Travel Industry Archive

There was a very interesting piece in this week’s PlaneBusiness Banter (if you aren’t a subscriber, you should be) on how Southwest is backing itself into a corner with its stance on not charging any fees. It was certainly a thought-provoking piece that hints about problems to come for the airline. I’ve written about Southwest’s efforts before. While other airlines are...

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More and more car rental customers want greener and more fuel-efficient alternatives and most of the country’s largest rental companies are obliging and asking customers to cough up more green for the privilege. The weird part – customers are eagerly opening their wallets. At San Francisco International Airport, the air hub for what is arguably one of the most green-conscious...

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Railroad giant Union Pacific yesterday said reduced diesel costs and better operations will raise its profits this quarter, and investors cheered. But I was trying to figure out what all the fuss was about. Despite the upbeat tone of the report, third quarter volumes are expected to be about five percent lower than in the previous year — about twice as worse as the company’s...

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United is finally getting the hang of this whole “Economy Plus” thing. After years of making it very hard for the average person to get that extra legroom, they’ve now made it so you can upgrade to Economy Plus at any time before your flight. This is a smart move, but in terms of marketing, they could be doing more. I received an email from United last week with the details....

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It seems somewhat counter intuitive to hear that US Airways added a revenue generating fee and now they’re happy that nobody is taking advantage of it, right? But that’s exactly what’s happening with the new charge for drinks onboard. When you think about this further, it’s actually pretty easy to see why they’re not complaining at all. On the surface, it would...

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Galveston, a Texas town on the Gulf of Mexico,  said it will reopen its port but won’t be able to accept cruise ships until Oct. 1. The Port of Galveston was scheduled to reopen today as the island city continues recovery efforts following Hurricane Ike, which caused tidal surges of more than 11 feet. While the port will still allow freighters to unload starting Wednesday, port...

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We’re not very far into American Airlines’ test of in-flight internet, and there are already problems. What’s the problem? Porn. Seriously. The flight attendants have asked American to block porn sites onboard so that they don’t have to police passenger behavior themselves. Other groups have jumped on the bandwagon as well trying to convince American that there are...

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After months of rumors, a global travel agency admitted that it’s steering its customers away from United Airlines. Douglas Anderson, Carlson Wagonlit Travel president and CEO, told reporters earlier this week that United has yet to come to terms with his agency following a break-up in July. At the time, it was rumored that United pulled its contract to negotiate new terms to save $80...

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Rising fuel prices don’t always bring good news for airlines, though I’d argue that yesterday’s news is not nearly as bad as others may make it seem. United said yesterday that its hedges were underwater by millions of dollars this quarter. In other words, they’re paying more for their hedged fuel than they could theoretically pay on the open market. So why is it that...

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The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif. is reporting that all work on the new Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage was halted “indefinitely” Wednesday, causing many to speculate the stoppage was due to the  collapse of Lehman Brothers. Gencom Group, the Miami-based development company heading the project, has Lehman Brothers listed on its Web site as one of its “many well-known...

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