Weekend Update - Flight Wisdom

Image via Wikipedia

TAM will begin daily flights from Sao Paulo to Orlando on November 21st.
TAM and Air Canada will be codesharing and expanding an effort to provide increased services between Brazil and Canada.
A new partnership between Irish carrier Aer Lingus and United Airlines is available for sale on flights beginning November 1st. United will codeshare on all of Aer Lingus’s flights to Ireland from its US Gateways and on all flights from London to to Ireland. Members of the United Mileage Plus program will be able to earn points on Aer Lingus flights and in April of 2009, Aer Lingus will place its code on some United domestic service.
Virgin America is unveiling two new options for its passengers: Fully refundable fares and Main Cabin Select. Main Cabin Select is a premium economy product at the exit or bulkhead as well as priority boarding and check-in, no change fees, complimentary food and cocktails, complimentary premium entertainment options, etc.
AirTran Airways will be offering service to Cancun, Mexico from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Service will be once daily out of Atlanta effective February 25th. Baltimore service will be on Saturdays and Sundays, beginning March 7th.
Southwest Airlines officially announced its intent to serve Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with flights to Chicago Midway only in March. Minneapolis is a market strongly defended by Northwest Airlines and several airlines operate from there to Chicago. This limited launch of one city may indicate several things. Southwest may be taking a cautious stand, or it may be limiting its growth. The Cranky Flier disagrees, and predicts they will announce more destinations before the service starts. Either way, there is potential.
Speaking of Midway, Porter Airlines will be starting service from its hub at Toronto City Centre Airport to Chicago Midway on November 12th. An initial schedule of three daily roundtrips on weekdays and two on weekends will be in place till January 7th, when the full six daily weekday and extra weekend service will begin. Porter uses a 70-seat Q400 turboprop for its service and plans additional expansion.
A JetBlue passenger reported that a JetBlue flight attendant showed naked pictures of himself, made lewd comments, and grabbed her buttocks on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Newark some months ago. The flight attendant has since been arrested and no longer works for the airline. The woman did not report the incident at the time and is only now coming forward.
JetBlue Airways will be ending its Syracuse-Ft. Lauderdale route on January 5th, citing high fuel costs and underpeformance. JetBlue may be adding an additional Syracuse-Orlando service, as that route has performed much better. Considering the point of some of these flights from the north nonstop to Florida was to avoid a repeat of the incident that occured on Valentine’s Day a few years ago, caused by JetBlue’s overdependence on airports prone to snow, perhaps they should consider adding an Orlando-Ft. Lauderdale flight to consolidate passengers heading southbound from a multitude of destinations.
The state of Utah has agreed to give Delta Airlines $250,000 after the airline suggested operating a Salt Lake City International Airport to Tokyo, Japan nonstop. The money would be added to a $2 million incentive package being assembled. Tokyo is a hub for Northwest, which is set to merge with Delta in the near future.
Airlines have started reviewing the idea of stripping paint from their planes to save money on fuel, BNet’s Travel industry blog reports. Do the benefits outweight the costs?
Air France is cancelling its Los Angeles to London Heathrow route on November 6th, citing poor economic conditions. The airline only started the route six months ago.
Scotland may lose its service on British Airways, despite being part of the United Kingdom. British Airways had admitted it is reviewing its cabin crew base at Glasgow Airport. Low-cost carriers and rising costs have made Scotland to London routes a huge loss for BA. BA Cityflier, a regional subsidiary, may continue its operations from Edinburgh to London City Airport.
Allegiant Air has been busy since the last time we checked in with them. For more, check out their Press Room.
- They have reversed their decision to terminate service from Ft. Lauderdale to Tri-Cities Regional Airport in Tennesee, to Chattanooga, and to Tri-State Airport in Huntington, WV.
- They will be starting nonstop service from Wilmington, NC to Tampa Bay, FL.
- New service from Elmira, NY to Orlando-Sanford.