As oil prices continue to break records, the nation's six leading airlines have announced capacity cuts for 2008, trimming flights in major hubs and cutting off service to dozens of discount destinations.
How do you charge consumers for something they are accustomed to getting free? That's the marketing dilemma American, United, and US Airways have been dealing with since they recently instituted a $15 fee for a passenger's first checked bag. Sadly, the way the airlines have pitched this revenue grab in the face of crushing fuel costs is a textbook case of how not to spin a surcharge.
What's the fastest way to board a plane?
If you're flying American Airlines be prepared to pay that $15 first checked bag fee as the carrier deals with higher fuel prices.
Passengers are more dissatisfied with airlines' customer service than they have been in years at a time when carriers are charging more and more for tickets and services
With thousands of U.S. flights cancelled in recent weeks and criticisms over the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s inspection regime, U.S. passengers are beginning to doubt the safety of the nation's airline industry.
A federal airline safety inspector choked up Thursday as he described what he said were threats made against him and his family when he tried to report Southwest Airlines was flying "unsafe" planes.
Southwest Airlines tried to keep serious problems with its maintenance program hidden and pressured the Federal Aviation Administration to keep out an inspector who noticed the problems, according to two FAA inspectors who blew the whistle on the airline.
The first phase of an audit by the Federal Aviation Administration shows that airlines are 99 percent compliant with mandatory air-worthiness directives, the agency's acting administrator said Wednesday.
The nation's air safety watchdog ordered its inspectors Tuesday to confirm that airlines are complying with federal rules after revelations that Southwest Airlines flew dozens of aircraft without certain mandatory inspections.
As oil prices continue to break records, the nation's six leading airlines have announced capacity cuts for 2008, trimming flights in major hubs and cutting off service to dozens of discount destinations.
How do you charge consumers for something they are accustomed to getting free? That's the marketing dilemma American, United, and US Airways have been dealing with since they recently instituted a $15 fee for a passenger's first checked bag. Sadly, the way the airlines have pitched this revenue grab in the face of crushing fuel costs is a textbook case of how not to spin a surcharge.
What's the fastest way to board a plane?
If you're flying American Airlines be prepared to pay that $15 first checked bag fee as the carrier deals with higher fuel prices.
Passengers are more dissatisfied with airlines' customer service than they have been in years at a time when carriers are charging more and more for tickets and services
With thousands of U.S. flights cancelled in recent weeks and criticisms over the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)'s inspection regime, U.S. passengers are beginning to doubt the safety of the nation's airline industry.
A federal airline safety inspector choked up Thursday as he described what he said were threats made against him and his family when he tried to report Southwest Airlines was flying "unsafe" planes.
Southwest Airlines tried to keep serious problems with its maintenance program hidden and pressured the Federal Aviation Administration to keep out an inspector who noticed the problems, according to two FAA inspectors who blew the whistle on the airline.
The first phase of an audit by the Federal Aviation Administration shows that airlines are 99 percent compliant with mandatory air-worthiness directives, the agency's acting administrator said Wednesday.
The nation's air safety watchdog ordered its inspectors Tuesday to confirm that airlines are complying with federal rules after revelations that Southwest Airlines flew dozens of aircraft without certain mandatory inspections.
Southwest Airlines said it resumed normal operations Thursday after several dozen planes were reinspected on Wednesday.
Southwest Airlines said it resumed normal operations Thursday after several dozen planes were reinspected on Wednesday.
Southwest Airlines was inspecting 44 planes Wednesday after an "ambiguity related to required testing" was found during a review of records, the airline said.
Southwest Airlines grounded 41 planes overnight in the wake of its recent admission that it had missed required inspections for structural cracks
You may have heard that the Governor of New York was caught with his tailored trousers down in a little prostitution probe. As the torch-bearing mob congregated, Eliot Spitzer tendered his resignation and could have been forgiven for wishing he were a star athlete rather than a star politician.
The CEO of Southwest Airlines said Friday he has ordered an investigation into charges the discount carrier flew airplanes that weren't properly inspected for safety.
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly defended the airline on CNN's "American Morning" on Friday, a day after the Federal Aviation Administration announced that they are charging Southwest with operating 46 airplanes without performing mandatory inspections for fatigue cracking.
Discount air carrier Southwest Airlines flew thousands of passengers on aircraft that federal inspectors said were "unsafe" as recently as last March, according to detailed congressional documents obtained by CNN.
It's an impressive hat trick: Apple not only takes the No. 1 slot on this year's list of America's Most Admired Companies but also tops the global survey - and wins the highest marks for innovation too. That's probably no coincidence. In an industry that changes every nanosecond, the 32-year-old company has time and again innovated its way out of the doldrums. Rivals always seem to be playing catch-up.
A Louisiana teenager was arrested Tuesday for allegedly planning to hijack a Southwest Airlines jet and crash it into a Hannah Montana concert scheduled for Friday night in Lafayette, Louisiana, CNN reports.
Natural disasters, revolutionary technology, pro-athlete scandals and national calamities marked 2007 as an unforgettable year.
