Hey, remember when journalists started weirdly declaring that everything was fine with the airline industry? And then travelers took that to mean that good times were here again while the government swooped in with expensive new regulations? And then remember how American Airlines went bankrupt and then Spanair shut down and then Hungary's Malev shut down? Good times.

There's not much to say about this latest casualty of the global economic crunch. Hungary really, really wanted to keep Malev operating, with the government declaring the airline to be a "priority objective." But they just couldn't make the carrier viable—specifically, they couldn't convince suppliers that the government would be able to pay them for services—and thus ended the Malev's 66 years of almost continuous service. Sad.]]> Omri 2012-02-06T13:56:46-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/23/64711/5489

It seems that a good number of airlines have decided to use this brand-spanking new year to freshen up their cabins and revamp service offerings. With a few recent announcements from various global carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Brussels Airlines and Virgin Australia, 2012 will be the year to make air travel look snappy and smell fresh...again. Here's who's doing what:

· AirBerlin:
As the second largest German air carrier and a member of Oneworld, Air Berlin will be upgrading the entire long-haul fleet of Airbus 330s. New business class seats that recline to just about flat and thinner, more user friendly economy seats will be aboard their planes. The new interiors will be ready for the summer travel season.

· British Airways:
With all our hoopla from recent BA flights, it seems that the airline is not only upgrading service. Starting at the front of the plane a few years ago, overhauls have finally made it to World Traveler Plus and World Traveler. That's premium economy and economy for the uninitiated. ]]> jetflyboy 2012-01-24T13:30:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/4/5471/05535

After a challenging year for some of the founding members of the Oneworld alliance, 2012 will surely be brighter. In 2011, the alliance saw American Airlines file for bankruptcy and Qantas' chief grounding the entire network to challenge labor disputes, plus Iberia closing out the year with rounds of employee strikes.

There were some shining stars, however, with the finalization of International Airline Group (the conglomerate that combines British Airways and Iberia), Cathay Pacific offering overhauled cabins and in-flight amenities, and Japan Airlines emerging from bankruptcy stronger and more stable.

As we get going with 2012, we can't help but notice the huge changes happening amongst these airline buddies. Oneworld is the world's smallest of the major airline alliances, yet consistently hits the high marks in passenger ratings. With the addition of 3 new carriers, Oneworld will gain a fighting chance to excel in years to come. Here's what's happening meanwhile:]]> jetflyboy 2012-01-05T16:19:56-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/9/24/81238/4961

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· British Airways:
It seems like South America is getting more and more attention each year, and now British Airways is getting in on the potential for some business and tourism action. The airline is starting service from London-Heathrow to Buenos Aires beginning March 27 of next year. It seems like they’re still working out the specifics, as we’re not totally sure if this will be a few times a week flight or a daily flight. However, what matters is that there’s easy access from the UK to Argentina.

· US Airways:
We’re sometimes hard on US Airways, but we still get excited when an airline is eager to expand their overseas options. US Airways is launching not one, but two, nonstop international routes from their base in Charlotte beginning next May. There will be daily summer service to Madrid and Dublin. The Dublin flights will run through the end of September, but the Madrid flights will last a little bit longer and won’t end until October 29. If you miss out on the seasonal options there’s always flights from Philadelphia. ]]> kjb 2010-09-24T09:34:53-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/7/30/75955/6502

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· Turkish Airlines:
It’s a little bit easier to get to Istanbul now because Turkish Airlines is adding nonstop flights from Washington, DC and Los Angeles. These routes from Obama’s backyard will begin on November 7, and the LAX routes will start up in March of 2011. The flights won’t operate every day, but pretty close—five times a week from DC and four times per week from LA. ]]> kjb 2010-07-30T12:01:14-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/6/17/6561/73440

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· Air Berlin:
Düsseldorf International Airport is looking to make a name for itself when it comes to foreign travel, and Air Berlin is certainly helping them reach that goal. The airline plans 77 nonstop destinations from the airport this summer. Some of the new routes for the warmer months include San Francisco, Skiathos, and Tel Aviv. Other new routes began a few months ago—like Naples—and continue to go strong. Now might be a good time to visit Germany, and to hit up some European side trips thanks to Air Berlin. ]]> kjb 2010-06-18T08:30:54-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/3/18/82954/9778

We’ve been checking in on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner every so often, and for the most part things have been going pretty well. Obviously they've been delayed quite a bit since the initial timelines and delivery dates were revealed, but at least there doesn’t look to be any more surprise delays. However, all this relative good news still isn’t enough for Air Berlin.

The airline is cutting its order of the new bird down to 15—it was originally looking for 25—and Air Berlin also reduced their option for additional planes down to five from ten. It’s not just the delays, but the airline is kind of worried that even a fancy new plane won’t bring an increase to long-haul travel. We don’t blame them, as the 787 isn't the ideal choice if they are looking to boost their services in the shorter flight department. ]]> kjb 2010-03-18T10:35:07-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/