The New United shows first signs of synergy
United announced some new routes for 2011 that will start the process of optimizing their combined networks. They will add:
Category Archives: News
LaGuardia to Open New Tower This Weekend
The new control tower that has been rising up over New York’s LaGuardia Airport will begin operations midnight Sunday morning. The old tower will be turned off and decomissioned.
The New United Airlines
United and Continental are…on paper, no more. They are now wholly owned subsidiaries of United Continental Holdings Incorporated. It will take until 2012 for them to combine into one airline. Until then, they will run as separate companies, despite the fanfare. That means separate websites, check-in operations, etc. The synergy will not even start till spring.
More on the Southwest-AirTran News
We were bowled over when we heard that Southwest is going to acquire AirTran. Even more shocking is that Southwest and AirTran apparently started discussing this acquisition in the spring, which means they’ve kept this under wraps for a surprisingly long time.That is surprising in this modern world. Everything seems to leak out.
Southwest to Acquire AirTran
We started the day this morning with surprising news. Southwest Airlines is going to acquire AirTran Airways. It is going to take us a bit to really think about this, and we’ll have more later in the day, but let’s go over the big points now.
Flight Wisdom Announces the Beta Launch of AirportHistory.com
After a lot of consideration(we started fiddling with this a few months back), we here at Flight Wisdom are proud to announce the beta launch of our latest spinoff site…Airporthistory.com.
ATR42 Turboprop Crashes in Venezuela
An ATR-42 twin-engine turboprop operated by Conviasa has crashed about twelve minutes after takeoff from the airport in Guayana, Venezuela. The plane had at least forty-seven people onboard, and twenty-three passengers were taken to local hospitals. Of those, up to eleven have died. There are some conflicting reports about the number onboard, injured, and deceased, and we will update as more definite numbers come in.
Airlines Finally Figure Out People Hate 50-seater Regional Jets
We’ve never been particularly fond of fifty seater regional jets. They don’t have the comfort that we desire in an airline experience. It is not that we object to a smaller aircraft, but merely the idea that a smaller aircraft has to be a significantly less pleasant experience than a larger one.
JetBlue to Add Boston to Newark Service – What is their Strategy?
JetBlue has announced an intention to fly from Newark Liberty Airport to Boston’s Logan Airport with four daily roundtrips effective May 2011. People often forget JetBlue is at Newark, but look at JetBlue in the New York area. Other than their hub at Kennedy Airport, they serve
Southwest Announces Service to Newark Airport
Continuing its trend of going into overcrowded, delay prone airports it had previously avoided, Southwest Airlines announced it would be coming to Newark’s Liberty Airport. The effort is part of Continental and United’s effort to secure approval for their merger by agreeing to lease them 36 slots at the airport, which will allow for 18 daily roundtrips.
JetBlue Flight Evacuated after Hard Landing
JetBlue Flight 262 from Long Beach to Sacramento, with 86 customers and a crew of 5 evacuated via slides upon landing due to a brake fire. Minor injuries have been reported and an estimated fifteen passengers have been taken to local hospitals.
United and Continental Shareholders to vote on Merger
Shareholders of United and Continental are set to vote on September 17th on combining the two companies.
NTSB releases findings on Southwest Flight 2294
Southwest responded to the NTSBs findings on the incident on Flight 2294 last July. For those of you who don’t recall, that was the aircraft that made a landing in Charleston, WV when a hole suddenly opened up in the fuselage. The photos at the time were disconcerting for anyone who flies. After all, we like to think of planes as solid objects, but they are metal tubes that we put under pressure.
More of JFK’s Terminal Planning
We talked not long ago about the end of the Worldport at JFK. But it appears that American is set to counter Delta’s new expansion with its own. Even though it completed a multi-year megaterminal project at JFK which consolidated its operations from two terminals to one and was completed in 2007. American is talking about expanding its terminal make room for OneWorld Alliance members British Airways and Iberia.
JetBlue Offers Passengers on Slide Flight $100 Vouchers
The one hundred passengers who were on the JetBlue flight from Pittsburgh to JFK that was halted when their flight attendant slid the coop are receiving $100 vouchers for future travel from the airline.
Sean O’Keefe Survives Plane Crash
The head of EADS North American, Sean O’Keefe, confirmed onboard the crash that killed former Senator Ted Stevens, has survived, according to Reuters.
Ted Stevens Dies in Plane Crash in Alaska
The NY Times is reporting that former Senator Ted Stevens has died in a small plane crash in Alaska last night. Five of the nine people onboard the DeHavilland DHC-3T are reported to have perished. The plane was on its way to a lodge near Lake Aleknagik. The North American head of operations for EADS and former administrator of NASA, Sean O’Keefe, was also onboar
JetBlue Flight Attendant Slides, Found at Home
Business Insider reports that a JetBlue Flight Attendant named Steven Slater activated an emergency slide, left the aircraft, got his car, and drove home.
Skywest to Buy ExpressJet
Remember ExpressJet and its attempt to sell service under its own brand? Or perhaps you remember them through their relationship with Continental?
Well, now, SkyWest has announced that Atlantic Southeast Airlines, one of its brands, will buy ExpressJet. The new acquisition will be based at ASA’s home in Atlanta and will continue to serve both United and Continental hubs…probably good because both are merging themselves.
Delta to Sell Regional Subsidiaries Compass and Mesaba
The Wall Street Journal reports that Delta Air Lines will be selling two of its regional airline subsidiaries, Mesaba and Compass.
Spirit Airlines Pilots Going Back to Work
We didn’t say much about the Spirit Airlines pilot strike, but part of that has been our silence in general of late. Things have been crazy here. But today, the strike is over…unofficially. The Airline has said flights will resume on Friday. The strike grounded Spirit Airlines for five days. The airline carries roughly 16,000 passengers a day, which is 1 percent of the domestic market.
Delta Plans to Upgrade Its Facilities at JFK
While the Port Authority makes plans to demolish Terminal 6, Delta is looking to upgrade its facility. The Wall Street Journal reports that Delta might announce a definitive plan for its future at JFK airport.
Port Authority Plans to Demolish JFK’s Sundrome
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs JFK Airport, wants to knock down Terminal 6, also known as the Sundrome. The PANYNJ announced the move in a press release in April, noting that the demolishing of the terminal would permit planning to begin on the expansion of JetBlue’s Terminal 5 to allow the airline to consolidate its international operations, which must currently arrive into Terminal 4.
JFK Airport Runway Replacement
Matt over at NYCAviation has a great article reporting on the runway renovation at JFK. We’ll all be very glad when it is done, and it appears to be on scheduled. Here are some highlights we gleaned from his article. For more check it out here.
Delta To Try Monrovia Again
Monrovia is back in Delta’s sights, with once weekly service planned from its Atlanta hub, via Accra, Ghana. Apparently, Roberts International Airport implemented measures to ensure its compliance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization. We hope this means the TSA is satisfied with the security arrangements.