Close User Name Password
Login Register
Travel alerts straight to your inbox:
 

Tag: SkyTeam View All Tags

Tags: / / / /

Continental's Switch To Star Alliance Going About As Smoothly As You'd Expect

August 7, 2009 at 12:01 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

So there's no definite window between ending SkyTeam perks and starting Star Alliance sharing, and no absolute date on when code sharing will end. Oh, also Continental has no firm idea for how lounge reciprocity and loyalty points will work. Thankfully The Transnational investigates:

'With our final flight on 24 October, we will leave SkyTeam,' said outgoing Continental CEO Larry Kellner. 'We will be in Star just as fast as we can be after that. We just can't do anything until we get out of SkyTeam to jointly market with Star partners. It won't be seamless; it will be a couple days in transition.'

It also requires ending codeshare flights and joint corporate programs. On the former, some code shares with Delta and Northwest already have been discontinued, Kellner said, and 'all drop off [by] the end of July.' 'We have to be careful not to get ahead of ourselves,' he said. 'We aren't ready yet to project when we will be up and running.'

On the plus side, Continental recently installed in-flight TV, so at least they've got that going for them.

more ›

Tags: / / / / / /

Final Approval Comes For Continental To Join Cool Kids of Star Alliance

July 13, 2009 at 9:19 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Late last week Continental Airlines got the final go ahead to leave all their old friends at SkyTeam for the greener pastures of a Star Alliance circle of friends. We knew this was coming, but first they had to make sure the government said it was fine and dandy.

This fall, when the airline falls in with the Star Alliance, we hope all the other airlines make room for them at the cool kids table in the cafeteria. They’ll definitely be trading for Oreos while discussing schedules, marketing, and jointly planned pricing.

more ›

Tags: / / / / / /

Continental Splits From SkyTeam For United, Star Alliance

January 30, 2009 at 11:10 AM | by egw | 0 Comments

Like your drunk friend who thinks everyone should know about her personal drama from her first, Continental Airlines e-mailed all its OnePass members last night to announce it is finally pulling away from the SkyTeam airline alliance and joining the Star Alliance. The official split date is October 24, after which Delta, Air France and KLM will be gathering at Korean Air's house to burn all of Continental's stuff.

The break-up has been a while in the making as Continental announced last year it would partner with United Airlines to fight high fuel costs after flirting with both American and British Airways. Continental had even explored buying the Star Alliance partner but walked away after United revealed greater than expected losses.

Should you cash in your Continental miles now while the gettin's still good, or wait to see what the new partnership can get you? We say redeem 'em now, if you can: The airline announced yesterday it will be cutting service overall by 7 percent after reporting a $266 million fourth-quarter loss.

Related Stories:
· 2008: Continental, United join in code-sharing, frequent-flier pact [USA Today]
· Continental's Switch from SkyTeam to Star [Houston Chronicle Departures blog]
· Continental, US Air Bring Group Loss to $1.35 Billion [Bloomberg News]

[Photo: caribb]

Tags: / / / / / /

Azul Is Flying And Now Looking For Friends

Where: Brazil
January 26, 2009 at 10:55 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

It’s been just over a month since Azul began flying around Brazil, but they’re already looking forward to bigger and better things. Not content with serving only domestic routes, the airline is reportedly looking to buddy up with the Skyteam alliance.

Although nothing is official yet, this would possibly allow for international connections and would certainly strengthen Skyteam’s network in South America.

Unfortunately, we haven’t heard any first-hand reports of flight experiences on David Neeleman’s new baby. We know there’s no TVs yet, so at least the trip reports won’t include complaints about the service dropping out and people missing their favorites telenovelas.

Have your own trip report to share? Send it our way.

Related Stories:
·Crisis May Reduce the Azul Fleet [Portal Exame]
·Neeleman's Newest Carrier Takes Off [Jaunted]
·New Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

more ›

Tags: / / / /

Kingfisher Airlines: International Service Yes, Extra Employees No

September 22, 2008 at 3:45 PM | by pbb | 0 Comments

It was just a couple weeks ago that Kingfisher Airlines was celebrating its first flight to London. But now, the carrier is cutting back on staff, getting rid of 300 employees as it also trims domestic flights in the face of high fuel costs.

The airline told an Indian newspaper:

We examined the complete organization structure of the airline and mapped the skill sets of the existing talent pool with the projected talent requirements of the company.

In other words, we may have bought up Air Deccan, but we don't need to be paying all these extra people to help run it!

Related Stories:
· Kingfisher to Cut 300 Jobs [Business Standard]
· Kingfisher Air Promises Hottest Flight Attendants in the Sky [Jaunted]
· Kingfisher Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: ÇP]

Tags: / / / /

More Details Emerging on Kingfisher Airlines Expansion

August 25, 2008 at 5:00 PM | by pbb | 0 Comments

More details are emerging about Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines, which plans to start flights between Heathrow and India next month. If all goes smoothly, the three-year-old upstart could be landing in San Francisco before the end of 2008.

Billionaire Vijay Mallya runs the show, and he tells the Financial Times:

That Kingfisher is establishing the base for its widebody long-haul operations at the recently opened Bangalore International airport, which with Hyderabad is leading the drive to modernise Indian airport infrastructure in an effort to catch up with the very fast growth of the Indian aviation market.

And though it's slowing growth on the domestic front, Kingfisher is already exploring a code sharing partnership with the SkyTeam, which counts Air France and Delta among its members.

Related Stories:
· Kingfisher Stretches Its Wings [FT]
· New Routes: Kingfisher Airlines Expanding to UK, US [Jaunted]
· New Routes coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]