Airline News
Airtran Airways New Flight Schedule
 AirTran
Airways announced the addition of two daily nonstop flights between Akron-Canton
Regional Airport in Ohio and New York's LaGuardia Airport, effective March
4, 2003.
America West/British Air Code-Share
 America
West and British Airways renewed their code-share deal and expanded it
to include Phoenix-Sacramento. BA's flight code will be added to America
West flights in the market, which expands the code share to include a
total of 14 destinations.
American Airlines Updates
 American’s
Offer To Continue Elite Status For A Fee
All AAdvantage Gold and AAdvantage Platinum members who did not qualify
for 2003 status will be eligible to retain the same status through February
29, 2004 for a fee. The fee for AAdvantage Gold is $395 and the fee for
AAdvantage Platinum is $595. This is a non-refundable fee, therefore,
members should ensure they will not or have not re-qualified on their
own. Members are not able to purchase a higher status. AAdvantage Executive
Platinum status is excluded from this offer.
Paper Ticket Fee Increase
Effective December 13, American Airlines increased the paper ticket
fee from $20 to $25. In addition, the fee has been expanded to include
paper tickets issued at all American Airlines ticketing locations worldwide.
The fee will not apply to tickets issued by travel agencies located outside
of the 50 United States and Canada. The paper ticket fee is non-refundable,
per ticket and applies to all transactions that qualify for an electronic
ticket, but the customer chooses a paper ticket.
New Flight Service
American will launch new seasonal service with daily flights from New
York (Kennedy) to Rome beginning May 1 and from Kennedy to Barcelona beginning
June 15, all on 767 aircraft. Service on both routes will end October
24.
Cancelled Business Fare Discounts
Effective January 3, 2003, the American business fare discount (5-10%)
was cancelled.
Continental Updates
 New
Flight Service
Continental Airlines has inaugurated service on five new routes:
Hub |
Destination |
Daily Roundtrips |
New York |
Daytona Beach, FL |
2 |
New York |
Kingston & Montego Bay, Jamaica |
1 |
Houston |
Palm Springs, CA |
2 |
Houston |
Villagermosa, Mexico |
1 |
Cleveland |
West Palm Beach, FL |
1 |
Continental has also expanded seasonal ski service from its Houston hub
at Bush Intercontinental Airport and its New York hub at Newark Liberty
International Airport. Houston service includes nonstop flights to Jackson
Hole, WY, and Gunnison, CO (Crested Butte). The new flights complement
service to four more Colorado destinations: Durango (Durango Mountain),
Eagle (Vail/Beaver Creek/Aspen), Hayden (Steamboat Springs) and Montrose
(Telluride).
Continental Express Fleet Change
Continental Express has retired all of its turboprop planes and began
all-jet service with an operating fleet of 184 Embraer regional jets.
Delta Updates
New Flight Service
 Delta
will introduce nonstop Saturday service from Atlanta to Curacao beginning
January 11.
Delta will launch new daily service between Washington (National) and
Salt Lake City beginning January 31, using 757 aircraft. Delta will continue
to offer two daily flights between Washington (Dulles) and Salt Lake City.
Delta plans to expand its routes to Italy with service between Boston
and Rome starting May 1 through September.
Also on May 1, Delta will expand existing seasonal service to year-round
flights between Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport and Rome.
Delta Connection New Flight Service
Delta Connection is boosting service between Cincinnati and points in
Florida, for the winter season. It will offer daily nonstop service between
Cincinnati and Melbourne, Fort Walton Beach and Panama City from January
21 to April 4. Delta Connection carrier Comair will operate one roundtrip
flight to each of the cities using the Canadair CRJ regional jet. Comair
also will operate an additional daily roundtrip between Cincinnati and
Tallahassee during the same time period.
Delta Connection will increase its connections between Atlanta and seven
Florida destinations for the spring season beginning this month. Daily
nonstop jet service is being added January 31, to Orlando and Tampa. One
roundtrip flight will be added to both Key West and Sarasota on January
20, and to Melbourne and Panama City on February 6. Two daily roundtrip
flights will be added to Daytona Beach, one on January 20 and one on February
6. The flights will continue until April 4 and 5 and will be operated
by Atlantic Southeast Airlines using 70-passenger Bombardier CRJ700 jets.
Effective January 28, Delta Connection will expand jet service between
Salt Lake City and Albuquerque, NM; Helena, MT; and Santa Barbara, CA.
Beginning January 29, Delta Connection will offer jet service between
Binghamton, NY, and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. Delta Connection
carrier Comair will operate three daily roundtrip flights between Cincinnati
and Binghamton using the Bombardier CRJ.