Federal investigators Tuesday blamed the pilot of a Southwest Airlines jet for causing the plane to skid off a runway at Chicago's Midway Airport in 2005, an accident that killed a 6-year-old boy.
The Dallas-based airline says it is making changes to its longtime open seating policy to assign a specific pecking order to travelers waiting to board their Boeing 737 jets.
A second young woman has come forward to claim that Southwest Airlines employees made her cover up on a recent flight, leading jet-setters to ask: Will my outfit fly?
Northwest Airlines Corp., which exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, said Tuesday its quarterly profit, excluding reorganization items, rose 53 percent as its operating expenses tumbled.
Delta Air Lines Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co., two of the largest U.S. air carriers, reported better-than-expected quarterly profits Wednesday, helped by broadly higher ticket prices and relatively strong demand.
Northwest Airlines is seeing about one out of eight flights cancelled due to lack of flight crews in recent days, as the pilots union steps up attacks on management that could signal problems ahead for the airline and its customers.
Travel alert: You'll be paying more to fly this summer on planes that are more crowded than ever - even after you've bought your ticket.
The following are some of Thursday's most actively traded stocks:
Airline delays increased sharply to record levels in 2006, according to a published report.
American business lore is filled with tales of dynamic visionaries taking insane risks in pursuit of a distant dream--and then striking it rich. But get past the Texas wildcatters, railroad barons ...
"The concept is interesting and well formed, but in order to earn better than a C, the idea must be feasible," a college professor supposedly wrote in response to a student's term paper outlining the need for a reliable overnight delivery service.
Everyone believes a modern-day leader has to generate a few sparks. "You can't pull together resources and people if you don't have the capacity for making other people want to contribute," says Paul Reynolds, a management professor at Florida International University in Miami.
United Airlines has sparked a round of fare cuts for leisure travel among leading U.S. airlines this week after months of rising prices and a record percentage of seats filled across the industry.
U.S. airfares took their biggest jump on record, according to the latest government figures, allowing rates to return pre-Sept. 11 levels for the first time since the terrorist attack drove down demand for air travel.
So the Bank of Japan CEO is apologizing for a big scandal there. And now we hear that the Japanese and U.S. are negotiating the removal of Japan's ban on U.S. beef. You go Japan!
Growing demand for airline travel, coupled with a tighter supply of seats, means there's likely to be few or no empty seats on your next flight, especially if that flight is this summer.
Southwest Airlines ranks no. 300 on this year's list of the FORTUNE 500, with $7,584 million in revenues, up 16.1% from the previous year. The Dallas-based company was ranked no. 318 on the 2005 list. Its 2005 profits were $548 million, up 75.1% from a year earlier.
Airfares are up and there are fewer seats up for grabs. And if that isn't enough, airlines are padding their fares with some extra "gotchas".
Investigators are probing an accident involving a Southwest Airlines jet that skidded off a runway at Chicago's Midway Airport, plowed into an intersection and killed a boy.
Southwest Airlines has struck an agreement with its pilots union to have each of them fly an additional 1.5 hours a month, according to a published report.
Many companies use flawed techniques to find, screen, and hire executive talent. The problem begins with the emphasis placed on resumes; it just doesn't make sense to base a hiring decision on a fe...
As a decorated road warrior, you've got frequent-flier miles coming out of your ears, a generous per diem, and a bag full of the latest gizmos. The one thing you don't have enough of is time. You p...
Southwest Airlines kicked a woman off one of its flights over a political message on her T-shirt, the airline confirmed Thursday, and published reports say the passenger will sue.
A couple of years ago, an associate dean at Stanford University's business school complained that I hadn't given enough low grades in a course I teach there called "The Paths to Power." When he ask...
The airline industry's five-year financial crisis came to a head Wednesday evening as Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, two of the nation's largest carriers, both filed for bankruptcy.
A threat against a Southwest Airlines flight prompted the evacuation of the 141 people onboard at Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, an airline spokeswoman said.
Is it time to close the book on the speculation theory of crude oil prices?
Southwest Airlines' profits jumped 41 percent in the second quarter despite a sharp rise in fuel costs -- a surprisingly strong performance that sparked a rally in the low-fare carrier's stock.
Don't let your job become routine. Make a few changes here and there and see if you can't give your career a jolt.
Southwest Airlines is joining several of its rivals in passing along higher fuel costs to customers, but is not adding as much to ticket costs as other airlines have.
Earlier this year my wife and I flew into Newark Airport on a Continental Airlines flight from Madrid. We had less than two hours to make a connecting flight to San Francisco, but 70 minutes later ...
When senior writer Marc Gunther began work on "God and Business," a July 2001 FORTUNE cover story, he figured that executives who lived their faith and values in corporate America would invariably ...
Southwest Airlines annually accommodates 66 million passengers. General Electric has 307,000 employees. Last year Dell Computer churned out 26 million products. These businesses are so big that the...
