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Shares of online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc. tumbled 18 percent on news that American Airlines has threatened to stop selling tickets on Orbitz sites.
Orbitz said American, the fourth-largest U.S. airline, was threatening to pull its content if the travel agency did not use a direct link to the carrier’s inventory instead of a global distribution service, which negotiates prices. Get the full story »
United Airline's plane painted for Oprah Winfrey's final season. (United Airlines)
Look up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s Oprah. Actually, it’s a plane sporting Oprah Winfrey’s logo with the familiar big looping “O.”
On Thursday, United Airlines unveiled a newly painted plane at O’Hare International Airport commemorating the 25th and final season of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The Boeing 757’s tail is blue with Winfrey’s signature, with the words “The Farewell Season” painted on the fuselage. Get the full story »
American Express said Thursday it was paying $150 million to acquire Accertify Inc., an Itasca-based firm that specializes in fighting online fraud.
Founded in 2007 by Jeff Liesendahl and other veterans of Orbitz, Accertify provides airlines and other online merchants with an extra layer of security to help them combat identity theft and credit-card fraud.
The firm’s customers include Delta, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines and Sony, 1-800 Flowers, Barnes & Noble, Urban Outfitters, Electronic Arts, StubHub, Tickets.com, Autotrader and Zipcar. Get the full story »
Qantas grounded its Airbus A380 fleet after one of the superjumbo jets blew out an engine Thursday, shooting flames and raining large metal chunks before making a safe emergency landing in Singapore with 459 people aboard. Get the full story »
Online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc. posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit and forecast a 1-2 percent increase in full-year revenue as a rebounding travel industry lifts hotel and international air bookings. Orbitz, which owns travel sites Orbitz.com and Cheaptickets.com, said third-quarter net profit was $15.3 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with $7.0 million, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. Get the full story »
USA Today | The National Federation of the Blind has sued United Airlines, charging that its ticketing kiosks are not accessible to blind passengers.
China will become the world’s biggest airplane market after the U.S. over the next 20 years and will likely require 4,330 new commercial airplanes valued at $480 billion over the same forecast period, with the bulk of new deliveries expected to be for smaller, single-aisle planes, according to a projection by Boeing Co. Get the full story »
The U.S. Thanksgiving holiday will see more airline passengers, higher fares and packed planes this year as a stronger economy stokes travel demand.
The number of travelers is seen up 3.5 percent from a year ago, according to the Air Transport Association, an airline industry trade group. Get the full story »
Southwest Airlines is aiming for a larger slice of the Big Apple, and the corporate travel market, as it launches a slew of new flights from Chicago to Newark next spring and firms plans for onboard Internet service.
Texas-based Southwest said Thursday that it would enter Newark Liberty International Airport March 27, with six daily flights from Midway and two from St. Louis. Southwest also unveiled plans to begin charging a flat $5 per-flight fee for broadband connections. Get the full story »
Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co. said Thursday it expects to win over new customers and bring lower fares to unserved cities should its purchase of AirTran Holdings Inc. be completed.
“This really has the opportunity financially to be a hone run for our shareholders, our employees and customers,” Southwest Executive Vice President of Strategy and Planning Bob Jordan told a media briefing at company headquarters in Dallas. Get the full story »
Flight attendants for Continental Airlines have rejected a proposed contract. Their union says it’s because the agreement did not give them back enough of the concessions they made in earlier contracts. Get the full story »
Russian airline OAO Aeroflot will seek $100 million from Boeing Co. due to the late delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, Interfax reported Wednesday, citing Shamil Kurmashov, the company’s deputy director for financial investments.
Several leading Internet travel agencies and search engines are urging U.S. government regulators to block Google from buying a technology supplier that plays an instrumental role in finding the best airline fares. The opponents, led by Expedia Inc., have formed a coalition called FairSearch.org to fight Google Inc.’s proposed $700 million acquisition of ITA Software.
Both Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways announced short-term fall fare sales Tuesday.
Southwest’s sale, which ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time Thursday, offers one-way tickets for $30, $60, $90 and $120 to select destinations, based on the length of travel. There are blackout periods during the December holiday period. Get the full story »
A federal jury says FedEx must pay $66 million to now-defunct ATA Airlines, saying the package delivery company broke a contract that ultimately pushed ATA into bankruptcy. Get the full story »
