Southwest may need to change the perks that made customers loyal

Sep 27, 2024
The carrier rose on a model of open seating and cheap domestic flights — a business plan that's less competitive now.
A Southwest Airlines plan sits at a gate at Washington's Reagan National Airport. The budget carrier is looking to overhaul its business model to boost profitability.
Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

Pilot shortage spurs six-figure bonus offers and poaching of personnel

Nov 8, 2023
An American Airlines unit is offering $250,000 bonuses to attract pilots from freight and other carriers. FedEx, though, has a suplus.
Between a shrinking pool of trained pilots and early retirements during the pandemic, the pilot shortage has been years in the making.
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United launches $100 million green jet fuel fund

Feb 22, 2023
The airline will invest in startups developing sustainable jet fuels leveraging money from the Inflation Reduction Act.
United's investment fund will work to fund early-stage companies that are working toward greener jet fuel.
Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images

Extra fees have conquered the airline industry. But there may be fewer going forward.

Feb 22, 2023
Customer and airlines like them better than higher airfares.
United Airlines moved recently to ease some of its fees after President Biden criticized the industry's fee practices in his State of the Union address.
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Adieu to the Boeing 747, the first jumbo jet

Feb 1, 2023
The iconic plane, which ushered in the era of long-haul air travel, will no longer be produced as of this week.
Artist Jeff Barlow of Boeing's creative department shows off his sketch of the last Boeing 747 aircraft in a ceremony to mark its delivery, at the Boeing Future of Flight Museum in Everett, Washington.
Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

French entrepreneurs look to agriculture and forestry for the future of aviation fuel

Dec 28, 2022
One company says it can make sustainable aviation fuel using beets, sugar cane and forestry waste.
France is Europe's largest producer of sugar beets. Now, a bioenergy company there is using bacteria from the sugar to produce sustainable aviation fuel.
Thierry Zoccolan/AFP via Getty Images

Report: Greener fuels are best path to cutting carbon out of air travel

Dec 8, 2022
But so far, sustainable aviation fuels are expensive and not widely available.
The transportation sector is responsible for almost 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

The private jet business is bigger than you think

Aug 1, 2022
While reducing carbon emissions is an urgent issue, private jet flights have only increased since the pandemic.
Private jet use has become normalized in recent decades . Above, a private jet in Sun Valley, Idaho, last month.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Boeing hits bumpy air as it tries to meet rising demand for aircraft

Jul 27, 2022
Supply chain issues, increased federal oversight and a looming strike by workers in its defense unit are affecting the company's ability to deliver orders.
Supply chain issues and a strike are bogging down Boeing's ability to deliver planes.
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Flight attendants are feeling the heat of pent-up demand and a cancellation-filled summer

Jul 14, 2022
Commuting expenses and training backlogs are just some of the problems compounding staffing shortages, union leader says.
"You're not really fully compensated when a flight is diverted, you're taken off your schedule, and you get home 12, 24 hours later," says Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants.
Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images