Let us assume, for a moment, that airlines are ridiculous but not outright stupid. That might be a stretch, but presumably they go in to any particular course of action with something resembling a plan. Which makes Norwegian’s use of the Hi Fly A380 this week incredibly baffling.
Airplanes and Airports
American, JAL bring CES 2019 closer to Tokyo with non-stop flights
Adding extra flights to the schedule for the annual CES show in Las Vegas is a relatively common move. Demand is high and travelers are willing to pay higher than average prices to be at the massive technology conference so the airlines tend to enjoy nice profits on those flights. American Airlines and JAL are the latest to make a play for that traffic.
Anyway Travel Passes open up cheaper holidays from England on Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss
Looking to get far away from England this winter but don’t want to break the bank on flights? Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss launched their Anyway Travel Pass promotion this week, offering a discounted means to a guaranteed flight on your desired date of travel, so long as you don’t care too much about the departure time or which of the three carriers you’re flying on. The deal applies for departures from London-Heathrow (LHR), Birmingham (BHX) and Manchester (MAN) with 14 destinations available starting at £139 each way including all taxes.
The first Hi Fly A380 lease customer is not who we expected
Reports out of Denmark this afternoon have a special addition to the Hi Fly A380 wet lease charter schedule. The first flight will operate on Wednesday for an unlikely customer. Thomas Cook Scandinavia reportedly chartered the aircraft for a one-off service from Copenhagen to Larnaca, Cyprus.
Carry-on bags are back: American Airlines Basic Economy gets a little less basic
Informed passengers truly can affect the airline industry. Today’s example comes at American Airlines, where carry-on bags will soon be included in the carrier’s Basic Economy fares, owing to a better educated consumer and websites that help them suss out the difference.
Best of Farnborough 2018: Airbus’ little, little(ish) win
An order for two aircraft is rarely big news. But for Uganda (National??) Airlines and Airbus it represents a significant deal on both sides. The carrier will CRJ900s to prove its operations and grow into the long-haul operation with the A330s arriving at the end of 2020. Assuming the airline is still solvent and the –800s really exist.
Best of Farnborough 2018: Embraer’s big win
Bigger is not always better. In the case of orders at Farnborough 2018 smaller airlines and orders are more likely to upset the industry (in a mostly good way). Embraer is party to one such order, with huge potential, even if it is not for 200 aircraft.
JetBlue cuts HQ staff in major organizational shake-up
More than 5% of the staff at JetBlue’s Long Island City, New York headquarters (“LSC”) are out of a job following a major shake up of the organizational structure. Reports suggest that 79 positions were eliminated on Friday with half taking a severance package and half being terminated outright. Here’s what CEO Robin Hayes has to say…
Major organizational changes coming to JetBlue
JetBlue is poised to announce major organizational changes. The move, coming on the heels of a months-long business review, aims to streamline the structure, remove roadblocks and reduce spending according to an internal company memo.
A route network to beat the airline startup challenges: Moxy begins to take shape
Where will those 60 new A220-300s fly for David Neeleman’s new “Moxy” airline? He’s looking further afield than most US startups typically consider, a potential boon for the operation. And the A220 is a (nearly) perfect plane with which to execute that plan.