Southwest fares rising again
Southwest fares rising again — Southwest Airlines Co. raised its top one-way fare $10 over the weekend, ending 3 ½ years of keeping a $299 limit on its priciest tickets. The hike was part of a broader fare increase for Southwest that fare-watching analyst Jamie Baker of J.P. Morgan called “the largest single fare increase they have ever taken.” (Dallas Morning News)
Northwest to charge extra for prime coach seats — For an extra $15, Northwest Airlines will sell coach passengers a few more inches of legroom. Starting Tuesday, Northwest will ask passengers on most domestic flights if they’re interested in paying extra for certain prime seats in coach — exit-row seats or aisle seats near the front of the cabin. (AP)
Airlines upgrade service for wealthier fliers — U.S. airlines are slashing amenities in a bid to bring costs in line with limited revenue. However, Maxjet, Eos and United with its Premium Servoce, are betting that there’s money to be made by catering to the relatively few air travelers willing to pay premium prices for luxury. (USA Today)
Former game show host dies in plane crash near Santa Monica pier — Former “Press Your Luck” game show host Peter Tomarken and his wife Kathleen Abigail Tomarken were killed Monday in a plane crash south of the Santa Monica Pier, authorities said. (North County Times)
Alaska Airlines going to an all Boeing 737 fleet — Like Southwest and other low-cost airlines that save money by flying only one kind of jetliner, Alaska Airlines will be operating nothing but Boeing 737s by 2009. The Seattle-based airline announced Monday an accelerated plan for phasing out its 26 MD- 80s by the end of 2008. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Delta pilots’ pension plan in danger — The pension plan covering thousands of Delta Air Lines pilots is almost certain to fail, officials representing Delta and its pilots’ union said Monday. (USA Today)
New York terminal evacuated for hours after shoe bomb scare — Authorities at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Friday evacuated a terminal and halted outbound flights for four hours after a security alert over a passenger’s shoes. (AFP)
Airbus considers A340 production cut back — The parent company of Airbus might reduce production of its four-engine A340 airliner because it is losing orders to the Boeing Co.’s 777. “It’s too early to say,” said Tom Enders, co-chief executive for European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., in an interview published by Bloomberg. “We don’t panic because we had a bad year.†(Wichita Business Journal)
Shanghai could be Disney’s next theme park venue — Is there a Disney park in Shanghai’s future? Shanghai’s mayor says the city is making preparations to build a Disney theme park, but is still awaiting the go-ahead from China’s central government. (AP)
No insurance for Delta travel — Skittish insurance companies have stopped selling policies protecting Delta Air Lines customers from labor strikes, adding another layer of uncertainty for travelers counting on the airline to get them where they want to go. (Cincinnati Post)
Travel like a billionaire — Being ultra-wealthy not only enables billionaires to travel, stay and eat anywhere they please–within reason, of course–but more important, it allows them to do so with minimal hassles or discomfort. Here’s a peek into their world. (Forbes)
Spring Breakers find a mellower Cancun — The first wave of winter-weary college students who converged on Cancun found that construction workers nearly outnumbered revelers this week in Mexico’s spring break capital of beer and bikinis. (AP)
Exec.: Delta needs pilots’ cuts to survive — Delta Air Lines Inc. is “tapped out” and can’t borrow any more money to cover its mounting losses, making deep pay and benefit cuts it is seeking from its pilots essential to its survival, the company’s chief financial officer told an arbitration panel Tuesday. (AP)
Carrie Charney, Christopher Elliott, John Frenaye, Charles Leocha, Marge Purnell, Valerie Schneider, Mary Staley, Stephanus Surjaputra, Richard Wong.