Three New Runways: Chicago, Seattle, and Washington D.C.
What a great day for airports - three new runways opened at 3 major airports in the United States. Due to the number of delays in the nationwide air traffic system, runways were built at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International, and Washington’s Dulles International. These runways will increase capacity at these major airports. News reports say that nearly $1.8 billion dollars went into these runways (total): $450 million at Chicago’s O’Hare International, nearly $350 at Dulles International, and over $1 billion dollars into Seattle’s new runway. If you haven’t noticed already, all of these airports are hubs to at least one major carrier.
I see this as a great opportunity for the airlines based at these airports. I think specifically of United, whose on-time performance and massive amount of complaints (leader) was nothing to brag about (January thru June period). Washington’s Dulles and Chicago’s O’Hare are major gateways for United. I think this will significantly help their flights arrive on-time, and it will have a ripple effect of improving their entire network of route’s on-time performance.
Who else is this good news to? American Airlines (hub in Chicago’s O’Hare), Alaska Airlines / Horizon Air (hub in Seattle) and Northwest Airlines (focus city in Seattle). Better yet, it’s good for travelers everywhere. Note that Chicago O’Hare significantly impacts United Airlines’ and American Airlines’ entire route structure. Granted, it will not solve all problems, but it’s an important step. This new runway, for Chicago, is part of a massive $15 billion dollar project that aims to lay down another runway and a terminal by 2014. All ORD (Chicago O’Hare) needs is the funding.
The next step, as the AP article correctly suggests, is the air traffic control system. Yet that will cost Americans roughly $30 billion dollars in tax-payer money. The new system implements GPS over the obsolete radar method of controlling aircraft. Another step is improving capacity in other locations. The FAA has said that they easily see 4 major airports going up within the next 2 to 3 decades. Whether or not that does happen, I think all can agree that today was a good day for travelers, airlines, and the world’s air traffic system.
Image: stock.xchng.com
Add comment November 21, 2008
Virgin America to Stream to YouTube Event, Delta Improves Check-In.
AirCell, the company that produces GoGo, can now welcome Virgin America to its growing client list. AirCell provides wireless broadband, via technology similar to cell-towers (except pointed upward). The company already has Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. You might recall my two articles about it; with American and Delta. Virgin American will be testing GoGo through YouTube’s live November 22 event, using streaming media from a circling Virgin America aircraft flying at 35,000 feet above the event in San Francisco. Virgin America has said that they plan on offering GoGo for all of Virgin America’s fleet by second quarter 2009. Pretty cool, huh? I guess this means that travelers aren’t only limited to Red (Virgin America’s in-flight entertainment), but they are able to use their laptops. This, without a doubt, will help boost revenue and load factors.
Delta Air Lines has announced some great news for travelers. The airline said that they have made ticket purchases and check-in at kiosks much easier for passengers. Delta says that they also are improving curb-side check-in for customers traveling internationally. The carrier said that they have made check-in much simpler by lowering the number of screens a passenger must suffer through to retrieve their ticket. The new system also features enhanced destination information, like weather, and itinerary information. New online features include the ability to save their profile to reduce steps in the booking process, which may allow some passengers to book within 30 seconds. Amazing.
Out of all the big 6 airlines in the United States, I feel as though I can safely say that Delta has the best check-in / booking as well as entertainment. In my opinion, Virgin America leads all U.S. airlines in entertainment and in-flight travel experience - they just need to grow.
Add comment November 20, 2008
Delta Air Lines: Still Boeing’s Turf?
A recent article has answered a very important question for Boeing’s future with Delta Air Lines. As you may know, Delta, prior to the merger with Northwest Airlines, was an all-Boeing airline. Northwest is primarily Airbus oriented, and the new changes to management have sparked questions about Boeing’s future with Delta. Will Delta continue to be an all Boeing airline? Delta’s Chief, Richard Anderson, replied with, ”Delta will be an opportunistic purchaser of airplanes, and that will include both Boeing and Airbus.” It doesn’t stop there; Mr. Anderson said that they will also take Bombardier and Embraer seriously as well, mainly because of their widely varying route map and network.
