american airlines

Reader Mail : “Why Don’t Airlines Use Their Name As A Callsign?”

I have written about airline call signs before … but not in almost three years … so this reader mail caught my attention.   Alberto Lopez, from Barcelona, Spain, writes “I was recently listening to air traffic control while waiting for a flight home from Chicago and noted many airlines do not use their name…

Airline Fee Profits On The Rise Again

This past Monday the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics released the 2010 2nd Quarter financial data for U.S. airlines and the news was not surprising … ancillary revenue profits are continuing to increase. I have been writing about the Bureau of Transportation Statistics findings for the past two years or so because I find this shift…

United Airlines In-Flight Meals…they’ll change your view of airline food

Ask passengers about airline food and you’re bound to get two consistent answers A) It’s horrible B) Do airlines still serve meals? Like the vast majority of passengers, I tend to fly in the back of the plane … where food is generally nonexistent or not exactly desirable … however “up front” in business class…

Reader Mail : “What’s the difference between a code share & interline?”

This week’s reader mail comes from Annette up in Canada. Annette asks “What’s the difference between a code share and interline agreement between airlines?” Annette, in fact, a code-share and an interline agreement are quite different. I can go into depth, but that really doesn’t help travelers all that much … so I’ll stick with…

Reader Mail : Should American Airlines & US Airways Merge Next?

This week’s reader mail comes from Jaime, from Elk Grove, IL. Following the announcement this week that United Airlines and Continental Airlines will merge, Jamie asks “The United States will now be home to the two largest airlines in the world once United and Continental merge, should American Airlines and US Airways merge next?” Well…

Spirit Airlines Charges For Carry-On Bags & Beats Ryanair To The Bottom

Irish airline Ryanair is reviled by flyers throughout Europe for their extreme measures in ‘unbundling‘ airfares and charging for everything. Ryanair’s pricing is so convoluted that the airline charges passengers to pay for their tickets and even charges passengers to check in for their flights. While Ryanair is reviled, passengers fly them because of their…

A Twin-Aisle Narrow Body Plane? Maybe It’s Not So Strange

No one likes the middle seat on a flight … well maybe someone does, but I have yet to meet them. Airlines need to add as many seats as possible to a flight, and fill them, to maximize their revenue potential, but with more airline options the competition to attract passengers is more challenging than…