Air India Could Be Forced To Shut Down In June

by Gary Leff

air india plane
Dec 31 2019

India’s aviation market has been a mess. Jet Airways is out of business. oneworld member Kingfisher is no more. And Star Alliance member Air India is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

The government-owned airline is currently surviving on subsidies while the country looks for a buyer to take over the flag carrier. However they’ve committed to spend no more cash on the airline, and unless a buyer is found by June the airline is expected to run out of money and have to close.

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American Airlines Experimenting With More Flexible Approach to Same Day Flight Changes

by Gary Leff

american plane
Dec 30 2019

American Airlines offers same day changes for $75, waived for Platinum Pro (75,000 mile) elite members and higher. The rules for these changes are more restrictive than United’s or Delta’s though.

Fortunately American appears to be experimenting with a more liberal approach to same day confirmed changes, specifically making more inventory available on certain flights to test if that’s something they’re willing to move forward with.

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Is Egypt Hiding The True Cause of Star Alliance Member EgyptAir’s 2016 Crash?

by Gary Leff

Dec 30 2019

Seven months into the accident investigation Egypt announced that the cause of the crash was terrorism, with traces of explosives found on passenger bodies. Since the plane contained French passengers France conducted its own investigation, and provided assistance. French officials have cast skepticism about the terrorism claim suggesting that the long period of time that bodies were in the water would have made it impossible to identify trace explosives.

The Wall Street Journal obtained a leaked report the casts further doubt on the explanation offered by Egyptian authorities – repeated maintenance issues with the aircraft that went unaddressed.

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These 10 Routes Offer More Airline Seats Than Any Others

by Gary Leff

Dec 29 2019

The top 10 airline routes in the world by how much capacity is scheduled are all generally in the Asia Pacific region. That includes the Mideast (Saudi Arabia’s domestic Riyadh – Jeddah) and it includes Australia (Sydney – Melbourne).

There’s not a single route in the top 10 in the U.S., Canada, or anywhere in Europe. A decade ago South America featured once – Sao Paulo to Rio – but that’s no longer in the top 10.

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These 10 Airports Had The Most Departing Seats In 2019

by Gary Leff

plane tails
Dec 29 2019

Over the last 10 years the number one and two airports by seat capacity – Atlanta and Beijing – have stayed constant, though both have grown in capacity. London Heathrow dropped from third biggest down to seventh. It doesn’t have the space to grow without a third runway.

A decade ago the list included Frankfurt, Madrid, and Dallas Fort-Wort but those have been outpaced over the last ten years.

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Leaked Memo: New Fees Coming To Amtrak

by Gary Leff

Dec 28 2019

Amtrak doesn’t have enough passengers. On many of their routes trains ride mostly empty. They have a cost problem and they have a ridership problem. The government train operator is addressing the cost of meals, Amtrak has lost nine figures on food service, but doing surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) little to address labor costs.

However they seem to see their ridership problem as a lack of revenue problem and they’er looking to generate more money out of each passenger rather than boost the number of passengers.

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