Delta Consolidates Operations in Cincinnati
Travel Weekly, 8/26/2008 (excerpted)
Delta in January will move operations at Concourse C at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport to Concourses A and B.
As Delta is the lone occupant of the concourse, the facility will go dark in January.
The move follows Delta's announcement last month that regional subsidiary Comair, the dominant carrier in Cincinnati, expects to cut 520 jobs after the summer travel season. Comair is also shrinking its fleet of regional jets.
Over the next two to three years, Delta said it and the airport will add at least 11 passenger-loading bridges in Concourses A and B, ultimately eliminating ground-level boarding of Delta Connection flights.
The move will not directly result in additional schedule changes, said Delta, because it was made possible by changes previously completed or announced in response to record-high fuel costs.
United Airlines to Charge for Food on Transatlantic Flights
Gay Nagle Myers, Travel Weekly, 8/21/2008 (excerpted)
United Airlines has come up with another way to curb losses from record fuel prices: scrap free coach meals on Europe-bound flights.
Food will be available for purchase in economy class on flights to Europe from Washington Dulles starting Oct. 1.
United will not eliminate free coach meals from Dulles to Kuwait because of the 12-hour flight time, and plans to survey customers before making a decision on other international flights, according to a memo from management to employees.
Food in first and business class on all international flights will remain free of charge.
On international flights, onboard costs for economy-class passengers will be $6 for snack boxes of cheese, fruit, yogurt and a pastry; and $9 for salads and sandwiches.
United also will eliminate free snacks in the coach cabin of North American flights between 760 miles and 1,149 miles, replacing them with snacks for sale, effective Sept. 2.
On Oct. 1, the airline will boost prices for fresh items sold onboard from $7 to $9; non-perishable food products will jump to $5 from $6.
The carrier also will eliminate a second snack service before arrival on transcontinental routes between New York and Los Angeles or San Francisco and replace it with a beverage-only service.
Continental to Launch Newark-Shanghai Service
Travel Weekly, 8/13/2008 (excerpted)
Continental will launch daily, nonstop service between Newark and Shanghai on March 25, pending government approval. The airline has begun selling seats for the service.
The airline will operate the flight with a Boeing 777-200 jet. Flying time will be approximately 14 hours and 30 minutes in each direction.
Continental has operated nonstop service between New York and Beijing since 2005 and between Newark and Hong Kong since 2001.
Frontier Changing Mileage Program to Offset Fuel Costs
Business Travel Executive Redline News, 8/21/2008
Frontier Airlines is setting new redemption levels and fee structures in it EarlyReturns mileage program, as part of its campaign to balance fuel costs. The changes, effective September 15, are being detailed in e-mails to EarlyReturns members this week.
Starting September 15, Frontier will add a $25 non-refundable redemption fee per ticket on EarlyReturns award tickets. Award tickets purchased within 14 days of travel will be charged a $75 non-refundable expedite fee per ticket. Both fees will be waived for EarlyReturns Summit members. The $75 expedite fee will also be waived for PLUS redemptions (Ascent & Summit elite members only) and all redemptions booked via Weekend Web Fares. Additionally, any award ticket changes or cancellations resulting in a redeposit of miles will be subject to a $75 change fee. This change fee is also waived for Summit members.
Also, the mileage redemption level for a domestic roundtrip ticket will be increasing from 15,000 to 20,000 miles. All other mileage redemption levels will increase by 5,000 to 10,000 miles. In advance of the fee and mileage redemption changes, Frontier is launching a sale on EarlyReturns miles via the "Buy Miles" tool on its web site.