Air Canada
A new baggage policy is in effect for economy class travelers who purchase tickets after August 21 for travel starting October 5, 2018. Under the new policy, travelers with basic and standard fare tickets will be charged $30 CAD/USD for one checked back and $50 CAD/USD for a second bag each way. Passengers purchasing Flex and Comfort economy fares will be allowed one free checked bag. The fee for a second checked bag will be $50 CAD/USD each way.

American Airlines
American will launch nine new European routes next year. The new offerings include daily non-stop service from Phoenix to London Heathrow and from Charlotte to Munich as of March 31. American will offer flights between Chicago and Athens starting May 3. New service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Dublin and Munich will launch on June 6. New flights from Philadelphia include Edinburgh beginning on April 2, Bologna on June 6, and Berlin and Dubrovnik on June 7.

Meanwhile, citing high fuel prices, American said it will discontinue service between Chicago O’Hare and Shanghai, Pudong as of October 26. The carrier will reduce frequencies between O’Hare and Tokyo-Narita to three per week as of December 18, 2018, but also noted that its Pacific Joint Business Partner, JAL will increase its services on this route.
In other news, American is now letting economy class passengers pre-order meals to help ensure they receive their desired selection. The pre-ordering system was tested on select routes earlier this year, but the option is now available systemwide on flights offering “light meals.” To pre-order a meal, simply access your reservation on American’s app or website anytime between 30 days and 24 hours before departure. Scroll to “Reserve a Meal”, click “Place an Order” and continue from there. Passengers will not be charged for the meal until it is received during flight. Passengers will need to pay with a bank card as the airline went cash-free for inflight transactions as of May 2018.

Beginning Sept. 1, 2018, the Admirals Club lounge located in Concourse B at JFK International Airport will be converted to a Flagship Lounge. This will allow American to expand and enhance its existing Flagship facilities and services. Travelers who do not qualify for the Flagship Lounge can visit the Admirals Club in Concourse C of Terminal 8.

Delta Air Lines
Passengers will find fewer center seats when Delta takes delivery of its newest narrow-body aircraft early next year. The new high-tech Airbus A220-200 offers relatively wide seats and a roomy, quiet cabin with fewer center seats as the plane will be configured with two-by-three seating. The new aircraft will be offered on key business routes.

Swiss International Airlines
Swiss Air became the latest carrier to be approved for the TSA’s PreCheck program. PreCheck now includes 54 airlines and offers expedited screening at more than 200 airports across the United States. Passengers can tell if they are eligible to use the special PreCheck security screening lanes by looking for a Precheck indicator on their boarding pass, for example TSAPRECHK or TSAPRE.