Yesterday, the new United continued tweaking its offerings with three announcements on Mexico, China, and frequent flier reciprocity. While I’m sure there are going to be a few big announcements over the next few months, I imagine we’ll see a lot more small ones like these as the two airlines march toward one. I’m certainly not planning to write about these things every time they happen, but I thought yesterday’s were particularly interesting.

More Mexico
One of the announcements was a compilation of a bunch of moves being made in Mexico, some done before the merger and some new. Here’s what’s happening.

• LAX to Leon daily on a Continental 737-500
• Cancun to Austin, San Antonio, and Raleigh/Durham Saturday-only during winter season on Continental 737-700s
• LAX to Mexico City goes from daily to three times daily on United
• Chicago to Mexico City goes from Saturday-only to twice daily on United
• San Francisco to Mexico City goes from daily to twice daily on United
• Denver to Mexico City new daily service during the winter holiday season

One of these stands out like a sore thumb. I mean, Raleigh/Durham to Cancun? Delta is already flying that as a Saturday-only service, so is there really enough demand for two? There has to be something behind the scenes there. But the rest make a lot of sense on the surface.

All the Mexico City flying is a result of the perfect storm. When Mexicana shut down, it left a vacuum for more flights between Mexico and the US. But then the FAA declared Mexico a Category 2 country which meant that Mexican carriers could no longer add service until the country fixes the problem. That left huge opportunity for US carriers, and most of them have been beefing up service to fill the void.

I also really like the LAX-Leon flight. I could never figure out why United refused to look at more LAX-Mexico flying, but if anyone can do it, it’s Continental. This has to be the brainchild of the Continental guys, and I imagine we’ll see more like it. At least, I hope that’s the case.

Fighting American in Shanghai
Glad to see the stiff competition between United and American hasn’t disappeared with the Continental merger. It’s just moved to China. For years, China Eastern has been the only airline flying LAX to Shanghai nonstop. American has had its code on that flight for a long time as well. But now China Eastern is going to join SkyTeam and Delta will be the airline’s US-based partner. So American had to decide what to do. It apparently saw enough opportunity on the route to apply for service on its own. The DOT approved the application almost instantly.

But now, United isn’t happy about that and has applied for service itself. Great, what a waste. There was nothing stopping United from asking for this before, but it’s like the little kid that wants what his brother has. This flight would not only divert connections from the current San Francisco flight, but it would also flood the market with a lot of seats, if approved. (Is there even another frequency available in the bilateral agreement?) Either way, I don’t like this move.

Economy Plus for All
Lastly, OnePass and MileagePlus got even closer by implementing further reciprocal benefits for elite members in both programs. As of now, Continental elites can sit in Economy Plus on United and United elites can sit in the preferred seats on Continental. They can also get upgrades on either airline. In other words, it really doesn’t matter which program you’re in at this point. The benefits are virtually identical, though the final merger into a single program won’t come until next year sometime.

[Original photos via Rep Gingrey and Flickr user *clairity*]

Everybody know what time it is? That’s right kids, it’s time to figure out who the f*&@ Vision Airlines is! You might have heard of the airline in previous incarnations, but things have changed a lot. And since Vision has just announced it’s starting commercial flights from Atlanta to Louisville and has designs on Allegiant-style flying, I thought it would be an appropriate time to dig in.

When I arrived in Atlanta last month, I was surprised to see Vision listed on the baggage claim board. See, I hadn’t heard the name in years, and the last time I heard about those guys, they were doing Grand Canyon charters from their base in Vegas. Could this be the same airline? Yep. It is, but it’s doing things differently these days than when it started in 1994.

Most recently, Vision was in the news for something completely different from what you’d expect. It was the airline that carried Russian spies over to Europe for the big spy swap this past summer. Yep, Vision had gotten into the charter game and won that contract. But that’s just one part of a lot of different businesses that Vision has been dipping its toes into. According to the website, here’s what they’ve been working on.

