Forgive us if we haven't been breathlessly reporting all the latest merger gossip: All these rumors and anonymous sources have us more than skeptical. But since everyone seems to be involved in something these days, here's a cheat sheet for all the merger mania swirling in the industry:
Delta and Northwest: These two are getting together, pending approval from the US government. You can keep up on both carrier's plans at the pompously named newglobalairline.com. Oh, and before you believe the hype that nothing will change when they get together, Northwest CEO Doug Steenland just announced that, yes, they probably will be cutting some service.
Well. Two days after we call out Continental for throwing together a pointless website, the carrier releases a pretty definitive statement updating the world on its merger plans. Here's what the airline had to say:
You must be nuts to think we're hitching ourselves to a dumpy, cash-hemorraghing legacy carrier who's only hope for survival is us.
Wait. No. The real statement was much more measured, and despite its firm dismissal of a merger, Continental didn't say it would never happen. Here's the real word from CEO Larry Kellner and President Jeff Smisek:
In the current industry environment, the best course for Continental is to not merge with another airline at this time...[We] very carefully considered all the risks and benefits of a merger with another airline, and determined that the risks of a merger at this time outweigh the potential rewards, as compared to Continental's prospects on a standalone basis.
Nice that the carrier is making use of the new website, but couldn't this just go out as a regular press release? And will Continental ever set up RSS feeds on the merger page, or do we just have to keep going back and refreshing the page for further updates?
Was Continental in the minority, thinking the new American Airlines blog was any sort of decent? Must have, cause the carrier has fired up its own stand-alone mouthpiece to spout opinions about airline mergers. You'll find it at co-industryconsolidation.com.
Thing is--and this is right outta the AA playbook--the new site doesn't actually tell us anything worth hearing. Here's a snippet of the "helpful" info Continental shares:
As we've said repeatedly for more than a year and a half, our preference has been to remain independent as long as the competitive landscape remained the same. However, the landscape is changing. We will review our strategic alternatives and make sure we remain a strong long-term competitor.
Southwest should be selling these legacy carriers PR classes.
The worldwide leader in scandalously-named fare sales, Spirit Airlines, just locked down an interesting new route. The LCC will now get to operate seven flights a week between Ft. Lauderdale and Bogotá, Colombia, which is rapidly becoming 2008's It destination.
Spirit had to get Department of Transportation approval for the routes because they're regulated by a bilateral treaty. When the US and Colombia decided to up the number of flights between the two countries last year, a heap of airlines clamored to get in on the action. Delta, JetBlue and Continental will join Spirit in the newly-open skies.
American Airlines--which had a near monopoly on the route--still offers the most frequencies of any carrier. But when the low cost players start flying in April, it's almost a sure-thing that fares will fall. The only thing in doubt is what kind of off-color marketing campaign Spirit will use to hype the new flights.
You know what? Why don't we just assume everyone except US Airways is going to test out in-flight WiFi this year? Continental is the latest carrier to jump on the bandwagon. The airline will partner with JetBlue's subsidiary LiveTV to offer, ahem, live TV and airborne email and IM.
Don't expect to be pecking away at the keys soon, though. The system will appear on Boeing 737s and 757s beginning in January 2009. Access will be free in first class; suckers in coach will pay $6 to watch TV.
Honestly, we're getting a little tired of these breathless announcements. It's cool that everyone's getting on-board with the concept, but so far the only real testing we've heard about was on Beta Blue. It didn't go so well. When one of these airlines finally manages to get us liveblogging from 35,000 feet, then we'll get excited.
We flew to the Bahamas last month for a four-day long press trip, which we've already detailed over at HotelChatter. We were shacked up on Eleuthera Island, a small island that has no traffic lights whatsoever. The story goes that there was one back in 1992, but Hurricane Andrew knocked it down and the islanders didn't really need another to replace it.
More about island life will come later this week. For now, we are going to talk about getting there. Eleuthera--like most of the Bahamas--is crazy easy to get to from Miami. We took a Continental Connection flight from Miami International. This video was shot while the plane was in flight, and if it looks small, that's because it was. If tiny planes aren't your thing, it could be very scary.
So here are our small-plane survival tips: · Tequila shots We didn't use them this time around but enough of them can make anything fun. · Red wine Again, we didn't use this on this flight but usually we enjoy flights after two very full glasses. · Xanax Sadly, our friends had none to give us before we departed. · Take a red-eye from LAX You'll spend five hours in the Miami airport on a layover fighting to stay awake by drinking coffee and protecting your luggage from potential thieves. After we shot this video we practically fainted with exhaustion. Even the crying baby on the plane didn't wake us until we landed in Eleuthera.
Of course, flying from Miami isn't your only option. Eleuthera has three airports, all with service back to the mainland and the other islands of the Bahamas. The Bahamas tourism office has a handy list of all the airlines that serve the islands.
We fly a lot; you probably do, too. But like us, you've probably got a stack of frequent flyer numbers and can't remember which ones you've used recently. While you're tying up loose ends for this year, it's smart to double check that your miles won't expire come 2008.
Points you may have in your JetBlue account expire after just twelve months, so if you haven't flown with them this year, it's crunch time. Your best bet is to buy something with your JetBlue AmEx, if you've got it. Using a mileage-earning credit card is a great way to keep your points active on other airlines, too.
We admittedly have a bit of a Zagat obsession right now, but we can't overlook the latest survey from the folks at the Burgundy Bible. A look at US airlines, it was compiled in conjunction with the Today show and relied on the opinions of 7,498 flyers and travel pros.
We probably don't need to tell you the big-picture findings:
Overall, our survey results reveal continuing frustration with the state of domestic air travel... Delays and cancellations were cited as the top airline irritants, follwed by cramped seats/crowding and poor service.
But there were some high points. Virgin America ranked as a "premium" airline (rather than an "economy" one, despite low fares) and performed miles ahead of other carriers in comfort, service and food. VA topped second-place Continental in all three categories. On the budget side of things, Midwest Airlines was the clear favorite. (Could it be simply because of the free cookies on every flight?)
Airports also got the critical eye, with Tampa and Denver earning the best scores from travelers. Two of New York's much-maligned time vortexes (JFK and LGA) earned spots at the bottom of the list, along with Miami, LAX and Philadelphia.
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