Travel Industry Archive

I remember hearing former JetBlue CEO David Neeleman say early on that if his employees felt the need to unionize, then he had failed as a boss. On JetBlue’s third quarter earnings call, CEO Dave Barger spoke about the Refresh and Rejuvenate (RNR) program that really shows the commitment to a good relationship between management and labor is still a top priority. So what is this RNR...

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There are a handful of terms that are unique to the airline industry, and below I’ve explained the most popular. If you’re talking about terms outside the US, you can replace “Mile” with “Kilometer” and the definitions will be the same. I have some upcoming posts on airline numbers at the end of the third quarter, so I thought I’d make sure I had...

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Continental wants Houston to Rio de Janeiro route – Continental Airlines announced it filed an application with the Department of Transportation for daily, year-round flights between Houston and New Orleans to Rio de Janeiro next year. Continental now has three flights a week from Newark and Houston to Sao Paulo during the winter season. [Source: Continental] Four Seasons returns...

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Royal Caribbean Cruises announced last week that it would end its fuel surcharge on its cruises, as well as Celebrity and Azamara cruises — but not until 2010, and only then if customers booked on or after Nov. 10, 2008. Those booking before Nov. 10,  or sailing before 2010, will have their fuel surcharge refund considered on a quarterly basis. Doesn’t that sound more complicated...

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Good news from the Pacific Northwest. It appears that Boeing and its machinists have reached a tentative agreement to get them working again. Ratification by the membership will happen within a week. If approved, the nearly two month strike will come to an end immediately. The strike was primarily about the cost of employee benefits along with wage and pension concerns. The union is...

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Delta announced today that it has hired Ned Walker away from Continental as Chief Communications Officer. This is an airline that needed to really step up its communications efforts, and it looks like they’ve achieved that goal with this hire. It’s fun to play a little connect the dots here. Walker has been at Continental for 21 years; that means he started in 1987. Delta CEO...

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Holiday flights still strong, airlines say, but fewer planes in air — AirTran Airways and Delta say holiday bookings have plumped their planes as much if not more than last year. But the reality is that so many flights were scrapped because of high-cost fuel this holiday season, fuller planes don’t necessarily mean more people flying. [Source: Associated Press/Chicago Tribune]...

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It was less than a month ago that I wrote about softening international August traffic numbers. Now September numbers are out, and they are downright ugly. IATA calls them “alarming,” and sadly this may just be the beginning. Looking at August numbers we were getting anxious that traffic (measured by revenue passenger kilometers) was up only 1.3% year over year. Well, in...

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Las Vegas, previously thought recession-proof by many, is now facing  declining occupancy and tourism. Jan Jones, vice president of communications and government relations for Harrah’s Entertainment, the Las Vegas-based parent company of Caesar’s Palace, Bally’s, Paris and the Rio, reveals more. BNET: With visitor volume and hotel occupancy down 4.3 and 2.4 percent...

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AirTran Airways drops Atlanta –  AirTran Airways plans to cut Atlanta flights by about 10 percent next year because of losses and market competition from Delta Air Lines.  AirTran, which recently posted a $107.1 million third-quarter loss, said the cuts would be higher in Atlanta than other cities. [Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution]  IATA reports air cargo and passenger...

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