There will be no more SkyEurope in the sky...um, over Europe, as the low-cost airline based out of Slovakia ceased operations this morning thanks to bankruptcy. As a result, its five planes (down from 15 in the past) had their flights cancelled, stranding passengers at airports like Bratislava, Prague, and Paris-Orly.

Not only has the deep-sixed airline left their customers in the lurch, but they've also pulled a jerk move in refusing to refund any of the tickets. Instead, they posted a statement to their website encouraging would-be SkyEurope passengers to dispute the ticket charge with their credit cards and then book a flight home on another airline, at additional expense. Them's fighting words! ]]> JetSetCD 2009-09-01T09:35:13-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/14/14151/4987

Apparently we now have an answer to that question about whether people are flying more because of cheap airfare. Not so much, no:

U.S. airlines served 282 million passengers in the first five months of this year, a 9.5-percent decrease on a year-on-year basis, U.S. business news outlets reported Friday. Figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics also show that, in the current economic downturn, nearly all U.S. airlines, except Southwest Airlines and US Airways, suffered steep drops in the number of passengers during the period.

Major airlines were hit much harder than LCC's, with Northwest Airlines leading the decline by posting a -20.2% plastering. Southwest served the most passengers, but even they took a 5.3% hit.]]> Omri 2009-08-14T16:44:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/14/1838/33542

Have you got a spare $108 million dollars burning a hole in your pocket, just itching to purchase a bankrupt airline? Well, too bad you missed your chance; yesterday saw the sale of ailing Frontier Airlines to Republic Airways.

And now you ask: "Who/what/where is this 'Republic Airways?!?!'" We know, it's a surprise victor since Southwest was clearly the favorite and even bid $170 million to Republic's measly $108. Airline dorks who love this sort of drama—ok, ourselves—know Republic as the company behind airline brand extensions to smaller, regional service; they specifically run AmericanConnection, Continental Express, Delta Connection, Midwest Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-08-14T08:39:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/7/30/133128/443

The bad news? Frontier Airlines is bankrupt! (Actually, they have been since April 2008.) The good news? Southwest is looking to buy the ailing airline next month in bankruptcy court for a minimum bid of $113 million.

Southwest has posted a Q&A with Ron Ricks, Executive Vice President Corporate Services and Corporate Secretary on their blog. Some highlights?

Southwest is still preparing the [bidding] proposal, so it's premature to comment on the specifics at this time. What we can say is that we are interested in a substantial investment in Frontier and to operate Frontier as a wholly-owned subsidiary, independently and separately from Southwest Airlines, for a period of time until the carrier could be combined into Southwest.

]]> juliana 2009-07-30T13:44:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/3/18/7332/87521

You know we love Skybus, and even though it’s long gone, every once in a while a little tidbit trickles out from its former base in Columbus, Ohio. Nearly a year after its demise, it looks like the airline is finally settling things up with its former workers. They’ve agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that was filed by employees who were less than thrilled when they found out that their jobs were abruptly terminated.

The lawsuit alleged that Skybus violated the Workers’ Adjustment and Retraining Notice Act by not giving employees advance notice of at least 60 days. If the employees are anything like us—we found out by watching the Today show and throwing the remote across the room—they didn't get any warning.

The details are still being worked out in bankruptcy court—sounds exciting—so no specific settlement figure has been announced yet. The Columbus Regional Airport is trying to get some $5 million in change as well, and it looks like when everything is finalized, Skybus will be able to pay about 76 cents on the dollar to those who it left high and dry—guess that’s better than getting nothing.

Related Stories:
·Skybus To Settle Ex-Workers' Suit [Columbus Dispatch]
·2008's Most Missed Industry Casualty Is... [Jaunted]
·Airline Bankruptcy [Jaunted]

[Photo: msmail] ]]> kjb 2009-03-18T15:45:09-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/24/14294/799

The annual Zagat Survey look at airlines is out today, and leather seats are in. Despite a monumentally rough year, Midwest Airlines is still the favorite "mid-sized" airline for coach of the nearly 10,000 people Zagat polled this year. Among bigger players, JetBlue took the top slot with Southwest coming in second. Yep, those chairs are leather, leather and leather.

Midwest, however, didn't show up in the list of winners for "mid-sized" premium product--which isn't surprising given that passengers now have to pay extra for the swanky seats that used to be free. Virgin America, instead, pulled first place for first class; in-seat massages probably helped, uh, finesse the results.

Among legacy carriers, Continental did better than its peers, apparently because survey respondents think free airline food is priceless. (We'd call it worthless.) For international trips, Singapore was the top pick either up front or in coach, but you won't go wrong, Zagat says, with either Emirates or Cathay Pacific either.

Related Stories:
· Global Air Travel Survey Results [Zagat Survey]
· Zagat Airline Survey: The Winners and The Losers [Jaunted]
· Midwest Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: md11forever]]]> pbb 2008-11-24T14:34:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/13/152553/33

Short answer: Probably not. While the European Union said Wednesday that a group of new investors could take over the money-hemorrhaging airline, Alitalia will also have to pay back a €300 million ($377 million) rescue loan it received from the Italian government. No one's quite sure where that money's going to come from.

Meanwhile, some staff are organizing impromptu (i.e. wildcat) strikes at airports, delaying departures and forcing flight cancellations. Italian newspaper La Repubblica says even the corpse of a woman headed to Albania can't get where its going, languishing instead at Fiumicino. While Italy's labor minister has suggested the strikes are illegal, that's of little consolation to stranded fliers.

The new Alitalia is supposed to debut on December 1. Will it be ready to fly by then? And will Ryanair's allegation that this takeover is against EU rules further stall the much-needed makeover? We're not planning to find out.

Related Stories:
· EU Backs Proposed Alitalia Takeover [AP, via Google]
· Alitalia Protests Continue, Government Eyes Options [Reuters]
· Ryanair to Appeal EU's "Corrupt" Support [AFP, via Google]
· Fiumicino: Even a Corpse, Delayed for Days [La Repubblica, in Italian]

[Photo: Alessio85]]]> pbb 2008-11-13T15:30:12-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/