The two largest operating expenses for airlines are labor and jet fuel with the latter taking the top spot so far this year at all U.S. carriers. It’s probably the most volatile line item on the books and the Air Transportation Association estimates that for every penny increase in the price of a gallon of…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for August 2011.
Vintage Airline Seat Map: TWA DC-9-15
A reader contacted me over the weekend to ask if I might have a seat map for a TWA DC-9 as he wanted to confirm where he sat having found some old tickets. So, for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps I bring you the following DC-9-15 from 1987 seating a total of 75…
Scoot Airlines, cabin scents, iPads & apps, aircraft orders, route changes, ancillary fees and U-Haul
In other airline, hotel & travel industry news last week… Earlier this year Singapore Airlines announced they would be getting into the low cost carrier market using a combination of narrowbody and widebody aircraft, including refitting some of their existing Boeing 777 aircraft. Exact details have yet to be released, but it’s being reported Singapore’s…
Hurricane Irene airline travel waiver summary
I compiled the following chart showing each airline’s travel waiver information due to the impact Hurricane Irene will cause on the East coast of the United States this weekend. Please keep in mind this is a dynamic situation and the airlines will likely update their waivers as conditions change. I will do my best to…
Australia updates from British Airways, Qantas and Virgin Australia
It was another media release frenzy in Australia this week with several announcements by British Airways, Qantas and Virgin Australia. Here’s a summary by carrier: Travelers from London currently have two options to fly British Airways to Sydney, namely via Singapore or Bangkok with continuing service to Australia. Beginning next March the carrier will discontinue…
Competition for ITA Software? Review of Everbread’s Haystack airfare search engine
I recently posted some videos put out by UK-based Everbread showing a humorous yet accurate description of how Global Distribution Systems came into being and their evolution to present form. Those videos were admittedly a selfless plug for the company’s Haystack airfare search engine, whose underlying technology is marketed as a business-to-business solution with greater…
New passenger protections took effect yesterday including airline fee disclosures
The enhanced airline passenger protections I blogged about in April went into effect yesterday, specifically: Airlines will be required to refund any baggage related fee if a checked bag is lost. Don’t get too excited, though… it only applies if the bag is actually lost (i.e., never found), not delayed. Current policies will remain in…
Vintage Airline Seat Map: Cathay Pacific Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
Very special thanks to reader Will who sent me several Cathay Pacific seat maps from 1988 and here is their Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. Flown primarily on high demand markets from their hub in Hong Kong, this bird was seen flying mostly to Bangkok, Manila, Seoul’s Gimpo airport, Nagoya, Singapore and Tokyo’s Narita airport. Cathay chose…
Amenity Kit Review: Air Berlin Business Class
It’s time for another Amenity Kit Review and I’ve selected the Business Class offering from Air Berlin, soon to become a full member airline within the Oneworld alliance. For a better description of each category and the 7-point scale for scoring, please review my introduction post here. Bag/Container: The deep gray nylon/canvas duck bag with…
United Airlines announces $550 million investment in cabin improvements
Just released, United Airlines announces they will invest more than a half-billion dollars for cabin enhancements fleetwide. Here’s the shortlist of improvements: According to CEO Jeff Smisek: Additional items to note and questions that remain: The release states United will add flatbed seats to, “14 United 767-300 aircraft.†This sounds like they’ll convert some of…