Canadian upstart Swoop, the ULCC arm of WestJet, aims to succeed as an airline mostly by not really acting like an airline. Sure, there are airplanes and pilots and such, but CEO Steven Greenway is adamant that change come quickly. And he’s keen to dramatically upset the North American aviation market along the way.
Distribution
Airline stopovers: Big business or marketing malarkey?
Stopovers arguably built the Icelandic tourism economy and its position in the North Atlantic aviation market. But are such programs a guaranteed success? More and more airlines are trying, often with outsized expectations and limited success. Here are a few examples of such…
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.
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.
SkyTeam grows a Digital Spine
How can global alliances increase their relevance to member airlines? Better data sharing is good but enabling ancillary sales on top of that is great. SkyTeam’s SkyLink Digital Spine delivers that new connectivity and sales opportunity.
A not-quite-Basic Economy across the Atlantic
Fares are going up across the Pond. All three major alliance JVs now offer some sort of Basic Economy for transatlantic travel. The Star Alliance A++ group launched its version this week, with sales starting 5 June 2018. No checked bag, no changes and no upgrades are the main limits, though there is more nuance in the details.
Southwest teases further network growth, including Canada
Southwest Airlines’ plans to grow in to the Hawaiian islands are no secret, but they’re also not the only destinations further afield the company is considering. Among the possibilities: Canada!
Finding détente in the airline-GDS cost battle: Air France/KLM and Amadeus make peace, progress
Peace is possible between the airlines and GDS platforms! Air France/KLM and Amedeus agreed to waive distribution fees in some cases, benefiting passengers in the near term. But it is the longer term plans around NDC content distribution that hold real potential for an improved passenger experience.
Air Canada launches Basic Economy fares
Air Canada joins the ranks of Basic Economy airlines this week. The carrier now has five fare families for its economy class passengers and this rollout may be one of the most advanced we’ve seen to date.