Jetiquette | The Sky Steward

American Airlines and US Airways Group have joined other big U.S. carriers in adding surcharges to flights in the wake of a disputed European law requiring airlines to pay for aircraft emissions.

Representatives of the two U.S. airlines confirmed on Friday that both have matched a $3 surcharge each way unveiled by Delta Air Lines Inc on fares purchased in the United States for flights between the United States and Europe. The move would help offset the cost of the European [...]

BERLIN (Reuters) – ECB Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen wants European Central Bank policymakers to show unity when dealing with the public, according to a newspaper report released on Saturday. In an advance copy of comments to be published on Sunday, Asmussen, who joined the ECB at the start of the year, was quoted …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Employment grew solidly last month and the jobless rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent, offering the strongest evidence yet of an acceleration in economic activity. Nonfarm payrolls increased 200,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, the most in three months and way …

FORT WORTH, Texas , Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — American Airlines and LAN Ecuador announced today they have received approval from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and Ecuadorean authorities for authorization to begin codeshare cooperation. The agreement, which will also strengthen the oneworld® alliance, will provide customers of both airlines more choices and greater connectivity when traveling between the United States and Ecuador and across each airline’s global [...]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Employment grew solidly last month and the jobless rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent, offering the strongest evidence yet of an acceleration in economic activity. Nonfarm payrolls increased 200,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, the most in three months and way …

FORT WORTH, Texas , Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – American Airlines reported a December load factor of 80.8 percent, an increase of 0.2 points versus the same period last year. Capacity was lower by 1.2 percent, while traffic was lower 0.9 percent year-over-year.

International traffic increased 3.7 percent relative to last year as capacity increased 3.4 percent, resulting in an increase in international load factor of 0.2 points versus December of last year. Domestic load factor was 81.1 [...]

SEATTLE , Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) today announced Ethiopian Airlines has ordered Blended Winglets for its 767-300ERs.  Ethiopian Airlines will install the winglets in Addis Ababa at their maintenance facility at Bole International Airport. Initial installations, on 3 aircraft, are planned to commence in February 2012 .

“Ethiopian Airlines has made the choice of purchasing winglets for our B767 because of the enormous performance and operating value [...]

Chinese airlines will not pay a charge on carbon emissions imposed by the European Union from January 1, a national aviation industry group said Thursday.

The cap-and-trade scheme, which has angered the US and Chinese governments and airlines worldwide, came into force on Sunday after the European Union’s highest court rejected a challenge brought by US carriers last month.

“China, of course, will not cooperate with the European Union on the ETS (emissions trading scheme),” said Chai Haibo, deputy secretary-general of the [...]

Chinese airlines will not pay a charge on carbon emissions imposed by the European Union from January 1, a national aviation industry group said Thursday.

The cap-and-trade scheme, which has angered the US and Chinese governments and airlines worldwide, came into force on Sunday after the European Union’s highest court rejected a challenge brought by US carriers last month.

“China, of course, will not cooperate with the European Union on the ETS (emissions trading scheme),” said Chai Haibo, deputy secretary-general of the [...]

CHICAGO , Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW – News) today announced that Hawaiian Airlines has entered into a multi-year partnership with Orbitz Worldwide Distribution, launching a private label solution to power both hotel and dynamic package bookings on the airline’s website, www.hawaiianairlines.com. Serving over 8 million passengers annually on 190 daily flights, Hawaiian Airlines is a leading provider of travel within the Hawaiian Islands and also nonstop flights between Hawaii [...]

China’s airlines will refuse to pay any carbon costs under the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme, while other Asia Pacific carriers, already battling a weak travel market, are likely to pass on the extra cost to passengers.

The EU’s scheme (ETS) was launched in 2005 as one of the pillars of the bloc’s efforts to combat climate change. From Jan. 1, all airlines using EU airports are included in it.

“China will not cooperate with the European [...]

Two airlines have announced they are raising fares to cover the cost of Europe’s new carbon trading plan, effectively passing the expense of the program on to consumers.

The move comes just days after the European Union expanded its emission trading system, which has since 2005 imposed pollution quotas on more than 11,000 utilities and manufacturers, to include airlines. As of January 1, any airline arriving at or departing from the EU must have sufficient carbon credits or pay a fine.

International [...]

* China won’t cooperate with EU on ETS – CATA

* Will consider legal action vs EU, but no rush on this

* ETS could cost Chinese carriers $123 mln in first year

* Cathay may raise prices, SIA (SES: E2:C6L.SI – news) to be more fuel-efficient

(Adds China industry group comments, details, links)

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) – China’s
airlines will refuse to pay any charges under the European
Union’s new carbon trading scheme, while other Asia [...]

* China will not cooperate with EU on ETS – CATA

* Will consider legal action vs EU, but no rush on this

* ETS could cost Chinese carriers $123 mln in first year

* Cathay may raise prices, SIA (SES: E2:C6L.SI – news) to be more fuel-efficient

(Adds Commission penalties for non-compliance, context, paras
5-9)

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) – China’s
airlines will refuse to pay any carbon costs under the European
Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme, while other [...]

Almost against all odds, the global airline industry showed surprising robustness in 2011, but the air freight business was a different story.

Global passenger demand was likely to grow by 6.1%, a pace faster than the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had earlier anticipated, while air cargo growth rates started to fall in mid-2011.

By October the air freight sector had contracted by 5% compared to mid-year and the last quarter was no different, with all major routes declining further.

However, traffic [...]

THE CULTURE GAP

A plea to CEO Tom Horton to turn American Airlines employees into believers, proselytizers, and champions–and fix up the airline’s finances in the process.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

Tom Horton, president of AMR Corp. and American Airlines, speaks during a joint news conference with Japan Airlines Corp.

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“We will have to make very tough and sometimes unpopular decisions that will impact people’s lives.”

—An internal letter to employees from Tom Horton, CEO of AMR Corporation, American [...]

If you get a suspicious email that appears to be from American Airlines, it could be part of a scam to pilfer personal information.

The airline suspects that hackers have sent out, as recently as November, what are known as “phishing” emails intended to mislead people into giving up information such as their passwords to the airline’s reward program.

To warn customers, American Airlines has posted several examples of the phony emails on its website.

One [...]