Is Delta looking to take over Alaska Air?
After its purchase of Northwest Airlines, Delta is looking to expand its alliance with Alaska Air. Some industry observers think that a takeover might be next.
New United Airlines exec snags $525,000 salary — let’s hope it doesn’t ask for a bailout
It occurred to me as I was reading United Airlines’ latest FORM 8-K/A filing that if the airline ever asks for a federal bailout (assuming the rescue plan ever gets passed) it might run into some accounting problems. It also underscored that even in the worst of times — the airline lost $2.7 billion last quarter — executive compensations almost never take a hit.
God bless Air Canada — they rescind baggage fees
Air Canada announced that it will do away with the C$25 second checked bag fee introduced back in the spring. It also plans to roll its fuel surcharges into airfares. These moves are all in the wake of “moderated” fuel costs, and far different from the actions of US legacy carriers.
United stock pummelled after false report of bankruptcy filing
What started as an innocent search for recent bankruptcy filings by a journalist caused United Airlines’ shares to plummet 76 percent to $3 a share on Monday before NASDAQ halted trading just before 11:07 a.m.
Is the cost of airline surcharges worth it? Yes — and no
The airline world is being roiled by an “unbundling” trend. Once the costs of baggage, meals, drinks, pillows and blankets were included in fares. Today, most airlines are beginning to charge for these as extras — add-ons to the basic charge of getting passengers from Point A to Point B. But not all of them.
United Airlines upgrades its apologies for elite-level passengers
Even the worst airlines treat their best customers better than most. Case in point: Global Services members on United Airlines.
Grass roots movements are thriving in the travel industry too
The last place one might think of finding a grassroots movement is in the airline business. That’s just plain wrong. A “grassroots” effort is one that is driven by constituents in a homegrown and spontaneous way. Use Google to search for examples of these movements. There’s quite an array. David Burns takes a closer look.
Are Continental’s “crisis” cuts a harbinger of travel industry implosion?
Continental Airlines has announced deep capacity cuts and personnel cuts for its airline operations. It is slashing 3,000 jobs, 67 aircraft and reducing capacity in the fourth quarter by 11 percent in what it calls a “crisis.” This is serious.
Ted may not be the end of United, but it’s still dead
Looks like the latest victim of capacity cuts is United Airlines’ airline-within-an-airline, Ted.
Another busted airline merger
It seems that United Airlines and US Airways have called off their engagement. The litany of reasons is familiar, labor opposition, yada, yada, yada. I think the old saying, “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” comes into play.