Southwest wants to buy Frontier

In a pretty surprising announcement today, Southwest Airlines has said that they've submitted a proposal to purchase Denver-based Frontier Airlines, which is still under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Southwest will bid for the airline in a bankruptcy auction next month, along with Republic, which said last month that it would bid for Frontier. There aren't too many details out right now, but some interesting information is available over at the...

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Big changes in store at Aeroflot

Big changes are happening over at Aeroflot - a new CEO, no more Russian jets, better in-flight service, and a plan for a slimmer company (as well as slimmer flight attendants). And if you have a complaint, simply email the CEO himself.By the end of this year, all of the airline's Tupolev Tu-154s - previously the backbone of the medium-haul fleet - will be retired, replaced by Airbus A320 family aircraft. The airline also has retired its Ilyushin...

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Sydney-Los Angeles game of chicken continues

If you're a passenger thinking about flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, things can't get much better. If you're one of the four airlines that fly that route, things can't get much worse. Earlier this month Delta became the fourth airline to fly between the two cities, joining Virgin-backed startup V Australia, which had entered the market this past February. They joined Qantas and United, which have shared a cozy duopoly for the past 15 years...

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BA loses $2.3 million a day as OpenSkies cuts back

Dow Jones is reporting that British Airways is burning through £1.4 million, or $2.3 million, a day, according to the airline's CFO, Keith Williams. Williams said in February that the airline was losing £2.7 million of cash a day, which is almost $4.5 million, so I guess that's an improvement. But William is also warning that the "cash burn isn't sustainable," and that rate is likely to increase during the winter. So BA is by no means out of the...

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How to make money from Ryanair

The Times recently shared a clever way to take back the money that you might have lost with Ryanair's £5 online check-in fee. A cup of coffee on board sets you back either £3 or €3, so you can pay for your coffee with either currency and ask for your change back in either currency. If you pay with a €50 bill, you could get €47 back in change, but that's only worth around £41. Instead, pay 50 euros but ask for your change back in pounds sterling -...

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Wi-fi and the future of inflight entertainment

US Airways announced yesterday that it will become the latest airline to offer in-flight wi-fi, starting next year. It'll be provided by Aircell's Gogo Inflight system and only available on the airline's A321 fleet for now, but Gogo is already present on the entire fleets of Virgin America and AirTran. United, American and Delta are also looking at installing Aircell's service, while Southwest and Alaska are currently testing the competing Row44...

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What's next for JetAmerica?

It's been a week since much discussed startup JetAmerica announced that it was shutting down operations, blaming difficulties with securing slots at Newark. Still, there's the possibility that the airline could always start up again. From a Florida Today article:The airline’s chairman vowed to return to service this fall, however, with Melbourne [Florida]’s airport serving as the base for the operation’s lone Boeing 737-800 jet. “Melbourne will be...

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A Manhattan airport in Central Park? Not really

Today's epic airline prank is brought to you by The Manhattan Airport Foundation, which wants to bulldoze Central Park and put up an airport in its place. Yes, you must be thinking that this is a joke, and yes, you're right.Beyond the sheer implausibility of razing Central Park to make way for an airport, let's look at the details. Their address is "233 Broadway, 58th Floor," which is in the Woolworth Building. But the building, which was completed...

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El Al's new "low cost economy" experiment

Capitalizing on the willingness of travelers to pay more for a (theoretically) better passenger experience, a lot of airlines have added "premium economy" products over the last several years, with Air France, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and United Airlines among them. And on other end of things, a lot of airlines have also launched (and also abandoned) their own no-frills, low-cost carriers, in an attempt to emulate the success of the standalone...

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JetAmerica shuts down

I'll be writing more about this soon, but for now, here's the news release:JetAmerica Suspends Sales$900,000.00 in Refunds to PassengersClearwater, Florida - July 17 – JetAmerica, the public charter air carrier operator, announced today that it is suspending sales to all markets and that it would immediately begin to notify affected customers and process refunds to all customers who have booked seats on its flights.“We are reluctantly suspending our public charter operations effective today,” said John Weikle, CEO, who has been with the company...

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Air France dismisses report of a "black year" in 2010

Air France executives have dismissed a report in the French financial newspaper Les Echos which claims that the airline could face a "liquidity problem" in 2010. The report, published under the headline "Air France: les risques d'une année noire" (the risks of a black year) says that accountants from the accounting firm Secafi, hired by Air France's works council, have painted a couple of pictures regarding the airline's financial strength, none...

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Lufthansa struggles with Austrian purchase

Lufthansa has been really putting together quite the airline empire over the last few years, acquiring Swiss Air Lines, Italian carrier Air Dolomiti, and German carriers Germanwings and Eurowings outright, as well as purchasing large stakes in British airline bmi and Brussels Airlines (and will own the latter outright by 2011).It's also trying to wrap up a deal to take over Austrian Airlines in its entirety, although the plan has dragged on for a...

