Another way to spoil your pet: Pet Airways

Even though you'd think that now would be a lousy time to start an airline, it's no secret that pet owners are spending more and more on their pets these days. So a couple of pet-loving entrepreneurs have come up with "Pet Airways", "a pet-only airline dedicated to pet-friendly travel" where "your pet will be safe and comfortable flying in the main cabin - not in cargo!" According to their website, you drop your pet off at the airport and they board the plane, where they're looked after by "Pet Attendants" who check up on all the pets every 15 minutes. Then you pick up your pampered dog or cat at the destination airport, "knowing he or she has traveled comfortably and safely in the main cabin of our plane."

Pet Airways will initially be serving New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles (although none of the big airports at these cities are used; they'll be using smaller, "executive" airports around the cities instead). But those pet owners who have visions of dogs sitting on seats in a Boeing 737 will be disappointed; pets will be flown on the distinctly less-glamorous looking Beech 1900 with the seats stripped out and replaced by "private pet carriers". The flights will be operated by Suburban Air Freight (Pet Airways certainly does sound better, doesn't it?).

American takes delivery of new 737s

photo by caribb

American Airlines has taken delivery of its first new planes since 2006 - seventy-six additional Boeing 737-800s. AA plans to use them to phase out out about a quarter of their MD-80 fleet, which are older, less efficient, and more prone to maintenance issues than the 737s. The new 737s will also carry more passengers (160) than the airline's previous 737s (sometimes as low as 134); this will be accomplished by a thinner divider between first class and coach and using thinner seats, which AA claims are more comfortable than the old ones. The galleys in coach class are also gone, since meals aren't served anymore in coach.

American is also going to base some of the new 737s out of its Chicago hub. Previously, it had kept almost all of its 737-800s flying out of its Dallas and Miami hubs, and kept the MD-80s at Chicago. But when the MD-80 faced serious mechanical issues last year, the airline was forced to scrub hundreds of flights at O'Hare. The introduction of 737s there should lower their reliance on a single aircraft type for the bulk of their domestic flying.

Continental gets approval to join Star Alliance

photo by bribriTO

Continental Airlines yesterday received a tentative OK to join Star Alliance, although the US Department of Transportation will require Continental, United, Air Canada and Lufthansa to release an 'annual report' on the alliance. Star Alliance is already by far the largest airline alliance, and the addition of Continental just makes it even bigger. As such, the US government has expressed concern about the impact on competition - and so has Delta, Continental's current partner in the SkyTeam alliance, which has complained that the impact on US domestic routes would be too large, given that United and US Airways are already members.

Southwest's rapping flight attendant

A few recent news stories have highlighted David Holmes, the Southwest Airlines flight attendant who makes the pre-flight safety announcement a bit more entertaining by rapping it.

"You will not get that on United Airlines, I guarantee."

About me

My name is Tom, and I've been interested in the airline industry for as long as I can remember. I love the airplanes themselves, of course, but also the concept of flight; I'm still amazed that you can, relatively cheaply, fly across the continent and back in the same day. Furthermore, the airline industry is seemingly almost always in some sort of turmoil, so there's never a dull moment.

Back before my sophomore year of high school, I created this blog as way to stay informed about the airlines and as a way of expressing my opinions about them. Since then, I've tried to keep it pretty active, although at times 'real life' kind of gets in the way. But I enjoy writing about the airlines, have been doing so for 4 years now (time flies), and hope to be doing it for some time to come.

Right now, I'm a sophomore at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, and planning on a double major in international relations and Russian area studies.

United pilots: remove CEO

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the United Airlines MEC (Master Executive Council) have created a website, GlennTilton.com, which calls for the removal of Glenn Tilton as United's CEO. The website said, "As professional pilots, we believe in accountability. Glenn Tilton, Chairman, CEO, and President of United Airlines, has failed all of us… costing shareholders, employees, and the travelling public billions of dollars."

Is Glenn Tilton to blame for United's troubles? The website says he is. "To Glenn and his staff, responsibility for United’s predicament belongs to everyone and everything other than themselves... Their excuses include high fuel prices, increasing costs of security, more competition, and stronger regulation, and they see themselves as victims of these uncontrollable factors. It just isn’t right, and it just isn’t true. These same factors influence every airline, and all the others are handling challenging conditions much better than United."

Or are the pilots just upset with management? Leave your opinion; please comment!

American's new deal with BA, Iberia

American Airlines, Iberia, and British Airways announced earlier today that they were forming a three-way alliance that would allow them to cooperate on flights between Europe and North America. Although the three airlines are already part of the oneworld alliance, the deal allows them to work more closely together and to cut costs. Not surprising, Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson took a dim view of the deal, which he said would create a "monster monopoly".

The announcement comes at a time when other airlines are also seeking to link up: United, Continental, Air Canada and Lufthansa are working on a transatlantic alliance, similar to the AA/Iberia/BA one announced today.