Found via The B.A.T.:
Monthly Archive for October, 2009Page 2 of 6
- I need to see Up in the Air. Right now. Ben has another trailer.
- Just what the airlines need…oil is creeping up again.
- The ATA released its monthly data on revenues, and fares and yields are still falling. (More on that next week.)
- A bunch of airlines reported earnings this week, and unfortunately due to school I haven’t been able to take a good look at them, so here are the releases from the airlines in no particular order: Allegiant, Hawaiian, United, AirTran, American, Continental, Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, US Airways.
It’s apparently new service week down in Dallas, with Wednesday’s announcement of entering PFN and growth in STL after American has cut so much capacity. Yesterday, Southwest announced further growth in Denver with a few new destinations or the addition of another frequency. Here’s a chart of the changes:
(Updated 10/23 at 3:10PM – did not indicate that UA flew to DTW.)
The only route without some kind of competition is Hartford, but that’s a route that Frontier dropped last year. Maybe I’m reading too much into that, but it’s interesting. In addition, Frontier just announced it would be launching New Orleans as well.
Dulles is also interesting since Southwest hasn’t done a whole bunch with that station. It appears to be a shot at United.
Southwest also gets points for creativity on the Saturday-only LaGuardia service. The airline said there will be one-stop service on other days.
So Southwest continues to apply the pressure in Denver. Let’s see how the battle between them, Frontier, and United develops.
And on a side, note, Southwest, if you’re reading this…now that BDL and BOS will be getting DEN service…what about PVD? 
Virgin America announced on Monday that it will offer free Gogo Wi-Fi service on its flights from November 10th to January 15th as part of a promotion with Google.
Photo credit: Chris Weyer. Used with permission.
Abby Lunardini, Virgin America’s Director of Corporate Communications, told me that “given both California companies’ shared interest in helping people stay connected on the Web, the joint initiative made a lot of sense…it is great to team up with such an innovative company to keep fliers connected during the busy travel season.” Google will be getting plenty of exposure, as users will see their logo when they log in.
Gogo has been giving out promo codes for a free use, but of course giving free access to everyone has the biggest exposure. I’m sure Virgin is hoping that passengers will try Gogo for the first time, love it, and keep buying it on their future flights.
This is certainly a nice way for Virgin to generate some buzz and goodwill.
Yesterday was Southwest’s media day, and thanks to school commitments I had to miss out. 
There’s usually always some interesting announcements, and this year’s event was no exception with some interesting announcements of new service.
The first, and most interesting, addition is new service to the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport, which is planned to open in May next year. The current airport, which is being replaced as there is no further room to expand, is only served by Delta Connection, so it certainly seems odd after Southwest has added cities like Minneapolis, New York, and Boston this year. But, it makes sense as Southwest has partnered with Florida-based real estate company St. Joe, which has been developing the area. Obviously, air service from a major carrier helps their efforts. An SEC filing from St. Joe reveals why Southwest would want to fly there: Continue reading ‘Some Interesting Additions From Southwest’
On Monday, Iberia announced that it had signed a codeshare agreement with Brazilian carrier Gol, subject to government approval.
Photo credit: Chris Weyer. Used with permission.
Iberia currently flies from Madrid to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and according to a news release will be able to “add its code to Gol flights from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to 13 Brazilian destinations: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Fortaleza, Foz do Iguaçu, Goiania, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador de Bahia and Vitoria.”
The airlines are also considering an arrangements for passengers to earn points on each others flights.
This move makes sense as TAM is joining the Star Alliance next year, so it’s good for Iberia to have a partner in this region. Of course, one could also wonder if Gol would ever be interested in joining Oneworld.
Last week, the House passed a bill that would require first officers of regional airlines to have an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATP). I was going to write a post about it, but noticed that my friend Martin Rottler wrote a thought-provoking article on the topic for his student newspaper. Martin is a graduate student at the University of North Dakota, where many future pilots receive their education.
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A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for this newspaper about lagging interest in aviation, both as a career and as a hobby.
While most of the comments I received on the article were overwhelmingly positive, the article only partially had the effect I intended. This past Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 3371, a bill, which, if signed into law, would greatly increase the minimum hour and certification requirements for airline pilots in the United States. This resolution has far-reaching consequences throughout the aviation industry, especially at flight training institutions such as UND’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. Continue reading ‘Guest Post: HR3371 Hurts Aviation’
Buried in United’s earning release yesterday was the fact that it would get a $129 million boost in liquidity from SkyWest. That made sense when soon after SkyWest issued a press release saying that subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) will begin flying as a United Express carrier.
Photo credit: Chris Weyer. Used with permission.
The first part of the deal is “a secured term loan in the original principal amount of $80 million. The term loan bears interest at a rate of 11%, with a ten-year amortization period.” Next:
SkyWest Airlines also agreed to defer certain amounts otherwise payable to SkyWest Airlines under the existing United Express Agreement. The maximum deferral amount is $49 million and any amounts so deferred accrue a deferral fee of 8%, payable weekly.
ASA has traditionally been a Delta Connection carrier, and was acquired by Delta in 1999. Six years later, ASA was sold to SkyWest, which is a current United Express carrier.
This move in sensible because otherwise, ASA would have a bunch of idle aircraft in a few months. ASA is currently operating ten shiny new CRJ900s for Delta, and part of that deal was that twenty CRJ200s would come out of service next year, so ASA needed to find them a new home. Thirteen jets will fly for United along with one spare aircraft. Eight will shift to United in February, with six more at the beginning of May. According to a message sent to ASA employees, the company is “working on plans for the remaining six CRJ200s.”
In the same employee message, the company reports that its “United Express schedule will concentrate routes out of Washington (IAD) and Chicago (ORD),” and that “ASA is planning to open a new crew domicile within our United Express network,” though a city has yet to be selected.
There’s been no official word on what routes ASA will be operating, and if United will use the additional jets for new routes or if they will replace other service. ASA reported, however, that “we will start out averaging more than 50 flights per day when we launch United Express service on Feb. 11 with eight aircraft.”
So, the move makes sense. United needs cash, and SkyWest has it (for a nice 11% interest rate, of course). SkyWest needed to find a new home for 20 CRJs, and they were able to working out deal. Let’s see how this partnership develops further over time.
Last week, Southwest said it would increase its daily service to Baltimore from five to seven flights a day. Now, JetBlue will be adding a fifth flight to the route, which it has been flying since September.
Could this move be a response to Southwest? Well, the press release certainly makes it sound that way!
“Customers in Baltimore have discovered what those in Boston have known for years: JetBlue offers more than just an unassigned seat and a handful of peanuts to their destination,” said Scott Laurence, vice president of network planning for JetBlue Airways.
The move seems to make sense from a scheduling perspective, as it appears that the aircraft flying the new flights would have just been sitting overnight in Boston anyway – the new BOS-BWI flight is the last of the day, and the new BWI-BOS flight is the first departure of the day. The route will continue to be operated exclusively by E190 aircraft.
Unfortunately, JetBlue only started the route in September so one cannot see how loads have been thus far. But clearly JetBlue has been protective of its hub now that Southwest has entered. Boston, however, remains to be Southwest’s smallest city in New England, though if a couple of more flights are added it will pass Hartford.
So now AirTran will have nine frequencies, Southwest seven, and JetBlue five. I can understand why Delta just decided to abandon this route!
Photo credit:
Southwest kicked off earnings season for the airlines last week, but a bunch of airlines are reporting this week:
Tuesday, October 20
Allegiant
Hawaiian
United
Wednesday, October 21
AirTran
American
Continental
Thursday, October 22
Alaska
Delta
JetBlue
US Airways
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