Airline News

It’s no surprise that many of this year’s Crystal Cabin nominees focus on innovations which reduce weight and redistribute space, but innovations and improvements are always welcome onboard.

Kelly believes Southwest can remain competitive and relevant by keeping fares low and while providing outstanding service. That certainly is a differentiator from Spirit and Frontier, but JetBlue and Southwest are humming similar tunes.

Leadership isn't just about energy and enthusiasm, which recovering United CEO Oscar Munoz seems to have plenty of. But it can't be dismissed, either.

IATA raises concerns over softening growth in Premium demand due in part to economic conditions in China, but premium remains strong in markets which have long held the lion share of demand for the airline seat of power.

Will this be the peak of the airlines' latest run of good fortunes or are we somewhere else along in the cycle? How well the U.S. insulates itself from growing global challenges may answer this, but U.S.-centric carriers like Southwest will have an extra edge.

What's not to love about Hawaii? The extended codeshare service between JetBlue and Hawaiian will also strengthen both airlines by creating new connections from the East coast to the islands, and beyond, for travellers from the U.S. and Asia.

Delta's corporate travel clients are talking up increased volumes through the early summer of 2016 but that could change swiftly if the global economy gets more cantankerous.

While mobile connectivity in the U.S. has strong detractors, concerned over passenger calls in-flight, the service is broadly used around the world and passengers mostly use the service for texting and data applications.

Will 2016 be the year of loyalty poaching? It could make things very interesting.

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