AirlinesAlaska Airlines opposes PFC tax hike at Sea-Tac Alaska Air Group doesn't want to pay most of the costs of a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport international terminal expansion, which will primarily benefit its chief competitor. That's why officials of the Seattle-based airline plan to attend the Port of Seattle commission meeting Tuesday, to make their displeasure public.
LinkAmerican Airlines reports $597M net income for Q4American Airlines Group posted net income of $597 million for the fourth quarter, compared to a $2 billion loss for the same quarter of 2013. Earnings per share of $1.52 exceed analyst estimates of $1.51 earnings per share. 2015 is shaping up as another strong year, CEO Doug Parker said.
LinkAnalysis looks at Basic Economy fare on Delta Delta’s fare rebrand, introduced in late 2014 and featuring a Basic Economy option designed to take aim at the new crop of ultra low cost airlines, unsurprisingly garnered a lot of attention, and some criticism. But if executed properly, the new scheme could become a formidable threat to the ULCCs that claim US majors are largely uninterested in the low-yielding passengers they aggressively target. The new Basic Economy fares offered by Delta join other tiers that the airline has regrouped as part of its new branding effort – Delta One/First class, the extended legroom option now dubbed Comfort + and Main Cabin. Delta structured Basic Economy to mimic the bare bones offering of ULCCs, and the new class offers little flexibility to the cost conscious travelers choosing that option. Tickets are non- refundable, passengers cannot make seat selections in advance and itinerary changes are prohibited.
LinkLSG Sky Chefs extends contract with Delta in DTWLSG Sky Chefs announced today that as of January 1 it had extended its contract an additional five years with Delta Air Lines at Detroit Wayne County Airport. The deal includes provisioning mainline flights and some of its commuter shuttles out of DTW with full catering and commissary services. Under the extended contract, the LSG Sky Chefs Customer Service Center in DTW will serve an average of 260 flights and produce approximately 10,000 meals per day for the airline. Delta’s operation at DTW includes narrow and wide-body aircraft that serve its U.S. domestic network as well as five locations in Europe, four in Asia and one in Latin America.
LinkEasyJet Sees Better First Half On Lower Fuel BillBritish budget airline easyJet said losses in the quieter winter season would shrink this year, helped by a lower fuel bill and flying more planes on popular routes such as London to Geneva. Europe's second-largest budget airline by passenger numbers after Ryanair said it expected losses of between GBP£10 million and GBP£30 million (USD$15 million - USD$45 million) for the six months to end March, down from a loss of GBP£53 million last year.
LinkIAG: Aer Lingus would join Oneworld and Atlantic pactIAG would retain Aer Lingus’s brand and have the Irish airline enter the Oneworld alliance and its transatlantic joint venture if its latest takeover bid succeeds. It disclosed further details of its intentions as Aer Lingus indicated that it was prepared to accept the financial terms of the bid. The parent company of British Airways and Iberia says that it believes that its takeover proposal “would secure and strengthen Aer Lingus's brand and long term future within a successful and profitable European airline group, offering significant benefits to both Aer Lingus and its customers".
LinkJetBlue to launch service from Albany, N.Y., to Fla. Airways News reported Monday that JetBlue would start service between Albany and Florida on Nov. 9 with one daily round-trip to Fort Lauderdale and another to Orlando with Embraer 190 100-seat jets. Airport officials last week said the carrier would begin service sometime in November, but a spokesman on Monday said they didn't yet have a start date. A JetBlue spokeswoman said Monday no start date had been set.
LinkTransavia unveils new liveryAir France-KLM's low-cost unit Transavia has rebranded amid expansion of its Boeing 737 fleet to take over more of the group's short-haul traffic. The livery – featuring a restyled logo on the fin and an enlarged brand name, in the carrier's traditional green, on a white fuselage – is intended to convey Transavia's aim of becoming "Europe's leading airline in hospitality", the group says.
LinkVirgin Galactic announced first new pilot since fatal spaceship crashVirgin Galactic has hired a new test pilot for the SpaceShipTwo commercial spacecraft from the company that designed the suborbital ship. Mark Stucky, a former military test pilot with more than 9,000hr in 170-plus aircraft, also flew most of the envelope expansion flights for SpaceShipTwo while employed by Scaled Composites. Stucky will join the experimental project’s four other test pilots responsible for operation of SpaceShipTwo and WhiteNightTwo, both experimental aircraft developed by Scaled Composites. WhiteKnightTwo is the jet aircraft that lifts SpaceShipTwo to release altitude, before that aircraft rockets to sub-orbital space.
LinkMore airlines are offering high-speed in-flight Wi-FiA study by Routehappy shows that 52 airlines around the globe offer broadband-quality in-flight Wi-Fi, with the service available on almost 25% of all flight miles worldwide. JetBlue Airways and United Airlines were placed in the "Best Wi-Fi" category, lauded for offering the "most technically advanced systems capable of streaming video."
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