The fact that United had a media day at all should tell you something. In the more than 13 years I’ve been writing about the industry, I don’t recall United ever having one. That’s probably because the airline didn’t have much to show off, but even if it did, the …
Author: CF

Boeing Takes Out Full-Page Ads Before CEO Testifies – AdWeek
I was asked how I felt about the full page ad Boeing took out in the Wall Street Journal, and, well, I didn’t really like it. But later I was alerted that Boeing also took out an ad in Indonesian …
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DOT proposes changes to extended tarmac delay regulation – ATW
Just when you thought the tarmac delay rule was set in stone… the FAA looks to make some changes. These are actually fairly positive overall, and the rule gives some more flexibility where it helps most.…
I realize that’s a headline only an accountant can love, but, well, it’s a nice summary of the issue at hand. A change in strategy has been great for Norwegian, but it took the airline far too long to realize the rapid growth under founder and previous CEO Bjørn Kjos …
I wrote about the commercial side of United’s new CRJ-550 regional jet last week, and now it’s time to talk product. While I was in Chicago last Thursday for United’s media day, the airline invited attendees out to O’Hare to see the new airplane for themselves before it entered service …
United had its first global media day (at least, first that I can remember) on Friday, and it was an event well done. That being said, I didn’t expect there would be homework…. Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella was up on stage when a question was asked about American’s claims …
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I Just Took the World’s First 20-Hour Flight. Here’s What It Did to Me – Bloomberg
This is quite the PR stunt Qantas has put on. How much do you really learn from having only a few passengers on an airplane all flying in business? Besides, …
The 1944 Chicago Convention was a landmark agreement that, among other things, pushed the global air travel industry to create a defined set of “freedoms” of the air which would guide what routes airlines from individual countries could and couldn’t fly. The so-called “fifth freedom” has long been one of …
United has been talking about this for some time, but last week the airline finally loaded flights operated by the CRJ-550. Initial markets will focus on Chicago with Newark to follow. From what I can see so far, this isn’t just about being able to compete with American. It’s …
As LATAM prepares to consciously uncouple from American, the discussion has centered around what American can do to shore up its already-solid Latin American network. In the vision I laid out recently, the least controversial piece was that American should use Gol (an airline that was unconsciously uncoupled …

Around Hawai‘i and Back: A Pass Traveler’s Journey to Fly Our Entire Neighbor Island Network in One Day – Hawaiian Airlines Mana’o
Remember my day flying to all the Hawaiian 717 stations? Well, one Hawaiian employee decided to top that and include all the ‘Ohana by Hawaiian stations as …
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Azul could join giant Latin America alliance sought by United, Avianca, Copa – TPG
It’s interesting that United would want to bring Azul into its joint venture, because Azul does very little flying between the US and Latin America today. If Azul is going to ramp …