Mr. Anderson answered questions about the 787 as well, saying that it is a good fit for the newly merged airline. Recall that Delta considered the 787 “too small” for its needs, and prefers the A350. Can we expect Delta to order A350s? I won’t be surprised. Northwest’s ex-Chief, Doug Steenland said that Northwest is likely to act on the 50 options that the subsidiary carrier has with Boeing (so far, Northwest has 18 firm orders with Boeing for the 787).
Delta, like American Airlines, is burdened with the aging fleet of MD-80s. What will replace those? The safe bet is to say the 737NGs that Delta has coming in from Boeing. Personally, I find that the 737NG is a far better performer than the A32X series. It’s my hope that Delta continues their stream of 737s.
I’d like to see the carrier make a move towards Embraer. Other carriers, like US Airways and Air Canada, have invested in the E190 and it has paid off - Fuel Efficiency wise and overall experience. I see the E190 as a good fit for short-medium haul routes and a viable replacement for Northwest’s DC-9s.
Delta making a move for other manufactures besides Boeing will keep Boeing’s sales team on their toes. Remember, Boeing gave up a good deal of their market share in the industry when they took Airbus for granted (just look at AirBerlin). I have no doubt that that will be happening again, but I think Boeing will have to be more competitive for the Delta account - pricing wise. It’s my hope that Delta continues its strong relationship with Boeing for years to come, but we’ll see what they do.
Add comment November 19, 2008
Higher Airfare: Go to Kayak!
Airlines are expected to raise airfare soon - but why? Everyone knows that gas is at a low right now, which has left some travelers puzzled as to why airlines are continuing to burden consumers with fuel surcharges. Airlines are expected to drop the fuel surcharges and simply up the ticket price to continue the nice revenue stream that they’re experiencing now. Low oil prices tend to keep everyone happy; the airlines make a nice profit, and travelers pay less for tickets (or so we thought). Instead, it seems as though some airlines plan on cashing in big time. As a traveler, what else can you do? Kayak!
Kayak.com has made a name for itself as the low airfare finder. It allows travelers to simply input their intended ‘From’ and ‘To’ airports into the search engine - then just let Kayak do the rest! Kayak’s search engine searches most domestic carriers, many international carriers, and travel sites (Orbitz.com, Cheaptickets.com). You can customize the search engine to fit your needs; layover time, number of stops, airlines searched, time of flight, etc. Although Kayak doesn’t search every airline (like low-cost carriers), it does find very reasonable fares. Once you select a flight, you then are able to book the flight through the site that it recommends. Kayak is a FREE search engine - no strings attached. Don’t fly until you’ve checked Kayak; it’s the best way to get around high fares. (Note: sometimes it is not always best to book super ahead of schedule; Kayak usually has the cheapest fares about a month or two prior to the date you wish to travel) See image below:
Image: Screenshot from Kayak.com
1 comment November 18, 2008
LAX to get Multi-Billion Dollar Renovation.
Los Angeles International Airport, or LAX, is expected to be getting a massive facelift. The project’s cost will be, ballpark, somewhere between 2 to 3 billion dollars. The new project is expected to include new gates, built for Very Large Aircraft (VLA), especially at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The airport was originally designed to handle 40 million passengers, yet surpassed that number with 62 million last year. It’s clearly evident that expansion is on the horizon.
The Tom Bradley International Terminal has 12 gates serving 28 airlines. A few of those airlines, such as Emirates and Qantas, have plans to bring A380s to Los Angeles at some point - replacing the 747s. Yet, bear in mind that this comes during economic hardship. Many of the A380 airlines, I’m sure, are ready for such an expansion - but what about the others? If airlines are going to give in to this, the airport will have to manage construction costs; keeping them low. It reminds me of Phoenix and their new monorail system; US Airways is unhappy because it means higher landing fees for them. No one is sure how the costs will play out, but I’ll be watching this. Remember, it’s not official yet.
