GOOD DAY, READERS.
The premium American travel economy — points, lounges, co-brand cards — runs on one obscure, uncapped fee most travelers have never heard of, writes Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali. Delta collected $8.2 billion from American Express last year; American Airlines, $6.2 billion from its co-brand deals.
Europe, the UK, and Australia have all capped the same fee, and their rewards economies shrank as a result. Morgan Stanley's own 2035 forecasts for the co-brand market — even the bear case — assume Washington never follows suit. The airline and banking industries are both lobbying to make sure that bet pays off.
Skift Aviation Forum
The uncapped fee bankrolling the premium travel economy is a bet on Washington staying quiet, and the airline leaders placing that bet set the year's agenda at one table.
Luis Gallego (IAG), David Neeleman (Breeze Airways), and John Ackerman (LA World Airports) headline the one-day deep dive on profitability, loyalty, and what's next for global air travel, at the TWA Hotel, JFK on November 12.
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Delta Pilots Detail Why Scheduling Talks Broke Down as Cancellations Rise
by Meghna Maharishi
Reliability has long been one of Delta’s biggest selling points. But the carrier has experienced an uptick in disruptions this year and has not been able to reach a deal with its pilots’ union yet on the fix.
VISIT JAMAICA + SKIFT
Few regions have benefited more from the post-pandemic tourism surge than the Caribbean. Headline figures tell the tale, including a 30% increase in consumer spending and 17% growth in cruise arrivals since 2019. More immediately, hotel RevPAR has increased 10% year over year in 2026.
MORNING HEADLINES
SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK
Turkish Airlines went from a 10% operating margin in the second quarter of last year to deep in the red.
In this clip from Airline Weekly Lounge, Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat break down why the Iran conflict hit Turkish harder than most, how Istanbul benefited when Gulf hubs were disrupted but lost when Middle East routes dried up, and why so many of Turkish's U.S. flights depend on connecting passengers heading to destinations that are no longer flying or no longer in demand.
SKIFT TRAVEL 200
How are public travel companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to understand global market movements. Paid subscribers get full access here.
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