Airline News

Not every airline can be a global behemoth. Finnair mostly focuses on its niche — connecting Europe with Asia, including secondary Chinese cities.

The low-cost, long-haul revolution is only just starting to take off. Will full-service carriers be able to adapt to this new reality or are we about to see a total realignment?

This week we had airline loyalty on the brain. Most airlines are slashing loyalty perks except for the ultra-elite. Redeeming miles has never been so crazy and elusive.

What have we learned from this investor conference? Americans are cheap. Some travelers probably do win when buying these fares, but United says as many as 40 percent of customers are choosing them. Surely, some don't know what they're buying.

To the average flyer this makes little sense. Why would a Scandinavian airline build a new airline with the same name in Ireland? But many consumers expect to pay 30 or 35 Euros to fly from Copenhagen to London. If an airline is going to offer those prices, it needs to control costs.

In today's airline landscape, legacy carriers generally offer between 30 and 32 inches of seat pitch. Discount airlines give customers 28 or 29 inches. American Airlines had planned to shrink some seats to 29 inches, but customers complained. The plan is off. That's good news.

Panama's Copa Airlines is not well-known in most of North America, but it's among the most profitable airlines in the Americas. Its secret? Like Southwest Airlines, it keeps its model simple.

What would the Casper or Warby Parker of the aviation world look like? We take a stab at outlining the characteristics.

Are old-school U.S. airlines too focused on short-term profits and competing against low-cost carriers to deliver a quality product to their loyal passengers?

Alaska's Mileage Plan program continues to get stronger with a new series of incentives aimed at west coast Virgin America customers. Between the incentives and the numerous partners, Alaska has put together a pretty solid loyalty program.