Dan Webb on Aviation
Before I get started – no, nothing’s changing with this blog, nor am I leaving BoardingArea.
I have, however, been invited by the kind folks over at About Airport Parking to start writing a blog for them. So while on this blog you’ll find a very healthy dose of airline-geekery, this new blog will focus more heavily on airport news.
You can check it out here. I’d really appreciate it if you visited (often), and would love to hear any feedback you might have!
Quick post today – for one, I’ve been traveling. Second, my main laptop’s battery is broken, so I’m writing with an Asus Eee netbook. It’s a cool little thing, don’t get me wrong, but typing for awhile can be a hassle.
Anyway, here are the PRASM estimates from the carriers who provide them:
And, as always, here’s a graph of Continental’s results, as they provide a final number for the month prior:
So, for each carrier we saw an improvement from the month prior – and that’s great. Of course, Southwest’s results stand out a bit with the double-digit increase, and I think that’s mainly driven by an increase in load factor by over 9 points for the airline. During the airline’s earnings all CFO Laura Wright said that comparisons might get harder as capacity will be down less in future months than in January. But, at the same time, as we move forward, the 2009 numbers that will be used for comparisons for all cariers will be getting progressiviely worse, which can only help the numbers.
On a side note, I wonder how the cutover to Sabre affected JetBlue’s numbers. By all accounts, it went just wonderfully, but during the weekend of the transition load factors were capped at 40-60% on some flights, so that coud’ve had a bit of an effect.
We had some interesting announcements from Republic/Frontier yesterday. Frontier issued a happy press release entitled, “Frontier Announces Summer Schedule with New Service,” while the Republic side of the house’s news was called, “Republic Airways Announces Fleet Simplification Plan,” which is PR-speak for “we’re dumping Lynx for Republic.” Nevertheless, these moves show Republic’s growing influence on the airline, and it also show Frontier’s new strategy – looking for smaller markets that Southwest and United aren’t all that excited about serving. So let’s take a look at the changes.
Eliminating Lynx
Frontier-subsidiary Lynx aviation, which operates eleven Q400s, is being eliminated, and will be replaced with Embraer 170 and 190 aircraft. Service will remain at all Lynx destinations except for Fargo and Tulsa, which will see their last service on April 5th, and Lynx will be completely gone by mid-September. Frontier has had some E190s in Denver for a short while now, so it’ll be interesting to see some 170s come over as well.
At first, this move actually made me chuckle. Let’s review Frontier’s regional carriers. First Frontier worked with Mesa in 2002. But that lasted a whole two years. Next was Frontier JetExpress, which was a service flown by Horizon, then Frontier used Republic E-170s, but that was cut in favor of Lynx Q400s, which will now be phased out for Republic E-170s…again. But to be honest, the move makes sense. The Q400 fleet is small, and Republic can use its own aircraft and crews, and it already has a bunch of E-Jets as well. From an economics perspective, having a small fleet of Q400s just didn’t make too much sense.
When it comes down to brass tacks, however, 175 Lynx employees are losing their jobs. They’ll be offered positions at Frontier and Republic if available.
New Markets
Frontier announced a bunch of new routes yesterday, which is certainly fun to watch. One of them is Ft. Myer’s – that’s been seasonal for awhile, so apparently the market is strong enough for a few flights a week with an E190/A318. But let’s take a look at the brand new markets. All of them involve Embraer 190 aircraft. So now we know what Republic wants to do with those aircraft from US Airways – looking for smaller markets where it can avoid competition. And the 190 seems to be the perfect aircraft to do it. Continue reading ‘Frontier Falls in Love with E-Jets’
Iberia has recently announced some changes to its baggage policies. On one hand, it will be annoying for consumers as they’ll have to be shelling out more cash for their bags, but I do think the new policy is a bit simpler. The changes are applicable for travel that is purchase on or after March 1. Basically, if you’re in economy, expect to pay a second bag fee on any Iberia flight.
Photo Credit: Iberia.
