See this and other revenue-generating strategies airlines might employ in this week’s edition of The Onion.
Archive for May, 2008
“United — $25 seatbelt rental fee for passengers who didn’t bring their own”
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes, tagged humor, travel on May 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Don’t kill the short hop
Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged airports, business, network airlines, transit, travel on May 28, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Ryan Avent writes:
I like the comment that short flights congest airports as much as long ones. I’m of the opinion that a carbon pricing scheme would give a boost to rail travel over both driving and short-haul flying. But a potentially more important factor in some regions might be the runway congestion charges under consideration. [...]
United-US Airways talks break down: report
Posted in Daily Departures on May 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
AP is reporting that merger talks between United and US Airways have broken down. At least one disaster is now averted.
UK Competition Commission leaning toward breaking up BAA; will Heathrow be set free?
Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged airports, BAA, business, competition, delays, europe, regulation, travel on May 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
The UK Competition Commission (CC) will likely recommend that BAA Ltd., the commercial owner-operator of London’s three primary airports, be forced to sell at least two of them. The CC signals this strong leaning in its “emerging thinking” document published on April 22. The CC is in the middle of an investigation of whether BAA’s [...]
Daily departures, while I was out edition
Posted in Daily Departures on May 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve spent a long weekend with family out of town, but it’s good to be back. Here’s what I missed:
American Airlines announced a plan to reduce capacity. The same pundits who inveigh against aviation’s carbon footprint worry about the effect of AA’s move on consumers. Blogger Megan McArdle: “Either we get upset about doing less [...]
Don’t know much about geography. . .
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes, tagged geography, misc. on May 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In only the most marginally aviation-related news, the final round of the twentieth annual National Geographic Bee will be held today. In honor of the occasion, I have an article on American.com about the Bee and the importance of geography education.
Rethinking small community air service
Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged business, competition, dot, network airlines, small communities on May 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In a post several months ago, I wrote that the rigid Essential Air Service crowds out better, more flexible ways of funding credible and realistic service to small communities, such as the Small Community Air Service Development (SCASD) program. A year ago, the Government Accountability Office reported that although it could not sufficiently evaluate SCASD [...]
Slot auctions at Newark, JFK? and more
Posted in Daily Departures on May 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Department of Transportation has announced a plan to “introduce market forces” by auctioning off slots at JFK and Newark airports. (This assumes that the FAA owns the slots, not the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.) This is a weird decision; it’s privatization by the “little bit pregnant” strategy and it may [...]
Quote of the day
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes, tagged business, history, misc. on May 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Maybe it’s sex appeal, but there’s something about an airline that drives investors crazy.
–Alfred Kahn
Shame as a public policy tool
Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged business, history, labor, network airlines, regulation on May 31, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Today I’m reading Grounded: Frank Lorenzo and the Destruction of Eastern Airlines, an on-the-ground account written in 1990 by reporter Aaron Bernstein about the events surrounding Lorenzo’s ill-fated ownership of Eastern in the ’80s. (FYI: Bernstein takes a clear pro-labor angle that should be noted.) In his discussion of military man, former astronaut, and Eastern [...]
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