New cabins on the horizon for economy and business class, short-haul and long; might travel get more comfortable rather than less? Plus some good news for travelers looking to get online in the sky or earn free travel with their points.
LCC
Frontier makes a major play at Newark
Goodbye, Southwest. HELLO, Frontier! Newark gets a big boost as the LCC aims to fill in the gap left by Southwest’s departure in November. And some interesting scheduling choices to go with that plan.
Allegiant goes Extra with increased legroom option
Want a bit more comfort on your next Allegiant flight? Travelers to and from Los Angeles now have the option to pay up for “Allegiant Extra” on board, offering a number of premium seating benefits, though stopping short of a true premium economy seating product.
WOW Air is Dead; Long Live WAB Air
WOW Air is dead. Completely dead. The planes are mostly off flying for other airlines while the true financial impact of the collapse remains u der debate. And yet. Perhaps there is a chance for another life for the flashy, LCC after all?
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.
Killing off Eurowings long haul
Can long-haul LCCs succeed in Europe? Perhaps so, but the Lufthansa Group will no longer be part of that effort. Eurowings is closing its longhaul routes down in an effort to simplify and streamline operations.
Evelop launches inflight WiFi
Spanish LCC Evelop is the latest airline to get online in the sky. The carrier officially introduced its inflight WiFi connectivity service today.
Air Canada to acquire Air Transat
Air Canada wants to buy its LCC competitor Air Transat in a half billion dollar deal. But can it get past the regulatory hurdles along the way??
WestJet takes a $5 billion buyout from Onex
Very little in the global commercial aviation world can be adjusted successfully in three month increments. Today’s buyout news from WestJet give the carrier the opportunity to take a longer-term view of the market.
Getting comfortable with 28" pitch
Is there such a thing as a comfortable airline seat pitched at 28 inches? Scant few passengers would answer that question in the affirmative, but seating manufacturers are getting creative in their efforts to make it at least not miserable.