Southwest enters international market

by Grant Martin on

It turns out that all of that hubub we heard about Southwest joining the international market earlier this year was true. And why not? They’re in the best financial situation of any of the current operating airlines — why not expand now while the the competition is faltering? Why not step on the throats of the choking airline industry?

Just today, the Dallas based company announced that they were entering a partnership with Westjet, one of Canada’s largest carriers. The deal will involve sharing flights and operations for a variety of services and will ultimately be implemented in late 2009.

Westjet, in case you’re wondering, is based in Calgary, AB and has focus cities in Edmonton and Vancouver. So this agreement will hopefully make travel from core Southwest sites up to the great north a little easier and less expensive — you also might be able to earn Southwest miles as well.

Details of the agreement are still slim, but as the integration continues we’ll probably get more info on exactly which routes and schedules will be merged between the two airlines. For now, consider this an ominous precursor to Southwest entering (and maybe taking over) the international airline market. Hold on to those shares.

Politico: Delta pilots = Class, Northwest pilots = Trash

by Grant Martin on

Ah, there’s nothing like a little classist profiling to get rival unions a little fired up.

Remember that Northwest – Delta merger that was announced earlier this year? Wondering why you haven’t heard much news from it lately? Well, the brass has got their noses to the grindstone working hard to get congress to approve of the merger before the new administration moves in. And the pilots, well, they’re still arguing too.

You might recall that the two carriers earlier put the merger on hold because the pilots couldn’t agree on seniority issues. In the end, they decided to merge anyway and let the pilots figure it out during the process.

As Politico most-gently points out though, there are deep rooted difference between the pilots and the unions. Pete Janhunen of the Air Line Pilots Association put it like this: “When you work with Delta guys, you tend to think of a Fortune 500 company… Northwest is a little more upper-Midwest, a little more working-class and less formal.”

Mind you, this isn’t the only thing that sets the unions apart. But it’s one more barrier that the unions have to overcome before they can handshake on their integration.

I for one, work with a Northwest pilot right now who is the most pleasant, friendly person I have ever met. Perhaps Politico was painting with a bit of a wide brush.

[Interesting sidenote: check out the comment on the Flickr photo from one of our favorite regular Gadling contributors. Thanks for the photo!]

Rumor: United and US Airways could announce merger soon

by Grant Martin on

Word on the secret underground is that United Airlines and US Airways may be in talks to merge, and may even announce their plans as early as TODAY. Other reports say that they’re waiting on union approval and could postpone an announcement in early May.

I know we’ve all been speculating about whether any other legacy carriers were going to merge after the Northwest and Delta deal got rolling; many believed that Continental and United were next in line, especially with Continental’s suspicious postings on their new website, co-industryconsolidation.com.

Perhaps that’s not the only deal in motion though? United and US Airways, two airlines that have faced particular hardship over the last few years could well-benefit from the consolidation of their services. Both are in the same airline alliance and have numerous domestic hubs that could directly compete with the the new Northwelta.

Keep an eye on the news and UAUA today. Again, this is all still speculation but big news could be on the way.

Five reasons to be happy about the Delta / Northwest merger

by Grant Martin on

Most passengers I’ve talked to in the Northwest and Delta communities have been pretty gloomy about the merger of the two airlines. Many see it as an excuse to cut out the best aspects of either airline and merge all of the cost-saving and sloppy parts together, from the old aircraft to frequent flier benefits to business lounges in the airport.

What’s done is done however, and we now need to start looking forward to a new global airline with new marketing, strategies and attitudes towards customer service. With that in mind, Gadling has put together the The top five reasons to be happy about the Delta and Northwest Merger

  1. More routes: With the combined volume or routes between the two airlines it should be easier to get from point A to point B on one airline, check your luggage straight through and deal with one customer service line.
  2. Better award availability: For those of us who do invest in frequent flier mile programs, it will also be easier to cash in our miles on the larger volume of available routes — without changing carriers.
  3. In-flight entertainment: Many of Delta’s domestic aircraft are outfitted with in-seat LCD screens. For those of you without a laptop or book on the plane, this can be a lifesaver for longer flights. Hopefully they’ll start upgrading the NW fleet as well.
  4. Reciprocal upgrades: It used to be that elite members from one carrier carrier didn’t get upgrades into first class on the other. With all aircraft now flying under the same banner, NW passengers can expect upgrades out of Cincinnati and Atlanta while DL passengers can get the same out of Memphis, Detroit or Minneapolis.
  5. Northwest flight attendants will now get to wear nifty red hats!

Don’t get me wrong either — there’s plenty to complain about in the merger, especially as we all consider the future of our miles and investments in each airline. These pros are but a silver lining as the merger clouds begin to form. Get ready for a storm.

Merger mania: Bloomberg takes a look at the numbers

by Grant Martin on

Wondering how and why these mergers all make sense? Bloomberg put together a pretty nifty set of charts showing where each of the United, Northwest, Continental and United hubs are, their traffic and CEO, financial, US Ranking, Aviary, Employee, Alliance and Frequent Flier data.

It’s an interesting look at the facts behind each of the four carriers — a place to look at how each airline influences the United States and a place to formulate your own opinion on the pending mergers. They even go so far as to supply the sources (gasp) of their data.

If these mergers start to come through, it’s going to be a very busy summer here at Gadling. Keep an eye out for our expert and/or wildly speculative articles about the next big thing and who’s going to be losing their frequent flyer miles next.