December 2009 Archives

In the span of two days Frontier's new owner Republic has expressed a direct interest in the CSeries while United has reportedly invited Bombardier and Embraer to chat about its potential narrowbody order next year according to the Airline Business Blog.

AirTran Airways says it will establish a secondary hub in Milwaukee, in addition to its main hub in Atlanta.

Midwest Airlines said today that it is further expanding its codeshare program with Frontier Airlines to include Kansas City service and connecting itineraries.

Continental Airlines and United Airlines today filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation for antitrust immunity to enable them to create a more efficient and comprehensive trans-Pacific network along with Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA).

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. is considering replacing some of the Airbus jets flown by its Frontier Airlines subsidiary with Bombardier CSeries planes now under development in Canada, according to a Canadian news report.

International air travel improved in October, led by gains in economy class, according to a Monday report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Southwest Airlines said Wednesday that it is adding 65 roundtrip flights to its summer schedule next year according to the USA Today.

Guggenheim Aviation Partners has leased its third new Airbus A330-200 aircraft to US Airways Group Inc.

Southwest Airlines reported that its November traffic has jumped 11.7% over the same month last year. Load factor, or the percentage of available seats filled with passengers, in September rose to 76.5% from 63.2% in the prior-year period. Southwest said paying customers flew 5.88 billion miles last month, up from 5.26 billion in November 2008.

The parent of ExpressJet Airlines, which operates regional flights as Continental Express, said Friday that traffic rose 13 percent in November from a year earlier.

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. is considering replacing some of the Airbus jets flown by its Frontier Airlines subsidiary with Bombardier CSeries planes now under development in Canada, according to a Canadian news report.

Republic Airways Holdings reported preliminary passenger traffic results for November 2009. The Company generated 1.60 billion revenue passenger miles or RPMs a 119.9% increase from the same month last year, while available seat miles or ASMs increased 99.9%.

United Airlines, a subsidiary of UAL Corporation, has ordered for 25 Boeing 787-8 aircraft from Boeing and 25 Airbus A350-900 XWB aircraft. The orders are worth $4 billion and $6 billion, respectively, at list prices. Following the purchase, UAL Corp. will be the second US carrier to operate the Airbus A350.

SkyWest Inc. said Tuesday that traffic on its airlines rose 9.4 percent in November as capacity grew and the carrier flew fuller planes.

After a difficult year battling the recession, the airline industry appears to be headed toward a recovery as fuller planes, fewer discounted fares, lower fuel prices and revenue from a variety of formerly free services start to pay off according to The Wall Street Journal.

American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American Airlines, flew fuller planes in November as traffic jumped 11.7%, outstripping an 6.8% increase in available seats.

JetBlue Airways reported today that its traffic in November increased 7.7 percent from November 2008, on a capacity increase of 5.3 percent.

Bombardier Inc. said Thursday that the parent of regional airline American Eagle ordered 22 Regional Jets with a value of $779 million.

AirTran Airways said on Wednesday that its November traffic jumped 10.5 percent from a year earlier, and it increased the amount of flying it does to keep pace according to the Associated Press.

Continental Airlines today reported a November consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 80.5 percent, 3.2 points above the November 2008 consolidated load factor, and a record mainline load factor of 81.1 percent, 3.3 points above the November 2008 mainline load factor. The carrier reported a domestic mainline November load factor of 83.3 percent, 2.7 points above the November 2008 domestic mainline load factor, and a record international mainline load factor of 78.8 percent, 3.8 points above November 2008.