Cranky Flier

Frontier’s New Plan Shrinks the Midwest, Grows Colorado

The Cranky Flier — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:45:49 GMT

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...(read more)

Cranky on the Web (February 5 – 10)

The Cranky Flier — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:45:10 GMT

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...(read more)

Topic of the Week: Fuel Hedging

The Cranky Flier — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:45:34 GMT

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,...(read more)

Malev Shows Why Countries Don’t Need Flag Carriers

The Cranky Flier — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:45:33 GMT

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...(read more)

Congress Finally Gets Moving on a Bill to Reauthorize the FAA After Way Too Many Wasted Years

The Cranky Flier — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:45:54 GMT

I never thought we’d ever see the day come when Congress could actually agree on something, but sure enough, it appears to have happened. After more than 20 extensions of the old authorization which officially expired last decade, the Federal Aviation...(read more)

American’s New Business Plan Looks a Lot Like the Old One But With a Lot More Outsourcing

The Cranky Flier — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:45:50 GMT

February 1 was a big day at American. It was the day that the airline went over its (not really) new and improved business plan with employee groups, and that meant detailing the cuts it was going to ask for. As you can imagine, this brought some outrage...(read more)

Cranky on the Web (January 30 – February 3)

The Cranky Flier — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:45:14 GMT

Why Spirit Airlines Is Right – Conde Nast Daily Traveler Admittedly, this post was meant to stir the pot up a little. I do see merit in what Spirit is doing in fighting the feds on one hand, but that doesn’t mean I think the rule should necessarily...(read more)

Topic of the Week: Southwest’s Bigger Airplanes Start Flying Soon

The Cranky Flier — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:45:14 GMT

Yesterday, Southwest loaded the new 737-800 aircraft into its schedules. Starting on April 11, you can start flying the 175-seat birds from Chicago and Baltimore to Florida. That same day, Southwest will start separately selling its 737s in the new 143...(read more)

Five US Airports Doing Great Things with Concessions (Guest Post)

The Cranky Flier — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:45:50 GMT

Getting back to speed with a new baby in the house isn’t easy, so I’m posting one more guest post today to help me catch up. (Besides, I need time to read through all the American Airlines changes as well as the FAA reauthorization bill for...(read more)

American Leaks More Details on Its New 777 Interiors

The Cranky Flier — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:45:34 GMT

When American announced it would roll out a slew of new features on its new 777-300ER aircraft in December, I was left with more questions than answers. Now, just a bit more info has been released, and we have some answers but not all. Oh, and we have...(read more)

Frontier Charts Its Course as an Ultra Low Cost Carrier

The Cranky Flier — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:45:54 GMT

It’s been entirely clear for a few months that Republic wants to spin Frontier off into a standalone airline, but the question has been . . . how would they make that work when the airline was losing money? Now it looks like we might know. Frontier...(read more)

Cranky on the Web (January 23 – 27)

The Cranky Flier — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:45:50 GMT

New rules make airfare seem higher (even though it isn’t) – CNN Out of the Office This week, I took a look at the new DOT rules going into effect on pricing/fees. Airline Fee Changes Require Full Disclosure – NBC Los Angeles I met up...(read more)

Topic of the Week: Alaska Pulls Prayer Cards

The Cranky Flier — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:45:37 GMT

The topic has been raised here recently a couple of times. After decades of including prayer cards with meal trays, Alaska has decided to discontinue the practice. It had been reduced in scope when free meals disappeared from the coach cabin, but it was...(read more)

Video Tour of the New LAX Bradley Terminal Concourse Under Construction

The Cranky Flier — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:45:07 GMT

Earlier this week, I had the chance to tag along on a media tour of the progress being made on the new Bradley Terminal concourse at LAX. It’s a big, impressive terminal, that’s for sure. I just wish they hadn’t wasted quite so much...(read more)

Why Delta is Interested in Buying American

The Cranky Flier — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:45:28 GMT

When the news broke that Delta was sniffing around the possibility of making a bid for American while it sits in bankruptcy, there were a lot of people shaking their heads, thinking that the mere thought was ridiculous. I couldn’t disagree more...(read more)