Travel Industry Archive

I opened up my email yesterday to see I had an Implu alert that US Airways President Scott Kirby was joining the board of LodgeNet. That made me wonder if there could be some possible cooperation at work here on a future inflight entertainment system. You’ve probably used LodgeNet’s offerings in the past. They’re the ones who power many of those hotel in-room entertainment...

More...

Labor Day generally signals the unofficial end of the summer travel season, but this year it takes on a very ominous tone. All those massive flight cuts that have been announced over the last few months start to go into effect, and that means that airlines are going to be watching performance very carefully. It’s one thing to hear about cuts in the news, but it’s another thing to...

More...

There are a lot of ways to handle an airport expansion, but in general, here’s how it works. Airports decide to build something and the cost gets baked into the airline operating fees. This is a very simplistic way to look at it, and of course there are exceptions (yes, there can be PFCs, etc), but you get the idea. So it caught my eye when I saw that Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport was...

More...

If you find yourself on one of American’s old 767-200 aircraft, you may be a very happy camper. Starting last week, the airlines officially rolled out onboard wireless internet for $12.95 per flight. Could this be a differentiator to help them shift share back from United? The 767-200 primarily flies between New York/JFK and both San Francisco and LAX. These prime business routes have...

More...

Being in public relations for an airline has to be one of the toughest jobs around, but that’s no excuse for not doing it well. It came out last week that United would start charging for meals on some transatlantic flights along with a handful of other changes not likely to be well-received by the public. You would think that a change like this would result in a carefully coordinated PR...

More...

I thought this was a strange story when I first saw it, but now I find it downright scary. Apparently, a TSA agent decided to do some airfield security inspections. As part of his inspections, he decided to pull himself up on to 9 American Eagle aircraft using sensors on the aircraft that are clearly not supposed to be used to support a person’s weight. An Eagle employee caught the...

More...

Normally, a route announcement isn’t noteworthy. But I figured that in these troubled times, it’s such a rare event that it’s worth taking a second look. Yesterday, AirTran announced it would start its first flights to both Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) and Columbus (Ohio). This is something of a strange announcement. The airline has curtailed growth (but not eliminated it). I...

More...

If you thought advertising couldn’t get any more intrusive, I think it’s safe to say that you were wrong. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has sent a note to DFW saying that they “are sorry to hear that the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is experiencing financial difficulties, but I have a proposal that might help.” How about ads in the...

More...

Yesterday I wrote about how Southwest had started filing its fares via ATPCO again, and thanks to Rick Seaney over at FareCompare.com, I now have some more info to pass along about this. Apparently Southwest requires what’s called a G30 release. I’m told this isn’t normal since the fares are still filed in the regular public tariff, but they’re doing it nonetheless. So...

More...

If you heard the sounds of wild screams of joy in United hubs last Friday, it was likely United employees reacting to the announcement that Jake Brace would be retiring from his post as the airline’s CFO. Kathryn Mikells will take over on November 1. Why would employees be so excited about a bean counter leaving the airline? Jake Brace has been one of the most polarizing figures at the...

More...