Southwest

Airline news: Oil cost, wifi & Tarmac delays down

April 11, 2011 By Jack Kennard

U.S. Airline Revenues Are Up—But Oil Costs Hurt
Passenger revenues for U.S. carriers were up 13% in February, the latest figures available from the Air Transport Association, marking the 14th consecutive month of revenue growth for a core group of U.S. airlines.

Miles flown by paying passengers were up 2.1%, while the average price to fly one mile rose 10.8%. International markets remained especially strong, with passenger revenue growing 17%, led by a 27% increase in Pacific revenue. Domestic revenue grew 11.5%, fueled in large part by a 10.5% increase in yield. Figures are based on data from seven major U.S. carriers and 20 regional carriers. (Source: ATA press release).

Air Traffic is Up, But Still Below Pre-Recession Levels
Air traffic was up 2.9% in December 2010 over December 2009 according to the latest figures from the Department of Transportation.

The December 2010 passenger total was 2.1% above that of two years ago in December 2008 but still remained 3.6% below the pre-recession level of 60.8 million in December 2007. The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines increased 2.4% in 2010 over 2009 to 720.4 million. The number of passengers declined 3% from the full year 2008 to the full year 2010. U.S. airlines carried 2% more domestic passengers and 5.9% more international passengers in the full year 2010 than in 2009.

In December, Southwest Airlines carried more total system and domestic passengers than any other U.S. airline. (Source: Department of Transportation).

Triple Digit Oil Prices Could Crimp Business Travel Growth—But Not Stop It
Short-term oil price spikes might slow business travel growth but shouldn’t stop it, according to a study by the Global Business Travel Foundation. It found that because business travel pays off, companies will continue to invest in it even if rising fuel costs make travel more expensive.

Even if oil hits $200 per barrel, business travel and the number of trips taken would continue—although high oil prices would hurt the rate of projected business travel growth over time. (Source: GBTA press release).

No Tarmac Delays of Longer Than Three Hours In February
No airline passengers sat on the tarmac for more than three hours in February, down from 60 flights in February 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

February was the tenth full month of data since a new rule prohibiting carriers from keeping planes on the tarmac for more than three hours went into effect. Large parts of the country saw severe weather during February, and airlines canceled 4.9 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, compared to 5.4 percent in February 2010 and 3.9 percent in January 2011.

The number of canceled flights with tarmac delays of more than two hours increased only slightly, from 289 between May 2009 and February 2010 to 331 between May 2010 and February 2011. There were 19 canceled flights with tarmac delays of more than two hours in February 2011, down from 21 in February 2010. (Source: DOT).

United Continental Expands Wi-Fi Service to More Than 200 Aircraft
United Continental Holdings, Inc., is adding Wi-Fi service to more than 200 domestic Boeing 737 and 757. It’s using LiveTV’s Ka-band technology, which offers offer higher transmission speeds for more extensive onboard connection capabilities, including browsing content-rich websites, sending and receiving e-mails and downloading files. The airline will start offering the new service next year. Right now, United offers in-flight Wi-Fi on 14 aircraft. (Source: United Continental Holdings press release).

Filed Under: Airline News Tagged With: delays, oil, Southwest, United, wifi

Fuel prices Traffic growth International wifi

January 6, 2011 By Jack Kennard

Southwest’s Kelly Calls Fuel Prices Aviation’s Greatest Threat
Gary C. Kelly, chairman, president and CEO of Southwest Airlines, said that the greatest and most serious challenge facing aviation is the cost of fuel. Speaking at the Wings Club in New York last month, he said that a look over the past decade shows the havoc soaring fuel prices wreak on aviation.

Kelly, who was just named vice chair of the Air Transport Association board, said that the ATA has three major goals: make a serious effort to develop alternative fuels, modernize air traffic control and develop the latest next generation aerospace technology. “Otherwise we see a continuing diminunization of air transport domestically,” he said. (Source: Kelly´s speech).

Air Traffic Growth Slows But Outlook Remains Positive
Air traffic growth slowed slightly in November, growing 8.2 percent year over year as opposed to the 10 percent increase reported in October, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Even with that decline, however, passenger and freight traffic are growing at an annualized rate of between five and six percent, which is in line with industry´s historical growth trends.

The level of air travel is now four percent above the pre-recession peak of 2008. North American carriers´ November passenger levels equal the pre-recession levels of early 2008. Giovanni Bisignani, IATA´s director general and CEO, said that a strong end to 2010 has boosted the year’s profit forecast to $15.1 billion. (Source: IATA press release).

U.S. Carriers See Continued Growth; Global Air Capacity is Up
U.S. airline revenue grew 14.5 percent in November, according to the Air Transport Association, which tracks a core group of carriers, including major network carriers, low-cost carriers and regional airlines.

It was the 11th consecutive month of revenue growth. The miles flown by paying passengers rose 6.5 percent, while the average price to fly a mile rose 7.5 percent. Passenger revenue improved 11 percent domestically and 23 percent in international markets.

