Airlines

Porter eliminates passive segment fees

Porter Airlines has suspended passive segment charges for its travel agency partners. Any passive segments booked as of this date will not be charged to the agency. "We want the travel agency experience to be as seamless as possible,"said Michael Deluce, executive vice-president and chief commercial officer at Porter Airlines. "Travel agents book a lot of Porter flights and we're pleased to be making this change for them."Porter has full content on all GDSs, which reduces the need for agencies to have passive segments....

AC frequent flyers set for take-off with ‘Altitude’

Air Canada's re-branded Top Tier frequent flyer recognition program, "Altitude,"was officially launched today (March 1). Specifically designed to recognize and reward Air Canada's most frequent flyers, Altitude offers members a range of travel privileges, rewards and additional status levels. Improved benefits include enhanced priority travel services such as a complimentary checked baggage allowance, higher upgrade priority for higher status members, exclusive partner offers and new incentives such as tier status gifts, as well as the creation of a new dedicated website...

WestJet fare bundles go live

WestJet reports that its new fare bundles are now live. The new fare system gives guests a choice between three fares -- Econo, Flex, and Plus, offering different levels of service to guests. As of March 2, the booking flow on WestJet's Agent WEBLink (http://www.westjet.com/agent) now allows agents to select a fare for clients based on a combination of price and service offerings. These fares are available for agents to book through WestJet's Agent WEBLink and their GDS. To view the fare bundles quick reference chart, visit http://www.westjet.com/agentfbsummary...

FAA warns of delays

In a speech to a meeting of the American Bar Association in Washington, DC this week, Michael Huerta, administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), told his audience of aviation and space law specialists that a year after the FAA had its budget re-authorized, it is once again facing fiscal uncertainty and unpredictability. Huerta said that "sequestration ... would jeopardize many of the positive benefits ..." that the FAA had "sought to create with the last year's re-authorization." The FAA's administrator noted that: "Under the sequester, the FAA would have to cut $627 million...

Delta Air Lines gets Heavenly

Delta Air Lines is transforming the sleep experience in the air by offering Westin Heavenly In-Flight bedding, designed and manufactured exclusively for Delta, in all of its BusinessElite cabins throughout the world. The new bedding product will be available on all BusinessElite international flights, as well as BusinessElite flights between New York's JFK airport and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle and between Atlanta and Honolulu, beginning in June. BusinessElite customers will receive a Westin Heavenly sleeping pillow and a comforter with extra luxurious loft. Passengers on flights...

Porter increases Windsor flights

Porter Airlines is adding a fourth weekday roundtrip flight between Windsor and Toronto (Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport), starting April 15. Flights are timed to provide convenient connections in Toronto for Ottawa, Montreal, Northern Ontario and other destinations....

IATA looking for global solutions

IATA is calling on governments to agree on a global approach to market-based measures (MBMs) to help aviation manage the 2% of global man-made carbon emissions for which it is responsible. The airline industry association also stressed the need for governments and industry to align on all four pillars of the aviation industry's strategy on climate change: investment in new technology, more efficient operations, better infrastructure and positive economic measure or MBMs. The aviation value chain -- airlines, airports, air navigation service providers and manufacturers -- has agreed to three...

Frontier drops Expedia

Denver-based Frontier Airlines says that its schedules and fares will no longer be available on Expedia. The move takes effect immediately and comes after Frontier and Expedia were unable to reach agreement to continue offering Frontier's schedules and fares on the online travel agency's web site. The airline indicated that its customers can still find its fare on other travel sites such as Travelocity, Orbitz and Priceline. Daniel Shurz, Frontier's senior vice-president, commercial, said: "Booking Frontier travel at FlyFrontier.com remains the best choice as it's the only place where you're...

WestJet fare bundles set to take flight

WestJet has released details of its upcoming fare bundles - an enhancement to its current fare system that gives guests a choice between three fares -- Econo, Flex and Plus. Each fare offers a different level of value to the guest. Features for each fare bundle are as follows: Econo: One complimentary checked bag, advanced seat selection - $5 to $17.25, $75-$86.25 itinerary change fee (plus applicable fare difference), $75-$86.25 name change fee, $75-$86.25 cancellation fee; Flex: One complimentary checked bag, advanced seat selection - $5 to $34.50 with access to emergency exit row which...