In-Flight Internet May DisappearJune 22 2006
Boeing is considering either selling or shutting down its in-flight Internet company called Connexion after 6 years of struggle and losses. If they can’t find a buyer, in-flight Internet will disappear from Lufthansa, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and a handful of others. It’s a shame, but $28 for in-flight Internet was a bit steep for consumers.
Jet Airways and Air Sahara Merger Called OffJune 22 2006
Jet Airways and Air Sahara, which were set to merge to create the largest airline in India, have called off the merger after Jet Airways tried to lower the price. The combined carrier would have had more than 50% market share in India.
Save $30 to Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Raleigh-DurhamJune 21 2006
JetBlue has a promotion where you can save $30 round trip on flights between JFK and Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham. Go to this page and enter the code JETBLUE15 and you’ll save $15 on each leg ($30 round trip). Book by July 26th and fly through October 31.
Southwest to Test Assigned SeatingJune 21 2006
Next month, Southwest Airlines will test assigned seating on some of its flights out of San Diego. If assigned seats are adopted, this would be a huge change for the carrier, which has always forced customers into a cattle call without a seat assignment. Assuming the change doesn’t add additional time to boarding, Southwest would consider rolling it out. Many passengers hate not having assigned seats, though Southwest had been oddly hard-headed about even considering assigned seats. Glad to see they’re having a change of heart.
Does Jet Airways Have Terrorist Ties?June 21 2006
This is an odd one: India’s former Civil Aviation Minister has told India’s Prime Minister that Jet Airways, one of India’s largest airlines, has close links to terrorists. According to the former official, Jet Airways has been a "steady recipient of large dubious investments originating from Gulf
sheikhs" and had intermittent contacts with "underworld dons Chhota
Shakeel and Dawood Ibrahim to settle financial disputes." Strange, right? As you might imagine, Jet Airways had no comment.
Meanwhile, its takeover of Air Sahara, another large Indian carrier, is now in doubt (unrelated to the terrorist thing) and the largest airline merger in India’s history may not take place after all. There are conflicting reports about the reasons the merger may fall through, though it appears Jet Airways has decided it wants to pay 40% less than it had offered originally and has now gone to the courts to stop Sahara from filing suit. It’s quite a soap opera if you care about this stuff…
Brazil’s Varig May Be Forced to LiquidateJune 21 2006
Brazil’s Varig may be forced to liquidate by the end of the week if a group of employees who purchased the bankrupt carrier cannot come up with $75 million by Friday. The airline is in dire financial straits, going so far as to cancel a third of its flights this week. A group of airline employees and 2 foreign investors agreed to purchase the carrier for $449 million, but without the initial $75 million payment a bankruptcy judge has said the airline will be forced to liquidate. Varig is not long for this world…
Northwest: No More Boarding by RowsJune 21 2006
Northwest Airlines is changing the way the passengers board its flights. Instead of boarding back-to-front, it will be a free for all. Anyone can board at any time (after families with children and elite members). While this seems like a recipe for chaos, it apparently knocks 5-10 minutes off the boarding process (who knew?). I once flew on a 747 that was boarded all at once and it was complete mayhem as people pushed to get in line. Northwest’s spokesperson admits that he was skeptical of the new plan as well, until he watched it in action. Apparently it actually works.
In case you were wondering, according to the article, there are professors who study the best way to board airplanes and they say that United’s method — window seats, middle seats, aisle seats — is the fastest way to fill a plane.
Malaysia Airlines to Cancel A380 OrderJune 20 2006
If you’re sick of reading about the A380 situation, then you can skip this story (though it’s today’s only story, so suck it up, my friend): According to Air Transport World, Malaysia Airlines is going to cancel its order for 6 A380 aircraft after the recent delays were announced. The article also notes that at least one other airline is seriously considering cancelling their order as well. Malaysia Airlines hasn’t been in the best financial shape lately, so the manufacturing delays may just be a handy excuse, but the A380 doesn’t have a ton of orders to begin with, and it hardly needs more bad press…I’m sure they’re gloating over at Boeing.
Jazeera Airways: Free Flights for WomenJune 19 2006
Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways announced that they will fly women to Kuwait for free to participate in Kuwait’s elections on June 29th. This election marks the first time that women will be able to vote in the Gulf Arab state. Nice gesture by the start-up carrier.
Delta Nonstop to Mumbai and AccraJune 19 2006
Delta Air Lines is launching the only nonstop service from the US to Mumbai beginning this November. The flights from New York will replace its current one-stop service to both Mumbai and Chennai. As you may have noticed, Delta has begun a huge international expansion this year. As part of this, the airline has also announced 4x weekly nonstop service from New York to Accra, Ghana, beginning in December. Any nonstop service to Africa is good news, and the $399 one-way initial fare isn’t too bad, either (though service to Europe, which is about the same distance, is roughly half the price in December).
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