Right now, Iberia has a piece and weight system for baggage. The weight system is mainly used on short-haul flying. For example, the allowance for European flights is 23 kg (about 50 pounds). One can check a few bags as long as the total weight doesn’t exceed 23 kg, and excess baggage is charged by the kilogram (€5/kg for short-haul flights). On most long-haul flights, a piece system is used. So, if I wanted to fly from Boston to Madrid I’m allowed two free checked bags, both of which need to be under 23 kg. If I have a third bag, it’s €150 at the airport, or €105 online.
Well, the weight system is going out, and Iberia is now going with the piece system throughout its network. For both long and short-haul flying, economy passengers (except full-fare economy and company rates on long-haul flights) will only be allowed one piece of free checked luggage. The fee for the second bag is €50 online, and €60 if paid at the airport. That price is pretty much in-line for long-haul flights, though it seems a bit high for the shorter flights, I think. Continue reading ‘Iberia Adds Second Bag Fee’
On Monday, Virgin Atlantic announced additional cooperation with fellow Virgin airlines Virgin Blue and V Australia, Virgin Blue’s long-haul airline. Since July, Virgin Atlantic passengers have been able to earn Flying Club miles on Virgin Blue flights, and Virgin Blue travelers could earn Velocity points on Virgin Atlantic. But now elites of both programs are getting some extra perks as well.
Virgin Atlantic says that Silver and Gold members of its Flying Club program will get perks like priority check-in and luggage, and Gold members will receive free lounge access. And while it’s not mentioned in the Virgin Atlantic press release, Gold members of Virgin Blue’s Velocity program receive free lounge access to some Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses, priority check-in, priority boarding, and others when flying with Virgin Atlantic.
“Through this arrangement we are able to further reward those who prefer to fly with and remain loyal to Virgin branded airlines,” said Steve Ridgway, Virgin Atlantic CEO. While I do not what to read too much into that soundbite, it sounds to me like Virgin is working on getting some kind of alliance going. Granted, there’s only so much they can do with a few carriers, but it’s still very interesting, and I wonder where Virgin America fits into this picture. It was announced last year that the carrier would get closer to Virgin Blue and allow passengers to earn miles in either loyalty program (the two carriers already have an interline agreement).
Photo Credit:
Singapore Airlines announced yesterday that on January 31st, it had completed “the world’s first multi-sector demonstration green flight.” 10 tons of fuel (and 33 tons of carbon emissions) were saved on Flight 11, which flew from Los Angeles to Tokyo and then to Singapore with a Boeing 747-400. The fuel savings represent a six percent reduction in consumption. To put that in perspective, after 17 flights, the 18th is “free” in terms of fuel. Yes, being green is great, but moves like these can also help airline financially – which is a good motivator to start caring about this stuff.
So what did the airline do to save that fuel? These are all options we’ve seen before, like engine washing, using ground power instead of the APU, using a more efficient routing, a continuous descent approach, and a few others, as well.
Photo Credit: Singapore Airlines.
For those who are very interested in how “green” the industry can become, flights like these are a small, but important step. Long-term solutions will require a concerted effort from airframers, engine manufactures, and firms working on alternative energy sources. But acquiring new aircraft is a big financial commitment for airlines, while many of these solutions attempted/implemented by Singapore and others can be implemented on the existing fleet, and can actually improve airlines’ financial performance.
South African low cost carrier Kulula just unveiled a really clever special livery called “Flying 101″ on a 737-800, labeling parts of the aircraft with a bit of snark, calling the exit rows “the throne zone” and referring to the registration as a “secret agent code.” Take a look! Tip of the hat to my friend Steve.
You can check out a larger picture here on airliners.net.
Last week, Air France-KLM announced an expansion of their still-new partnership with Brazilian LCC Gol. Last April, the airlines announced that passengers would be able to earn frequent flier miles on each others’ flights, and codesharing with Air France would begin.
