Now this is just getting silly. The dustup at Logan was already the most interesting battle in the airline industry, with Southwest turning the turf war into a bloodbath and pushing out major carriers like US Airways. JetBlue—which considers Boston home turf—isn't going to be shoved aside as easily. They're retaliating by increasing their Boston flights by a full 30 percent.
Southwest recently broadsided JetBlue and AirTran by adding two daily roundtrips, for a total of seven, between Boston and Baltimore. That bumped up the total number of BOS-BWI dailies to 20. Given that 20 is probably way more than necessary, an outside observer might guess that Southwest was just trying to spite their rivals. ]]>
The Federal Aviation Administration has reached back to the beginning of 2008, contemplated the record, and decided to fine United and US Airways over $9 million dollars for safety lapses. The government agency is letting it be known that these penalties are just the beginning and that the entire industry is now on notice. Larger fines and penalties against American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are probably pending: ]]>
The outlook for the 2010 airline industry is unremittingly bleak, but you wouldn't know it from the way that Southwest is acting. The low cost carrier is adding 104 flights to its spring schedule. In the process they're turning the Boston turf war they started with JetBlue and AirTran into a full-blown bloodbath:]]>
Southwest began flying out of Boston-Logan last Sunday, a move that their CEO once declared would never ever happen. Nonetheless, we weren't particularly surprised: we flagged the expansion back in April when they announced their routes, and again a few weeks ago when AirTran gave them a "welcome to Boston" by announcing free WiFi for Boston flights.
What is much more interesting is what the move means for the LCC niche and the airline industry as a whole, two different markets that are increasingly difficult to untangle.
The Wall Street Journal just published a must-read article on the industry, taking Southwest's expansion as the centerpiece and moving on from there: ]]>
Most of our in-flight WiFi coverage has been focused on Aircell and their Gogo Internet service. However, there is another kid on the block, and Row 44 has been trying their best to gain some market share.
It's too bad Row 44 has had a slower start than their competition; after all, they have been teasing us with their goods for some time. At least they have partners like Alaska Airlines and Southwest, so they definitely have attracted some big business. ]]>
For those who haven’t been taking notes, Southwest Airlines is set to take off from Logan Airport in Boston starting halfway through August. Hopefully their low cost model will help lower flight prices out of Beantown; it has already brought some freebies to flyers thanks to a little friendly competition.
AirTran knows the stakes are high, so they are offering free WiFi aboard all their flights that travel between BOS and BWI—one of Southwest’s main routes. The free in-flight WiFi will be available for the whole month of August, in hopes that travelers will choose their WiFi planes over the other guys.]]>
Who remembers the days of booking flights through travel agents with cruise ship models perched on their desks and drawers full of Disney World pamphlets? It's crazy to think that we used to intern at one such office, in the time just before travel websites took over the world and made everyone freak out the security of booking online.
Finally we seemed to have reached the future, what with the proliferation of mobile websites where passengers can not only check on their flight's status but also book another leg. Southwest Airlines is only the latest carrier to boost the options on the mobile-optimized site, adding the ability to purchase flights, view schedules, peruse their SWA frequent flyer points account and of course, monitor their flight's status.]]>