In other airline, hotel & travel industry news this week… Analysts expect United Airlines to place a major aircraft order early next year for as many as 200 narrowbody aircraft, possibly splitting it up between Airbus and Boeing. In a much better financial position for such a large order than American, I would anticipate these…
Airlines (General)
Category Archives for Airlines (General).
Test-driving Google Flight Search: A total disappointment
As widely reported and reviewed, Google launched their much-anticipated Flight Search feature after having completed the acquisition of ITA Software. ITA’s Matrix Airfare Search tool is bar none the most robust and user-friendly way to search for airfares – everything from simple roundtrips to complex multi-city combinations – and it’s my go-to website where I…
An airline agent-less airport experience? It’s the future
Yesterday I listened in on another Air Transport World webinar discussing the technology we interact with as travelers at the airport. The specific focus was to outline how common use stations, such as the kiosks we use to check in and the terminals airline agents use for the same functions, can speed travel, reduce airline…
Delta layoffs, Qantas strikes, 747-8 livery, Hawaiian Disney, GDS lawsuit, TSA news and 757 replacement
In other airline, hotel and travel industry news this week… Delta Air Lines will be laying off 200 employees, the majority of which from their headquarters in Atlanta. This combined with another 2,000 employees taking voluntary buyouts, the airline claims soft demand, fuel prices and reduced capacity make the workforce reductions necessary. Engineers at Qantas…
Follow up on my review of Everbread’s Haystack airfare search engine
A week and a half ago I posted a review of Everbread’s Haystack airfare search engine that provides functionality similar to ITA Software’s Matrix Airfare Search. I noted its similarities to ITA and also called out some glaring shortcomings, such as its inability to search for flights with flexible days (+/- x-days, month long, etc),…
My emergency evacuation off a United Airlines Boeing 767 in Denver in 1993
An article appeared yesterday over at the Msnbc.com travel blog Overhead Bin entitled “Do you pay attention to airplane safety videos?†The writer admits she tunes the videos out when they begin having heard them countless times in the past. Experiencing severe turbulence on a recent flight, though, she checked for the lifejacket under the…
Tax fraud or smart business: American & United save millions annually in Chicago jet fuel taxes
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…
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…
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…