Airline News

In Skift's top stories this week, Alaska Airlines launches a subscription service, Marriott Executive Chairman Bill Marriott announces he will retire in May, and Tripadvisor prepares to take Viator public.

Norwegian Air's metamorphosis from a long-haul disruptor to a Nordic budget carrier took one more step as the airline seeks to sell its valuable takeoff and landing slots at London's Gatwick Airport. There will be no shortage of takers for the slots at the popular airport, and Norwegian is raising hundreds of millions of dollars off the sale.

Air France-KLM is barred from investing in other airlines until it has paid back the billions in state aid it took from the French and Dutch governments. But even still, the Franco-Dutch group says it is not in any rush to invest in Italy's ITA.

Delta is the latest to jump on the buy-now, pay-later train with American Express' "Plan It" offering. The airline hopes the functionality will help it attract — and keep — more cost-conscious younger travelers who have been leading the recovery.

Airline distribution's fate may lie somewhere between the skeptical view of Tom Klein, the former CEO of Sabre, and the optimistic view of Alice Ferrari, the CEO of Kyte.

Electric air taxis have captured airlines' attention by offering them a solution to the last-mile of travelers' trips, and meeting carbon emission targets. AirAsia is the latest to jump for the technology with a big commitment for the proposed planes.

Alaska Airlines's new subscription service could shift the company's sales strategy. It may push the carrier to build lifetime customer value rather than see each purchase as a one-off transaction.

With a new order for 30 Airbus A220s, JetBlue is placing a bet on an aircraft that emerged as something of a pandemic-era superstar for airlines, thanks to its small size and lower operating costs.

Good morning from Skift. It's Tuesday, February 15, in New York City. Here's what you need to know about the business of travel today.

The airline industry believes travel demand won't recover in the Asia-Pacific region until at least 2024, but when it does, it's expected to come back strong. Airbus believes the region will account for almost half of all new aircraft through 2040, fueled by rapid economic growth and demographic changes that will see the region's middle class expand by more than 1 billion people.