Travel Industry Archive

The English-speaking world’s most-quoted aerospace analyst, Richard Aboulafia, was in Seattle Monday to deliver his annual address to the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Association, an industry group representing primarily smaller aerospace parts suppliers in Washington and Oregon. Afterwards, he and I retired to a convivial watering hole for our annual post-PNAA-speech debriefing, where he...

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On Feb. 3, Wells Fargo canceled a four-day event for employees at the Wynn Las Vegas after public outcry, mainly because Wells Fargo received $25 billion in government bailout money. This week, Wells Fargo took out a full-page ad defending its right to recognize its employees. (Morgan Stanley canceled a Monte Carlo trip for its employees, too.) Obviously Wells Fargo and others are...

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DOT numbers are out for December, and as I’ve warned, they weren’t pretty. While we were scolding airlines that didn’t reach 80 percent on time in October and November, beating 70 percent in December made you a rock star. Of course, bad weather contributed to the pain, but there was one airline that stood out in a good way. You’ll be surprised to hear that it was US...

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Welcome to “recession chic” — A report from the New York Times Travel Show says that hedonistic trips are out and customers are wanting “recession chic,” or travel that is value-conscious and experience-driven. Ritz-Carlton is offering their guests luxury accommodations and a half-day volunteering opportunity while other tour operators, like GoPhilanthropic, are...

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Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend an event LAX at which V Australia introduced its first aircraft before flying it down to Australia. I’ve written details of the event on Cranky but here I wanted to focus on the interesting business decision behind choosing a business class seat. The airline has not gone with the best in class, and there are several reasons I imagine that to...

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For more than ten years, Continental has been known for doing an excellent job with customer relations. Recently, they put together the latest version of their annual event to woo members of the FlyerTalk community, and I’m amazed at how much press this gets the airline. But should it continue? For those in the know, FlyerTalk is where the most frequent fliers get together online to...

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Allegiant offers nonstop flights to Southern California from Sioux Falls, S.D. — Allegiant Air will offer nonstop service to Southern California from Sioux Falls, S.D. starting May 20.  Allegiant Air isn’t revealing which Southern California stop will be offered until Feb. 18, although some educated guesses would be Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International...

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January started off very poorly for many airlines.  After fairly steady capacity reductions last year kept load factors higher, they’ve started to fall off as the economic decline kicks into full swing.  There are certainly many things to concern the industry in these numbers. Click for definitions. Airline ASMs RPMs Load Factor AirTran (3.8%) 4.5% +5.8 pts Alaska* (8.4%)...

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Airline passengers have been paying fees for a second bag, water, early boarding, curbside service and WiFi. Soon, we joked, we’ll have to pay a fee for a pillow and blanket. Well, Arizona-based US Airways has gone and done it, making it officially the stingiest airline in the business. US Airways is now charging its coach passengers $7 for a pillow and blanket to use in flight....

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Delta and its pilots have agreed to bring back the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) that went away a couple years ago. Actually, it appears that the Delta pilots will simply use the program that Northwest has been using. This is great news, and it certainly puts pressure on American and US Airways pilots to bring back their plans as well. Or does it put the pressure on management?...

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