Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
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 »
A Caterpillar worker ties down a machine part to a flatbed rail car with steel banding. (David Klobucar/Chicago Tribune)
Caterpillar Inc., a U.S. heavy equipment maker that has been moving aggressively into the rail business, will announce plans on Friday to open a railcar facility in Indiana, the (Muncie) Star Press newspaper reported on Friday.
Citing unnamed sources, the paper said Caterpillar’s Progress Rail unit would take over a huge vacant factory in Muncie that has doors in the rear that allow trains to enter and exit.
The report did not say whether the plant would be used to service locomotives and other railroad rolling stock or to manufacture new equipment. It said the facility, in east-central Indiana, would eventually employ 650 workers. 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 »
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 »
Rush University Medical Center, working with a national group of academic medical centers, was awarded a $500,000 grant designed to “help boost medical travel to the U.S.” Get the full story »
Buoyed by a global rebound in travel, United and Continental airlines flew into the black during their last quarter as independent carriers.
United Continental Holdings Inc., the parent company created by the airlines’ Oct. 1 merger, reported that United’s net income soared to $473 million or $2.12 per share, excluding fuel and merger-related charges during the third quarter. That’s a $533 million improvement from 2009 results. Get the full story »
Tourists pose for photographs in front of "The Bean" in Millennium Park, Jan. 28, 2010. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago and New York tourism officials announced Tuesday their first-ever collaborative effort to lure visitors to their respective cities in the dead of winter.
The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau and the Chicago Office of Tourism joined with NYC & Co., the organization that markets the Big Apple, to secure discounts on American Airline flights between their cities during the traditionally slow post-holiday months. Get the full story »
Hilton workers protest in front of thee Hilton Hotel on Michigan Avenue in Chicago Saturday. (Tribune / Abel Uribe)
A strike by hundreds of Hilton Chicago Hotel workers who are working without a contract entered its third and presumably last day today. The three-day strike began Saturday in connection with the workers’ inability to negotiate an agreement at the same time they assert the hotel received a sweetheart deal from the federal government. Get the full story>>
The strong recovery in air travel is slowing as the force of the economic upswing moderates, with growth in business travel continuing to outpace that in economy class, airline industry association IATA said on Thursday.
The number of passengers travelling in business or first class in August was 9.1 percent higher than a year earlier, against a 13.8 percent year-on-year rise in July, the International Air Transport Association said in its monthly premium traffic monitor. Get the full story »
From the Daily Herald | Schaumburg officials said construction on its 26th hotel is moving forward, as hotel occupancy in the Northwest suburbs continues to rebound. The new hotel will be a Cambria Suites, a business-oriented hotel chain, will be built at the northwest corner of Roselle Road and I-90.
Stepped up business travel in the Northeast helped Amtrak boost ridership by nearly 6 percent to a record 28.7 million passengers in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the railroad said Monday.
Amtrak, the only long-haul passenger rail service in the United States, also said year-over-year ticket revenue rose by 9 percent to a record $1.7 billion for the period that began last Oct. 1. Get the full story »
Southwest Airlines Co. reported continued growth in September as a rebound continues in the travel and tourism sector.
Airlines have been posting increasing traffic and record portions of plane seats filled lately, after last year’s deep drop in demand in the recession and resulting capacity cuts. Get the full story »
American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia have announced new routes as they launch their trans-Atlantic business on Wednesday.
The three airlines say that the tie-up will give customers more access to cheaper fares, bigger choice of flight times and easier connections. Get the full story »
U.S. airlines Monday said their flights and schedules were unaffected by the U.S. State Department alert issued Sunday to warn American tourists of the potential for attacks by al-Qaeda and other groups in Europe. Get the full story »
