The Registered Traveler Program allows travelers to submit biometric information and thus allow them to speed through security lines for a fee. Part of that fee is given to the TSA and the other part to the private industry managing the program. The TSA’s portion includes a security threat assessment for each applicant and misc.…
A new French airline, L’Avion, began taking reservations today and will be operating daily round-trip service from Paris’s second-largest airport, Orly, and Newark’s Liberty Airport. A roundtrip flight would cost $2118(EUR1600). The business class fare on Air France between Paris and New York is about EUR2700. More details can be found courtesy of Reuters.
Not long ago, we commented on Air Canada’s innovative simplified ticketing system. Now TAM is launching a new fare platform, five new Fare profiles: Promo, Light, Flex, Max, and Top. Like Air Canada, each level presents clear characteristics and rules so that a passenger can make a choice based on their needs. We have blasted…
Suspiciously, the day Jetblue inaugurated its service to Cancun, American Airlines issued a press release celebrating 25 years of service to Cancun…it inaugurated service from Dallas in December 1, 1981. American has served Cancun for a quarter century, and Mexico for sixty years. A fairly good way to remind people who else flies daily from…
Yesterday, Delta continued to fend off a merger attempt by US Airways, and announced it would inaugurating service on March 1 from its hub at Salt Lake City, UT to a US Airways stronghold…Charlotte, NC. We can’t help but wonder about the timing of this announcement, considering the merger issues.
Yesterday, US Airways made a presentation concerning its proposed acquisition with Delta. Doug Parker, US Airways’ Chairman and CEO said, “We were pleased to have made a presentation to both Delta and its creditors about what we believe are the compelling and unique benefits of our plan. We reviewed our offer and had a chance…
Pierre Beaudoin, president of Bombardier Aerospace, said the company, known for its Canadair Regional Jets, the Learjet, and its Q400 Next-Generation Turboprop, seat the company expects to decide by January 31st whether it will go ahead with a $2 billion project to develop its CSeries passenger jet. Last January, Beaudoin announced it would not develop…
Beginning May 2007, South African Airways will operate direct service from Chicago-O’Hare Airport to Johnnanesburg, South Africa four times a week. The flight will make a short stop in Dakar, Senegal. South African Airways features the only nonstop service from the US to South Africa…a flight from Washington, adding to their longstanding direct service from…
Jetblue launched its service from New York’s JFK Airport to Cancun this morning. Cancun is Jetblue’s eighth Caribbean destination. Serving Mexico expands Jetblue’s international destinations, all in the Caribbean or Atlantic area, and its service to sunny vacation spots. Vacation spots like those and the various Floridean destinations it operates can be very lucrative. Certainly…
Reuters reports Delta announced yesterday it will recall an additional 200 furloughed pilots for its international route expansion. This year, Delta recalled roughly 130 pilots, 900 maintenance workers, and 1200 flight attendants. It is also assembling a team to oversee a new hiring process if it has to hire new pilots next year.
Airtran today announced the airline will be offering new nonstop service between its hub at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta and Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport. Effective February 15, they will operate one daily nonstop, increasing to two a week later. On March 6th, a third flight will begin, with its return beginning the following day.…
Earlier this week, we reported on an incident with several Muslim imams…religious leaders…being denied boarding on a US Airways flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix. Passengers, police, and flight crew continue to insist the group raised the security warning flags…that it was a combination of factors that caused them to remove the group. They were praying…
Reuters reports that a German court has rejected a man’s claim for compensation after he was ordered off a plane because others were offended by his smell. The man, a corporate lawyer, was returning with his wife from Hawaii via Los Angeles on a British Airways flight operated by American Airlines last year and missed…
The New York Times reports that Boeing has turned down the request of Southwest to add 2 planes to its recent order of 80. Demand for Boeing aircraft is increasing, especially considering that Airbus has had problems with the A380 and the A350. Scott E. Carson, the new head of Boeing Commercial Aviation, has vowed…
Southwest Airlines raised airfares $10 each on flights of more than 1000 miles, and $3 on fares between 750 and 1000 miles over the Thanksgiving weekend, Reuters reports. The increase was matched by American, United, and Continental. Jetblue said it had not matched the increase. Southwest has been able to keep its fares low due…
In a press release today, Travelocity reported that their airport monitors surveyed a random sample of 1079 travelers at ten of the busiest airports in the United States. 73% of travelers were either satisfied or very satisfied with their experience going through security. Only 9% reported being unsatisfied or very unsatisfied. Only one in ten…
Logan Airport in Boston opened its sixth runway, a 5000 foot runway designated Runway 14/32 to be used for regional jets and other small planes. It is expected to reduce delays by twenty-five percent. Usage of the runway was planned to begin on Thanksgiving Day, but the winds were not favorable that day. The runway…
As if the Los Angeles area does not have enough airports, Los Angeles officials approved a proposal to restart commercial service at Palmdale Regional Airport, hoping to recruit an airline to operate daily jet connections to a hub airport sometime next year. The airport, currently used by the Air Force, lost its last commercial service…
Today in the Sky reports that Spirit Airlines has filed an application with the DOT to serve Caracas, Venezuela from Ft. Lauderdale. It hopes to start selling tickets as soon as possible for an April 1st inauguration of service. Spirit serves multiple destinations in the Caribbean from Ft. Lauderdale, but this would be its first…
bizjournals.com reports that Southwest will be adding a third daily flight from Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Orlando’s Mccoy International Airport, effective March 11. AirTran will also be adding one daily flight between the two cities effective in January. Southwest’s flights to Orlando have been operating nearly full since they were introduced.
Effective March 11 of next year, as they cover in their blog, Southwest will have implemented a large scale schedule change to take maximum advantage of through-ticketing opportunities from Dallas Love Field. The number of one-stop, same plane itineraries between Dallas and cities outside the Wright Amendment perimeter will increase to almost 100 every business…
Mary Jo Manzanares of Fly Away Cafe posted a travel tip we weren’t aware of, and intend to use in the future. 5-1-1, America’s Traveler Information Telephone Number…In July of 2000, the FCC designated 511 as the single traffic telephone number to be made available across the country. While, multiple states have already implemented such…
Today, one of the busiest days of the years, Fox News 9 Minneapolis reports that the Northwest baggage handlers at Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport brought their carts together at Gate F7 and sat down on the job, upset about being outsourced. The stoppage lasted about thirty minutes before they returned to work. Slowdowns are expected in…
For those of you traveling tomorrow, Jetblue will be offering an opportunity to join the “Thanksgiving Football Party” with a free beer or cocktail, as well as LiveTV coverage of various football games. We are curious whether they will try this again, perhaps offering a complimentary glass of champagne for their overnight flights New Year’s…
Today, American Airlines announced that it is introducing international check-in capabilities to its self-service machines. Now, the difference between an internationally equipped check-in machine and one only suitable for domestic is the introduction of a passport reader, to allow passengers to scan their machine readable passport and thus supply information that is required prior to…