Monthly Archive for February, 2010

Midwest Rebuilds Kansas City Route Map

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 26, 2010
in Midwest and Republic
. 2 Comments

Yes, three Republic-related posts in one week! Sorry to be repetitive, but some interesting route (and fleet) announcements have been coming from them of late. We’ve seen a bunch of routes from Milwaukee reinstated over the past few months, and now Kansas City is getting some love with new nonstops to New Orleans and Columbus, which are both routes the airline used to serve. Midwest launched flights to New Orleans in 2005 but left after Hurricane Katrina. Columbus has always had Milwaukee service, but Kansas City flights were cut a couple of years back.

New Orleans service will be daily and starts on May 20 – that’s interesting because Frontier is launching a daily Denver nonstop soon after in June.  The Midwest flights are a few hours earlier, so that gives Frontier/Midwest customers a few more options two and from the city. The service will be provided by Republic E-170s.

As mentioned earlier, Columbus is an existing Midwest city, and it has a few ERJs to Milwaukee per day. So why add Kansas City? There’s certainly some local demand there, but I think this is to help generate some extra connections, which is something that Frontier has done recently by announcing Denver service from some other Midwest destinations.

But after looking through the schedule, it seems that this flight adds a new connecting option to cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco. In fact, the outbound flight (YX1989) in the morning is a one-stop to Seattle. The inbound, YX1974, flies SFO-MCI-CMH, but for some reason that itinerary isn’t bookable on Midwest’s website.

The Columbus service is operated with Republic E-190s. CMH-MCI fights operate Monday-Saturday, while MCI-CMH operates Sunday-Friday.

As I’ve said a lot lately, it’s certainly interesting to watch Midwest rebuild. And it’s also fun to see a slew of route announcements in this economic environment.

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/ / CC BY 2.0

Republic: Our Lufthansa?

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 25, 2010
in Frontier, Midwest and Republic
. 8 Comments

Republic’s certainly been a fun player to watch of late. The regional carrier has  become what some might call a “real” airline after acquiring Frontier and Midwest, instead of just focusing on fixed-fee operations. Republic did release its fourth quarter earnings last night, but let’s talk about the future, because that’s just more fun. :D

Today we saw an even more interesting development with Republic’s announcement that it will order Bomardier’s CS300, certainly a big boost for the type and the manufacturer. Republic plans to order 40 of the type with 40 options, with deliveries starting in the second quarter of 2015. The aircraft will seat 138, and there will be 5 rows of STRETCH seating for 25 passengers (the aircraft is in a 2-3 configuration). And that’s basically all we know for now. Which is where things get interesting.

A Bombardier rendering of a Republic CS300 aircraft.
Photo Credit: Bombardier.

At face value, this order looks like a replacement for Airbus aircraft, especially those that might be coming off lease in the future.  The CSeries will seat two more than Frontier’s current A319s. Bombardier is promising some strong economic benefits of the aircraft. Bryan Bedford called the aircraft “game-changing” during today’s earnings call, and it was also mentioned how it will provide “great flexibility” for them. Clearly, if the CSeries does end up doing great on the cost side of things, that certainly helps give Republic an advantage in competitive markets like its Denver and Milwaukee hubs.

This order might make Boeing and Airbus get moving on a decision on re-engining the 737 and A320 families, respectively. Plus, it might want to make other carriers take a closer look at the aircraft now. (United and AirTran, strong competitors in Denver and Milwaukee, respectively, have both expressed interest in the aircraft.) But back to Republic. Continue reading ‘Republic: Our Lufthansa?’

(Very Belated) Sunday Video #57

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 25, 2010
in Sunday Video
. 0 Comments

I noticed I forgot to post a video on Sunday while I was trying to fix my laptop…so I’m posting it now! Here’s Continental’s most recent safety video for the 737-800/900 series, recently updated with new CEO Jeff Smisek. On a side note, who knew that Continental had an official YouTube channel?

YouTube Preview Image

Anyway, expect a more substantial blog post later today on Republic’s CSeries order.

Alaska Selects…Gogo?

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 24, 2010
in Alaska
. 5 Comments

This morning, I saw the headline “Alaska Airlines To Offer Gogo Inflight Internet Service” pop into my inbox, and I honestly though it was a mistake! The airline has been testing Row 44’s satellite-based service on a 737-800 for awhile now. Row 44 seemed to make more sense for Alaska than Southwest, the only other American customer, as Gogo is only available over the continental United States, and Alaska has a bunch of flights in, well, Alaska, but the carrier has also developed a significant Hawaiian presence as well.

An Alaska 737-800. These aircraft will be the first to be installed with Gogo.
Photo Credit: Alaska Airlines.

