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February 2012 - Cranky Flier

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Delta Isn’t Actually Closing Its Memphis Hub Completely
Posted to Cranky Flier by The Cranky FlierThe Cranky Flier

72 Hours With Korean Air: Jin Air, Je-Dong Farm, and the Tech Center (Trip Report)
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Cranky on the Web (June 10 – 14)
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Correction of the Week: Delta and Korean’s Spat
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United Goes Fully Flat… in Business Class… On Long Haul… From North American Hubs
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How Many Extra Airplanes Does An Airline Need? (Ask Cranky)

It’s time for another Ask Cranky. Today, we’re looking at an operations question from a reader. How many extra planes do airlines keep on hand to fill in for maintenance issues that require longer than a day to fix? Or maybe a maintenance...

Published Tue, Feb 28 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Ask Cranky
The Final Days of the Continental Name (but Continental Itself Lives On)

There are a lot of different milestones that can be used to determine when a merger is truly complete. The one I always use is when you can no longer book a flight on both airlines. For United and Continental, that day comes this Saturday. In the wee...

Published Mon, Feb 27 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: United, Continental, Mergers/Finance
Cranky on the Web (February 20 – 24)

Five things not to do on airplanes – CNN Out of the Office This was fun to pick through five things people shouldn’t do on airplanes. I’m sure you guys have plenty to add to the list. United Makes New First and Business Class Confusing...

Published Sat, Feb 25 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: United
Topic of the Week: Upgrading with a Baby

This became a big discussion on Twitter, so I thought I’d bring it here. In a couple months, my wife and I are taking the little guy on his maiden voyage, and we had the chance to upgrade using miles on a cross country trip. Would you do it with...

Published Fri, Feb 24 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Miscellaneous
The Continuing Sad Decline of Miami Air Service

Have you been through Miami lately? Unless you’re an American Airlines-loyalist, the answer is probably a firm “no.” While American’s presence continues to strengthen, other airlines are running away in droves. The latest is Delta...

Published Thu, Feb 23 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: American
Spirit Goes to Denver, But Why?

The next stop for Spirit’s growth train here in the US is in an unlikely place . . . Denver. Why would Spirit go into a market where there’s certainly no shortage of capacity? Something tells me that the airline wants to send Frontier a message...

Published Tue, Feb 21 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Spirit
Who the F*&@ is PEOPLExpress?

Gather ’round, kids, because it’s story time. Today, I’ll tell the story of a once bright star that burnt out quickly. But not everyone believed it burnt out – some thought that it secretly retained its glow, just waiting to be...

Published Mon, Feb 20 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Who/What the F***
Cranky on the Web (February 13 – 17)

“Cranky Flier” Explores Decline in Small City Airline Service – Part 2 of 2 – ExpertFlyer Hot Topics In part two of this series, I look at the government programs to help keep small service, primarily Essential Air Service. The conclusion? These...

Published Sat, Feb 18 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Government Regulation, Hawaiian
Topic of the Week: Are Upgrades Worth It?

We’ve had a couple of interactions with upgrades lately and more often than not, mileage upgrades are becoming less useful. First, we had someone flying Delta to Europe. The “M” fare that Delta requires you buy to use an upgrade with...

Published Fri, Feb 17 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Frequent Flier Programs
Visiting American’s Flagship Check-In, Other New Lobby Areas at LAX

American recently decided to revamp its check-in lobby at LAX, and the result is going to be the blueprint for all of American’s hubs. American invited me to come on up and take a look last week. The highlight? The Flagship check-in service for...

Published Thu, Feb 16 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: LAX - Los Angeles, American
Southwest’s Uniquely Customer-Friendly AirTran Merger Plan

Today is Valentine’s Day, so how about a little LUV story? One of the things about Southwest’s takeover of AirTran that I like the most is the transition plan. The way it’s being done is incredibly customer-friendly, and it’s likely...

Published Tue, Feb 14 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Southwest, Mergers/Finance, AirTran
Frontier’s New Plan Shrinks the Midwest, Grows Colorado

Frontier has been moving on its plan to reinvent itself very quickly, and last week it rolled out some big changes that will fall into place over the next few months. In short, the old Midwest Airlines hubs are shrinking while it grows its presence in...

Published Mon, Feb 13 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Frontier
Cranky on the Web (February 5 – 10)

Jetwhine Tries to Out-Cranky the Cranky Flier – JetWhine Rob over at JetWhine had a painful experience dealing with American/Iberia on a codeshare so he gave me a ring to vent. You can listen to the 11:27 podcast over on his website. New DOT Regulations...

Published Sat, Feb 11 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: American, Spirit, Iberia
Topic of the Week: Fuel Hedging

People love to claim that Southwest’s fuel hedging strategy was brilliant last decade for keeping costs low. Others say it was terrible because it postponed Southwest from having to face a new reality of higher fuel prices. In the last quarter,...

Published Fri, Feb 10 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Southwest
Malev Shows Why Countries Don’t Need Flag Carriers

While last year saw very little in the way of big airlines failing, this year is already off to a quick start with both Spanair and Malev abruptly halting flights. Malev is a particularly interesting case study, because it showcases why flag carriers...

Published Thu, Feb 9 2012 11:45 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Malev

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