We’ve been away for a few days and there is a lot more than Virgin America that has gone on…Let’s catch up…
- Continental Airlines has announced it will begin nonstop service from Newark to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. The carrier will operate one daily round-trip flight, except between Jan. 8 and Feb. 13, when it not fly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Service will be using 50-seat Embraer Regional jets. (Information provided by Today in the Sky)
- Copa Airlines began service five times weekly from Panama to Guadalajara on Wednesday, following their launch of Panama to Washington-Dulles Airport on Monday.
- Airtran is adding more flights at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY. It will add daily nonstop service to West Palm Beach beginning November 7th. Airtran also offers service to Atlanta, Orlando, and Tampa and competes with Jetblue as the only other carrier offering non-regional service to the airport.
- Southwest Airlines management has offered employees meeting certain criteria will be able to take a $25,000 cash buyout, continuation of medical coverage and travel pass privileges. This allows them to offer people the chance to voluntarily retire, rather than being forced to furlough employees.
- American Airlines has announced it will increase service to St. Louis effective September 5th. A new daily roundtrip will be added to:
- Cedar Rapids, IA for a total of three
- Charlotte, NC for a total of four
- Dayton, OH for a total of three
- New Orleans, LA for a total of four
- Newark, NJ for a total of six
- Springfield, MO for a total of two
- Tulsa, OK for a total of three
- American will also be discontinuing its service from Love Field in Dallas to St. Louis on September 5th. American had returned to Love after several years of absence in the midst of the Wright Amendment controversy. After the battle, in April American reduced service from mainline to regional, and is now terminating it entirely. They will also end flights to San Antonio, but they will double service to Austin and Kansas City, MO. American executives commented they would lose money at Love, but needed the service to avoid losing customers to Southwest.
More to come…