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May30
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Everyone break out the bubbly, Northwest Airlines emerges from bankruptcy protection tomorrow a slightly smaller but a very lean company. The airline cut $4.2 billion dollars in debt, over $400 million from aircraft, and over $1.4 billion in labor costs. All of these amounts are staggering figures.  Vaughn Cordle, who runs number-crunching firm Airline Forecasts and is an airline pilot said, "They're going to have dramatically different economics post-bankruptcy, which is the good news. The bad news is they've beaten down labor so much that they've got morale problems."
You bet NWA will have problems. Flight attendants barely ratified a labor contract the other day. And just today NWA employees gathered at the state capital of Minnesota in St. Paul to protest executive pay by rallying around a giant inflatable rat clutching bags of money in its paws. Northwest is looking to the future too. With orders for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, it is looking to retire some of their planes in their aging fleet. The airline has done a little bit to reduce their fleet age by retiring their DC-10’s but with a very large fleet of DC-9’s, the airline has to go on a buying spree here shortly which is likely to increase their debt load.
So break out the bubbly… rather break out the water and mixed nuts… but only if you’re in first class. WCCO.com Related: Flight Attendants Approve Pay Cuts
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May30
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After ranking slightly better than Charter Communications on the list of worst in customer service, United Airlines (UAUA) is taking steps to ensure that customers experiencing delays feel a bit better. The airline is rolling out a program that...
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May28
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A 10 percent pay raise for US Airways (LCC) pilots has been called “woefully inadequate.” The raise for all 4,100 pilots at the combined airline will cost an additional $122 million each year in labor costs. The proposal would...
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May27
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Is China going to be the next open skies market for the airlines? It might be looking like the skies will be more open but not a complete open skies agreement is order. A new agreement announced last week,...
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After a rough fourth quarter, Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc., (FRNT) the parent company of Frontier Airlines, is looking towards the future as they recently received permission from the federal government to begin their Lynx regional service later this summer. ...
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May24
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Some news routes have been announced by some airlines. It looks as if airlines are shifting some domestic routes over to the international scene. Quite a few of the new routes are to international resort locations. On September 5th, American...
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May21
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Northwest Airlines received permission from the bankruptcy judge to exit bankruptcy protection at the end of the month. Their May 31st exit from protection comes amid uproar at the union level. CEO Doug Steenland said the company had reached...
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May18
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"Pop the Bubbly, We've Been Approved" is what the Virgin America website stated on Friday May 18th. The Department of Transportation granted final approval for Virgin America to begin operations. “We are absolutely thrilled to be cleared for take-off and...
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May17
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In one last attempt to takeover Midwest Air, AirTran Airways has extended their offer to the airline. The new offer extends until June 8th. AirTran said nearly 57 percent of Midwest's shares had been tendered under its offer. Midwest...
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May15
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A recent survey released by the University of Michigan’s Customer Satisfaction Index places US airlines right below that of the Internal Revenue Service. Poor customer service, lost bags, delayed flights and angry employees have all lead the airline industry...
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May12
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It may not be full out unrest at the airline yet, but United Airlines is facing some growing tensions between their unions and the company. At the airline’s first stock holders meeting in five years, pilots, flight attendants, and...
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May10
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As Frontier cuts back, others are looking into expanding. With the return of Southwest Airlines to SFO, Delta looking into expanding their LAX presence, and Virgin America preparing to take off this summer, it may be time for JetBlue...
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With a 97% approval from its creditors Northwest Airlines is set to emerge from bankruptcy protection in June. Creditors for the airline overwhelmingly accepted the reorganization plan by Northwest Airlines, a critical component in the airlines plan to emerge from...
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May 8
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United Airlines (UAUA) raised business fares by $50 if purchased in advance and raised walk up business class prices by $100 last week. The airline is citing higher fuel costs but I imagine it has something to do with the...
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May 6
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"Heads will roll in the wake of Qantas sale fiasco" The $11.1 billion AU bid to takeover the national carrier of Australia has been declared dead. By the 7pm deadline on Friday, only 46 percent of the voting stock had...
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May 5
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The second time was not the charm for Denver based Frontier Airlines (FRNT) as they said they will halt their Los Angeles-San Francisco and San Francisco-Las Vegas services citing low demand this summer. Mike Boyd, an Evergreen-based aviation...
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"Virgin America's tentative plan involves 'several' Canadian cities" and it looks as if Calgary could be on Virgin America's scope. Don Carty, chairman of Virgin America, was in Calgary this past Thursday. Calgary has just the sort of vibrant business...
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May 3
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~Now Boarding All Rows, Gate 41~New Destinations/New Service for AirlinesMAXjet launches Los Angeles to London Stansted; increases Las Vegas services; and replaces seasonal service from Washington Dulles with full year service. JetBlue Airways began non-stop services from San Francisco to...
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Emerging from bankruptcy protection just days ago, Delta Air Lines started selling stock on the New York Stock Exchange again. CEO Jerry Grinstein signaled his confidence in the company by purchasing 1,000 shares of new Delta stock. Delta's new common...
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May 1
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When you think of the best frequent flier clubs you may think of United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, or even Southwest Airlines but not according to the Freddie Awards. This Denver based airline took home top honors...
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