Airlines

United’s Focus on Revenue Gains Gives It an Edge Over Rivals

Brian Sumers, Skift

United President Scott Kirby and Chief Commericial Officer Andrew Nocella, who worked together at US Airways and American Airlines, deserve credit for the airline's turnaround. Then again, when they arrived United was a broken company, so there was probably only one way to go — up.

FAA Will Recall Thousands of Furloughed Inspectors for Airplane Safety Checks

Ryan Beene, Mary Schlangenstein and Alan Levin, Bloomberg

It's nice to see the Federal Aviation Administration admit it needs to get safety inspectors back on the job. But how about the entire government getting back to work?

Delta Air Lines Has a $25 Million Reason to Hate the U.S. Shutdown

Brian Sumers, Skift

Delta is losing about $25 million in revenue this month because of the partial government shutdown. For such a big company, that's not a big number. But clearly Delta would like the government to reopen, and executives spent a good portion of their earnings call discussing it.

Skift Global Forum Recap: How Airlines Can Maximize the Results of Ancillary Merchandising

Airlines have reaped huge rewards in recent years from sales of ancillary products. But as we discovered during this Skift Global Forum panel, their future success is by no means assured. Airlines will need to learn to think more like retailers, using what they know about customers to deliver the right products and services that meet passengers’ constantly changing needs.

Qatar Airways Doubles Down on Threat to Boycott Oneworld

Layan Odeh and Anurag Kotoky, Bloomberg

After months of hostility with other airlines, Qatar Airways still hasn't backed down. Its president says it doesn't need Oneworld, but is that really true?

Breaking Down the U.S. Airline Industry by Market Size: New Skift Research Estimates

Seth Borko, Skift Research

Want to understand the U.S. airline industry, but short on time? Our proprietary estimates will allow you to understand how the the market is changing, which airlines are growing fastest, and the most important operational metrics at a glance.

Shutdown Puts Southwest’s Hawaii Service on Ice

Mary Schlangenstein, Bloomberg

Southwest hasn't given a new start date, which likely means its plans are somewhat up in the air. The length of the delay will depend on how long the standoff in Washington continues.

Ryanair Closes Vacations Website

Patrick Whyte, Skift

When Ryanair launched its holidays division, we said travel companies shouldn't lose too much sleep over it. We were right.

Air Canada Completes Bringing Aeroplan Loyalty Program Into Its Fold

Grant Martin, Skift

After a year of uncertainty, frequent flyers on Air Canada ended up almost right where they started at the beginning of the century: with the airline independently owning and operating Aeroplan.

How United Let It Slip That Apple Is Its Biggest Corporate Client

Isaac Carey, Skift

A list of the airline’s top clients showed up on Twitter Friday, with Apple taking the top spot. This is bad news for United — especially if Apple is out shopping for a new preferred airline today.

Lion Air Jet’s Cockpit Voice Recorder Found

Associated Press

If the voice recorder is undamaged, it could provide much-needed answers to the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since 1997. The families of the 189 people who died would welcome that.

Indonesian Airlines Forced to Drop Prices After a Holiday Spike

Fathiya Dahrul, Bloomberg

The flyers have spoken. So much for trying to hang on to dynamic pricing from peak holiday demand. Indonesian airlines learned the hard way. Always good to see market forces at work.