Travel Industry Archive

It has been nearly two years since Boeing first rolled out its 787 for the world to see. It should have flown long before now, but thank to delays, it still hasn’t happened. That was supposed to change when reports surfaced that the plane would first take to the skies as soon as June 30. Now Boeing has dropped a bomb that it will be delayed, and it doesn’t sound like it’s...

More...

Las Vegas was once known as the home foreclosure capital of the country, but now its commercial and retail districts are becoming bank-owned. So far, Las Vegas is leading the nation in commercial forclosures. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the numbers pan out like this: $4.48 billion in land.  $2.4 billion in hotels.  $1.6 billion in retail with 5.4 million square feet.  $830 million...

More...

It used to be relatively simple being a regional carrier. With few exceptions, you never had to operate a single flight under your own name. You just had to focus on running a good operation for your big brother partner. Republic clearly has decided that the model it grew up on isn’t going to work, and now it’s really stepped out with its acquisition of Frontier. We should have...

More...

Only a year ago, I would have thought Frontier’s chances of exiting bankruptcy intact were slim to none. But yesterday, Frontier announced that it has arranged exit financing and it will emerge as a subsidiary of . . . Republic?!? My brain hurts trying to process exactly what’s happening here, but one thing is clear. Frontier will sell all of its equity to Republic, primarily a...

More...

Another day, another biofuel test. Once again, the results are good. This time it was Continental releasing the results of the test on a 737. You’ll remember earlier this month when I mentioned that Air New Zealand saw fuel burn drop 1.2 percent with its 50/50 blend of jatropha and jet fuel. Well, Continental saw fuel efficiency increase by 1.1 percent, a very similar result....

More...

Alaska Airlines announced this morning that it would move into the Austin - San Jose route that American recently decided to vacate. I certainly didn’t see that one coming. The nerd bird lives! On my last post, a reader commented that maybe JetBlue or Southwest would come in to take over the route. I don’t think anyone guessed Alaska would give it a shot, but it does make some...

More...

Las Vegas commercial property foreclosures highest in country — New York-based Real Capital Analytics said that April had the biggest increase in property defaults, foreclosures or bankruptcies, with Las Vegas reaching No. 1 in the nation. Las Vegas, with $9.7 billion in distressed properties reaching from malls to hotels, has more than 323 default notices served this year so far,...

More...

US Airways took a very unusual step this weekend by announcing that it will begin flying from Charlotte to Honolulu with a 767-200. There are a million reasons why this is a bad idea, but it may actually end up being kind of smart. At first glance, this doesn’t seem smart. Hawai’i is a huge market from the West Coast, but it thins out quickly beyond the Rockies because it’s...

More...

Continental Airlines pilot dies during flight — A 60-year-old Continental Airlines pilot died of an apparent heart attack during a transatlantic flight Thursday night. Two co-pilots took over the controls while the flight crew looked for a doctor on board, not informing its 247 passengers on the Brussels-Newark, N.J. flight what was happening. A Belgian cardiologist said he attempted...

More...

There has been a lot of talk lately about United’s cash position and the potential need for the airline to increase its liquidity. A recent SEC filing shows that at least during the second quarter, United’s cash position is holding firm. At the end of the first quarter, United had $2.457 billion in unrestricted cash and $255 million in restricted cash. Now, United says that at the...

More...