Travel Industry Archive

Airlines to lose $9 billion in 2009 — The International Air Transport Association forecast the airline industry would lose $9 billion, almost double its previous March estimates. The trade group said that there was “no modern precedent” for the economic situation. However, Asia-Pacific and European carriers are expected to take bigger hits in revenue than North American...

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United has quietly removed the ability to hold an itinerary without purchasing on its website. This customer-friendly feature was a good feature, but according to United, it was doing a disservice to customers in general. How is that possible? Well, I’ll let United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski explain: The majority of tickets that were held on united.com were often not purchased, and...

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Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary was back last week, insisting that he was serious about that pay-toilet plan he first floated a couple months ago. Not only that, but O’Leary said his airline might just rip out some lavatories altogether, and replace them with extra seats. “We are flying aircraft on an average flight time of one hour around Europe. What the hell do we need three...

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Airbus reissues jet speed warning after Air France investigation – Airbus reissued emergency warnings about jet speed to pilots after experts said a missing Air France jet may have had false speed readings. Investigators said that messages broadcast by the plane before it vanished showed the plane’s systems were giving different speed readings. The Airbus A330 jet disappeared...

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There’s a great piece over at Budget Travel on a fascinating discussion regarding the evolution of American’s website. It paints a picture of just how hard it is to effect change in a large corporate culture. Dustin Curtis designs user interfaces, and after recently using American’s website, he was appalled at how awful it was. He doesn’t mince words either, claiming...

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It seems like almost every state is hoping to garner some of the $13 billion earmarked for high-speed rail in the federal stimulus package. But Vice President Joseph Biden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who are spearheading the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act rail project, were quick to say that most of the railroad work and infrastructure will fall to the states. Many...

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United Airlines parent company UAL is in the market for up to 150 new jets and could place an order for them by this fall. This is a HUGE development in the aerospace business. According to a letter to employees from United CEO Glen Tilton, UAL’s looking for wide-body jets, the twin-aisle planes that typically seat between 190 and 350 people. These have list prices of $130 million to $300...

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Indianapolis Airport, which opened a brand new terminal late last year, is facing a revenue shortage according to an article in the Indianapolis Star. Is anyone surprised? I think not. I’ve written a couple times about the threat that the increased costs at the airport would have on the ability to keep flights. Of course, the decline in the economy has hurt every airport, but an...

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You may have been hoping that Continental’s weak May unit revenue performance was a fluke not to be repeated by other carriers. Sadly, and unsurprisingly, that’s not the case. US Airways released guidance today and the news was about the same. US Airways is expecting unit revenues to be down 18 to 20 percent year-over-year. Like Continental, these are passenger revenues only, so...

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Hilton reportedly looking to settle Denizen lawsuit with Starwood – Hilton Hotels Corp. may be seeking a negotiated settlement over its industrial espionage case with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Starwood has accused competitor Hilton of hiring former employees who allegedly left the company with documents detailing its new high-end W brand. Hilton’s new luxury brand,...

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