Image: flickr.com
Add comment November 17, 2008
Small Changes - Blog renamed “Aviation-Buzz”
For quite some time I’ve been looking for a more refined blog name than “An Aviator’s Blog.” After about a month’s time, I was able to find a suitable name and domain for this blog. Afterall, this blog is all about airlines, airports, airplanes / manufacturing. An Aviator’s Blog will be changing its name to “Aviation Buzz“.
What’s Changing:
Other than the name and domain, the blog will remain the same. I will continue to write posts that deal with airlines, airports, and aircraft manufacturing. Rest assured, http://www.jonathanheckman.com will STILL work; it will re-direct to the new site. That domain will remain until sometime in early July when the domain is up for renewal. The NEW domain will be: http://aviation-buzz.com or http://www.aviation-buzz.com. Either way, the “www” doesn’t really matter. Now you don’t have to remember my name anymore to get to the site; all you have to know is “aviation-buzz.com“
New features are being added to the blog. Dan Webb will be posting his “Saturday Links” every Saturday from now on. His post provides useful links about the past week’s news in aviation.
During the weekend, and perhaps earlier this week, you may notice some changes pertaining to the blog theme and style.
Add comment November 16, 2008
Lufthansa to Get Majority Stake in Austrian Airlines.
Lufthansa is now in final negotiations with ÖIAG (Österreichische Industrieholding AG / Austrian industry-holding stock corporation) for Austria’s 41.6% stake in Austrian Airlines. According to Austria Press Agency, Air France-KLM and Russia’s S7 had expressed interest in the ownership stake, but “are no longer in the bidding process.” Austria made the decision to sell the airline after reviewing the carrier’s $1.127 billion debt. For the three months that ended September 30, Austrian Airlines posted a loss - and it seems as though the Austrians will leave the fixing of the company to the “pro.”
Lufthansa has a nice history of helping / taking control of airlines. Already, Lufthansa owns Swiss International Air Lines, as well as a nice stake in JetBlue and Brussels Airlines. Expected to be completed this upcoming January is Lufthansa’s purchase of BMI (British Midland Airways). It almost seems as though Lufthansa is buying up everyone these days. Yet, I think Lufthansa plays things smart; considering they did not pursue Alitalia.
A stake in Austrian Airlines is a good move by Lufthansa. Austria is a neighboring country to Germany, which may have some impact in the cooperation between the two airlines. I’m curious to see what Lufthansa gets out of this. Unlike Lufthansa’s deal with Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines is already a member of the Star Alliance. The controlling stake may help the two carriers cut costs and reduce frequencies on over-served routes even further.
Image: flickr.com
Add comment November 14, 2008
Delta Adds 15 New International Routes.
Delta Air Lines, now America’s largest airline, announced 15 new international routes yesterday. 8 of the 15 routes are now planned to Africa - making Delta the leading carrier on U.S. to Africa routes. Utilizing Northwest’s Tokyo hub, Delta said it will add Tokyo flights from Atlanta, New York’s Kennedy Airport, and Salt Lake City. Delta does plan on having multiple frequencies on some of those routes, like Atlanta to Tokyo. A few European destinations were announced as well.
It’s no doubt that expansion is what the two carriers had hoped for when they merged. The new routes will ultimately allow the new Delta to dominate the U.S. international destinations. They have surpassed United on the east coast, as well as Continental, when it comes to routes to Asia. That’s huge. Delta will be reaping the benefits from Northwest’s Tokyo hub.
