L'Avion, the last independent transatlantic all business class carrier, just got bought up by British Airways. The backer of the new premium airline OpenSkies directly competed with L'Avion for Paris to New York passengers--until today.
The deal cost BA €68 million ($108 million), though L'Avion had €33 million in cash in the bank. More importantly than eliminating the competition and getting two 757s, OpenSkies will also get L'Avion's landing slots at ORY.
We have two big questions. First, where will the newly-expanded OpenSkies fly? L'Avion served Newark, while the BA offshoot lands at JFK. A company press release mentions "up to three daily flights between Paris Orly and the New York area." The second question: Will OpenSkies make a dime off this deal?
The new carrier OpenSkies successfully began its New York to Paris (ORY) route on June 19, and so far things are going smoothly. The airline seeks to battle increasing operating costs with its unique model of pricey business class seats with a limited economy cabin. Says British Airways CEO Willie Walsh:
While the economic climate has worsened in recent months, we believe that OpenSkies can compete effectively. It has a low cost base and support from British Airways in key areas such as sales and marketing. This differentiates it from some new airlines that have failed recently which were operating in isolation.
First hand trip reports from the inaugural flights have been slow to roll in. But Ben from the One Mile at a Time blog was on that first flight and offers some great pictures and experiences of the Prem+ cabin:
The seat was much wider, at least around the shoulders, which made it easy to get comfortable. I also found the leather to be non-sticky and easy to find a comfortable position in, which is a big plus. Each seat included a very stylish OpenSkies pillow and comfortable blanket. Overall I can't find one thing to fault the seats for, and would find them easy to sleep in.
The Feds are still trying to sort out the mess plaguing New York area airports even though this summer (so far) has nothing on last year's nightmarish streak of delays and cancellations. At issue now are the slot auctions proposed by the Bush administration in May and whether they'll be able to save American aviation from itself.
Surprisingly, the airlines and New York's Port Authority--which controls the airports--are lining up behind Democrats, who say President Bush's market-based scheme won't work. Says Sen. Chuck Schumer:
Instead of focusing on real, tested solutions to solve this problem, like upgrading decades-old technology and hiring an adequate number of controllers to staff New York's towers, the [Department of Transportation] continues to miss the point.
Republicans--and the DOT--insist that auctioning off some takeoff and landing slots is the best way to spur competition while maintaining flight caps. Of course, no one's ever tried that before, so they have no idea if it's actually going to work.
By the time all the debate is over, though, the congestion problem may be a non-issue. With fuel prices going up and carriers lurching closer to bankruptcy, there may soon be plenty of room for the few airlines still in business!
Just a few days after Virgin America told regulators that it wants a bigger piece of the domestic market, the airline announced it'll start flights between JFK and McCarran International on September 4. Previously, you had to connect in either LA or San Francisco to fly from New York to Vegas on VA.
It's not a new city, but any expansion to Virgin's route network is much-needed. That said, the carrier will only have one flight a day between the cities. (It leaves JFK at 9:05 am and LAS at 2:15 pm.) It's not the frequency we'd like to see, but the price is right: Fares start at $159 one-way before taxes.
On our last trip through JFK's Terminal 4, we had a chance to check out the XpresSpa. Yep, our airport spa obsession continues!
Unlike the Massage Bar at EWR, XpresSpa looks like a real-deal spa, and indeed they perform some real-deal treatments like quickie reflexology massages (head, foot and leg), full body massages, manis, pedis and facials.
They even do waxing. (Though we can't imagine what would possess us to get a wax in an airport. If you have done this, please let us know what you were thinking.)
What fuel prices? British Airways is launching its spin-off carrier OpenSkies on June 19, and fares in the airline's "Prem+" cabin are starting as low as $720 one-way between Paris (ORY) and JFK.
We found a round-trip booking in June for $1,553 all-in, which isn't bad considering cattle class on OpenSkies for the same dates we searched is $1,250. (L'Avion is doing Newark-ORY on those dates for $2,280.)
The Prem+ cabin gets you 52 inch seat pitch, a 140 degree recline and two power plugs per seat. Not that regular economy is bad: With only 30 seats, your chances of sharing the cabin with a screaming infant are drastically reduced.
If you wanna sit in business class, the same dates will cost you $3,662. But you'll kick it with fully flat beds, more leg room than you need and a la carte dining.
At the end of last week, the Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters proposed that Newark International and JFK auction off landing slots to increase competition at both airports. As long as takeoffs and landings are capped, the feds are worried that ticket prices could go up while the quality of service at New York's airports goes down.
To keep that from happening, the DOT wants to take a small portion of landing slots from all the airlines and sell 'em. The idea is that the auction will open up the market to new competitors and keep things fair--except for the whole "We took your landing slots" part of the plan, of course.
But will this slot selling--which has never been attempted at a major airport--actually spark competition? Industry watcher Brett Snyder doesn't think so:
In the end we'll probably see airlines like Continental bid high for Newark slots so they can keep the ones they have now and possibly even gain some more. The low cost carriers? Well, there's a reason they're low cost. They probably won't be able to afford the price of entry.
Late yesterday, New York's Port Authority, which controls JFK, announced that they'd spend $19 million to help fix up Eero Saarinen's iconic TWA terminal. That's great news for JetBlue, which has been hyping the landmark as an integral part of its new Terminal 5 at the airport. The airline's newly constructed building sits right behind the Saarinen structure, and a JetBlue spokesman tells us that the two will be connected.
At this early stage, the airline isn't disclosing any other plans for the historic terminal, though it's previously said that check-in kiosks will be available there. Given the building's age, we're wondering if it'll be wired for laptop-toting travelers or offer that famously free JetBlue WiFi. (Wireless will be available in the new half of T5.)
There's a lot of less technical work to be done, too, before the 46-year-old building reopens, including removing asbestos and repairing floors, doors and the roof. The Port Authority hopes to have that wrapped up by the time JetBlue moves into its new home this fall.
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by pbb
