Archive for May, 2009

easyJet’s in-flight weddings won’t be taking off

Posted by admin on May 31, 2009

photo courtesy easyJet
Those of you looking forward to getting married mid-air will have to wait; easyJet’s request earlier this month to have its pilots be authorized to wed couples in flight was turned down. The Luton, UK-based low-cost airline, one of Europe’s largest, claimed that it received many requests from couples seeking to tie the [...]

Virgin Atlantic posts profit, but can it last?

Posted by admin on May 29, 2009

photo courtesy Virgin Atlantic
Only a few days after arch rival British Airways posted a record loss, Virgin Atlantic Airlines announced some surprising news this week: it made a profit for the 2009 fiscal year. Even more surprisingly, pre-tax profits doubled from £34.8 million to £68.4 million ($109.3 million). And to rub it in even more [...]

Long-haul a loser for SAS

Posted by admin on May 28, 2009

photo courtesy SAS
Intercontinental (or ‘long-haul’) routes account for 12.7% of sales at Scandinavian Airlines, but account for almost a whopping 50% of their losses, according to a boarding.no article. The recent economic downturn, which has seen a slump in business travelers, has only made a bad situation worse for SAS. “Half of our most recent [...]

After Skybus, there’s JetAmerica

Posted by admin on May 27, 2009

photo courtesy JetAmerica
No, this isn’t the original JetAmerica Airlines, which operated a bunch of MD-80s out of Long Beach in the 1980s until it was bought by Alaska Airlines. This is a brand-new start up public charter carrier flying one wet-leased Boeing 737-800 from Miami Air International between cities like Lansing, Michigan and South Bend, [...]

S7 Airlines to join oneworld alliance

Posted by admin on May 26, 2009

photo courtesy S7
Russian carrier S7 (formerly known as Siberian Airlines) has announced today that it will officially join the oneworld alliance next year. British Airways has ’sponsored’ the airline, which is Russia’s largest domestic airline and a large player on international routes, too. S7 recently switched to an all-Western built fleet (no more smoky Russian [...]

Delta CEO: Goal of no layoffs

Posted by admin on May 23, 2009

photo by sainz
Here’s an interesting paragraph from an article in yesterday’s Atlanta Business Chronicle:
Anderson credited employee for hard work despite an adverse economy, and said the carrier retains the goal of having no frontline layoffs. Delta and Northwest have offered buyout and early retirement packages to thousands over the past year, and officials have said [...]

British Airways posts record loss

Posted by admin on May 22, 2009

photo by lrargerich
British Airways today posted the largest loss since it was privatized in 1987, and CEO Willie Walsh warned that he sees “no signs of recovery anywhere.” “I’m 30 years in this business and I’ve never seen anything like this. This is by far the biggest crisis the industry has ever faced,” he told [...]

VivaAerobus shuts down Austin flights

Posted by stephen on May 21, 2009

VivaAerobus, the low-cost Mexican airline that began service out of Austin in 2008, is grounding its local flights citing a decline in revenue and passengers that followed the swine flu scare.
After only a year in operation, the airline will stop its flights from Austin to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta on May 31.
During the month of [...]

Air France and Delta finalize joint venture

Posted by admin on May 21, 2009

A Boeing 777 in Air France’s new livery. Photo courtesy Air France

Air France/KLM and Delta yesterday put the finishing touches on a $12 billion-a-year joint venture deal that would allow them to operate as a single carrier on North Atlantic routes. The pact extends a previous joint venture that KLM and Northwest have had since [...]

Southwest to begin Milwaukee service

Posted by admin on May 20, 2009

photo by YoLoPey
This morning, Southwest Airlines announced that it Milwaukee, Wisconsin would be the fourth addition to its route network this year, following Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York LaGuardia, and Boston. Apparently, Southwest has been adding these new destinations without adding any new aircraft to its fleet; instead, it’s been trimming unpopular services and shuffling around [...]