Anyways, here’s the official release from Delta:
Delta’s long-haul expansion for 2009 will be focused in three regions:
- Trans-Pacific: Delta plans to add three new nonstop trans-Pacific flights between the United States and Tokyo-Narita, Japan, including new nonstop flights from Salt Lake City, and New York-JFK, a second daily flight from Atlanta, and daily service connecting customers beyond Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- Africa: Delta will expand its industry-leading position in Africa with new flights between Atlanta and Nairobi, Kenya and Cape Town, South Africa (via Dakar, Senegal); between Atlanta and Monrovia, Liberia; Abuja, Nigeria; Luanda, Angola; and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (all via Sal Island, Cape Verde); and between New York-JFK and Lagos, Nigeria. Delta also will introduce its first daily nonstop service to South Africa with flights between Atlanta and Johannesburg.
- Europe/Middle East: Delta will expand its leading position across the Atlantic with the only nonstop flights operated to Gothenberg, Sweden and Valencia, Spain, both from New York-JFK. Delta also will expand its service at New York-JFK with nonstop service to Prague, Czech Republic and Zurich, Switzerland (seasonal); as well as the addition of a second nonstop flight between New York-JFK and Tel Aviv.
The new routes are expected to utilize Delta’s new Boeing 777LR aircraft and 767-400s taken from domestic service.
Delta also said that they had a 14.5% capacity increase between all of Northwest’s and Delta’s hubs. This, no doubt, boosts connecting traffic and is good for the combined airlines.
Image: flickr.com
Add comment November 13, 2008
Southwest Airlines to Mexico; Through Volaris.
Southwest Airlines announced on Monday that they have reached a deal with Mexican carrier Volaris. The two are expected to enter a codeshare agreement; currently they await for approvals from the Mexican and U.S governments. Flight schedules are expected to roll-out 2010 if things continue on schedule.
“We are continuing to look for ways to expand our network through international codeshare partnerships, and we are excited to team up with Volaris to offer our customers access to attractive Mexican destinations,” says Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President of Strategy and Planning Bob Jordan. “Volaris has a stellar reputation for being a highly efficient airline with a dedication to customer service, which makes it a natural fit for Southwest Airlines.” (from Austin Business Journal).
Volaris is just 3 years old, and already they have begun to flourish in Mexico - as they are Mexico’s largest growing airline. They are a low-cost carrier operating all Airbus A319s to over 20 destinations in Mexico. As Mr. Jordan said, Volaris is efficient; which is why they’re a good fit for Southwest. They have good customer service and are a reliable airline.
Add comment November 12, 2008
Airline Rankings: Low-Cost above Legacy.
Wichita State and Saint Louis University researchers issued a report that ranks America’s airlines, utilizing data collected from the Department of Transportation. The report ranked U.S. low cost carriers above legacy carriers, judging primarily on on-time performance and baggage handling. Researchers said that airlines still have been under-performing, but on-time arrivals and customer complaint rates have dropped since last summer.
Hawaiian Airlines best in on-time performance, leading with 92 percent for the January thru June period. The leader in least mishandled bags award goes to AirTran Airways. Southwest Airlines cleaned up with the best in customer complaints award (one for every 300,000 customers). And finally, JetBlue Airways had the fewest denied passenger boardings. Overall the report fairs well for low-cost carriers - but who doesn’t it fair for? AMR Corp.’s American Airlines was a loser, having 63.2% of their flights arrive on-time, and American Eagle mishandled the most bags. Complaint wise, United Airlines had the most.
On Friday the Department of Transportation issued a report reading “19 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 84.9 percent in September, higher than both September 2007’s 81.7 percent and August 2008’s 78.4 percent.” I believe airline travel is on the upswing: on-time and baggage wise. These reports show the dominance and power of low-cost airlines, more specifically how their operation departments have really hit-the-nail-on-the-head when it comes to running a smooth and efficient airline. Low ticket prices, on-time flights, and fewer mishandled bags have allowed low-cost carriers to rise above the legacy carriers.
Image: flickr.com
Add comment November 11, 2008
