Star Alliance looks to India, Russia, and cargo

Jaan Albrecht, the chief executive of Star Alliance, said that he is hoping that he can announce the inclusion of an Indian and a Russian airline in the alliance sometime this year. India and Russia are the two major holes in the alliance's network that remain to be patched. "I am sure that by the end of 2007 we will be able to make an announcement about a new partner, first in India, and probably next year in Russia," he said. "The development of...

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S7 Orders Boeing 787

The second largest airline in Russia, S7 (also known as Sibir), yesterday announced that it was ordering 15 Boeing 787s, with options for 10 more. This is big news, since it is (to the best of my knowledge) the first purchase by a Russian airline of brand-new Boeings. It's also the first purchase by a Russian carrier of the 787 - an airplane that state-run Aeroflot has been looking at for quite some time. The 787s, which are due for delivery starting...

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Flights between US and China could double

A recent agreement between the US and Chinese governments lets the amount of flights flown by US carriers between the two countries to more than double. Right now, US carriers fly 10 daily flights to China, and the agreement allows for 13 more flights, with 1 new flight this year, another next year, four more in 2009, and seven more between 2010 and 2012.This deal is significant because it will probably result in a tough race between US carriers like United, Northwest, American, Delta, and Continental. United and Northwest already have a pretty...

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Interesting AA video

Here's a neat video that shows an American Airlines pilot's journey from Boston to Paris and back aga...

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Skybus takes off

Yesterday Columbus, OH-based Skybus Airlines operated its first flight from Columbus to Burbank, CA, and also operated flights to Kansas City and Portsmouth, NH. Although I haven't flown Skybus myself, an ABC News reporter did, and reported on his experience (he calls the airline 'The Greyhound Bus of the Skies'). He reports extensively about the 'add-ons' (e.g. snacks, drinks, pillows) that you can purchase onboard, and quotes the CEO of Skybus...

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Northwest to exit bankruptcy on May 31

Northwest Airlines, which has been in bankruptcy for the last 20 months, finally received approval from a bankruptcy judge on Friday to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 31. Northwest is the last US major carrier in bankruptcy, and like many of its competitors, it used the process to significantly cut costs - about $2.5 billion. In Northwest's case, the airline has become a lot more competitive by retiring older planes (the entire DC-10 fleet and...

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Virgin America gets final go-ahead

Richard Branson's newest airline project, Virgin America, has finally received approval last Friday from the FAA to start operations this summer. The airline, however, had to make quite a few concessions in order to recieve the OK - the chief executive, Fred Reid (an ex-Delta president), was replaced. Regulators in the US were concerned about foreign ownership (after all, Branson's Virgin Group is based in the UK), and the laws in the US state that...

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BA joins premium transatlantic competition

Last year I wrote about so-called 'boutique airlines' - airlines which catered exclusively to the first- and business-class markets - and also looked at the expansion of these types of airlines across the Atlantic, where they have been most prolific. A handful of these 'boutique airlines' include Maxjet, Eos, and Silverjet, which fly between the New York area and London. There's also L'avion, which flies between Paris-Orly and Newark. All four fly...

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United to cut domestic capacity, add international

United Airlines said that it would cut domestic capacity (in other words, cut domestic flights) by up to 3% this year - mostly due to a difficult domestic market, where competition is heavy. Instead, it's shifting some of this capacity over to international routes - for example, this fall, it is starting Washington-Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles-Hong Kong service. For 2007, United said that international capacity would grow 3 to 4%, while domestic...

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Yorkshire Airlines

A bit offensive to some, perhaps, but still humorous: Yorkshire Airlin...

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Midwest still resists AirTran

AirTran Airways, which has been pushing a hostile takeover of Midwest Airlines, has extended its offer until June 8. AirTran announced the takeover bid back in December, and is seeking to buy Midwest for $389 million in cash and stock. Midwest has staunchly refused to give in; a company spokeswoman said that "It doesn't change anything. The board continues to remain steadfast in its view that the offer is inadequate." The board last month unanimously...

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IRS More Popular than US Airlines

On the University of Michigan's Customer Satisfaction Index, the IRS scored a 65. That isn't exactly news, except for the fact that America's airlines scored even lower - a 63, which is two points less than last year and the lowest it's been in six years. "The process [of cost cutting] took so much out of them - they may have cut beyond the bone," said Claes Fornell, director of the University of Michigan's National Quality Research Center. The lowest-scoring airline was United, at 56 (from 63 points last year); Southwest had the most at 76 points...

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'Salmon-Thirty-Salmon' delivers exactly that

Edit (or Correction, not Perfection): TAB reader Cromely has pointed out that the freighter wasn't the one in the Salmon paint scheme but instead a converted freighter in regular livery. You can read the rest of his post here. The corrected post:Alaska Airlines' famed 'Salmon-Thirty-Salmon', with a 120-foot long salmon painted on its fuselage, was met at Seattle-Tacoma Airport this morning by a Boeing 737-400 freighter carrying over 32,000 pounds...

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Star Alliance at ten years

The world's oldest and largest airline alliance turns ten years old today. Star Alliance was founded on May 14, 1997 by Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai and United. Today there are 17 member airlines, with 3 affiliates and 3 future members. A brief look at the past ten years, adapted from Wikipedia:1997 — The alliance is founded by Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines. Varig joins the...

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Skybus gets FAA certification

Columbus, OH based startup Skybus Airlines recieved certification last week from the FAA so that it can start flying on May 22, as planned, with a few brand-new Airbus A319s. The first flight is scheduled to be a morning departure from Columbus to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA. On the same day, Skybus will start service to Boston (really Portsmouth, NH) and Kansas City. Other destinations will include Richmond, VA, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle/Vancouver...

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Delta's New Look

Some of you are probably familiar with Delta's 'new look' and paint scheme. The reactions to it have been decidedly mixed, with the majority (at least on the online community) against it. I've heard people call Delta the Official Airline of Hugo Chavez due to the logo's resemblance to that of Citgo, the Venezuelan state-run oil company. There have been calls for the airline to switch back to the old 'widget' livery as well.The new livery, officially...

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