So why go with Aircell? Alaska’s VP of marketing, sales, and customer experiences said in a press release that “their reliable, lower-cost equipment can be installed quickly, allowing Alaska Airlines to introduce Gogo service to our customers as soon as possible.”

There’s a big reason – Aircell installations are cheaper, but they’re also very quick – the company says the equipment can be installed overnight so the air carrier doesn’t lose an revenue. Row 44, however, is more expensive, is more complex to install, and will only be getting started with installations with Southwest later this year. Aircell, however, seems to have installations down to a science.

But what happens to those passengers traveling in Alaska? Well, Gogo “will expand its network” to provide service, but only for “key destinations.” (Which were not listed.) Passengers flying to Hawaii are out of luck, however. But apparently Alaska thinks the benefits of Aircell on the installation side of things more than compensate the greater coverage area that Row 44 offers. (Random thought – are the operational benefits that Aircell have be showing off realized when service is unavailable for chunks of Alaska’s network?) Continue reading ‘Alaska Selects…Gogo?’

ATA Yield Data for January

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 23, 2010
in Finance and Industrywide
. 0 Comments

Yesterday, the Air Transport Association released its monthly passenger yield data, which is a combination of results from Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, JetBlue, United, US Airways, and their regional carriers. Not surprisingly, year-over-year comparisons continue to improve thanks to comparisons off of weaker numbers and an improving revenue environment. Here’s a graph of year-over-year change by region:

Of course, a big factor here is more favorable comparisons. For example, Atlantic yields decreased the most in January last year, so that helped fuel last month’s 4.4% increase (the biggest increase in January). Meanwhile, Latin yields were actually up last year, so it’s not surprising the results were the worst this month, with a 5.1% decrease. Domestic yields were up 1.1%, while Pacific yields experienced a slight 1.6% slide.

And, here’s my usual graph of the 12-month moving average of yields. There’s really nothing to exciting to report here. Yes, we’re starting to see some positive numbers, but we’ve basically been bouncing around the bottom for a few months now.

But let’s put this data in perspective a bit. Here’s the 12-month moving average, but back to the beginning of 2007:

I think that shows pretty well that there’s still a long road ahead for yields to recover.

And the winner is…

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 23, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Yes, I’m back with a new hard drive to boot. Fortunately, all of my old data made it to the new hard drive so I didn’t lose anything.

So, anyway, how about that Hilton contest? As usual, the quest for free stuff inspires people, and there were a total of 563 comments! But only one, comment #296, won the “Be My Guest Certificate.” So congratulations to Martin Pachet, who will be receiving it soon.

Thanks to all who played!

Midwest Continues to Rebuild its Route Map

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 22, 2010
in Frontier and Midwest
. 0 Comments

Apologies in advance for a quickly-written post. Last night I began having a lot of trouble with my laptop. My biggest fear is that I’ll end up with a new hard drive today.

Anyway, Midwest announced some new routes last week, and the airline continues to rebuild its route map from past cuts. When Midwest dumped its MD-80s Milwaukee lost nonstop service to Seattle, forcing passengers to go through Kansas City (and more recently, Denver as well). Well, Midwest is restoring Milwaukee service on a seasonal basis three times a week from May 14 to June 10, and then four times a week until September 6. The schedule of the service is kind of interesting – the outbound leaves at 7:55 PM, arrives at 11:20 PM, then leaves from Seattle at 11:45 and comes back to Milwaukee at 5:35 AM.

I found it pretty interesting that it was decided to make the SEA-MKE route a redeye. I think one reason for that Midwest  schedule is so that E190 can fly that route at night while keeping its normal schedule during the day. (On a side note, at first it seems that Midwest’s schedule was a bit unique, but it appears that AirTran has a redeye now as well. I’m not sure if that’s new, though.)

Second, Midwest is coming back to San Diego from April to November with daily service from Milwaukee. When that station was cut, it only had service from Kansas city. The service will be provided with Frontier A319s.

Additionally, Frontier will be adding another flight between Milwaukee and Denver, for a combined six flights between the cities from Frontier and Midwest. My hope is that the route is being added because demand for codeshare routes between the two airlines.

On a side note, Midwest’s press release mentions how both the Frontier A319 and Midwest E190 feature STRETCH seating. Does this mean that Midwest Signature Service has been rebranded? (Midwest didn’t reply to my question on that one.)

Anyway, I’ll have more thoughts on Frontier/Midwest/Republic when earnings come out later this week…and when I have a working laptop.

Saturday Links #77

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 20, 2010
in Saturday Links
. 0 Comments

I know, it’s been forever since I’ve done one of these. Sorry about that!

