The briefing in brief: American Express opens a huge airport lounge in Atlanta and Delta Air Lines promises three business-class-only clubs this year. Hilton steals Small Luxury Hotels from Hyatt. British Airways resumes Tel Aviv flights in April, but American Airlines delays its return again. Corporate raider Carl Icahn takes a 9.91% stake in JetBlue and immediately receives two board seats. United grounded five jets this week because of an obsolete FAA regulation. Would Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart use rolling luggage? And more.

Help Is Finally on the Way for Overcrowded Airport Clubs
Supply always trails demand in the world of airport lounges. As far back as 1990, when I edited Frequent Flyer magazine, I ran a cover story called "The Capacity Crunch at the Airline Clubs." But the capacity crunch in the post-pandemic era, fueled by flyers armed with entry privileges bestowed by credit cards, has been extreme. Finally, though, there's good news. American Express this week opened a gargantuan (26,000-square-foot) Centurion Lounge on Concourse E at Atlanta. Located near Gate E11, the club offers workstations, shower suites and even a whiskey bar to complement the Centurion Lounge's usual food and beverage offerings. Meanwhile, Amex partner Delta Air Lines says it will open its first international business class lounges this year at its New York/Kennedy, LAX and Boston hubs. Located in the B Concourse of Terminal 4, the JFK club is due in June and, at 38,000 square feet, will even dwarf that new ATL Amex Lounge. The smaller LAX and Boston clubs should open in the fourth quarter. Delta is also promising new traditional SkyClub outlets at Charlotte and Seattle/Tacoma before the end of the year. And Hawaiian Airlines has opened Apt. 1929 in Honolulu International's Terminal 1. Named after the year Hawaiian Air was founded, access won't come cheap. It's part of Hawaiian's new VIP meet-and-greet service that'll cost $500 a couple. Besides private escorts and early-boarding privileges, the service includes perks such as lei greetings and luggage delivery direct to your Honolulu home or hotel.

Hilton Steals Small Luxury Hotels From Hyatt
Hyatt's comparatively rich but chronically small World of Hyatt program scored a notable coup in 2018 when it added many Small Luxury Hotels (SLH) to its earn-and-burn portfolio. But no marketing victory lasts forever and World of Hyatt is losing one of its most prestigious partners to Hilton, which is already almost four times larger than Hyatt. Although timing and specifics were not announced, Hilton says Small Luxury Hotels will join Hilton Honors sometime this year. Not all of the 560 SLH properties will join Honors--not all participated in World of Hyatt, either--but expect virtually all of the ones now playing with Hyatt to move to Hilton. Bottom line: If you hoped to book an award stay at an SLH property using Hyatt points, do it fast.
        Marriott says it is buying the 1,218-room Sheraton Grand Chicago and the 2.3 acres of land beneath the hotel at 301 E. North Water Street. Total price: a whopping $500 million, of which $300 million covers the hotel purchase and the other $200 million goes to the ground underneath. The deal is a remnant of the 2016 merger of Marriott and Starwood Hotels. The hotel's owner, Tishman Realty, originally developed the Sheraton Grand in 1992 and sued Marriott when it merged with Starwood, then the owner of the Sheraton brand. Ironically, no changes are expected at the hotel. It will continue to be as boring and inconsequential as most other Sheraton properties.

BA Will Resume Israel Flights, But American Delays Again
British Airways says it will resume flying to Tel Aviv on April 1, six months after suspending flights after the Hamas terrorist attacks. The four weekly roundtrips from London's Heathrow Airport will change, however. The flights to TLV from Heathrow first will stop in Larnaca, Cyprus, for a crew change since BA won't allow staff to overnight in Israel. But American Airlines, BA's joint-venture and Oneworld Alliance partner, has made a different decision. American says it cancelled Tel Aviv flights until at least October 26, the end of the so-called "summer" schedule.
        Copa Airlines, the Star Alliance carrier based in Panama, is adding still another U.S. gateway. Effective June 21, Copa will fly four times each week between its Panama City (PTY) hub and Raleigh-Durham. It is Copa's 16th U.S. destination.

Mother of Mercy, Is This the End of JetBlue Airways?
Life continues to get worse for JetBlue Airways. After the abrupt departure of failed chief executive Robin Hayes and a federal judge's veto of the Spirit Airlines merger, JetBlue now must deal with a notorious corporate raider. Carl Icahn has taken a 9.91% stake in the airline. But never put it past JetBlue to surrender before the fight. On Friday (February 16), JetBlue put two Icahn surrogates on the carrier's board of directors. You may recall that Icahn once owned TWA and drained its assets before putting it into bankruptcy and then bailing with a one-sided ticketing deal. TWA was eventually folded into American Airlines. Word to the wise: Carl Icahn cares nothing about improving airlines. His target with TWA--he told me this personally--was to cut costs and maximize his financial return. There's no reason to think he won't drive the same bargain at JetBlue, which once claimed to be a better airline than its competitors.

Business Travel News You Need to Know
Here's one I bet you've never heard before: The FAA briefly grounded the five new Airbus A321neo aircraft operated by United Airlines. The reason: The crew was unable to turn overhead "no smoking" signs on and off. Now you'd think that such a matter is irrelevant since smoking is not permitted on any flight and the "no smoking" lights are always illuminated. But an obsolete rule from the days when smoking was allowed--it was banned on all flights in 2000--requires crew to be able to control the lights. All aircraft certified in recent years have been given a waiver. But United forgot to apply for the waiver when the A321neo went into service. After a few days on the ground this week, the FAA issued a temporary waiver and United was able to resume using the aircraft.
        Delta Air Lines is adding more flights to Hawaii. Effective November 21, it will launch service between Boston/Logan and Honolulu using Boeing 767-300ERs. Hawaiian Airlines already operates on the route and it is currently the nation's longest domestic nonstop at 5,095 miles. The Delta service will run until April 30, 2025. Delta will also resume flying nonstops between its Atlanta hub and Maui. Last flown in March, 2023, the route will operate between November 21 and March 29.

Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart and the Zen of Luggage
I have my own questions about Casablanca, the greatest movie ever created by an American film studio. But I think economist and social commentator Tyler Cowen went well over the top in his recent critique of Rick, the world-weary freedom-fighter-turned-saloon-owner played by Humphrey Bogart. Skip his essay, but take note of this comment: "I have always said rolling luggage had to wait until Cary Grant died," wrote someone named HR. "But also Humphrey Bogart had to be gone. Can you see him with a rolling suitcase? No." HR has a point. The creation of the modern rolling bag with a telescoping handle generally dates to 1987, the year after Grant died. (Bogart passed away three decades earlier.) And HR is certainly correct. I can't see either Grant or Bogart running through an airport with a rolling bag. Just doesn't fit the image ...