• Casino Charters to bring desperate gamblers from their homes to casinos.
• Sports Charters to carry teams and sometimes fans to games.
• Vacation Charters usually meant to bring pasty white tourists to warm, sunny spots, usually for travel agencies that put packages together.
• Capacity Substitution for airlines that need a little extra capacity, possibly to augment existing fleets during busy times or to step in for an airplane that’s out of service for a temporary time.
• Wet Leasing which seems like capacity substitution except for longer periods of time (like a season instead of a week) and probably more integrated with the contractor brand.
• Bus Travel through its Vision Coach subsidiary.
• Grand Canyon tours still live on through the Vision Holidays subsidiary.
• Scheduled Charter service, the newest part of the business.

In other words, it’s an airline with no focus at all but apparently a lot of ideas of things it thinks it could be doing. So to fulfill that dream of doing everything, Vision has a motley fleet. To the best of my knowledge, there are four 767-200s in the fleet, including the seventh off the line which was built for United way back in 1982. There is also one 737-300, three 737-400s, and one 737-800. Most of these seem to have been obtained from lessors after the previous airlines failed, and many were in storage for quite some time. They probably got great rates on these airplanes.

But that’s only part of the story. Vision is also the last airline in the US buzzing around with Dornier 228s and 328s turboprops that I know of (at least in the lower 48). The 228s are primarily for the Grand Canyon business, but the 328 is what’s being used for the first scheduled charter service.

That’s right. Beginning on December 13, the Dornier 328 will go into service twice daily between Louisville and Atlanta. You can book it yourself at visionairlines.com or via the phone at 877-FLY-A-JET. (Yes, it’s hilariously misleading since this route is actually flown by a prop.) Is there a need for this? Well, Delta flies that route nine times a day but nobody else does, so Vision thinks there’s a market for low fare service. One of the airline execs is from Louisville, so he thinks he knows that there’s huge demand for low fare service. He also thinks, according to an interview with Today in the Sky that he can snag corporate customers from companies like UPS and Home Depot.

Meers thinks Vision can siphon of some of those corporate customers since its fares will be lower than what Delta is currently charging.

If he really thinks he can get those guys to send their business away from Delta, he’s got a rude awakening ahead. UPS and Home Depot need Delta for a lot more than just flights to Louisville, and Delta will make that very clear.

I wish I could ask about this and a lot more, but I’m unable to get a call back. I’ve left messages at the airline’s headquarters and have yet to receive a response. I’ve also emailed their contracted PR person Bryan Glazer who said “You can use the news release. I sent an e-mail to my client asking if he’ll speak with you. standby.” I’m still standing by and haven’t heard anything. Glazer, you might recall, was also the spokesperson for Jet America when it failed to launch. I think that in itself explains this quote from him in Today in the Sky.

Unlike other start-ups, Vision Airlines has been in business for 16 years; it is a financially solid company.

Heh, kind of funny. So for now, I have to go with what’s public. But would I really be writing about this airline if it was just content flying from Louisville to Atlanta? Nope. It now has its sights set on a new Allegiant-style business as well.

. . . the carrier expects to announce a “fairly significant” growth plan that will add up to a dozen new cities, with various point-to-point routes among them. Vision does not plan to operate a hub-and-spoke operation focused on connecting passengers.

When pressed on where the carrier might fly, Meeks says “it’s reasonable to assume it will be to typical Florida leisure destinations,” though he didn’t rule out other “underserved” markets in the region.

Wait, is this actually the reincarnation of Jet America under another name? I suppose we’ll find out if we see any flight going to Toledo or Melbourne. I actually think there is an opportunity for more Allegiant or Spirit-style service in this country, but will Vision and its strategy of trying everything on the map be the one that make it work? I doubt it. But if I can get a call back from them, I’ll be happy to let them change my mind.

[Original Photo via Flickr user boboroshi/CC 2.0]

In April 2006, South African Airways joined Star Alliance. Egyptair followed in July 2008 and just a couple weeks ago, Ethiopian was accepted as a future member. Now the three airlines are coming together to look at a joint venture in Western Africa. If this happens, these Star Alliance carriers will cover the African continent like nobody has before.

I was so interested in the combined coverage of these airlines in Africa that I went over to the Great Circle Mapper and put their route maps together. I excluded domestic flights within Egypt, Ethiopia, and South African just to avoid too much clutter on the map, but the result is still incredibly impressive.

