United Airlines is adjusting the way its top MileagePlus elite members will pay for upgrades. And, at least to start, none of the upgrade costs are increasing.
Hawaiian Airlines Basic Economy goes live; $30 increase to pax
The airline will insist that the move is about increasing options. But Hawaiian Airlines launched its Basic Economy fares in three markets today, resulting in a $30 fare increase to passengers.
Gogo sees a clear path to free WiFi on Delta
Often when someone says something is not about the money there’s little doubt that it is entirely about the money. When it comes to delivering free WiFi for all of its passengers, however, Delta Air Lines’ CEO Ed Bastian is probably telling the truth. It is not the cost of the service, but making sure the network can handle the dramatic uptick in demand. For Gogo CEO Oakleigh Thorne the reality is far more nuanced than that, and suggests that it really is just a matter of when, not if, his company can support the load.
Thomas Cook halts operations, moves to liquidation
Airlines come and airlines go. Especially in the low cost arena. It is hard to get too excited or broken up as it happens. This is not even the first to go this month. But with Thomas Cook the story is somewhat different.
Slot jockeying and Wifi Deals: PaxEx Update for 2019-09-20
Jockeying for more access to Heathrow and more fast wifi flying lead this week’s PaxEx news, with a new livery and loyalty program buy-back also making waves.
AirAsia’s WiFi upgrade goes live on Inmarsat’s GX Aviation
AirAsia’s inflight wifi upgrade is finally underway. The first few planes are now flying with the Inmarsat GX Aviation kit on board. Fleet-wide rollout is expected in about a year.
XL Airways halts ticket sales
French discount carrier XL Airways halted ticket sales on Thursday evening. That’s bad news for the LCC and could potentially spill over to the business class market as well, bringing La Compagnie down with it.
JetBlue confirms catering shift for short-haul flights
During the summer of 2019 JetBlue experimented with a new catering process that shifted the cart loads and allowed the company to restock planes less frequently. With nearly 120 test flights complete the company is declaring victory and moving forward with the plan. Before the end of the year expect to see catering trucks visit some JetBlue planes half as often. The news was confirmed by VP Inflight Ed Baklor in an internal video message shared with flight attendants this week.
Virgin Atlantic’s incredible–and almost certainly impossible–plan to grow at Heathrow
Virgin Atlantic wants to grow at London’s Heathrow airport. A lot. This is no secret, of course. The carrier has strongly endorsed a third runway at Britain’s busiest airport for years, hoping to secure a significant boost to its landing slots portfolio should that finally come to pass. This week the company translated that drive into maps, hoping to generate public support for its plans. There’s just one problem: It is almost certainly impossible for Virgin Atlantic to deliver what it is suggesting.
OneWeb, Iridium look to partner on LEO-based solutions
Iridium is taking full advantage of its Partners Conference this week to bolster its market position. Following yesterday’s announcement of a major US Department of Defense contract the company announced today a Memorandum of Understanding with LEO upstart OneWeb to see if there are synergies in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) neighborhood that could allow the two companies to grow better together rather than apart.