Travel Industry Archive

JetBlue plans to compete with Virgin – JetBlue plans to compete head-on with Virgin America and launch service to Los Angeles International Airport from Boston and New York City beginning June 17. Virgin America will launch its Boston-San Francisco and Boston-Los Angeles routes Feb. 12. JetBlue previously planned the Los Angeles route last summer but canceled due to high fuel costs....

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Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just glance at an airline earnings release and know if they made money or not? Sadly it’s never that simple and it continues to get harder and harder. Take a look at Alaska Airlines for example. The first line for their fourth quarter results says “Company reports fourth quarter profit excluding $92 million of special items.” Ok, but...

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The Orange County to San Francisco route has long been a high fare, high service bastion. Both United and American have historically served the route and made a killing doing so. That’s all about to change as both Southwest and Virgin America come on the scene. The fares on this route have been sky high for quite some time. In addition, there wasn’t a ton of service. If we look...

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Lately it seems as if no one can read about business without seeing stories about layoffs and downsizing. The travel industry, seriously affected by lessening consumer confidence and the economy, is seeing its share of job losses. In the latest news: Boeing will lay off 10,000 workers after a disappointing fourth quarter Westin and Sheraton Grand Bahama Our Lucaya Resort lays off 181...

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A report in the Indianapolis Star this week focuses on the decline in nonstop flights from the airport. The article blames the economy, but there’s actually more to this story. As I wrote back in November, the new terminal is going to raise the cost of operating at the airport, and that is most certainly putting pressure on the more marginal nonstop flying. The new terminal opened in...

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In an indicator of how the world’s airines are faring, Boeing today announced it plans to deliver about 20 fewer jets this year than it originally had planned. The news came as Boeing announced it lost $58 million in the most recent quarter because of last fall’s machinist-union strike, increased spending to develop its new 747-8 and increases in legal costs. In a conference call...

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It was more than six months ago that we last checked in on the Virgin America vs DOT saga. Virgin America had requested confidentiality for its traffic information, lost, and then appealed the decision. The appeal was finally denied today, and the information will be released to the public on “the second business day following the service date.” I assume today is the service...

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It’s very interesting to dig in to the DOT’s monthly Air Travel Consumer Report because you can really find some interesting nuggets of information. For example, January’s report (for November travel) shows some trends on customer complaints. You can clearly see who is doing what wrong. I fully understand that smaller airlines can have fewer complaints but still have a...

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Spirit flight attendants fight uniform logos – Spirit Airlines flight attendants are fighting new uniforms which include a beer logo-strewn apron, saying it’s inappropriate and diminishes their authority to cut off inebriated customers. “Turning flight attendants into walking billboards is unacceptable,” said Deborah Crowley, president of Spirit’s flight...

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While many carriers have been trying to unwind their hedges (like Southwest), Delta has apparently gone with a different approach. They’re still heavily hedged for the rest of the year. In the first quarter, Delta has 80 percent of its fuel needs hedged. That actually increases after that. Here’s the table reprinted from Delta’s fourth quarter earnings report with full...

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