Tag: American Airlines (Page 3 of 3)

Southwest Airlines News, St. Louis Lambert Airport

April 11, 2016 / WIL BALDWIN

Southwest Airlines News, gate expansion at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport. The airport has undergone new renovations since it lost the Trans World Airlines hub following its acquisition by American Airlines back in 2001. The new look includes a paint scheme and chairs sporting the colors of Southwest Airlines, which now dominates the airports traffic these days. In fact, Southwest is operating so many flights out of St. Louis now that it will be opening 2 new gates this week. The new gates reflect Southwest Airlines new dominance over the airport. It occupies all of Terminal 2, and controls nearly half of the airports passenger traffic. The 2 new gates, numbered E31 and E33, are expected to handle 12 flights a day in the beginning, expanding to 16 in June when new flights are added to Cleveland, Oakland, and Portland, Oregon. This will give Southwest more than 100 daily departures to over 40 nonstop destinations from St. Louis.

Southwest Airlines News, 737 Fleet Renewal plans

Southwest Airlines plans to use some of the extra revenue it has generated the last few years to accelerate its fleet renewal plans. Southwest ended 2015 with 704 aircraft in its fleet, including the addition of 19 new Boeing 737-800 and 24 Boeing 737-700 aircraft. It also retired 4 of its older Boeing 737’s during the year. In December, the company updated its planned delivery schedule to include 33 more 737-800 planes, and converted its remaining order of another 25 737-700 aircraft to the 737-800 model. The updated delivery schedule is estimated to increase their aircraft capital expenditures by $400 million going forward. Southwest Airlines currently has an average aircraft age of 12.4 years. This leads its US competitors United Airlines, which has an average age of 13.6 years, and Delta Air Lines with an average age of 17.1 years. American Airlines now has the best average fleet age of the big four, coming in at 11.2 years. Southwest Airlines reported a net income of $2.4 billion in 2015, a massive increase over the $1.4 billion it reported in 2014.

Southwest airlines news

Image from www.southwest.com

Lyft partners with Southwest Airlines

April 4, 2016 / WIL BALDWIN

Lyft partners with Southwest Airlines to offer bonus points. The ride services company, a competitor of Uber, is offering a new promotion for members of the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards program. Throughout the rest of the year, the airline will award Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards customers with 1,100 bonus points after taking their first ride on Lyft from one of 11 different airports served by the two companies, including McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. The new program was announced last Thursday, March 31. This is the second collaboration between the two companies. Earlier this month, Lyft offered a $15 discount off of a first time ride for Southwest customers who were not enrolled in the airlines Rapid Rewards program. That offer is also good throughout the end of the year, but cannot be combined with the new offer.

Lyft Partners Airports

In addition to McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, the promotion is also valid at the following airports:

Austin, Texas
Chicago, Illinois (Midway Airport)
Dallas, Texas (Love Field)
Los Angeles, California (LAX)
Louisville, Kentucky
Nashville, Tennessee
Oakland, California
San Antonio, Texas
San Diego, California
Washington, DC (Reagan Airport)

Lyft is currently the second biggest ride service company in the US. This deal with Southwest follows one announced in February between Uber and American Airlines. That deal also offered incentives for rides to members of the airlines AAdvantage program.

Lyft partners

Check Lyft out at www.lyft.com

Republic Airways seeks Bankruptcy Protection

February 29, 2016 / WIL BALDWIN

Republic Airways has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York court. The regional air carrier has stated it will attempt to sustain normal operations while it works to stabilize its financial situation. The filing last Thursday comes around six months after Republic Airways Holdings warned that it was having severe financial issues. The airline at that time pledged to try to restructure outside of a court filing, but that is now no longer an option. The airline has been battling a severe shortage of regional airline pilots. The pilot shortage resulted in a major loss of revenue over the last few quarters, as aircraft had to be grounded due to the lack of flight crew staff. Republic Airways operates about 1,000 flights a day for its partners, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

Republic Airways reached pilot deal

Republic Airways, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, reached a new tentative agreement with its more than 2,100 pilots last October. The new agreement, which came following hostile negotiations and mediations between the airline and unions representatives over the last 7 years, is a 3 year deal with the company’s remaining pilots. That new contract includes improved pay and benefits, but may have come too late. Many of the airlines pilots had already left the company to fly for other air carriers. The airline states that it is currently about 300 pilots short of its staffing requirements. The deal also covers pilots flying for Republic Airways’ sister companies, including Chautauqua Airlines and Shuttle America.

Republic Airways

Tokyo Haneda Airport opens up with U.S./Japan agreement

February 18, 2016 / WIL BALDWIN

Tokyo Haneda Airport has been opened up with a new U.S. and Japan agreement on slots at the close in airport. The agreement is for 12 slots a day connecting the downtown Tokyo Airport with the United States to begin in October of 2016. Five slot pairs will be designated for day operations, along with one pair at night. The agreement follows the distribution of 31 international slot pairs two years ago, in which the U.S. failed to acquire any of the slots. This news comes just one week after American Airlines launched an overnight flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda Airport. The airline is now planning to change the departure and arrival times this fall to take advantage of new daytime slots being opened up to the U.S. air carriers.

Tokyo Haneda Airport vs. Narita

Haneda Airport is much more desirable for U.S. air carriers, as it puts their higher fare business travelers much closer to downtown Tokyo than at Narita International Airport. Tokyo’s international flights were moved to the new Narita Airport in 1978 to help reduce noise and congestion at Haneda. Narita’s opening was delayed by many years due to civil unrest and protests over the site picked for its construction. The downtown Haneda Airport expanded in 2010, adding a new international terminal and a fourth runway.

tokyo haneda airport

Boeing South Carolina plant has delivered its 100th 787 airplane

February 16, 2016 / WIL BALDWIN

Boeing South Carolina plant has delivered its 100th 787 airplane. The 100th delivery aircraft was a 787-8 model. It was delivered to American Airlines, which still has another 28 Dreamliner aircraft on order. The Boeing South Carolina plant will also be the exclusive assembly line for the upcoming 787-10, the biggest version of the Dreamliner. Assembly of the 787-10 is scheduled to begin this year, with the first delivery planned for United Airlines in 2018. Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways both have 30 of the 787-10 on order, the largest customers for the model.

787-american-airlines

American Airlines and Uber partner at 11 US Airports

February 12, 2016 / WIL BALDWIN

American Airlines and ride share service Uber have formed a partnership to help provide better and faster service for its passengers. The deal includes 11 airports in the US, and the airline will offer bonus frequent flyer points to help promote the service. Once a customer books a flight online, American Airlines will then send an e-ticket confirmation by email, allowing the customer to click on an “Uber” reminder link to setup their ride share. The American Airlines app will then guide customers to the closest Uber pickup location at the 11 airports included in the deal. The airports include Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL (O’Hare), Dallas, TX (DFW); Los Angeles, CA (LAX); New York, NY (LaGuardia and JFK); Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; and Washington, DC (Reagan). We’ll have to stay tuned to see if this results in more protests from taxi drivers in the effected airport locations.

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