Airlines Put on a Green Front and 7 Other Top Aviation Stories This Week

Airlines Care Less About the Environment Than They Lead You to Believe: Airlines know passengers care about the environment, so they’re all ready with talking points to provide their sustainability bonafides. But many are changing little about their strategies.

Why Are Airline Websites So Bad at Inspiring Travel? There are floors full of marketing folks and techies at Expedia, Booking.com, United, and American Airlines who are measuring whether consumers click faster on the yellow button or the red banner. Can airline websites afford to be cheerleader, confidante, and payment processor simultaneously?

Envious IAG Boss Congratulates Delta on Latam Move: Delta’s tactic of buying stakes in airlines across the globe is shaking up the world of airlines alliances, but the American carrier’s gain is likely to come at the expense of others including IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia.

Sabre Predicts Clear Skies for Its Airline Distribution and Tech Businesses: To paraphrase Sabre executives, airlines in North America are too fat and happy to be bothered to mimic the experiments with direct distribution happening in Europe. They’re probably calling that right.

How Air France Plans to Take Advantage of Smaller Rival’s Demise: Aigle Azur was tiny in comparison to Air France, but it still offered competition in certain areas, with the traffic rights to and from Algeria now of particular interest.

Thomas Cook’s Nordic Business Gets New Owners: Even though Thomas Cook Group is no longer around, parts of the company live on. The Nordic business was pretty profitable, crucially has strong local brands and isn’t weighed down by an extensive store network. It’s easy to see how it can be a success in the future.

Duffel Joins Wave of Startups Accelerating Efforts to Reinvent Airline Distribution: Venture capitalists are turning their sights on airline distribution. Duffel’s backing by VC firms Index and Benchmark bring hope to the sector.

Southwest Is Latest to Remove Expiration Dates From Frequent Flyer Miles: Those who are used to glacially accumulating airline miles over the course of many years may now have a better program to look forward to with Southwest Rapid Rewards. For those who took advantage of companion passes though, the story may be a bit different.