AirlinesAmerican, JAL widen codeshare to serve BrazilJapan Airlines announced it will be expanding its codeshare agreement with American Airlines this month. Beginning October 26, Japan Airlines will place its code on American’s daily flights between Los Angeles and São Paulo. The new codeshare is still subject to government approval. American’s flights depart Los Angeles at 7:40 p.m. and arrive in São Paulo at 12:45 p.m. the next day, with flights from São Paulo to Los Angeles departing at 11:15 p.m. and arriving at 6:35 p.m. the next day.
LinkDelta to Wall Street: Don't Tell Us How to Run Our AirlineFresh from hounding JetBlue CEO Dave Barger out of a job because the carrier provided too many luxuries to its coach-fare passengers, some Wall Street analysts have turned their sights on Delta. Delta's transgression, they say, is adding too much capacity at a time when "capacity discipline," strongly encouraged by Wall Street, has been a key factor in the airline industry's transformation into a more profitable, less cyclical, investment-worthy business.
LinkEmirates to continue its growth strategyEmirates will continue with its growth trajectory, in spite of global challenges like regional political instability, pandemic health issues in Africa and softening economic demand from dropping oil prices. Speaking today at the Aviation Festival Middle East, Anand Lakshminarayanan, Divisional Vice President Route Planning and Economics said: “Countries recognize the importance of seamless global traffic flows and the multiplier effect to their own economies, and this has been instrumental in our own growth as an airline that attracts business and tourism opportunities. We will not deviate from our hub strategy and our future aircraft deliveries and orders are predicated on our non-stop services, connecting city pairs around the globe.”
LinkJetBlue mulls the forever boarding passJetBlue is studying the possibility of creating a boarding pass that would be used again and again -- a replacement for temporary passes that change by flight. It's been a consideration by airlines in the past, but now the airline says the permanent card could be a real possibility.
LinkLufthansa Cancels Flights Due To Pilots StrikeLufthansa cancelled 1,450 flights after a pilots union called for a strike on Monday and Tuesday, after millions were left stranded by a weekend-long train drivers' stoppage. Lufthansa said late on Sunday more than 200,000 passengers and two thirds of its scheduled flights - short and medium-haul services, mostly within Europe - would be affected by the strike. Both the pilots' and train drivers' strikes hit at the start of a week-long, half-term holiday in nearly half of Germany's 16 federal states.
LinkLufthansa Pilots Extend Strike To Long-HaulGerman pilots raised the pressure on Lufthansa management, widening a two-day strike to include long-haul flights that are among the airline's most profitable. The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union called on pilots on long-haul routes to walk out between 06:00 and 23:59 local time on Tuesday, coinciding with a two-day stoppage on short-haul flights that began on Monday. The action is the eighth pilots' strike to hit Lufthansa this year. The strikes coincided with the start of week-long school holidays in a number of German states.
LinkQatar to have eight A350s within one yearQatar Airways expects to have eight Airbus A350s in its fleet before the end of next year. The airline has 80 of the type on order, including 43 of the initial -900 variant. It is to take the first by the end of this year, putting it on the Doha-Frankfurt route, and increase the fleet to eight within 12 months.
LinkQantas unveils new A330 business seatQantas Airways has unveiled its new business class seat that will be progressively rolled out on its Airbus A330s from later this year. The airline has chosen a customised version of Thompson Aero Seating’s Vantage XL seat, designed in collaboration with Marc Newson. They will be configured in a 1-2-1 layout on all 28 of the airline’s A330s, which operate on Asian, Hawaiian and domestic routes.
LinkQatar unveils first A350 destinationQatar Airways has selected Frankfurt as the initial destination for its Airbus A350, the first delivery of which it expects by the end of this year. The Oneworld member airline had previously pointed to New York as a potential candidate for the inaugural route but subsequently backed away from a clear indication. But it has confirmed that the German hub will be the first connection for A350 services from Doha, beginning in January next year. The aircraft will be configured with 283 seats in two classes, including 36 in business.
LinkSouthwest to take over international AirTran flights at MidwayOn Nov. 2, travelers at Midway Airport will begin flying Southwest Airlines instead of AirTran Airways for international flights. "Chicago is a place where we've been very pleased with our performance to date," said John Kirby, a senior director for Southwest, which acquired AirTran in 2011.
LinkUS Airlines Raise Fares By USD$2 On AverageMajor US airlines have raised domestic one-way fares by USD2 on average since Thursday, marking the first industry wide increase in half a year. The increases suggest that airlines do not intend to pass along savings from the decline in jet fuel prices to their customers. The news may quell concern that airline revenue will fall if the Ebola virus discourages travel. On Thursday afternoon, JetBlue Airways raised fares USD$2 across its entire domestic network and Puerto Rico, according to spokesman Morgan Johnston. Delta followed with a similar increase that night, and on Friday, Southwest Airlines, United and American all followed suit, according to each airline.
LinkHow Cheap Oil Could Become a Real Problem for AirlinesOil futures have been on a torrid plunge in recent weeks, touching lows below $80 per barrel. Great news for airlines, right? Maybe not. For roughly the past 35 years, inexpensive jet fuel has routinely served as a siren call to airline executives. Cheap fuel spurs more flights and wild grabs for whatever business looks attainable in the travel market. Marginal routes become profitable with lower fuel prices, which, in turn, bolsters the argument that new flights can boost revenues with little cost. Cheap fuel also lets an airline experiment more radically with flight schedules in the bid to swipe market share from rivals. “If it keeps trending lower, it totally changes the economics of the industry again,” says Seth Kaplan, managing partner of Airline Weekly, an industry journal. With oil cheaper, Kaplan predicts that many airlines will probably fly their planes in off-peak periods because of the low costs associated with those extra flights. A few additional flights on the weak travel days of Tuesday and Saturday could return to some schedules.
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