Air France originally announced that by the middle of last year, it would be codehsaring with Gol to thirteen Brazilian destinations. That’s a bit behind schedule – right now there are only six destinations (Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis, Curitiba, Salvador and Vitória), though the airline says that “seven other destinations will be added soon…pending government approvals.” KLM and Gol have now entered into a codesharing agreement for some Brazilian destinations, though the company news release does not specify which. The deal also includes service to Buenos Aires. Connections will be made possible with AF-KLM’s 31 flights to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro from Paris and Amsterdam.
AF-KLM calls Brazil “a key market.” Christian Herzog, SVP Americas for the group says that the deal “demonstrates once again our willingness to develop our position in Brazil. It offers our customers travelling to and from Brazil a larger choice of destinations and schedules, which reflects our group’s strategy: to ensure the best possible services between Europe and the rest of the world.”
Personally, I think that this is a great move for both carriers. Gol has a limited international reach with it’s all-737 fleet, so getting feed from Air France and KLM provides a nice boost to its current route network. Meanwhile, this is a good competitive move for Air France-KLM, as currently SkyTeam does not have any South American members, and Gol can increase service to not only Brazil, but other parts of the continent as the codeshare to Bueneo Aires demonstrates. British Airways and Iberia have noted that they have a dominant position when it comes to South American service, so this deal is one way that AF-KLM can respond. It should be noted, however, that Iberia and Gol announced a codesharing partnership back in October.
On another note, it’s interesting to see AF-KLM partner with LCCs – it has an agreement with WestJet as well. It’s just interesting to see traditional network carriers align themselves with the LCCs. JetBlue and Lufthansa is another example.
Yes, two Southwest posts in one day. Sorry. 
Last week, the airline announced its brand new iPhone app, which has actually been around since December, but there was no press release on the subject until last week. My guess is that Southwest wanted to launch it quietly and see if there were any bugs before publicizing it.
Anyway, the features of the app aren’t actually all that different compared to Southwest’s current mobile website, except for the DING! feature. But even though most of the features aren’t new – this is still a good move. Eliminating the need to surf to mobile.southwest.com makes for an easier user experience. And this does have the potential to increase DING! sales a bit.
I do wonder if Southwest will expand its offerings to include other phones. Yes, the iPhone is incredibly popular, but BlackBerry still has a larger share of the global smartphone market, and carriers that aren’t AT&T are busy pushing their Android offerings.
Regardless, mobile is big, and it’s not going away. While specialized apps aren’t necessary, airlines need to make sure that they have offerings that make life easier for travelers with smartphones – it makes life easier for travelers, and could potentially save time for airline staff as it gives passengers the options to take care of travel issues on their own while they’re on the go.
This makes me think…I really need a smartphone. 
More details about the app here.
After testing Row 44’s internet service on four 737-700 aircraft for nearly a year, Southwest Airlines has decided to equip its entire fleet of 737s with the service, according to a post on the company’s blog. Installation will begin in the second quarter of this year with about 15 monthly installations. Southwest hopes to get that number up to 25 monthly installations, and will have entire fleet equipped by early 2012.
The big question is – what will the service cost? Well, Southwest isn’t sure yet – after providing the service for free on the test aircraft, the airline has been playing with different price points for awhile, and will keep doing so. One reason Southwest has gone with Row 44 instead of Aircell is because with the former it can control more of the branding of the product. As a result, I wouldn’t be shocked if Southwest gives the service away to some people – free Wi-Fi with a Business Select ticket would most certainly increase the value of that product. I also wonder if Southwest would be willing to provide free or discounted service to its A-List members. Yes, that could mean some lost Wi-Fi revenue, but perhaps that feature could increase loyalty and attract the frequent business travelers that Southwest has been eagerly seeking.
Jon Ostrower also reported on Row 44’s “walled-garden” concept back in October – perhaps it could find a home with Southwest?
I am also wondering how much the installations will cost Southwest, as supposedly Row 44 is more expensive to install than Aircell’s Gogo service. But that’s just the finance major in me.
But, bottom line, this is great news for Southwest passengers.
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