To anyone who has dabbled in the stock market, this bit of trivia comes as no surprise: Herb Kelleher's Southwest Airlines and Sam Walton's Wal-Mart rank first and second as America's best-performi...
U.S. stocks seesawed early Friday, a day ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, despite a solid reading of personal spending.
Stocks could be under pressure Friday ahead of the long holiday weekend after oil prices turned slightly higher again, although positive readings on consumer spending, income and confidence due early today could give markets a lift.
United Airlines is trying to raise its fuel-surcharge by $5 a flight, less than a week after a fuel-inspired $10 fare hike was dropped by most major carriers.
With new threats of bankruptcies, and appeals for labor concessions and government assistance, the nation's major airlines are facing a crisis that may well spell the end for one or more carrier in the next few years, according to industry executives and experts.
It's a little strange how some folks still think about the airline business. There are the big players, they'll tell you, like Delta, United, and American. And then you have the smaller fish. The l...
Continental Airlines Inc., the nation's fifth largest commercial carrier, said Friday it increased fares on domestic tickets to offset higher fuel costs.
Ever since we launched FORTUNE's Most Powerful Women list in 1998, we've noticed that many top-performing companies--such as Citigroup, Southwest Airlines, Viacom, and Avon--have an above-average p...
Low-cost airlines are now carrying almost half the passengers flying and regional jet service has grown 140 percent over the last two years, according to a report from the Department of Transportation Monday.
Q I recently took over a department full of employees who expect me to do what their last boss did: Dress as Santa for our holiday party. I'd rather die. How do I wiggle out of this duty without hu...
Your child is heading off to college, and you've devised a plan to pay the big bill. But as Marc Freedman, a financial planner in Peabody, Mass., says, "parents usually plan for the expense of coll...
A few months ago, my wife and I planned to fly Virgin Atlantic to London, but the airline messed up our reservation. When I called to get it fixed, I waited, and waited, and waited some more for s...
Women make up just 12% of corporate officers in the FORTUNE 500, and you can count the number of female CEOs in those companies on two hands (one hand and one finger, to be exact). This isn't heart...
Mystery shrouds it. Academic studies have been done on it. Investment decisions are prompted by it. We even know that the bonuses of some corporate PR executives have been based on it.
All work and no play has made Jon a dull boy. A former dot-commer now at a multinational telecom, Jon (he'd rather we not use his last name) pines for the days of yore. "The bright, translucent pla...
If there's one thing Herb Kelleher is famous for, it's telling stories. He has loads and loads of them: There was the time he pretended to be his own evil twin brother; the time he did a soft-shoe ...
One guiding principle here at FORTUNE: It's all about the story. Every day, business men and women make tough decisions and heartbreaking mistakes; they scheme and they dream. From the billionaire ...
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They're the two best executives in America's single worst industry. After a summer of canceled flights and excruciating delays, everyone is dumping on the aviation industry. But not all airlines ar...
"For years companies would come to me and say, 'You're doing on-site child care. Tell me how you do it.' I'd say, 'Well, we did it.' They said, 'What about the liability?' And I would say, 'Why don...
An excellent way to embarrass your friends this fall is to ask them the name of the current No. 1 best-selling business book. It isn't a trick question; the book has been No. 1 on virtually every l...
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Peter Lynch says you should know what you own and know why you own it. Perhaps he should add, Know what it spells. The companies below have opted for one-word ticker symbols--although in some cases...
Intensity of interest in our Most Admired Companies increases every year, so plenty of executives, directors, investors, shareholder activists, and researchers are sure to focus on a change we've m...
The Big Three: If you're talking automakers, they're making money. No such fate for the airlines. The economic expansion is here, but AMR's American Airlines and Delta Air Lines and UAL's United Ai...
Feel like starting your own airline? Plenty of people do these days. Emboldened in part by the runaway success of low-cost, no-frills operator Southwest Airlines -- the most admired in its category...
Is the U.S. airline industry headed for another suicidal fare war? Last summer a 50%-off sale filled the sunny skies, and the players are still smarting from the losses. America West Airlines and N...
IN AN AGE WHEN air transport is just another commodity, the lowest fare wins -- and the airlines lose. From where the customer sits, today's air wars are a turkey shoot of travel bargains: two-for-...
It's been a tough year for growth stock investors. As the economic recovery lifts industrial shares to new highs, many growth stocks are withering. But Gordon Fines, manager of the IDS New Dimensio...
Hold on to your seats. Airline shares are throttling up. Since last September the S&P index of airline stocks is up 35%, vs. 23% for the S&P 500-stock index. As security analysts see it, that's jus...
CHARLOTTE GODDARD, 41, spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines, on her company's decision to include a paper airplane in its annual report:
People Express, which made a name for itself through cut-rate fares, got a bargain of its own when it agreed to buy Frontier Holdings, the parent of Frontier Airlines, for $24 a share, or $300 mill...
Even as most airline stocks fetch record prices, a surprising number of security analysts insist that the best is yet to come. Their advice to investors: hold what you've got -- and buy more. Clear...
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