Travel Industry Archive

It was only a matter of time before old planes would be recycled into something, well, kind of cool. The Jumbo Hostel, a converted Boeing 747 within walking distance to the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, will begin taking reservations in December for travelers wanting to sleep in a real, live cockpit! (On a grounded jet.) The old plane, a discard from Transjet, has been remodeled into 25 rooms...

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Although the days when most people go to the mall for their travel arrangements dried up earlier this decade, some companies stayed the rocky course. Dillard’s Inc., the Little Rock-based department store chain with $7.7 billion in revenue, reported this week that it will cut costs by closing its Dillard’s Travel agency. The in-house travel agency, seen in malls across the country, will...

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Remember my post about how airlines were asking to defer the startup of the China flights they fought so hard to obtain? Well, it looks like we can get an idea of why that’s happening. Airlines are releasing their August traffic numbers, and the Pacific is looking very weak. The two big American players in the Pacific are United and Northwest, so that’s where I’ll focus...

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As the Washington Times reports today, the Travel Industry Association hosted a reception Wednesday evening in a St. Paul airport hangar.  The theme? “Celebrating America’s Skyline: A Toast to Travel, Hospitality, and Real Estate Across America.” Roger Dow, president of the association, said that it was important to have a presence at the Republican National Convention or...

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Looks like Midwest has finally put together its latest restructuring package, and it appears to me that the airline has decided to move toward a regional model. With $60 million in additional investment, they might be able to pull this off, but it’s not going to be easy. Let’s look at the details. Midwest received $15 million from Republic Airways with an additional commitment of...

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As you may have heard, the big airlines are now charging a massive $150 fee for all changes to non-refundable tickets. While this may look like a great revenue generator on paper, it’s going to cause some unique issues due to the fun-filled world of airline pricing. What am I talking about? Well, my fiancee and I have tickets booked to fly to Indianapolis in November. We paid $242...

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Delta, Southwest Airlines, Air Tran, and Continental canceled 137 flights in the Gulf Region Monday, with industry insiders saying the hurricanes may have dashed all hopes of Labor Day Weekend profits. Amtrak also canceled trains around Atlanta, San Antonio and New Orleans because of the storms. It’s also using Atlanta as its southern terminus instead of New Orleans until Sept. 4. The two...

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Remember when China slots were the “must haves” of the airline world? There weren’t very many to go around, and the airlines were jumping on top of each other to get their hands on them. My how times have changed. American has asked to defer the start of its Beijing flights by one year. Flying in general is a lot more expensive than it used to be, but those ultra long haul...

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