Tomorrow, US Airways disappears as a brand. It joins AirTran, Aloha, Continental, Midwest Express, Northwest, TWA as airline brands that have all disappeared since 2001. The largest airlines in the US have contracted to just three large carriers: American, Delta and United. US first flew in 1939 as mail carrier All American Aviation, adding passenger traffic in 1949. In 1953 it became Allegheny Airlines, a name it carried until the deregulation era of 1979 when USAir was adopted. USAir was varied to US Airways in 1997. In 2005, they entered into a “reverse merger” with America West with the America West…
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Reducing Lost Luggage Problems
I have had a few bags lost in my travels. There are some things one can do to minimise them. Don’t check in luggage -I do all I can to reduce my total luggage to one carry-on and a small extra bag Choose an airline that has a better record with bags than the others. Do not put anything important in your checked luggage. This includes medicines, ID documents, cash, credit cards, laptops, ipad or jewellry Put your name, email and phone number on a piece of A4 or A3 paper inside your bag and…
Finnair’s A350 First Commercial Flight
This week’s airline porn is Finnair‘s first every A350 visit to Amsterdam Schiphol: Oneworld airline Finnair have ordered 19 of the A350 to fly their long haul routes along with A330s. They will replace their current A340 fleet. Qatar was the A350 launch customer has ordered a whopping 80 of the type. A further 31 other airlines ordered the type. Airbus has sold 598 of the type. Finnair’s A350 has 297 seats in three classes: Business-class: 46 flat bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration with a 78 to 81″ pitch and 21″ width. Every passenger will have direct aisle…
And the best airline is… Ethiopian?
There are few airline success stories from the continent of Africa. The wreckage of national carrier after carrier is strewn across the landscape. For example, Nigeria where I lived, has had a revolving door of carriers. South African Airways, once the strongest African carrier is bleeding cash as it limps along with an ageing fleet. Kenya Airlines announced a massive deficit and is facing an uncertain future. I have been following closely 70 year old Ethiopian Airlines. I noted their joining of the Star Alliance in 2011 and their status as one the 787 launch customers in 2013. The airline has…
Where to credit air miles
Booked your ticket and airline and trying to work out which Frequent Flyer program will get the most miles. It can be useful if you are planning a one off trip or thinking through your mileage earn for the next 12 months. Where to credit is a handy way to find out that your First Class ticket will get you 130% of miles with one airline and 300% with another. Or my Malaysia airways discount economy ticket will get me 25% of the miles with Malaysia and 0% with any other carrier. It is very simple…
Petition demands air passenger protections
Sick of it all? Crammed seats, delays, fees and poor customer responses to problems? FlyersRights who claim to be the Largest Non-Profit Airline Consumer Organization, have launched a petition calling for the US government to draft public law to require: passenger protection from tarmac delays of three hours plus minimum seat pitch standards airline acceptance of FAA-certified child seats transparency of unbundled fees contingency plans for long delays including food stocks response to complaints within seven days and resolution within ten Airlines For America responded saying “We…believe that government should not regulate airline seat sizes, but instead…
Virgin presents the most boring movie ever!
Would you watch a 5 hour boring movie for 2500 frequent flyer points? Virgin America has created “BLAH AIRLINES FLIGHT 101”, a boring, beige and dull five hour and forty-five minute flight set in real time on a flight from Newark to San Francisco. The passengers aboard seem pretty creepy, the pilots bored and tired and the flight attendants over perked. The film’s trailer can be viewed here: Already almost one million people have already watched the film on YouTube since the film was uploaded in October, 2014! (Did they skip parts of it -like…
Unique Nok Air – Trip Report
Today, I was one of three “farangs” (foreigners) on a Nok Air 737 completely full of Thai people travelling from Bangkok, Thailand to Phuket. I could not work out if this was a random coincidence or do most foreigners not choose Nok? Me? I have wanted to fly the bright yellow Thai “Premium Budget” carrier for some time and today’s flight gave me that opportunity! Nok is the 90th airline I have travelled with since I started flying in 1968! Nok means bird in Thai. They are largely a domestic operation with an international flight to Myanmar. Booking:…
Thai air problems knock Nok Scoot
In Thailand Nok means bird. “Premium low cost” domestic carrier Nokair after ten years of operation commands a healthy 27% chunk of the country’s domestic market and a healthy profit margin. Nok has not expanded internationally with the exception of a couple of routes. This was due to change this year. Nok has joined with Singapore Airline’s low cost arm Scoot, to form low cost international carrier called imaginatively NokScoot with the slogan: Fly Awesome. Literally the name means: Bird leaves suddenly and quickly! This new venture is 49% is owned by Scoot and 51% owned by Nok. The carrier aims to link China, Japan…
Ryanair backtracks on US again
The idea that Ryanair, the Irish budget carrier (and one of my most disliked airlines) would fly to the USA seems to have been raised noisily every other year since 2007. The proposal is always that there will be ultra low cost economy (coach) fares starting at $US15 and a business class service. The transatlantic services would operate under different branding to the main carrier. This same transatlantic idea is then quietly retired each and very time. It almost seems like a free publicity strategy by the carrier to increase its current passneger load (currently 90million per year). On…
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