Archive for April, 2008

Continental rejects United as merger partner

Posted by admin on April 28, 2008

photo by Drewski2112
Well, it was a bit of a surprise. After the linkup between Delta and Northwest a few weeks ago, many (myself included) expected to see continued industry consolidation. And a merger between United and Continental was seen as a likely one; rumors floating around pointed to [...]

Eos Airlines shuts down

Posted by admin on April 28, 2008

New York-based premium transatlantic carrier Eos Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday and operated its last flights earlier today. The airline flew Boeing 757-200s between New York-JFK and London’s Stansted Airport, but had plans to expand to other destinations.
Eos’ shutdown was not necessarily expected, but given the current state that the industry’s in, [...]

US Airways CEO mentions mergers

Posted by admin on April 17, 2008

photo by caribb
In a letter sent to employees yesterday, US Airways CEO Doug Parker said that “airlines are going to have to make dramatic changes” if they want to survive. Although he said that he couldn’t “comment on any specific discussions or transaction,” he said that the media [...]

Which will be the world’s largest airline?

Posted by stephen on April 15, 2008

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. reached agreement on a merger deal yesterday that, if approved, would create the world’s largest airline. The combined airline will be headquartered in Atlanta, GA and will retain the Delta name. The merged carrier will have nearly $18 billion enterprise value, and will be run by Delta [...]

Delta and Northwest announce merger

Posted by admin on April 15, 2008

It’s official: the long-anticipated merger of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines has finally been announced. The combined carrier – already billed as “America’s premier global airline”, will be known as Delta and will be based in Atlanta. Delta CEO Richard Anderson would head up the new airline.
A press release by the airline touted the [...]

Virgin America gets more support

Posted by admin on April 12, 2008

photo by Drewski2112
Even after a wave of airline bankruptcies has recently shaken the US airline industry, Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson said on Thursday that he is “extremely pleased” with the airline’s performance and that it is “well ahead of budget”. He was also predicted that “in three [...]

Frontier files for bankruptcy

Posted by admin on April 12, 2008

photo by Drewski2112
Denver-based Frontier Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier today, citing a move made by its credit card processor, First Data Corporation, which has started withholding a larger percentage of proceeds from ticket sales.
“To be clear, we filed for very different reasons than those of [...]

American cancels more flights

Posted by admin on April 10, 2008

photo by caribb
Only a few weeks after canceling hundreds of flights, American Airlines today canceled over 900 flights, affecting an estimated 100,000 travelers. The airline also canceled 460 flights on Tuesday and nearly 1,100 yesterday. The cancellations, which affected American’s 300 MD-80s, are in response to an FAA directive involving the covers of wire bundles [...]

Austrian’s 50th anniversary colors

Posted by admin on April 6, 2008

photo courtesy of Austrian Airlines
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Austrian Airlines has painted an Airbus A320 (OE-LBP) in a “retro” colors. Austrian’s first flight was on March 31, 1958, from Vienna to London (via Zurich) on a Vickers Viscount. Austrian is the latest European airline to commission such a livery – others, such as Lufthansa [...]

Skybust: Skybus ceases operations

Posted by admin on April 5, 2008

photo by OZinOH
Skybus, the Columbus, Ohio-based no-frills carrier that famously started flying last May with $10 fares, announced on Friday that it will stop flying on Saturday, April 5. It becomes the fourth US carrier in less than a week to shut down (joining Aloha, Champion Air, and [...]