Archive for June, 2009

OpenSkies celebrates first anniversary

Posted by stephen on June 30, 2009

OpenSkies, the all-business-class airline, operating nonstop flights between New York (JFK) and Amsterdam (Schiphol) and between New York (JFK and Newark) and Paris (Orly), celebrates the first anniversary of its inaugural launch.
Since OpenSkies first took flight last year, it has carried more than 92,000 passengers on both routes. Through the airline’s two business class options [...]

jetBlue smokes competition in J.D. Power survey

Posted by admin on June 30, 2009

The 2009 J.D. Power and Associates 2009 North American Airline Satisfaction Study was released earlier today, and jetBlue came out top, not just in the low-cost carrier group but overall, as well – for the fourth year in a row. For the ‘traditional network carrier’ category, Alaska topped the list for the second consecutive year. [...]

China’s empty nest

Posted by stephen on June 30, 2009

Embedded video from CNN Video

Standing only flights on Spring Airlines?

Posted by admin on June 29, 2009

That’s right – CCTV is reporting that Chinese carrier Spring Airlines is looking at standing-room only flights on some of its Airbus A320s. The airline, billed as the first low-cost carrier in China, will try to get regulatory approval for the idea by the end of the year. Apparently, the new passenger layout means that [...]

Problems ahead for global airline alliance immunity

Posted by admin on June 29, 2009

The Department of Justice recently expressed objections to the antitrust immunity agreement that nine Star Alliance carriers (plus Continental, which will be a Star member later this year) are seeking. The airlines, which include United, Lufthansa, Air Canada, SAS and Swiss (but notably, not US Airways), have been looking to obtain global immunity from antitrust [...]

ANZ presents ‘bare essentials of safety’

Posted by admin on June 27, 2009

Last month’s Air New Zealand TV ad was enormously popular, having generated almost two million views on YouTube (and also a lot of free publicity). Seeking to build upon that, the airline has released a new safety video for its Boeing 737-300 aircraft, featuring crew members wearing nothing but body paint. Maybe this will cause [...]

"The Blue Skyway" flies again on Continental

Posted by admin on June 26, 2009

One more airline adds a ‘retrojet’ to its fleet. Continental has recently taken delivery of a brand-new Boeing 737-900ER that’s painted in ‘The Blue Skyway’ livery, in preparation for the airline’s 75th anniversary on July 15. The paintjob was first used on Continental planes back in 1947. Here you can see it on a DC-7 [...]

Maybe Air India is "too big to fail"?

Posted by admin on June 25, 2009

Looks like the Indian government is getting set to perform a bailout of ailing flag carrier Air India, which has lost almost $1 billion in the last fiscal year. Indian Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel sounded an awful lot like Barack Obama talking about GM when he said that “it doesn’t mean there is a [...]

It’ll cost you $2 to watch this safety video

Posted by admin on June 25, 2009

Here’s a clip from MADtv showing a fictional airline safety video… although it’s two years old, it seems to be ahead of its time when it comes to predicting excessive airline fees (”Seatbelts can be purchased for $5″). While airlines won’t be charging for seat belts, they can (and often do) charge for just about [...]

Republic buys Frontier and Midwest

Posted by admin on June 23, 2009

I can’t think of a time when an airline company has purchased two airlines in as many days, but that’s what has happened, now that Republic Airways Holdings has agreed to not only purchase Denver-based Frontier Airlines, but also long-struggling Midwest Airlines. If it wants to pull off the hat trick, then all it needs [...]