Brian Sumers

JetBlue has been good to Puerto Rico, but the airline has no choice. The island has been devastated by Hurricane Maria, and tourists won't be able to return soon. JetBlue needs to move some flights to other popular tourist destinations.

Other airlines serve sushi, but not ANA, Japan's largest carrier. Why? ANA takes its food seriously, and its chefs don't think sushi tastes right on planes, so it serves sashimi instead. That's attention to detail.

Did United Airlines promote its new Polaris cabin faster than was prudent? The answer is probably yes. But remember, in 2016, United was losing high-value customers to competitors. It likely wanted to make a splash by highlighting its future plans.

On its own, this is no big deal. Not many people book JetBlue tickets on Vegas.com or whatscheaper.com. But JetBlue called this phase one, so we'll be watching closely to see the airline's next step.

We've heard for several years how travel brands will use new technology to make travel seamless. We wish it would happen next year. But it sounds like we'll have to wait awhile. Perhaps someday we'll get there.

What we learned from this story: Jessica Alba is one reason airlines improved pajama quality, and passengers steal pillows and blankets from airplanes. Plus, not everyone is sure why airlines give premium passengers amenity kits on every long-haul flight.

Yes, a lot of people have ditched their airline-branded credit cards. But even people who have snazzy new cards, including the Chase Sapphire Reserve, like to redeem points for free travel on United and other airlines. For that reason, United MileagePlus miles are still valuable to Chase.

This is a good development for passengers, who must wonder why they still have to check in for flights in 2017. But for many airlines, check-in still serves a valuable purpose.

After years of hinting, Southwest will finally fly to Hawaii. This is good news for passengers, as fares may fall — if only slightly. Other airlines won't want to let Southwest win too much market share.

Delta has a message for passengers who don't like Basic Economy fares: Trade up and buy a better product.