Travel Industry Archive

It’s nice to see tax money spent on a service that you may use, and I’m sure that’s how people who use Acela Express felt this week. Because at the same time it was reported that Amtrak, which runs Acela Express, was getting $1.3 billion from the new economic stimulus package signed into effect Wednesday — Amtrak cut Acela fares up to 25 percent. Sure, Acela serves the...

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With leading global airlines putting more planes on the ground, Airbus announced today that it will trim production of its top-selling single-aisle A320 jets this fall. Airbus also has scrapped plans to increase production rates for its A330 widebody jets. Airbus had ramped up A320 production to a record 36 planes a month last year — a move most analysts said was aimed at improving cash...

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Two fairly big stories have come out of Hawai’i this week. On the positive side, Mesa’s go! unit has posted its first profit since it began flying. On the flip side, Mokulele is in dire straits after burning through $8 million in just a few months. First, let’s start with Mesa and go!. According to the airline’s press release, go! actually netted half a million...

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Online travel sites ordered to pay $21 million to Anaheim, Calif. — Online travel Web sites including Expedia, Orbitz and Hotels.com were ordered to pay Anaheim, Calif. $21 million in lost hotel taxes last week. The online travel companies have been sued by numerous cities in an attempt to recoup lost city dollars. The online companies bought the hotel rooms from local hotels for a...

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The federal stimulus plan has plenty of funds for everyone, but what exactly will it bring to the world of aviation, and transportation in general? A fair amount, actually. There are billions of dollars in the stimulus earmarked for transportation. Here are the ones that I picked out from the list. I’ve also added a little more detail from AviationNews.net. Let me know if I missed...

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After being pummeled by the recession and offended by President Barack Obama’s remarks, Las Vegas has gone on the offensive by accusing lawmakers of negative publicity and marketing to a clientele more interested in value-priced amenities. On Sunday, my post covered Vegas’ reaction to Obama’s remarks, but now hospitality and casino executives have decided to take action....

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Hawaiian Airlines has announced that when it starts taking delivery of its new A330 aircraft, it will outfit them with personal inflight entertainment at every seat. While it may sound like a given that an airline should put this type of system in its long haul fleet, I think the case is a special one for an airline like Hawaiian. Hawai’i is a very unique market in that it’s full...

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Delta drops 170 gates — Delta Air Lines Inc. will drop about 170 gates nationwide, including one in St. Louis, as one of the final steps towards integrating its operations with the former Northwest Airlines Corp. At Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Delta plans to give up one of the Northwest gates at the airport, leaving four. Delta expects merging gates will save hundreds of...

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Delta has announced that it is going to start combining parts of its three wholly-owned regional carriers. This didn’t get much press, but it’s an important move. Customer service and ramp workers from Comair, Mesaba, and Compass (the latter two acquired via the Northwest merger) will be put into one company unimaginatively called Regional Handling Services. The other parts of...

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It was only a five-second soundbyte, meant for Wall Street fat cats asking for government bailouts. “You can’t get corporate jets. You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime, ” President Barack Obama said to a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind. last week. But the remark caused a hailstorm of anger from Las Vegas...

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