The briefing in brief: American Airlines claims that it's pivoting to premium service, but it's still pinching pennies. Chase pulls its Sapphire airport lounges from Priority Pass. Delta Air Lines will fly nonstop from LAX to Manila. United abandons ten commuter routes it planned to add from O'Hare. Swiss will fly Zurich-Bangalore and times the flights for easy connections from the United States. And more.

AA'S PREMIUM PIVOT SEEMS LIKE MORE PENNY-PINCHING
American Airlines has been in a penny-pinching downward spiral since Doug Parker reverse-merged the carrier into US Airways almost 13 years ago. When Parker departed in 2022, Robert Isom, the new chief executive officer, made sure the AA rank-and-filers understood the mission: "We can’t spend a dollar more than we need to," he famously explained. Result? Filthy aircraft, broken seats and overhead bins, technical meltdowns, abandoned routes and also-ran financial status relative to Delta and United. Lately, of course, American has made noises about a pivot to "premium" and never fails to hype the odd improvement it does make. But the bottom line? American continues to pinch pennies and make life harder for customers. Some recent cuts you might have missed:
        Less Valuable Upgrades Effective August 25, elite American AAdvantage members cannot upgrade from coach to business class on key domestic routes such as LAX-New York/Kennedy; San Francisco-JFK; Boston-LAX; and many Hawaii runs. All those routes use three-class aircraft configured with business, premium economy and coach. AA traditionally permitted AA elites to upgrade from coach to business. In two weeks, the upgrades will only get you into premium economy.
        Higher Club Fees Effective August 23, annual fees for a traditional Admirals Club membership will rise sharply. Depending on your elite status, you'll now pay $1,200-$1,400 a year. Meanwhile, a new "basic" level of membership has been created: For prices starting at $750 a year, it permits the flyer to access clubs, but offers no guest-member privileges.
        No Refunds on Last-Minute Tickets Late last month, American rescinded your right to receive a refund for a ticket purchased within seven days of departure. Federal regulation requires refunds for unused tickets purchased at least seven days before departure. For years, however, AA permitted refunds within 48 hours. That policy has been reversed and all you'll receive is a travel credit.

CHASE PULLS SAPPHIRE LOUNGES FROM PRIORITY PASS
Chase has been building out a well-regarded network of airport clubs tied to its premium-priced Chase Sapphire Reserve card. But the sub rosa reality: Chase Sapphire Lounges have been built and are managed by a company that also owns the Priority Pass card. Although Chase has tried to keep a lid on that reality, it means that you could access Sapphire Lounges with a Priority Pass Select issued by any competing bank. But now that is changing. Effective August 15, Chase is pulling all of its Sapphire Lounges out of Priority Pass. One small new perk: Chase says eligible flyers can access Sapphire Lounges five hours before their onward connection, up from the current three.
        San Juan has a new lounge. A 62-seat club has opened in Terminal B and it features a bar, coffee station and children's area. It can be accessed with Priority Pass.
        American AAdvantage miles can now be used for award seats on Muscat-based Oman Air. The problem with that? Despite repeated promises, Oman Air still does not fly to the United States. Any AAdvantage award will require additional flights just to get to an Oman Air gateway in Europe.

DELTA WILL LAUNCH FLIGHTS TO MANILA FROM LAX
Delta Air Lines will launch its first flights to Manila on March 28. But its choice of gateway is interesting: Los Angeles. Delta maintains an LAX hub, of course, but its claimed transpac hub is Seattle-Tacoma, where it continues to battle Alaska Airlines for dominance. Delta says it will use Airbus A350-900 aircraft on the thrice-weekly route.
        Swiss says it will add five weekly nonstops from its Zurich hub to Bengaluru (aka Bangalore), India's fourth-largest city and technology hub. Swiss will launch the service on October 25 and the Zurich departure is timed for easy connections from many U.S. arriving flights.
        Virgin Atlantic is reducing Tampa-London/Heathrow nonstops. The daily route will drop to four times weekly on November 9 and to three weekly on January 7. Meanwhile, British Airways is moving its Tampa-London flights to Heathrow Airport on October 25. BA's Tampa service currently operates to London/Gatwick.

TRUMP'S $20 BILLION DULLES PIPEDREAM IS UA'S DREAM
I'm reluctant to waste much space--or your time--on this because it'll never happen. President Trump says he'll spearhead a $20+-billion plan to remake Washington/Dulles Airport. The pipedream of a plan includes the elimination of the airport's derided "mobile lounges" and the erection of a gigantic parking structure that will obscure views of the iconic Eero Saarinen terminal. The hidden villain of the piece? United Airlines, which operates a hub at Dulles. The plan Trump presented late last month is essentially the proposal United made to him and the airport's operating authority. You can read more about the plan and see the renderings here.
        Chicago/O'Hare service continues to gyrate as United and American vie for supremacy and the federal government tries to keep reasonable flight limits at the overburdened airport. The latest developments? United has delayed (and probably cancelled) ten new commuter routes from O'Hare that it had announced earlier this year. Among the never-starting routes: to Erie, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Wausau. Meanwhile, American is ending its Landline bus service at O'Hare. The bus to Rockford (RFD) is dumped. But the run to South Bend (SBN) will be replaced by three daily commuter flights beginning October 5.

TRAVEL NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Not a good few weeks for airline pilots. An off-duty Malaysia Airlines pilot was selected for customs inspection on arrival in Jakarta (CGK). Inspectors found quite a haul in one of his checked bags: more than 70,000 ecstasy pills. The pilot was also carrying methamphetamine. As a result, Malaysia Airlines this week announced a new drug testing regimen for all of its approximately 1,250 pilots. Meanwhile, an All Nippon Airways pilot has been sentenced to 20 months in prison after his conviction for a sexual assault on one of the carrier's flight attendants. The assault did not occur on a flight, however, but on a street and in a convenience store in the city of Takamatsu.
        Nauru, the world's third-smallest country, has changed its name. The Pacific Island nation is now known as the Republic of Naoero. Its three-letter code has changed to NRO. At the moment, however, the national carrier continues to be called Nauru Airlines.