Tour operator Goldtrail goes bankrupt, strands 16,000

UK company Goldtrail Travel Ltd announced it had gone bankrupt at 4pm yesterday. The revelation, made just an hour before the end of the work week, has left the travel plans of thousands of customers in doubt. About 16,000 customers are already abroad on Goldtrail flights and package tours, mostly in Turkey and Greece.

Goldtrail operates under the names Goldtrail Holidays, Goldtrail Travel, and Sunmar.

While flights returning this weekend and Monday will operate as normal, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority is left to pick up the slack for the remaining passengers. All outbound Goldtrail flights have been canceled. You can read the CAA’s statement about the failure, and advice to those affected, here.

The number for the CAA helpline in the UK is 0844 856 2585. Customers outside the UK should call 0044 203 441 0846.

Could Southwest Airlines buy Frontier?

Southwest Airlines (WN) announced that it was putting a bid in for Frontier Airlines (F9) last week, a move that could significantly increase the airline’s market share in the west of the Mississippi. Frontier, the struggling Denver-based low-cost carrier that filed for bankruptcy last year, will be taking bids for the remainder of its company until Monday.

With the $114 million bid filed, Frontier will start sorting through contenders this week.

So what if it works out? Frontier would become part of Southwest airlines, Denver would lose one more competitor and hopefull the airlines and employees would merge from the bankrupt carrier to the most profitable carrier in the country.

Routes that Southwest takes over would suddenly be governed by the low-cost-carrier’s agressive pricing schema, meaning that cities currently covered by Frontier may see some more competitive prices to Southwest destinations. As for Denver, however, without WN competing with F9, prices could go up. At least they’ll still have plenty of non-stop routes available.

We should know more about whether Frontier accepts Southwest’s bid in the next few weeks.

Check out the well-made video from Denver NBC station 9NEWS after the jump.

Travel Alert: Clear Security ceases operation

Just yesterday evening as I passed by the Clear Lane at Boston’s Logan International Airport, I saw my favorite employee and wondered how the business was doing.

The company, designed to allow passengers to pay to get around lengthly security lines, was formed on the concept that enough people would pay for the service to make the operation profitable. Now, it appears that that’s not the case — especially as people are trying to cut back during the recession.

Navigating to flyclear.com, browsers receive the following, solemn message:

“At 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009, Clear will cease operations. Clear’s parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.”

It’s always sad to see a company fail, but in this case, it seems a bit more personal. Taking part in a review of the service earlier this year I distinctly remember meeting the Logan employees and writing positively about the experience. I wonder what they’ll do now?