Archive for April, 2009
When you have been underwater for as long as the U.S. major airlines, touching bottom can be a relief. Carriers are seeing signs that the steep demand drops of recent months are finally leveling off, although actual recovery still appears a distant prospect.
There is no disguising the fact that the first quarter was grim for the industry, with airlines reporting losses across the board. Revenue trends – bad enough in January and February – worsened dramatically in March. Unit revenue dropped by double digits, and yield declines of almost 10% were common. Load factors were also down, indicating the traffic fall has outpaced even the deepest capacity cuts. Read the rest of this entry »
AirTran Airways wants to be one of the first airlines to operate scheduled flights into Cuba if restrictions on tourism to the country are eased, chief executive Bob Fornaro says.
“It’s a very pretty country, and the curiosity level as well as the ethnic flying back and forth is going to be substantial,” Fornaro said Wednesday. AirTran is based in Orlando and has its largest hub in Atlanta. Read the rest of this entry »
After years of layering ticket prices with fees for food, phone service and luggage, airlines now are scrambling to win customers back the one way they know how: giving the seats away.
Problem is that at any price, fewer people can justify taking a trip and the expenses that go with it. Business travel, the industry’s cash cow, has dropped dramatically as corporations reduce expenses. This leaves leisure travelers, who typically spend half or less on fares than do their corporate counterparts. Translation: The airlines need two-and-a-half to three leisure travelers for every lost business fare, said Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com. Read the rest of this entry »
Fears of a swine flu epidemic have set travel and airline shares tumbling. Among the hardest hit were British Airways (falling over 12 percent at one point) and TUI Travel (down over 7 percent) as investors panic over the potential impact on tourism and travel.
In contrast the outbreak sent pharmaceutical groups soaring amid an expected pick-up in flu drug sales as the death toll in Mexico reaches 100, with possible cases reported as far afield as New Zealand, Israel and Scotland. Read the rest of this entry »
ST JOHN’S, Antigua, April 24, 2009 – Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of regional carrier LIAT, Mark Darby, has turned to an attorney to handle the matter of his dismissal which he said came about because he made merit payments to some of the airline’s employees.
The former top executive parted ways with the company on Tuesday after, according to a statement by LIAT’s Board, his contractual relationship with the airline had ended. But attorney-at-law Dane Hamilton QC issued a release yesterday saying that was not the case. Read the rest of this entry »
The New-York based JetBlue Airways has announced plans to continue its international expansion with a new service this fall to Barbados, once it gets approval. It will also begin new service to Jamaica on May 21.
The airline wants to begin a daily nonstop service year-round, between the Grantley Adams International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, on October 1st. Read the rest of this entry »
HAMILTON, Bermuda, April 24, 2009 – A bilateral agreement that will enhance homeland security for the United States (US) and increase Bermuda’s attractiveness as a tourist destination and international business centre was signed yesterday in Washington DC.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said the agreement will not only help facilitate travel to the US from Bermuda for private aircraft, but it will also enhance security. Read the rest of this entry »
US Airways reported a first-quarter net loss of $103 million, narrowed from a net deficit of $237 million in the year-ago period, and said it made “significant improvements” absent special items.
Excluding net special credits and realized losses/gains on fuel hedging, US said its net loss would have been $63 million in the quarter compared to a $321 million loss on a similar basis in the year-ago period. With international demand, particularly for business travel, dropping rapidly and badly hurting other major US carriers, Chairman and CEO Doug Parker claimed that “our relatively higher domestic enplanements. . .means that we have a greater ability to capitalize. . .both in the current economic environment and also when the economy turns around.” Read the rest of this entry »
At least five Caribbean countries have suffered double-digit drops in tourist visits this year as the global economic slowdown wreaks havoc on the region’s top industry, a researcher said Thursday.
The steep declines in the first quarter are the worst since the tourism slump that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, said Winfield Griffith, acting director of research for the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization. Read the rest of this entry »
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, April 23, 2009 – A day after LIAT’s Chief Executive officer (CEO) parted ways with the Antigua-based airline, one of the company’s Board members has been put in charge of the day to day operations.
Brian Challenger will perform the role carried out by Mark Darby until a new boss is appointed. Read the rest of this entry »