Separately, OAG, which tracks air traffic, said that global air capacity grew six percent in December. Over the last ten years, the number of available seats worldwide has increased 40 percent, while the number of flights has increased 24 percent.

Capacity in the Americas and Europe are growing at a modest rate while Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East are increasing at much higher rates. The improving global economy is having a positive impact on passenger demand. (Source: OAG, ATA press releases).

Inflight WiFi Goes International
Lufthansa passengers traveling on long-haul flights can use inflight WiFi on intercontinental routes. The service, which initially will be provided on select North Atlantic routes, will be available on nearly the entire Lufthansa intercontinental network by the end of 2011. The service will be free this month. (Source: Lufthansa press release).

Delta Reinstates Codesharing With Aeromexico After FAA Upgrades Mexico to Category 1
The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to upgrade Mexico´s federal civil aviation authority to Category 1 means that Delta Air Lines has been able to reinstate codesharing with AeroMexico, Delta´s SkyTeam partner. A Category 1 rating is required to allow U.S. carriers to code-share with an international airline. (Source: Delta press release).

Delta Air Lines
Delta is expanding the First Class cabin on more than 60% of its mainline domestic fleet, approximately 350 aircraft, as it responds to business customers´ requests for more premium cabin seating. The addition of First Class cabins to all Delta Connection regional jets with more than 60 seats, does not impact Delta´s previously announced capacity guidance.

Delta expanded its Asia Pacific network with new nonstop flights between Japan and Honolulu & the Pacific island of Palau. The new service to Palau brings the number of Asia-Pacific destinations offered by Delta to 17. The Nagoya-Honolulu route is a new competitive option for customers traveling between the two cities. Delta´s new service between its Tokyo-Narita hub and Palau operates 4 times weekly and is the only service that connects the two airports.

Filed Under: Airline News Tagged With: AeroMexico, Delta, fuel, iata, international, Lufthansa, Southwest, wifi

Airlines Travel News Updates from American Express

March 11, 2009 By Jack Kennard

Airplane at take off.
International Travel Keeps Dropping
Demand for international travel fell 5.6 percent year over year in January, a full percentage point more than the 4.6 percent drop in December and the fifth consecutive month that traffic fell, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Demand continues to fall faster than airlines can cut capacity; capacity cuts were two percent. The decline was biggest in Asia, 8.4 percent; North America was second with 6.2 percent.

The Middle East was the only region to see traffic grow, 3.1 percent. There was one bit of good news: the fact that fuel prices remain well below last year’s levels. But IATA projects that airline revenues will drop $35 billion to $500 billion this year. (Source: IATA press release).

Southwest Offers Free Wi-Fi on Four Planes
Southwest Airlines expects to have four aircraft with in-flight Wi-Fi this month –you’ll be able to tell if you’re aboard one from the placards you see upon boarding and onboard instruction sheets.

Southwest is offering the service for free during the test period. Passengers will be able to log on using Wi-Fi enabled devices such as laptops, iPhones and smart phones. Southwest is also offering an in-flight homepage with the service. It includes an in-flight homepage with a flight tracker and local news and information.

Passengers can follow the plane’s flight path and view points of interest they’re flying over. Cellular technology will not work. (Source: Southwest press release).

More Airlines Go Cash-Free
United Airlines and American Airlines are phasing out cash in flight and will only accept major credit cards and debit cards after a transition period. United is introducing EasyPurchase March 23.

After a brief transition, it will only accept credit and debit cards on flights within the United States, including Hawaii, and on flights to and from Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It will continue to accept cash on flights to and from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America. On United Express, it will continue to accept cash.

American will begin its transition to credit and debit cards only this summer on flights within the United States and to and from Canada. (Source: United, American press releases).

Delta Enables Mileage Transfers Between Sky Miles, Worldperks
Delta Air Lines said that Delta SkyMiles and Northwest WorldPerks members now can link frequent flyer accounts and transfer miles between both accounts at no charge. Members who link their accounts before March 15, 2009 will earn 500 bonus miles.

This means members who have SkyMiles and WorldPerks accounts can visit delta.com to link their accounts and transfer any amount of miles into either account on an unlimited basis. Both accounts will remain open and functioning until late 2009 when Delta plans to merge the two programs. (Source: Delta press release).

More Accidents But Fewer Fatalities in 2008
On the bright side, aviation safety performance improved, with the total number of aviation fatalities dropping from 692 in 2007 to 502 in 2008, a 56 percent improvement in the fatality rate, according to IATA.

There were more accidents in 2008—109 compared to 100—and the number of fatal accidents increased from 20 in 2007 to 23 in 2008. There were regional differences. North Asia had zero losses.

North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific performed better than the global average; Africa’s accident rate was 2.6 times worse than the world average, but that was a vast improvement over 2005, when it was the worst in the world. Separately, the U.S. Department of Transportation said that the U.S. has seen a 65 percent reduction in the aviation fatal accident rate between 1997 and 2006.

Before the fatal crash in Buffalo last month, the DOT said that there had been no fatal commercial accidents for more than two years. (Source: IATA, DOT press releases).