Airline Industry

DALLAS - The nation's airlines are offering fewer flights, but at least they're more likely to arrive on time now.

WASHINGTON - An airline industry trade group predicts that passenger traffic over the Thanksgiving holiday will drop 4 percent from last year.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Alaska Airlines on Monday announced new service between Oakland and Hawaii.

The percentage of airline flights in September that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, according to the U.S. Transportation Department. In parenthesis is the carrier's ranking the previous month.

WASHINGTON - US Airways Group Inc. spent $410,000 lobbying in the third quarter on the cap-and-trade energy proposal and aviation regulation issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

NEW YORK - Airline stocks rose Friday as oil prices tumbled, easing the carriers' fears over jet fuel costs.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Flight attendants at American Airlines say they will hold mock strikes around the country this month and could seek permission for real strikes early next year.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines Co. said Thursday traffic in October rose a modest 1.9 percent even as the discount carrier aggressively cut flights, so there were fewer empty seats than a year ago.

WASHINGTON - The Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot Minneapolis are part of a larger problem — eroding professionalism among commercial airline pilots, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - United Airlines spent $510,000 in the third quarter lobbying on legislation including the cap-and-trade bill that was taken up in the Senate this week, according to a recent disclosure form.

DALLAS - Pilots for Southwest Airlines have approved a new 5-year labor contract that the union president said has smaller pay raises than his members wanted.

DUBLIN (AFP) - Irish low-cost airline Ryanair, reporting a surge in first half profit, on Monday threatened to cancel or delay orders for 200 planes from US aircraft manufacturer Boeing unless it gets a better deal.

FORT WORTH, Texas - The union representing flight attendants at American Airlines is supporting the company's bid to win antitrust immunity and work more closely with British Airways and Iberia.

NEW YORK - JetBlue said Thursday it will boost its service from Boston Logan by 30 percent by next summer, as bigger carriers pull back and competition from rival Southwest heats up.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Lufthansa and the airline industry's representative body provided a gloomy outlook for the sector as carriers around the world struggled to make a profit amid a fierce battle for business.

(Reuters) - National Mediation Board, a U.S. federal labor-management relations agency, is considering a proposal to allow airline workers to form unions with the majority approval of those voting, Bloomberg news agency said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Struggling US Airways said Wednesday it will cut some 1,000 jobs next year, shift nearly all of its flying to its three hubs and Washington, and suspend several international routes.

NEW YORK - Continental Airlines Inc. said Wednesday it signed two new partnerships with airlines, a day after it joined the world's largest carrier alliance.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines Co. says it signed a two-year deal to extend its sponsorship of the NBA Denver Nuggets.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - American Airlines parent AMR Corp will eliminate up to 700 jobs as it downsizes its maintenance and engineering operations, the company said on Wednesday in a letter to employees.

NEW YORK - Continental Airlines on Tuesday officially joined the Star Alliance, a move it says will give passengers more options and the airline more places to expand.

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways , American Airlines and Iberia may have to give up take-off and landing slots for their Oneworld transatlantic alliance to go ahead, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

DALLAS - The last of the major network airlines matched a $10 increase in the price of many round-trip tickets, making it likely that the fare boost will stick.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - The head of the airline industry body IATA said on Friday that the tough conditions suffered by carriers hit by the global economic crisis were improving.

US Airways joined formation with the other big carriers and reported a third-quarter loss on Thursday as it cut fares and flew less.

ATLANTA - The recession has put the major U.S. airlines into two camps — the profitable ones that have low costs and a domestic focus, and the money-losing ones with higher expenses and big networks that are under global pressure.

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc. will cut system capacity 3 percent next year and plans to shed more jobs, as it reported a quarterly loss Thursday bigger than a year ago. Executives were hesitant to say when the world's largest airline will grow again amid an economic recovery that is only starting to take shape.

NEW YORK - JetBlue and some low-cost airlines have been able to balance flights and schedules more easily than the bigger airlines. That's kept their earnings up despite a steep falloff in the number of fliers. JetBlue CEO Dave Barger discussed the issue with analysts on Thursday.

NEW YORK - JetBlue said Thursday it won't rule out charging for a first checked bag, but it's looking for other ways to stay profitable in weak economic times without "nickel and diming" customers.