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AirTran's 'Internetiquette' for in-flight wifi

AirTran recently became the second airline to outfit its entire fleet with Wi-Fi (after Virgin America). "But with your newfound freedom to surf the internet, comes a little responsibility," says the airline in the introduction to "Internetiquette," a brochure that will be found in every AirTran seatback pocket. The 'manual' says that it will "[allow] you to enjoy the internet to the fullest, while at the same time, not offending the people around...

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United deals with song fallout

Last week, a music video was posted to YouTube that was every airline PR executive's nightmare: a catchy country-music song, professionally edited with a humorous music video, that was quickly spreading across the internet. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the song was called "United Breaks Guitars," by Canadian singer Dave Carroll and his band, Sons of Maxwell, and describes his fight with the airline to receive compensation after United...

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Pilots agree to cuts, but trouble still ahead for BA

It seems as though British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) members are actually buying British Airways CEO Willie Walsh's statements that the airline is facing its largest-ever crisis, since 94% of them voted today in favor of a 2.6% cut in salary, a move that should save the airline £26 million. "We have pressure tested the company's trading position and cost base, and are satisfied that this step is necessary to help BA recover its position...

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Continental allowed to join Star Alliance immunity pact

The Department of Transportation ignored a recommendation from the Department of Justice that Continental Airlines not be allowed to join nine other Star Alliance carriers in recieving antitrust immunity on international routes, and instead granted it permission earlier today. (Thanks for the heads up from Airline Route.)The airlines (Air Canada, Austrian, bmi, LOT, Lufthansa, Scandinavian, Swiss, TAP, United and now Continental) can benefit from...

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WestJet announces largest-ever expansion

If there's a Canadian airline on the rise, it's definitely WestJet. Originally started in Calgary in 1996, it was originally only going to fly to destinations in western Canada (hence the name). But the airline quickly grew in subsequent years, and is now the second largest airline in Canada (behind Air Canada) and the largest Canadian low-cost carrier. WestJet has, more recently, announced plans to introduce a frequent flier program and has announced...

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"United Breaks Guitars" and inspires country song

I recently came across a country singer's airline-related story of woe on United Airlines (thanks to Alex for the heads up). Dave Carroll was flying from Halifax to Omaha on United Airlines, with a stopover in Chicago, when his guitar was damaged (full story here):In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred...

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Ryanair plans 'standing seats'

Ryanair boss Michael O'LearyWhen the story broke last week about China's Spring Airlines looking into 'standing-only' flights, I figured that it was only a matter of time before European budget carrier Ryanair would announce plans for a similar concept. And sure enough, Ryanair, not to be outdone, finally announced today that it was in discussions with Boeing and the Irish Aviation Authority to look at "vertical seating" in its 737s - the last four...

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Spirit Airlines reportedly buys Air Jamaica

Some interesting rumors are circulating around the tropics - acccording to the Jamaica Gleaner, US ultra-low-cost-carrier and Ryanair-wannabe Spirit Airlines will purchase perennially unprofitable state-owned flag carrier Air Jamaica, which could be renamed "Spirit of Jamaica." The news comes only days after Radio Jamaica reported that the Jamaican government's Privitisation Committee, set up to find the best buyer for the airline, recommended that...

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Delta starts flights on crowded Sydney-LAX route

photo: Delta flight 16, a Boeing 777-200LR, gets ready to leave Sydney. Photo by AFPDelta Air Lines started Los Angeles - Sydney service on July 1, becoming (as Fish pointed out) the first US airline to fly to all six 'inhabited' continents since Pan Am. If anything, it further sends home the message that Delta is now a major international player, and that it's putting some of the route authorities it acquired with Northwest to good use. Even though...

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JetAmerica delays launch, blames Newark

The story started last night, when Jaunted reported that startup airline JetAmerica would not let you book tickets in July on their website, even though their reported launch date is July 13. "There is a problem with our server," said a JetAmerica employee when Jaunted phoned the reservations number. "[The website] is only booking flights for August and September... IT says all should be fixed by end of day tomorrow." Cranky Flier, meanwhile, has warned potential passengers to stay away from JetAmerica, at least until they're in the air.But just...

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Auf wiedersehen to Lufthansa's A300s

The last Lufthansa Airbus A300 flight flew earlier today, as the culmination of the airline's plans to phase out the 26-strong fleet. Lufthansa flight 3853, operated by aircraft D-AIAM, left Rome and arrived in Frankfurt shortly past 9:00am local time. The A300s have been a key part of Lufthansa's 'continental' fleet since 1987, and the airline used them extensively on inter-European routes. But the A300s got the axe as part of a cost-cutting plan...

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