One thing to keep in mind here is just how big Africa actually is. The distance between Egyptair’s Cairo home to Ethiopian’s Addis Ababa base is about the same distance as from Atlanta to Salt Lake City. And then from Addis down to South African’s Johannesburg base is actually just a bit farther than JFK to LAX. This continent is enormous, and the three hubs are well-positioned to cover it already.

As you can see, Egyptair serves Europe well from its Cairo base in Northern Africa. After all, its Airbus narrowbody fleet can do that easily. It also has good coverage in the Middle East and in major Asian destinations. Ethiopian has its focus on Central and Eastern Africa with excellent service to the Arabian Peninsula. There are also limited connections to Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, down in Johannesburg, South African covers Southern Africa well but it also operates more of a long haul operation touching the other continents. On a map, this looks like an African powerhouse, but there is one hole.

Yes, Ethiopian serves a lot of West Africa but most of those flights are from an East Africa perspective. What’s missing is a way for those people in West Africa to fly between cities in West Africa as well as connect into the broader network. And that’s why the three airlines are coming together to talk about a joint venture to do just that.

West Africa has had its share of failed carriers. In fact, I’m hard-pressed to find a single one that’s a sustainable success. Sure there are airlines like Arik Air in Nigeria trying to make a go of things, but it just hasn’t been around very long. The airline has had an aggressive expansion, so I want to see a lot more age on it before declaring it a success. For the most part, West African airports are haunted by the ghosts of failed airlines.

So can Ethiopian, Egyptair, and South African finally unite the continent and offer a reliable, solid product throughout? Let’s be blunt. It’s a long shot. There’s a reason that airlines haven’t survived in West Africa, and it’s not all about bad management. It’s a tough political game there, and many have failed to play it well. In fact, with shifting regimes, it’s unclear if it’s even possible to play it well for extended periods of time. But I still like the initiative here, and I certainly welcome the idea of a safe, reliable carrier giving options for travel throughout Africa.

While SkyTeam member Kenya Airways also has a solid operation in Nairobi, there just really aren’t many other options for good bases of operations on the continent. Star Alliance really has a huge advantage here, and I can’t see that changing.

How the SkyTeam Alliance Became a Rehab Center for Global Airlines – BNET Headwinds
SkyTeam has picked up some of the more questionable names in the airline world, but it might be a great strategy.

How the Southwest-AirTran Merger Creates a Labor Problem – BNET Headwinds
The Southwest-AirTran merger presents an interesting problem. What can Southwest offer to labor to make this merger interesting?

Delta’s ScottEVest Ad Rejection Turns into PR Blunder – BNET Headwinds
It’s just a vest, but the company owner is turning it into a David versus Goliath story. It doesn’t seem correct to me, but he’s winning the PR battle.

Antitrust Immunity Enables New British Airways, American Airlines, and Iberia Flights – BNET Headwinds
The joint venture between American, British Airways, and Iberia is now in effect, and the airlines are celebrating by launching new routes.

Antitrust Immunity Deals: How U.S. Airlines Avoid Foreign Ownership Restrictions – BNET Headwinds
My editor at BNET asked me why all these antitrust deals were happening in this industry. The answer? Foreign ownership rules.

It’s been way too long since we’ve had some good airplane porn here on Cranky, so I couldn’t resist when I saw British Airways put the airline’s last 757 into this stunning retro paint job.

I mean, seriously. Why would they ever change these colors? While I did also really like the next Landor-produced colors, it all went downhill with the whole “World Tails” thing. I think Maggie Thatcher said it best.

We fly the British flag, not these awful things.

Amen. BA got away from these and the Landor colors because it seemed too stuffy and British in their eyes. But that’s why we love BA (and Britain in general), right? It’s called character, and the old colors conveyed that well. While the newest colors have returned to flying the British flag, it no longer has that same regal look.

So why are they doing this? Well, BA was the launch customer for the 757 and put it into service way back in 1983 (in these colors). The airplane has served the airline well since then, but at the end of this month, the 757 will be retired for good with the airline. BA has been kind enough to give it the 757 a farewell tour.

This particular airplane, registered G-CPET, is a young pup, delivered in May 1998. It still has plenty of life and will find work elsewhere, but for now, the last flight with BA is scheduled for October 30. Enjoy it while it’s still flying around in these colors.