Hillary Clinton was having a little fun the other day fresh off her victory in New Hampshire.  This was the first time that Clinton was able to use her new campaign plane which will carry herself, journalists and staff. 

Clinton parodied the speech that flight attendants give . 

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome aboard the maiden flight of Hil Force One,” Clinton continued.  "FAA regulations prohibit the use of any cell phones, BlackBerrys, or wireless devices that may be used to transmit a negative story about me.”

"And in the event of an unexpected drop in poll numbers, this plane will be diverted to New Hampshire,” said H. Clinton. 

ABC News 

Will Silverjet follow the way of MAXjet?  The UK based airline is defending their strategy after a brokerage said it too was "doomed to fail."  This comes on the heels of the collapse of MAXjet which filed for bankruptcy last month. 

"We had a record sales week last week in the U.S.  We've seen a massive increase in corporate enquiries by companies looking to cut costs," said Chief Executive Lawrence Hunt.  

Seats on Silverjet run several hundred dollars cheaper than the largest rival, British Airways, on some routes.

Hunt said Silverjet would succeed where MAXjet had failed because it gave better service and had managed to put up prices when fuel costs rose.  But with the launch of British Airways Open Skies, Silverjet may have to compete for customers. 

But giant American Airlines is always lurking.  The US giant was quoting prices significantly below that of MAXjet, which could have led to their demise.  What would stop American or British Airways from defending their turf?  Both of those airlines have very deep pockets and love business travelers, enough to undercut Silverjet, just like they did MAXjet.  

Silverjet continues to stand behind their product and the stability of their airline, citing that the airline will bring two new aircraft into service in late May or early June and is looking at the U.S. west coast, Miami, India and South Africa as possible destinations.  

The Guardian (UK) 

Initial reports are saying that the engines of British Airways flight 038 from Beijing to London, did not respond to a demand for an increase in thrust.  The six year old Boeing 777 landed just short of the runway.  All 136 passengers and 16 crew survived the incident without major injuries. 

Captain Peter Burkill, Senior First Officer John Coward and Cabin Services Director Sharron Eaton-Mercer were all greeted with applause and praise today when they met with the news media.  Capt. Burkill said that his crew displayed “the highest standards of skill and professionalism.”

The crew also praised the passengers for “their calmness and good sense during extremely unfamiliar circumstances.”

It looks as if the 6 month delay that The Boeing Company (BA) gave for their 787 Dreamliner was just a bit too short.  The company announced that they would not be able to deliver their first aircraft to All Nippon Airways (ANA) until early 2009. 

"If there is anything that we have learned over these past months, it is that we underestimated how long it would take to complete someone else's work," Pat Shanahan, Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner boss, said.  Shanahan took over after Mike Bair, the plane’s first boss, was fired.

The Boeing Company has pushed back 109 deliveries of the 787 for 2009.  A date is still unknown, the Chicago based company is still working on the details of the project and will have another revised date shortly. 

 

The Sydney-Singapore route looks to be a winner for Singapore Airlines.  The airline which took delivery of the first A380 just last year is already using the super-jumbo on the route and is expected to expand service even more. 

Singapore will add a fourth daily trip between the two cities using a Boeing 777-300ER, bringing weekly total service to Sydney to 28 flights. 

"We have been especially pleased with the increased demand for our Sydney services,'' said Huang Cheng Eng, SIA's executive vice president of marketing and regions.

Singapore took delivery of their second A380 this past week.  The airline has chosen a design with up to 471 seats, including 12 suites each equipped with a full-length bed behind sliding doors and flat screen TVs. 

Emirates, however, is one-upping Singapore by installing showers in their aircraft.

NEWS.com.au 

Related Reading: Airbus A380 Has First Mishap; No Injuries or Major Damage

Related Video:  Airbus A380 Emergency Exit Test Video.  Big fan of this video.  All I can say is Schneller, Schneller, Schneller!

A flood of anger washed over Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires as thousands of passengers were stranded when all international flights were cancelled. 

A baggage handlers' strike and a walk-out by ticket counter workers angered passengers that began to throw objects at Aerolineas Argentinas’ employees.  Passengers then stormed the offices of the national carrier and demanded that staff resolve the situation. 

"There's no one from the company, no one is showing their face or telling us when we're going to fly. We're stranded with children and the elderly," said one passenger who was supposed to be on her way to Venezuela.

The delays are expected to continue for the national carrier of Argentina.

Let's just hope those passengers are not on any United flights during a snow storm in Chicago.

BBC    

Southwest Airlines (LUV) is set to add 18 additional departures from Denver, making that their largest expansion in Denver since arriving in early 2006. 

Los Angeles (LAX) will get 5 new flights, San Jose 3 new flights, St. Louis 3 new flights, Philadelphia will get 2 new flights, Raleigh and San Antonio will both get one new flight. 

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told a group of employees, “We did promise you lower fares and we did promise you more flights.”

