on OMAAT:
- Today Only: Earn Up To 4x Bonus Airline Miles On Apple Purchases
- Etihad Unveils Airbus A330neo First & Business Class Cabins, And They’re Predictable
- Korean Air Rolls Out Free Starlink Wi-Fi, A (Very) Long Overdue Development
- Latvian Flag Carrier airBaltic Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection
- Starlux Airlines A350 First Class: A Quirky Product That Exceeded My Expectations
- Air Canada Signature Suite Toronto Closing For Expansion, And It’s Being Handled Very Well
- How Marriott Walked Me To Another Hotel, Then Refused To Honor Its Reservation Guarantee
- Condor A320 Misses Frankfurt Curfew By Seconds, Causing Midnight Diversion, Long Bus Ride
- Philippine Airlines Launches Paid Status Match Promotion, But Is It Worth It?
- Finally: Qatar Airways Drops Harsh Rules On Redeeming Avios For Others
Daily threads stay open for a week, so it's never too late to jump into a recent conversation.
Good morning! Interesting news, as I just received a message from AirBaltic about voluntarily entering Chapter 11. Seems like they won't get out of the perfect storm anymore.
And to add a link with more information: https://company.airbaltic.com/en/newsroom?press=2026/airbaltic-initiates-chapter-11-financial-reorganisation-flights-and-customer-services-continue-as-normal
The message from the airline: nothing to see here, keep calm and especially: keep booking.
@importviking Woah! It's been tough for them with the airspace closures since 2022 (Russia) and the a220 P&W troubles. I see airBaltic appears to now also be citing increased costs from the Iran war in their filings: https://www.reuters.com/world/airbaltic-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-new-york-2026-09-14/
Ben had covered their downsizing: https://onemileatatime.com/news/airbaltic-shrink-massively-struggles-business/ and reviewed their a220: https://onemileatatime.com/community/other-airlines/review-airbaltic-airbus-a220-sas-wet-lease/
Hope the airline can pull-off a successful reorg.
@1990_ It seems they are taking the most expensive option out there like SAS did, and are doing a US Ch.11 with high interest loans and yet to see very expensive advisors with success fees that are unheard of I am sure.
@view I read that their alternative was 25% interest through private bondholders, so the DIP loan (~10-15%) is better for them. Looks like Morgan Stanley is the major financial institution keeping them flying... for now.
Looks like Amazon finally decided to 'pause' operations with 21 Air (after the MIA crash): https://apnews.com/article/miami-runway-amazon-plane-21-air-96df901b1a8b86648f1b060a457b8fd9
Yeah, probably should've done that after September 6, but a week later is better than never. Certainly doesn't absolve Amazon of relying on let's call them 'unscrupulous' operators. Reliance on ACMI and wet-lease operators who cut corners on safety and oversight is a systemic problem across the cargo and logistics more broadly. I fear little will be done unless and until there's actual accountability, real costs associated with compliance. *sigh*
@1990_ not a surprise here.....i think they realized there is more risk than reward by mass sub-contracting out of the operation.....
@isaacc I sure hope so. Two fatal accidents since 2019. Just hope lessons learned, NTSB recommendations implemented.