  1. A bunch of US airlines (American, Continental, Delta, Hawaiian, and United) are vying for access to Haneda, and Cranky has all the details.
  2. Frontier is pulling out of San Jose, California, where it currently has two daily flights during the week, and both Southwest and United have higher frequencies on the route.
  3. Alaska and Horizon are launching paperless boarding passes in some markets. Alaska is finally getting a mobile website, too.
  4. Lufthansa’s pilots will be striking from Monday to Thursday this coming week. The airline, will, however be operating some flights – click here for a schedule.
  5. Qantas is taking first class off 9 of its 747-400s, and 8 A380s on the way wont be getting first at all. Flight has all the information.

Finnair Says Goodbye to the MD-11

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 19, 2010
in Finnair
. 5 Comments

Well, this morning a pretty sad (well, from a dork perspective) press release arrived this morning from Finnair, who will stop MD-11 flights next week. The final MD-11 flight, AY022 from Delhi to Helsinki, flies on Monday. Over the course of almost 20 years of operations, MD-11s have carried about 14 million Finnair passengers on over 50,000 flights.

This leaves Finnair with an Airbus-only long-haul fleet composed of A330s and A340s, which the airline says “consume 20 per cent less fuel per passenger than the MD-11 they replace.” In addition, the airline will begin taking delivery of A350 aircraft in 2014.

The two MD-11 aircraft are currently up for sale, though Finnair is also considering operating them as freighters.

Photo Credit: Finnair.

The announcement is kind of sad as Finnair was the first passenger operator of the type, introducing the aircraft into service in December of 1990. Another bit of sad news is that it leaves only one scheduled passenger operator of the type – KLM, who should be using them for a few more years, though. World Airways has a few of the aircraft, mainly used for charters. One of them is used for Sonair, the airline of Angola’s national petroleum company.

Of course, the aircraft has a long future as a cargo aircraft, with FedEx and UPS being the largest operators.

Unfortunately, the MD-11 was never all that popular as a passenger variant. A big factor there was that it initially did not meet range and fuel burn targets (why Singapore canceled its orders and American sent its MD-11s over to FedEx). McDonnell Douglas did improve the aircraft, but it was too late, with airlines opting for the Airbus A340 and Boeing 777.

If you’re interested in learning a bit of more history on the aircraft, check out this great fan page.

Air France Launches First African A380 Service

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 18, 2010
in Air France
. 0 Comments

Yesterday, Air France operated the first African A380 service with nonstop service to Johannesburg from Paris, which arrived this morning at 10:58 local time. You can watch a video of the arrival here.

The A380 will begin service to JNB three times a week out of a total of ten weekly JNB flights. While Air France awaits the delivery of its third A380, the Johannesburg schedule gets a little funky. Until March, there will be one daily flight, which is a 777-300ER four days of the week, and a A380 the other three days. On three days of the week (all days the 773 flies), an additional 777-200ER flight is flown. After March 28, that second flight is canceled, while the 777-300ER and A380 keep switching. Then, at the end of April (when the third A380 comes in), the flight will be exclusively flown by the A380.

Employees celebrate the A380’s arrival.
Photo credit: Air France.
Continue reading ‘Air France Launches First African A380 Service’

Yet More Denver Promotions

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 18, 2010
in Southwest and United
. 0 Comments

Well, the competition going on in Denver has really resulted in some great promotions, and I just noticed another one going on after United essentially matched another one from Southwest. The latter has really been pushing its Business Select product (which I still don’t think is worth the price, unless you always buy full economy fares), and for awhile was offering a free roundtrip after the purchase of a Business Select roundtrip out of Denver.

Well, I discovered that last week Southwest has been selectively offering Business Select at the same price of its Anytime (fully refundable) fare, which represents a savings of only about $15-20. Of course, if you’re going to book an Anytime fare anyway, that’s a no-brainer. Though I still don’t think Business Select presents enough of a value when the prices are compared to Southwest’s cheapest fares. (Besides, you can get the main perk of Business Select – priority boarding – for $20 roundtrip with EarlyBird Check-In.)

Anyway, United tweeted about a new similar promotion – it has lowered its First Class fares for some markets out of Denver. Conveniently, the fares listed on the page for the promotion are the same as Southwest’s fares. :D

So, I guess if you want to fly first class on the cheap, this is for you. I would caution that on United you should avoid the regional jets. Yes, the larger RJs have a first class cabin but they aren’t as nice as mainline (no IFE, for example).

Anyway, I think it’s smart that the airlines have been doing these promotions. First of all, they’re going for the high-yielding business travelers here. But my other guess is that competing on first class fares (or in the past promotion, more expense economy fares) doesn’t have as much as a negative effect on a carrier’s bottom line than a race to the bottom on the cheap fares.