When it starts the latest round of new service in May, Southwest will have 79 daily departures in Denver to 23 cities — a nearly six-fold increase from when it launched in January 2006.

The news that Southwest is expanding in Denver weighed heavy on Frontier Airlines (FRNT) which has seen recent struggles.  The airline noted that their 3rd quarter results miss targets and would post a wider than expected loss.  Southwest will add flights to every city that Frontier flies too.  Today Frontier posted a 15% loss in stock price. 

Rocky Mountain News 

The four locations, among the most congested in the nation, now have a staffing emergency, says Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. 

Air Traffic Controllers in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Southern California have declared a staffing emergency.  A staffing emergency means that controllers do not have enough trained and experienced personnel on the ground to safely handle the volume of traffic in the air and at major airports.

Mr. Forrey continues, ''They are being asked to handle so much volume with so little rest and with fewer eyes and ears that they are fatigued, and when you are fatigued you make mistakes.''

The United States Transportation Department said it would investigate the working conditions of Chicago area air traffic controllers amid increasing errors.  The department’s Office of the Inspector General announced the audit after a request by Senator Durbin (D) of Illinois. 

Come May 2008, over 70 million American’s state driver’s licenses will no longer get them on aircraft or in federal buildings.  Residents in 17 states are caught between the Bush Administrations post 9-11 security rules and their own state’s government.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said if states want to be able to allow their citizens to use their state licenses to board aircraft or enter federal buildings they must seek a waiver requesting more time to comply.  If states do not seek a waiver before May 2008, people will have to use their passports or the newly created REAL ID license or face additional vigorous screening at the airport or in federal buildings.   

Under the rules announced Friday, Americans born after Dec. 1, 1964, will have to get more secure driver's licenses in the next six years.

British Airways is taking on European giant Air France-KLM with their new airline.  The appropriately named OpenSkies will be launched later this year with one of British Airways’s Boeing 757’s.  Other aircraft will follow at later dates. 

OpenSkies will take aim directly on AF-KLM offering flights directly to New York, unknown which NYC airport they will offer flights, from either Paris or Brussels. 

BA’s new airline is looking to take advantage of the more lucrative business traveler by offering many more business class seats, 24 total lie-flat seats with a few premium economy and economy configurations. 

More routes and aircraft will join the fleet in 2009, opening up cities such Frankfurt, Milan and Amsterdam.  Despite MAXjet's failure, BA thinks that there continues to be a market for the business traveler and hopes to become part of that niche.  

Times Online 

Australian and US government officials are preparing to begin negotiations to open up the skies between the two nations.  An open skies agreement between the two nations would likely result in significant economic benefits for both Australian and US interests. 

Virgin Blue, which will launch their international service V Australia from Australia to mainland US later this year, is asking for 10 weekly services using Boeing 777-300ER.  Under the currently agreement between the two nations, airlines wishing to start service can only offer 4 weekly flights between the nations the first year.  

Currently United Airlines is the only US carrier offering non-stop mainland service to Australia.  Hawaiian offers one stop via Hawaii.    

It’s been reported that Qantas earns 20 percent or more of their profits from the Australia/ US route.  The flagship carrier of Australia offers 48 weekly flights compared to United which only offers 14 weekly flights.  

The talks will start in mid February in Washington D.C.  

The Australian 

"We know you have a choice when you fly. Your baggage handlers of US Airways suggest you use it!!!"

This note was found in luggage by a passenger who received their luggage late.  US Airways officials are saying that one bad individual unfortunately reflects badly on the rest of the 36,000 other hard working employees at the airline. 

Spokesperson Joe Tiberi for the International Association of Machinists said that despite the difference in pay between former America West and old US Airways employees they do not believe issues from the merger should be resolved this way.

Along the same lines, US Airways employees will not be receiving the $100 bonus for on-time and mishandled bags.  The carrier which had been on their conservative target of 60 percent of flights pushing back on-time and fewer than 7 mishandled bags per 1,000 fell below that target. 

During the Christmas week, the airline had mishandled bag reports over 10 per 1,000 and even one day of 15 per 1,000. 

Let’s hope that 2008 is better for the airline and their passengers… or the few that remain. 

AZCentral 

After all the candidates clear out of Iowa and head for the next primary in New Hampshire, the GOP has named Northwest Airlines as their official convention airline. 

The Republican National Convention in St. Paul will be held between September 1 and 4, 2008.  Convention guests will be offered discounted airfares, but it is unknown as to how much the discount will be. 

Northwest which is based out of the Minneapolis/ St. Paul area said it is not uncommon for large companies to offer discounts to convention groups in their hometowns. 

Star Tribune 

After a month of massive cancellations that left 2,300 flights grounded (4.9 percent of their schedule), the nation’s number 2 carrier is apologizing to passengers.  United Airlines said that they faced the worst December weather in their 80 year history. 

