Recession Means More People Travel Locally, Take Shorter Trips
It’s not a surprise, but people are changing their travel habits in this economy. The numbers are sobering to see.

US-EU Open Skies Phase II Talks Begin
All eyes are on round two of the talks - this, the EU hopes, will result in cabotage rights within the US.

United, Continental Antitrust Application Slammed by DOJ
The DOT was in favor of the broad antitrust immunity application, but the DOJ isn’t so happy.

Frontier Makes Money in May, What’s Next?
Frontier is making money, and that’s great, but it’s what happens next that really determines how this airline will be doing going forward. Lots of changes could be underway.

Boeing Set to Buy Vought?
Boeing seems to be having seconds thoughts about outsourcing most of the 787 part production, and it now appears to be bringing one of its suppliers back in-house.

US Airways’ Charlotte to Honolulu Flight Might Just Work
At first glance, the new US Airways flight from Charlotte to Honolulu seems pretty awful, but it may actually end up being smart.

Alaska Fills the Void in the Austin to San Jose Market
American pulls out and a couple days later, Alaska moves in. This might be smart.

Continental’s Biofuel Test Results are Good
Continental’s biofuel test results mirror those of Air New Zealand. They’re good.

Frontier to Become Subsidiary of Republic
Frontier announced yesterday that it plans to come out of bankruptcy as a full subsidiary of Republic.

What is Republic’s Strategy?
Now that Republic has stepped out in a big way with its Frontier purchase, what exactly is its strategy?

787 First Flight Delayed . . . Again
Did you hear that scream from airline exec offices around the world? The 787 is delayed once again.

United Pilots Prepare for Scope Battle
Pilot negotiations at United are heating up and Scope is about to take center stage.

Malev Orders Sukhoi Superjets
The Superjet got a big order, but is this the start of something big?

Virgin America Unit Revenues Fall More Than 20 Percent
Virgin America’s revenue for the first quarter fell dramatically.

Virgin America Makes Progress on Costs
Revenues don’t look great, but costs are definitely looking up.

American Ends Austin - San Jose Flights
American is killing its nerd bird flight. It’s a sad day.

April Premium Traffic Continues the Downward Spiral
IATA’s monthly premium traffic report had some glimmers of hope, but I wouldn’t get too excited yet. It’s still ugly.

Continental Reveals Domestic Load Factor Strength, International Weakness
Loads actually look decent on some Continental routes this summer, but this is probably not the great news you would hope it would be.

United’s Cash Position to Hold Steady During Second Quarter
United’s cash is expected to stay around $2.5 billion after the second quarter.

Last month I mentioned that United was testing a new configuration on one of its 757s that included leather slimline seats and power outlets. Well, a friend of mine was recently on the aircraft and sent me some pictures to share with everyone.

At left, you can see the view of the seats looking back. It’s a nice blue leather look, and apparently the legroom feels about the same, maybe a little tighter (if that’s possible). They added another row of seats on the plane, but the seats themselves are thinner so it’s mostly a wash.

Notice that one row with an empty spot where a seat used to be? That’s row 16. If you’re booked in that seat and you get stuck on this one aircraft, you’re going to be unhappy. That seat exists on every other aircraft in the fleet, so you’ll have to be re-seated. But that’s minor - let’s not get bogged down.

At right is another view of the seats from the side. You can see that they’ve also freed up some legroom by relocating the seatback pocket. Now you just have some mesh where your legs go (easy for cleaning), but the magazines and safety card sit up top above the tray.

In case you were wondering, the power outlets are underneath the seats. Not easy to find, but when you know where they are, I imagine the placement is pretty convenient for plugging in your electronics. It does, however, block some of the underseat storage area for the middle seat.

This definitely looks like a step forward for United, though I can’t say for sure until I get a chance to ride the airplane myself. Anyone else been onboard?

United Removes Website Hold Feature
United is no longer allowing you to hold reservations booked online. Did they really need to ditch that?

Skepticism Surrounds Potential United Aircraft Order
United is talking about ordering new airplanes, but few believe the airline is revealing its true motivation. There are plenty of theories that make a lot of sense.

May 2009 Airline Traffic Numbers
Raise your hand if you think traffic looked good in May. If you raised your hand, put it down. You’re wrong.

Allegiant’s Low Aircraft Ownership Costs Allow Schedule Flexibility
In a recent presentation, Allegiant showed just how unique their model is. Some months, they cut capacity by more than a third. Not many airlines can pull that off.

Hawaiian Finally Showing Improvement in Mainland On Time Performance
You may think Hawaiian has great on time performance, but that’s definitely not true on their mainland flights. Fortunately, in April they finally showed some improvement.

Lower Demand and Higher Oil Prices Lead to Fall Capacity Cuts
Oil is going up and demand isn’t getting any better. That means it’s time to cut capacity once again.

Virgin America Cash Levels Plunge in the First Quarter
Virgin America released first quarter results today and cash is a concern.