Airport guide: Surviving LAX – CNN Out of the Office
This week, I give some tips and tricks on getting through LAX, my hometown airport. It’s a nightmare for a lot of people, but it’s been home to me for years.

Air travel tax refund procedure still fuzzy – CNN Out of the Office
It was a double CNN week as the editors decide to move forward next week’s post on tax refunds to go this week instead.

Fliers won’t get air travel tax refund – CNN Out of the Office
And it became a triple week, when I had to update this after Congress made the taxes retroactive and decided the no refunds would be given.

Ontario officials concerned over continued dropoffs of passengers, flights at ONT – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
I was asked to comment on the continuing decline of traffic at Ontario airport. Really not the most accurate quotes, so let me clarify. Southwest isn’t cutting two more routes from Ontario in January – it’s reducing frequency on two more routes (Phoenix and Vegas). I also have no idea what that AirTran quote even means.

Why Arguments Against Airline Foreign Ownership Are Bogus – BNET Headwinds
There are plenty of arguments against allowing foreign ownership of US airlines, but I don’t buy any of them.

How Airlines Battled Through the September Traffic Blues – BNET Headwinds
September is a four-letter word in the airline industry because it’s a terrible month for demand. So far, it looks like the airlines did a decent job of fighting through it this year.

Drop in ONT flights bodes ill – San Bernardino Sun
All the newspapers serving the area around Ontario Airport are running stories on the airport’s problems, and this one quoted me.

Allegiant Rebrands to Make You Forget It’s an Airline – BNET Headwinds
Allegiant has been focusing on packaging for ages, but now it’s trying to make that a stronger sell to customers.

Southwest Pilots Have Tentative Deal to Fly Larger Airplanes – BNET Headwinds
Southwest pilots have tentatively agreed to fly the 737-800. I still can’t figure out why this is being discussed publicly when no order has been announced.

Southwest Ads Shift From Bag Fees to Change Fees, and Face a Tougher Sell – BNET Headwinds
Southwest is looking to pimp its no change fee policy now. It’s a tougher sell, but it’s a good idea if the airline is going to continue to avoid having them.

Continental/United Merger: How Pilots Can Resolve Their Labor Standoff – BNET Headwinds
It’s all about the 90 to 110 seat jets. This should be a great framework to use.

Memo to Airlines: Looks Like You Can’t Cram Any More Butts Into Seats – BNET Headwinds
Load factors have started to level off as airlines have realized they can’t get much above where they are in terms of loads.

The iPad is the Greatest Thing in Inflight Entertainment (Or is It?) – BNET Headwinds
Some think the iPad is the new giant of inflight entertainment. I think it’s just the beginning of more and better options.

All Airports Want Low Fare Airlines — but Not All Can Keep Them – BNET Headwinds
Huntsville is failing at keeping its low fare airline, which proves once again that not everyone can support that kind of service.

The Battle of Ontario: How to Mismanage a Small but Really Expensive Airport – BNET Headwinds
Ontario Airport has put out a report and the findings aren’t pretty. There is a lot of cost-cutting that needs to happen.

How to Mismanage an Airport, Part II: High Overhead, Outrageous Salaries – BNET Headwinds
In part II, we look at specifics of Ontario’s bloat.

Continental Joins Star Alliance Tomorrow – BNET
Continental is in no-man’s land as they end their SkyTeam participation and prepare for Star Alliance.

Ontario’s Air Traffic Glut Draws Anger Toward LA – BNET
Ontario’s traffic keeps dropping, and the solution might involve kicking LA World Airports to the curb.

Airlines Show Concerns About Winter Demand Levels – BNET
Sales are starting to come out fast and furious, and the pricepoints are low. This may be a long winter.

US Airways Walks Away From Las Vegas, Slashes Jobs – BNET
US Airways has put the final nail in the coffin in Las Vegas, but more importantly, a lot of people are losing their jobs. Not good.

JetBlue Has Big Plans for Boston – BNET
JetBlue is ramping up Boston big time. Giddyup!

Welcome Airfarewatchdog readers! Please come on in and take a look around. I post my usual snarkiness Monday through Friday with this post on what I’ve written over at BNET capping the week on Saturday.

For Cranky readers, head on over to the Airfarewatchdog Blog to see my first article for them, “Confessions of a fat fingered airline pricing analyst.” It’s been awhile since I last worked as an airline pricing analyst, but this was a fun look back on those days.

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Frontier Announces Small Operating Profit for January
As a bankrupt airline, Frontier has to report its results on a monthly basis. So the airline’s January financials can give us a peak into what’s to come.

Continental’s February RASM Down Dramatically
Continental released February traffic and revenue information this week and the news is far from good. Get ready for the pain.

Ontario’s Spiral of Doom Results in Less Traffic and Higher Fees
What happens when airlines pull back on flights? Costs go up. And that’s when an airport enters the spiral of doom.

US Airways Sees February Unit Revenue Declines
The US Airways February traffic report may not have shown much of a change in load factor, but revenue estimates were down significantly.

News and Notes From Delta’s 10-K
Delta release it’s annual report this week, so I thought I’d poke through it and see what I could find.

February Airline Traffic Numbers
The final February traffic numbers are out, and it’s downright ugly. Here’s the list.

Allegiant’s Strategy In Its Own Words
A peek inside Allegiant’s 10-K gives us a great explanation of the airline’s business model. If you didn’t know it before, here it is in their own words.