Travel Industry Archive

I read with interest that Alaska Airlines was going to discontinue pillows and blankets for passengers in all of its 114 planes to reduce the spread of swine flu. Apparently keeping pillows and blankets on board means they could be infected with swine flu germs, which could make people sick. Pillows and blankets might get passed around, spreading the virus, so it’s better if...

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I’ve been following some of the airline responses to the flu in Mexico, and I have to say it’s fascinating to see the different reactions. There have been so many types of responses that it’s hard to keep track, and it really has surprised me in many cases. Let’s look at some of the ways airlines are now dealing with Mexico travel. US carriers have reacted mostly the...

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Japanese officials sequester American Airlines flight from Los Angeles — Japanese health officials concerned about the spread of swine flu sequestered 38 passengers and two flight attendants that arrived on an American Airlines Inc. flight from Los Angeles. The officials are testing only one passenger and holding the other 37 for observation at a hotel since they sat next to the tested...

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I don’t often feel the need to write about an airline’s changes on a single domestic route TWICE, but the Delta/Northwest changes in Los Angeles to Las Vegas have captured my attention yet again. Back in February, I wrote about how Delta had replaced Northwest’s one daily flight with one of its own and retimed it to connect with Australia instead of the traditional Tokyo...

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Hmm, looks like I spoke too soon my post about United entering Pittsburgh to the West Coast markets. While my check of a GDS still showed US Airways flying once a day from Pittsburgh to LAX and SFO, that’s not going to be the case for long. They stop on August 18. But will this make it work? Yes, not having US Airways in the market should make it easier for United to fill flights, but...

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Continental cuts Mexican flights — Continental Airlines Inc. will temporarily cut U.S. departures to Mexico by 50 percent and use smaller planes as fewer passengers travel to the country.  Because of the concern over the swine flu outbreak there, with 300 cases and 12 dead, many travelers are declining to venture over the border. Continental will cut capacity starting Monday, and...

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Maybe it’s the haze of having been on vacation the last couple weeks, but I’ve seen several pieces of news this week that have me thinking . . . “what the heck?” The latest is United’s decision to begin flying from Pittsburgh to both LAX and San Francisco once daily. I don’t get this move, so there has to be more to the story. United has spent an awfully...

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