Airlines & Air Travel Articles

(Dive Travel Business News - August 5, 2010) -- Mexicana Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection in Mexico and the U.S. earlier this week. The airline reported $1.2 billion in liabilities as of June 30, and $768.5 million in assets. Creditors have seized three of Mexicana's planes. The company owns nine of the 64 aircraft in its fleet. During its restructuring, Mexicana intends to cut staff pay and benefits.

Mexicana suspended ticket sales on Wednesday August 4. The airline said it will "continue to operate its flights as scheduled to protect its passengers."

"Clearly, they’re not going to be operating very long without selling tickets," said analyst Bob Mann of aviation consultancy RW Mann. "The actions they’ve taken are actually quite drastic and I’m not sure they’ve made it any better, only more urgent. Current bookings won’t be enough to keep it flying very long." read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - July 15, 2010) -- A report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) indicates that the growing number of airline ancillary fees can be confusing and misleading to consumers and ought to come with better disclosures.

There have been many intended and unintended consequences of the unbundling fees from ticket prices. According to the GAO report: read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - July 14, 2010) -- A U.S. House of Representatives hearing hosted by the US Transportation and Infrastructure's Subcommittee on Aviation will be held today that focuses on the proliferation and disclosure of ancillary airline fees.  The hearing comes about four weeks before the close of a public comment period on a related set of rules proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Among other things, the proposed DOT rules would require carriers to provide GDSs with information about bag fees and optional services fees. Proposed rules also include details on tarmac delay regulations and data, disclosure of customer service plans, consumer problem rectification, oversales and advertising "full" fares.

"The proliferation of ancillary fees over a relatively short period of time has raised concerns over the costs and transparency of such fees," according to the subcommittee. "Often, consumers are not entirely aware of the range of fees that they may encounter in the ticket booking process, at check-in and at the gate." read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - June 30, 2010) -- Air Pacific, Fiji's International Airline, the world’s friendliest airline, is offering a "Kids Fly Free*" fare, allowing parents to take the whole family to fabulous Fiji.

The offer is for flights to Fiji from Los Angeles August 1 – February 28 (Dec 15 – Jan 15 is blacked out).  The offer is good for one child or infant ticket with each adult round trip ticket purchased — round trip fares start at $1200 or so for 2 people (not too shabby).  Add-ons are available from other departure cities and, bonus, the child fare does not have to pay the add on.  To book, you must call the airline at 800-227-4446 before August 15th.

  read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - June 9, 2010) -- Just months after the US Department of Transportation  (DOT) dealt with lengthy on-ground flight delays with new tarmac rules,  DOT Secretary Ray LaHood has released a new round of consumer-friendly airline rules. If adopted, this newest set of airline regulations would: read more »

• Force smaller airports and international air carriers to adopt contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays;
• Make airlines give passenger more information on delays;
• Foreign airlines would become subject to the same ground delay data reporting and disclosure rules as U.S. carriers;
• Establish of minimum standards for carriers’ customer service plans and extend the customer service plan requirements to cover foreign carriers;
• Change airline policies on denied boarding compensation, also known as involuntary bumping, to increase minimum compensation, add inflation adjustment, and offer more information to passengers about the policies

(Dive Travel Business News - May 26, 2010) -- Cayman Airways has launched a Two for the Price of One special. Those who book a roundtrip Cayman Airways flight before June 12 will receive an additional free roundtrip ticket and a fourth night of accommodations free on a three-night stay with this limited time offer, valid for travel from May 5 to June 16. Cayman Airways offers nonstop service from New York, Tampa and Miami. Participating accommodations include Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, Lacovia Condominiums, The Grand Caymanian Resort, The Reef Resort, and The Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa For more information, visit www.caymanislands.ky.

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(Dive Travel Business News - May 11, 2010 ) -- You've now heard of the "3-hour rule". With a few security-related exemptions, an airline must allow customers to get off the plane — or risk receiving fines of up to $27,500 per passenger to be paid to the government — at the three-hour point of a tarmac delay. 

But it's not just the tarmac delay rule that took effect April 29, 2010, but one of a series of new DOT regulations designed to protect commercial airline passengers.The Department of Transportations' new rule on tarmac delays is part of an 81-page document detailing DOT’s new Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections.  In the document, other regulations are found that apply more broadly and require carriers to be more truthful about flight delays and take more responsibility when things go wrong.

Here are some highlights of the DOT legislation. read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - May 10, 2010) -- Delta Air Lines is starting nonstop service from New York’s JFK to the Cayman Islands on June 12, 2010. The flights will operate once a week on Saturdays using the 160-seat Boeing 737-800. The Caymans are also offering the family-oriented Summer Splash promotion, which is valid for travel May 15 to Sept. 6, 2010, and includes discounted accommodations, activities, meals, car rentals, attractions and more. For more information, visit the Cayman Islands site or Delta.

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