Airline News

More companies are producing airline seats. That's good news for carriers, which have long complained about production delays from existing suppliers. It's not clear how much it matters for consumers. Airlines don't allot much space to each economy seat so there's not a lot of room for innovation.

There's no doubt Ryanair is a more customer-friendly airline than a few years ago. But its pilot shortage problem last year was a major problem, and it undoubtedly hurt its reputation.

Once all the aircraft arrive, American will be the largest Dreamliner operator in the western hemisphere, according to Boeing. That's good for customers, considering the aircraft receives the highest customer satisfaction scores of any widebody in American's fleet.

A new series of fares just launched by Air Canada should make it easier for discerning travelers to pick the fare that suits them best – as long as they're willing to pay for it.

The conventional wisdom is that airline passengers will do anything to save a buck. That's often true, but not always. Southwest has recently added more flights that depart before 6 a.m. and arrive after 10 p.m., and its load factor has suffered.

Tag flights — when an airline lands in one international city and then almost immediately takes off for another — are disappearing from aviation as more airlines launch ultra-long-haul nonstops that make the stop unnecessary. But Qantas will probably keep its Los Angeles-New York nonstop for awhile.

Low-fare airlines got there first. Now, big carriers are launching basic economy fares across the Atlantic. Expect some confusion as their customers figure out the rules.

It's nice to see Alaska Air's CEO saying all the right things about preventing sexual assault and harassment. Now let's see if the new training and procedures actually work.

This week in aviation, we're trying not to focus on United's stream of public relations nightmares, but we're perhaps spending more time analyzing the U.S. pilot shortage and the unnecessary frills of business class.

Great Lakes Airlines is essentially going out of business. The Regional Airline Association is using this as a chance to lobby politicians to relax requirements on pilot training. But that's probably not necessary. There's reason to believe the Great Lakes situation was unique.