Starting February 1, Delta Connection will offer weekend roundtrip jet
service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Gulfport/Biloxi, MS, and four other
Florida destinations--Panama City, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, and Fort
Walton Beach.
Frequent Flyer Program Change
Effective January 1, Delta's SkyMiles program will reward customers
based on fares purchased as well as frequency and distance of travel.
The program changes (which primarily relate to Medallion qualification
and upgrades) will enable Delta to reward those customers who pay for
added benefits and flexibility through higher fares with a quicker path
to Medallion status. The basic ability to earn miles for award travel
will remain the same, regardless of what tickets the SkyMiles member purchases.
Cancelled Business Fare Discounts
Effective December 20, 2002, the Delta business fare discount (5-10%)
was cancelled.
Northwest New Flight Service
New Flight Service
 Northwest
Airlines is proud to announce new service between Minneapolis/St. Paul
and Norfolk, VA, Greensboro, NC, and Rochester, NY beginning February
13, 2003. Fly roundtrip on any of these new routes between February 13,
2003 and May 13, 2003 to can earn 2,000 WorldPerks Bonus Miles. Registration
is required prior to travel but no later than March 13, 2003.
On May 1, 2003, Northwest will begin daily summer seasonal service between
Detroit and Madrid, Spain. Northwest will operate its DC10-30 aircraft
on this new route.
Cancelled Business Fare Discounts
Effective December 30, 2002, the Northwest Business Fare Discount (5-10%)
was cancelled. This includes discounts off the full fares and Biz Flex
fares under the “PD680” program.
Quantas New Flight Service
 Qantas
has announced plans to offer service to Chicago O’Hare airport three
times per week, from Melbourne via Los Angeles. This service will begin
March 31, 2003.
Quantas will also add three new Sydney to Los Angeles flights weekly.
United Updates
United Waives Standby Fee
 United
will not implement the $100 fee it planned to charge U.S. customers on
nonrefundable tickets for same-day standby as of January 1, 2003.
The airline changed its mind stating "we have been listening to
our customers, and we agree with them that their travel experience should
be simpler and easier. This will give our customers the flexibility to
stand by for an earlier or later flight on the same day without incurring
an additional expense."
Cancelled Business Fare Discounts
Effective December 24, 2002, the United Airlines business fare discount
program was cancelled for travel to destinations within the United States
and between the US and Canada.
United Suspends Meal Service
Effective January 7, United's will modify their meal services as another
cost-cutting effort:
- First- and business-class meal service will be eliminated on flights
of two to three hours to the USA and Canada outside normal meal hours.
Only beverages will be served on flights that aren't during the most
popular breakfast, lunch or dinner times.
- On all U.S. and Canadian flights except coast-to-coast routes, deli
plates or salads will replace hot lunches and dinners in first- and
business-class.
- Coach passengers on the five-hour flights between the West Coast
and Hawaii will no longer receive a sandwich.
- Coach passengers on morning flights of two to 3 1/2 hours in the
USA and Canada will receive a snack mix instead of a hot breakfast sandwich.
US Airways Updates
US Airways Modifies Standby Rules
Following
United’s lead, US Airways altered its nonrefundable ticket standby
fee policy. It did not eliminate the $100 charge, but customers holding
confirmed reservations and tickets now may pay $100 for a confirmed seat
on earlier or later same-day flights on the same route. The change must
be made within four hours of the new flight's departure, and the confirmation
must be completed at the airport.
If the desired flight is sold out and no confirmed seat is available,
the customer still can stand-by for $100. The new US Airways policy is
similar to Delta's, which already charges a $100 fee for that option for
some Delta Shuttle flights and plans to do so for Delta ($100) and Delta
Express ($50) as of January 1.
More Employee Layoffs
On November 26, US Airways cut more costs to emerge from Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection next March. To that end, the airline will lay off
2,500 more of its 35,000 employees during the next three months, in part
with the January 10 closing of its call center in Orlando.
On Friday, January 3, US Airways announced another lay off. This time
nearly 1,700 more employees (nearly 1,500 management and salaried employees)
or about 2 percent of the airline’s work force will be laid off.
These nonunion jobs will be cut by January 19.
Additionally, the carrier will shut down all of its U.S. ticket offices.
The world's second largest carrier has until February 15 to cut costs
significantly or it could lose the remainder of $1.5 billion in interim
financing.
New Flight Service
US Airways will add another route to Florida from Washington National
Airport when it begins daily service to Fort Myers February 9th on 737
aircraft. Fort Myers will become the airline's sixth Florida destination
from National. US Airways already flies to Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville,
Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
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