Travel Industry Archive

When I visited Southwest’s operation at Dallas/Love Field last month, it wasn’t a normal day. It just happened to be the first day that the airline had launched its Load Planning System at Love and elsewhere in the system. This new system has the ability to really significantly improve Southwest’s baggage handling. The old system involved those on the ramp deciding the best...

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Pet Airways, the first commercial U.S. airline for pets, will start service July 14 in select U.S. cities. The airline, where pets fly in the main cabin and not in cargo, offers $149 one-way flights for pets from New York to Los Angeles. Currently, the Delray, Fla.-based airline flies only to five cities: New York, Washington, D.C., Denver, Chicago and Los Angeles, but says it plans to...

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Wynn and Las Vegas Sands amend debt agreements — Casino operators Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp. each said Tuesday that they amended their debt agreements to help repay their billions of debt. The nation’s other two largest casino operators, MGM Mirage and Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. have all tried to get workouts from their creditors. Wynn says its new debt...

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After many years living in the shadows, the time has nearly come for Pratt & Whitney to once again come to the forefront of engine technology. Its Geared Turbofan engine (GTF) will either be the savior of the company or it will relegate Pratt to obscurity. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the results. The idea of the GTF is one that has been around for a long time. Instead of having the fan...

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Just when you thought all hotel news was about falling prices and the recession, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. kicks it up a notch, announcing late last week that it’s suing Hilton Hotels Corp. and its employees for stealing more than 100,000 documents and files from Starwood to create their own luxury brand hotel called Denizen. Former Starwood executives, Ross Klein...

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Despite money woes, MGM Mirage and Harrah’s make Fortune 500 — Casino operators Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and MGM Mirage Inc.  were listed as some of the nation’s largest companies, making the Fortune 500 list. Fortune magazine released its 2009 rankings on Sunday, based on 2008 revenue. Harrah’s, with $10.1 billion, ranked No. 263 and MGM Mirage, with $7.2...

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Here we are, back with part two of my coverage of the executive panel at the Phoenix Aviation Symposium. On Friday, I wrote about the first part of the panel which focused on oil and the economy. The back half, under Randy Babbit’s direction, touched on some other very interesting topics. Let’s dig in. Foreign Ownership JetBlue CEO Dave Barger said he fully supports foreign...

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Starwood Hotels & Resorts sues Hilton for industrial espionage — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. is suing Hilton Hotels Corp. and two of its executives, saying its competitor stole company secrets. Starwood alleges that the two of its former employees, now at Hilton Hotels, stole more than 100,000 electronic files before and after joining Hilton Hotels last June....

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And you thought I was done with my Phoenix Aviation Symposium posts? Nope, but this is almost the last one, I promise. I say almost, because my review of the big executive panel is long enough that I think it’s worth breaking down into two posts to avoid making your head spin. You can find part two back here on Monday. Let’s get started with part one. This year’s executive...

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For a while it looked like Royal Caribbean’s new 220,000-ton, $1.2 billion Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, was doomed as its financing dried up. The cruise industry has been hit by the recession, causing deep discounts and slim-to-none profits, so it wasn’t surprising when financing for the behemoth cruise ship – still being built in Turku,...

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