Archives: January 2008

Coming to Seatbacks Near You

Posted by: Justin Bachman on January 29, Categories: Business Travel

Television is moving into the U.S. airline mainstream. I say this because of the announcement that Continental Airlines has signed on with LiveTV LLC to install 36 channels of live...

Delta-Northwest Turbulence?

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 28, Categories: Mergers

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported over the weekend that the merger talks between Delta and Northwest had hit a snag over -- what else? -- the roles of the CEOs of...

Might as well jump...

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 28, Categories:

Emergency landings are rare, but the recent incident at Heathrow – where 136 passengers had to get off a British Airways 777 that had crashed short of the runway –...

Don't use wish your pilot had landed on this...

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 24, Categories:

For all of those flights with a bumpy landing--you know, the kind where you wish the pilot had actually lowered the wheels and done so on the runway......

Seattle deals, "no toll" rentals and more...

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 24, Categories:

A number of interesting bits of news of interest to business travelers have surfaced in the past week, so thought it would be of value to provide a round up:...

Ding ding! We have a winner!

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 23, Categories: Business Travel

When we launched this column shortly before Christmas, I decided to have some fun and offer the reader who recounted the most miserable business trip would win a $25 Amex...

A Memo to Northwest Pilots

Posted by: Justin Bachman on January 22, Categories: Airline Industry

It appears the pilot union leadership at Northwest Airlines is following the same tack as their brethren at Delta. Their message: "Get ready for consolidation, and here's what we need...

AMR: You're Not Paying Enough

Posted by: Justin Bachman on January 16, Categories: Airline Industry

The parent of American Airlines kicked off the domestic airlines' fourth-quarter earnings season today, reporting a quarterly loss of $69 million and a full-year profit of $504 million. Record oil...

Silverjet: Premium players will weather '08

Posted by: Justin Bachman on January 14, Categories: Airline Industry

The chief of Silverjet, Lawrence Hunt, dropped round the BusinessWeek offices today to say hello, and to chat about the current state of airline affairs. (We'll post a video of...

Safer Skies, Scarier Ground

Posted by: Justin Bachman on January 10, Categories: Airplanes

It used to be that folks got nervous about the idea of zipping through the sky in a metal tube at 500 miles an hour. Now, with the numerous astounding...

"Restaurant Week" in NYC

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 09, Categories: Dining

It's that time of year for Restaurant Week in New York, when a broad swath of restaurants offer special "prix fixe" lunch and dinner menus that are in almost all...

Fly the Open Skies

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 09, Categories:

British Airways released more info today on its new transcontinental “airline within an airline.” It’ll be called “OpenSkies” – a nod to the Open Skies treaty that allows US and...

It's a cell phone -- no, a boarding pass...

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 08, Categories: Now boarding

This is a bit of news that broke right before Christmas, and if it got much pick-up, well I missed. And even if it did, it’s worth repeating. Continental Airlines...

United's Angry Pilots

Posted by: Justin Bachman on January 07, Categories: Airline Industry

It has been a truly horrible winter for United, the nation's second-biggest carrier. Snow, fog, and torrential rains have socked its three hubs at Chicago, Denver and San Francisco, causing...

A roundup of news you can use...

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 07, Categories: Briefs

There was a bit of news and unveiling of new services over the past month that would be of interest to business travelers. I’m going to periodically post memos with...

The next social networks: Airplanes

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 03, Categories: Airplanes

Jeff Jarvis authors the BuzzMachine blog and is a pretty creative thinker about how the Internet is changing our lives. He recently posted an interesting entry noting the potential...

Best airport for "connections": Philly

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 03, Categories: Airports

AXE, the makers of that body spray for young men, recently commissioned a survey by Sperling's BestPlaces of which airports were the best -- and which were worst -- for...

Is the Aussie Duopoly Facing Extinction?

Posted by: Justin Bachman on January 03, Categories: Airline Industry

Encouraging news today from Down Under. One of the world's most profitable -- and priciest -- air routes, Australia to the U.S., could see new entrants under government talks beginning...

The Joy of Jetlag?

Posted by: Justin Bachman on January 02, Categories: Business Travel

Last week, a blogger for The New York Times opined on the upside of jet lag, citing the perception-altering awareness and greater sense of awe one can experience when your...