Cranky Flier

ANA Takes a Step Toward Global Superstar With Product Changes

It’s certainly interesting to watch the Japanese market these days. JAL is turning in record losses and is effectively sitting on a cliff waiting to jump. Meanwhile, ANA has decided to pour a bunch of money into seriously improving its product....

Posted Nov 20 2009, 03:10 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Seats, ANA

United and Continental Now Have Reciprocal Upgrades But That Doesn’t Mean They’re Merging

I suppose it’s inevitable. Any time two airlines move closer together, the speculation that it means they’ll merge picks up. Right now, the noise surrounding a United-Continental merger is deafening thanks to the announcement that elite members...

Posted Nov 19 2009, 04:00 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Frequent Flier Programs, Continental, United

British Airways and Iberia Finally Get Closer to Almost Possibly Merging

Has there been a stranger courtship than that between British Airways and Iberia? The airlines, which have been talking for years, have finally agreed to merge, sort of. I mean, it’ll get there eventually. I believe talks began in 1784 when King...

Posted Nov 18 2009, 03:21 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: British Airways, Mergers/Finance, Iberia

What the F*&^ is a Sharklet? (Hint: It’s Good)

Winglets on airplanes are nothing new. We’ve seen them big and small on all kinds of airplanes. The most visible ones these days are the huge ones that you see on 737s, but what the heck is a sharklet? Well, that’s the Airbus-designed winglet...

Posted Nov 17 2009, 04:01 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: A320, Aircraft

Virgin + Wine = Good Times (Trip Report)

This past weekend, my wife and I were planning on driving up to wine country to spend the weekend with some friends. As the weekend drew closer, I decided that I really didn’t want to drive, so I went to look for flights. Three days before departure...

Posted Nov 16 2009, 02:06 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Virgin America, Trip Reports

Cranky on the Web (Nov 9 – 13)

American and British Airways Still Waiting for Feds Antitrust Immunity Decision – BNET The waiting game continues as the DOT has gone past its own deadline for ruling on the BA/American deal. This is getting tiresome. Capacity Restraint Leads to...

Posted Nov 14 2009, 03:00 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: US Airways, Frequent Flier Programs, Alliances, American, BNET, British Airways, Cranky Concierge, Oneworld, Government Regulation

Virgin Atlantic’s Taxi Share Service Is a Decent Start

Virgin Atlantic has teamed up with Taxi2 (and it’s oddly-registered Tongan website taxi.to) to help passengers share cabs to their destination. This to me is a great idea, but they haven’t taken this far enough. Hopefully this is just the...

Posted Nov 13 2009, 03:52 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Virgin Atlantic

Alitalia Posts Profit, Hell Freezes Over

I have never written a more surprising post than this one. Alitalia, the queen of red ink, has actually, shockingly, found that by making more money than it was spending, it could post a profit. This past quarter, the airline made 15 million euros in...

Posted Nov 12 2009, 02:36 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Alitalia

Association of European Airlines Shows Disregard for the Public, Earns a Cranky Jackass Award

You might have seen the Cardinal’s guest post here on Cranky a couple weeks ago on the Association of European Airlines’ (AEA) efforts to protect its member airlines despite there being little to no apparent public benefit. Well, apparently...

Posted Nov 11 2009, 03:33 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Cranky Jackass, Government Regulation

Frontier Quietly Introduces Stretch Premium Economy

Frontier has been surprisingly quiet about its latest product change, a new premium economy section called Stretch. I saw it mentioned on their Facebook page, and I believe they mentioned it on their earnings call, but I haven’t seen much else....

Posted Nov 10 2009, 03:40 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Frontier, Midwest Airlines

United Ditches More 50 Seat Jets, Mesa Takes Hit

If you think back 15 years ago, the 50 seat regional jet was the hot commodity. People seemed to be willing to pay for jet comfort over a turboprop, and airlines raced to add as many as they could. It’s pretty much been all downhill from there....

Posted Nov 09 2009, 03:53 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: CRJ, Mesa Airlines, Bombardier, United

Cranky on the Web (Nov 2 – 6)

Cranky Concierge watches your back – Hartford Courant More on Cranky Concierge. It’s picking up steam. Delta Air Lines Rips Into International Association of Machinists – BNET The IAM has postponed its representation efforts for Delta’s...

Posted Nov 07 2009, 05:09 AM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Continental, Delta, United, Labor Relations

Win a Southwest Flight Schedule Signed by Herb Kelleher and Colleen Barrett with a Tribute to Timetables

If you’re an airline dork, you love timetables. It’s just the way it’s always been. And with Southwest finally issuing its last timetable this year, the era of printed timetables in the US has come to a close. I asked Southwest for a...

Posted Nov 06 2009, 04:00 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Admin, Southwest

SkyWest to Start Flying for AirTran in Milwaukee

You cheeseheads may still be hurting from your second Favre-related beatdown this year, but you can rejoice that you now have yet another airline coming to town. SkyWest (yes, the regional airline) will begin flying for AirTran in Milwaukee. It’s...

Posted Nov 05 2009, 03:28 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: AirTran, Midwest Airlines, MKE - Milwaukee, SkyWest

Midwest Airlines Stops Flying (Its Own Planes)

This may seem like a footnote to some, but just two days ago, Midwest officially stopped flying its own aircraft. That doesn’t mean, as we all know, that the Midwest brand is going away. It just means that now it is nothing more than a brand. So...

Posted Nov 04 2009, 04:00 PM by The Cranky Flier

Filed under: Midwest Airlines

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