United Airlines said this morning that it is offering customers 1,000 bonus frequent flier miles through the end of the year when checking in for domestic flights (or those to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) on a mobile device. United offers mobile boarding passes at almost 40 airports.
Filed under: Airports
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Virgin America sets its sights on O’Hare again
Virgin America is once again looking to land at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in 2011, provided it can finalize an agreement with the city of Chicago to take over gates vacated by Delta Air Lines last year.
Virgin America CEO David Cush said Tuesday that talks were progressing and he was optimistic the carrier would begin daily flights from Chicago to Los Angeles and San Francisco next April.
“I think the city has certainly moved the process forward,” said Cush, saying he expected to hammer out an agreement in the next 30 to 45 days. “I’m more encouraged today than I was 60 days ago.” Get the full story »
U.S. to ban some toner, ink cartridges from flights
The Obama administration on Monday banned all cargo shipments to the United States from Somalia, expanding a ban imposed initially on shipments from Yemen in the wake of a recent foiled bomb plot.
Two weeks ago, authorities in Dubai and the United Kingdom intercepted two bombs hidden in toner cartridges destined for the United States from Yemen via FedEx and United Parcel Service after a tip from Saudi Arabia.
In addition to the expanded cargo ban, the Department of Homeland Security also prohibited toner and ink cartridges over 16 ounces from any U.S. passenger flights, domestic or international, bound for the United States. Get the full story »
Orbitz: O’Hare to be busiest U.S. airport on T-Day
Travelers may want to choose Chicago Midway airport over Chicago O’Hare International this Thanksgiving to avoid stress-induced indigestion before the turkey is even on the table.
That’s because O’Hare is expected to be the busiest airport in the nation this holiday, according to a ranking by Orbitz, a Chicago-based online travel company, outpacing its next busiest counterpart Los Angeles International airport by 20 percent. Get the full story »
Another Qantas jet, a 747, has engine problems
A second Qantas Airways Ltd. plane made an emergency landing at Singapore’s Changi airport with engine problems, the Australian flag carrier said Friday.
“Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft operating at QF6 from Singapore to Sydney experienced an issue of one of its engines. As a precautionary measure, the captain sought primary clearance to return to Singapore and the aircraft landed safely a short time later without incident,” Qantas said in a statement. Get the full story »
Qantas grounds Airbus 380 superjumbo jets
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 »
Nov. 1, 2010 at 12:37 p.m.
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Filed under: Airlines, Airplanes, Airports, Associations/Clubs, Transportation, Travel Increase seen in Thanksgiving air traffic, fares
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 »
Continental flight attendants reject labor deal
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 »
Southwest to attack rivals’ flight-change fees
Passengers at the Southwest Airlines counter at Midway airport, Sept. 27, 2010. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
Southwest Airlines is giving its “bag cops” a break.
Southwest has been running a heavy dose of TV commercials boasting that unlike most other airlines it lets passengers check two bags for free.
But the airline said Friday it will launch a new TV commercial designed to boost sales on its Web site. The ad, featuring singing and dancing employees in Chicago, is important to Southwest because its flights don’t appear on online booking websites such as Orbitz and Travelocity. Get the full story »
Daley won’t push to privatize Midway Airport
Mayor Richard Daley said Wednesday he will not push forward with a second attempt to privatize Midway Airport during the remainder this term, which ends next May.
“We’re not going to move on it,” Daley told the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board during a discussion of his proposed 2011 budget. “It will be up to the [next] mayor to make that decision.”
The mayor has pursued the idea as a way to bring a revenue windfall into city coffers, as happened with the outsourcing of parking meters and the long-term lease of the Chicago Skyway. But a proposed deal to lease Midway for 99 years for $2.5 billion fell through last year when the investors could not secure funding. Get the full story »
Oct. 13, 2010 at 3:57 p.m.
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Filed under: Airlines, Airplanes, Airports, China, International United wins approval to launch Shanghai flights
United Airlines said Wednesday it had gained federal approval to begin daily flights from Los Angeles to Shanghai in little more time than it takes to fly between the two cities.
The speedy review of United’s request, completed a day after the Chicago carrier asked for permission to launch the new China service next year, is in contrast to the lengthy lobbying battles over access to China’s booming market that played out during the 1990s and in the 2000s.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Transportation had needed just six days to approve a request by American Airlines to fly from Los Angeles to Shanghai. Get the full story »
Airlines want 20% export financing cap
Leading airlines have called on Europe and the United States to cap export credits on the sale of passenger jets at 20 percent in the latest ripple of a growing spat over multi-billion-dollar subsidies.
U.S. and European airlines say their Gulf rivals get subsidies and export credits that allow them to grow at a breakneck pace and take market share. Get the full story »
United seeks to launch new Shanghai service
Like rival American Airlines, United Airlines wants to expand its reach into China and has asked federal officials for permission to begin daily flights from Los Angeles to Shanghai starting in May 2011.
The new service would expand United’s reach in Asia’s booming air travel market, which has rebounded from the recent global recession faster than the U.S. and Europe.
Chicago-based United also seeks to take advantage of additional flights between the U.S. and China that will become available in 2011 under a recent trade agreement that loosened the tightly regulated market for air travel between the two countries. Get the full story »
Midway has highest rate of delayed departures
A higher rate of airline flights departed late from Midway Airport than at any other major U.S. airport over the first eight months of the year, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported Tuesday.
Three flights out of 10 departed Midway at least 15 minutes after their scheduled time to push back from the gate, according to the department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The 71 percent on-time departure record over the period was only slightly better in August, when 74 percent of flights departed Midway on time.
United sees rise in September traffic
United Airlines said September traffic rose 7.6 percent, and a key revenue measure rose too. The airline said the revenue collected for each available seat flown one mile rose 13.5 percent to 14.5 percent compared with September 2009. Not counting regional flights on partner carriers, the same revenue measure rose 14 percent to 15 percent.