The massive cancellations and delays will most certainly drag down the carrier.  Less than half of their flights arrived on time in December and those delayed averaged over 60 minutes. 

United was not the only carrier to cancel flights but others were not so drastic.  American Airlines, which also operates a sizable hub at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, cancelled 3.3 percent of their flights.  Delta cancelled just over 2.0 percent of their flights and both Northwest and Continental cancelled fewer than 2.0 percent of their flights. 

Today the price of oil per barrel surpassed the $100 mark three times alone.  Violence in Nigeria helped the price surge above the noteworthy amount.  Investors are also reviewing a government report that puts crude inventories at their lowest level since early 2005.  The US government also said that it will not release oil from the strategic supply either to help reduce prices.    

The nationwide average puts the cost of gasoline at $3.05 per gallon.  And many airlines are feeling the pinch too.  Many airlines continue to tack on fuel surcharges. 

Many airlines are not able to cope with $60, $70, $80, $90 aviation fuel prices.  A few airlines such as Southwest are better suited because they are able to purchase fuel at prices significantly lower than the current market prices.  Higher fuel prices will only lead to the grounding of less fuel efficient aircraft and fuller planes.   

MSNBC.com  

CNN Video Link 

Will the largest metropolitan area without regularly scheduled direct flights to Europe get service once the Open Skies agreement takes place?  

Since American Airlines canceled service in 2003 between the city that has Charles Lindbergh's original personal monocoupe hanging in the Main Terminal, and London, St. Louis has been without direct European service.   

"Open Skies will certainly be an opportunity for airports like Lambert.  The playbooks have been rewritten, and I don't think it will take as much to convince an air carrier to operate nonstop from St. Louis to Europe," said Brian Kinsey, the airport's business and marketing manager.

It is unlikely that American, the largest carrier in St. Louis, would restart service from St. Louis to London.  However, Northwest Airlines which partners with KLM, will begin service from 16 US cities this year.  Many of those new cities are medium sized cities such as Portland, Oregon; and Hartford, Connecticut. 

Direct flights to Europe can bring in as much as $90 million a year according to a study done by Denver International Airport.  So many cities and airports really want European service.  

St. Louis Post Dispatch 

Happy 2008 to everyone!  Hope that everyone had a great year and that 2008 is even better for you.  January 11, 2008 will be this blog’s 2nd birthday.  I can not believe it will be two years.  Things are looking good. 

Those same prospects are ringing true for Tempe based US Airways too. 

After a year of a hostile takeover attempt that bit the dust, a software integration that left check-in kiosks not working, and a year of pathetic customer service, the airline is hoping for a better year. 

As of September, the airline now operates under one certificate, giving the company an “under one umbrella” attitude.  The airline is modernizing their fleet to be one of the best in the nation.  US Airways is replacing their older B737’s with new E190’s and upgrading their B767’s.  And seat back entertainment is on its way too.  The airline is also working on that customer service issue.  They are working towards arriving on time to their destination by building in more time to their flights and working towards raising their on-time arrival times. 

The past three weeks have been brutal for the nation’s second largest airline.  UAL Corp. (UAUA) the parent company of United Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights between December 16th and Dec 30th as snow storm after snow storm rocked their primary hubs including Chicago O’Hare and Denver International. Crews shortages made the situation even worse.  

I had the unlucky chance of flying on both December 16th and December 28th through Chicago. 

United cancelled many flights on Christmas day, one of the lighter travel days in the heavily traveled holiday week between Christmas and New Years, to get their schedule back in order.  Countless crewmembers were out of place and needed to get back to their specific locations.  Planes were also in locations that they were not supposed to be at. 

"We proactively canceled a small percentage of flights in order to better acoommodate our customers and get them to their destinations safely and as quickly as possible," United spokesman Jeff Kovick said.  

If we compare the airline industry to the restaurant industry, one could say that the airline industry has moved from the traditional sit down and let the waiter help you to the fast food industry.  And the airline that is mimicking fast food is our neighbors to the north, Air Canada.

Air Canada is testing a new concept that will “let” travelers self tag their own bags at check in.  According to Air Canada chief executive Montie Brewer, consumers will save time by "self-tagging" luggage after using electronic check-in kiosks at airports.

Check in kiosks will print out boarding passes along with the luggage tags.  All bags will still be x-rayed and if anything seems unusual will be searched.

Currently the trial project is located in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.  Pending Transport Canada and other authorities, AC hopes to have the self tag system in place in Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax by late 2008 and early 2009 at the remaining Canadian airports. 

Tempe based US Airways is recalling 200 flight attendants as the airline prepares for their "busy summer" schedule. 

The carrier which still has some 2,300 furloughed flight attendants has been plagued with customer complaints and poor service.  Recently the airline hired a new Operations Chief to help fix the poor customer service issue.  The airline received the most complaints out of major airlines in October.  

The flight attendants will help fill in holes as the airline takes deliveries of new aircraft and continues to expand internationally.

Orlando Sentinel