Airline News

For the past five years, Mark Schwab has tried to manage a complex alliance of nearly 30 airlines. Given the number of differing opinions involved, Schwab has had one of the more difficult jobs in the airline industry.

Delta and Starwood's crossover program got even better last week for hotel elites with no airline status. Low-tier Delta elites however, may now face more competition for their premium seats.

These are the aviation trends we were talking about this week.

This is an oops moment. No matter whose fault it is, Southwest should have not launched new service to Mexico without receiving final regulatory approval.

The DOT doesn't have as much regulatory power as other government agencies, so it's doing what it can to try to protect consumers. At the least, if an airline permits voice calls, it will have to tell consumers what it's doing — before they buy a ticket.

It's not likely Alaska Airlines would have lost in court, but this case was still a nuisance, so it makes sense that the company resolved it. Now, Alaska can finally focus on absorbing Virgin America.

Prospective nominee Major Gen. John Kelly as Department of Homeland Security secretary certainly has experience in border protection and could play a key role if President-Elect Trump cracks down on immigration, illegal and legal. Kelly's views on airport security and the TSA have yet to be articulated but privatization efforts would not be surprising.

Recent research has found that a majority of frequent travelers are finding more value in the airport experience. There are some clear steps for today’s airport to take as it evolves into the airport of tomorrow.

The Department of Justice has an odd relationship with airlines. It seems to enjoy grabbing headlines about how it's doing its job to protect industry competition. But when it comes time to actually getting airlines to make real concessions, it falls short.

It's nice that the DOT finally got around to approving Norwegian's Irish unit to fly to the United States. But this is not as big of a game-changer as some have suggested. Norwegian was going to grow in the United States and offer low fares on transatlantic flights, regardless of whether this happened.