Cranky Flier

ANA Takes a Step Toward Global Superstar With Product Changes

The Cranky Flier — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:10:27 GMT

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....(read more)

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

The Cranky Flier — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:17 GMT

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...(read more)

British Airways and Iberia Finally Get Closer to Almost Possibly Merging

The Cranky Flier — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:21:14 GMT

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...(read more)

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

The Cranky Flier — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:01:42 GMT

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...(read more)

Virgin + Wine = Good Times (Trip Report)

The Cranky Flier — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:06:43 GMT

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...(read more)

Cranky on the Web (Nov 9 – 13)

The Cranky Flier — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:00:17 GMT

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...(read more)

Virgin Atlantic’s Taxi Share Service Is a Decent Start

The Cranky Flier — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:52:42 GMT

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...(read more)

Alitalia Posts Profit, Hell Freezes Over

The Cranky Flier — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:36:23 GMT

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...(read more)

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

The Cranky Flier — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:33:39 GMT

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...(read more)

Frontier Quietly Introduces Stretch Premium Economy

The Cranky Flier — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:40:56 GMT

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....(read more)

United Ditches More 50 Seat Jets, Mesa Takes Hit

The Cranky Flier — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:53:08 GMT

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....(read more)

Cranky on the Web (Nov 2 – 6)

The Cranky Flier — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:09:40 GMT

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...(read more)

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

The Cranky Flier — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:59 GMT

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...(read more)

SkyWest to Start Flying for AirTran in Milwaukee

The Cranky Flier — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:28:09 GMT

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...(read more)

Midwest Airlines Stops Flying (Its Own Planes)

The Cranky Flier — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:00:15 GMT

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...(read more)