Travel companies (along with nearly everyone else) have spent the past several years talking up how important and valuable the data they collect about passengers is. This week two of them saw huge penalties announced for failing to protect that data. Big rewards availalbe down the line, but big risks along the way.
Airplanes and Airports
Norwegian drops Vegas service. Again.
Norwegian will not fly its 787s from London to Las Vegas this winter. That is one of a dozen routes affected in the latest long-haul LCC shakeup.
American gives up on China – Chicago connections
Just over a year after admitting publicly that the routes “often don’t earn enough cash to cover the price of fuel” American Airlines is officially surrendering its route authorities from Chicago-O’Hare to Beijing and Shanghai. Both Delta and United figure to gain significantly as a result.
Melted window grounds a 787
Breaking a brand new airplane never looks good for an airline. Doing it by melting a window out of the fuselage is even worse. Hopefully Turkish can get their first 787 fixed quickly and into service on time.
Joon’s failure had nothing to do with millennial marketing
On Wednesday afternoon the Air France experiment known as Joon officially ceased operations. Reading the post-mortem analysis suggests that Joon’s failure can be attributed to misguided marketing. Alas, marketing was never the problem for Joon. Neither were millennials.
JetBlue’s route shuffle: Big additions, little cuts
ANother route map shuffle is underway for JetBlue, with an unexpected route added in the Caribbean, a cross-town shift in Texas and a couple stations closing elsewhere in the network.
Air Canada, Transat finalize merger plans
Air Canada’s plans to acquire Air Transat moved forward this week, with the two companies announcing conclusion of a definitive agreement for their combination.
Chasing a Jumbo dream in St Vincent
The iconic shape, the stature it projects, the seemingly endless opportunities for connecting to the world. The tiny Caribbean island of St. Vincent is the latest to pursue those opportunities, though success is far from guaranteed.
Mitsubishi’s SpaceJet buys Bombardier’s support
We are mere months away from the production of the final CRJ passenger jet. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced this morning a deal to acquire Bombardier’s regional jet program, bringing it to a close as the SpaceJet will take its place.
Boom’s supersonic timing slips
Boom still plans to bring supersonic passenger flights back to the general public, just not as soon as previously predicted. And there are still a LOT of open questions about getting there at all.