Travel Week in Review – January 19th, 2024

After leading the car rental industry with purchases of electric vehicles, and partnerships to develop charging stations, Hertz has decided to sell about 20,000 EVs from its U.S. fleet and use part of the proceeds to replace them with gas-powered vehicles “to meet customer demand.” The sell-off represents approximately one-third of its EV fleet globally. Hertz cited higher expenses related to collision and damage as one motivation for the move. Read More…

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is taking new actions to increase its oversight of Boeing production and manufacturing, the agency announced Friday. The move comes one day after the FAA notified Boeing that is had launched an investigation into the company following the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 incident of losing a passenger door plug that happened a week ago and subsequent grounding of the aircraft model. The new actions include an audit of the Boeing Max 737-9 production line and its suppliers. Read More…

Icon of the Seas has arrived at its home port of Miami, from which the ship will depart on its maiden voyage later this month. The world’s largest cruise ship—a 250,800-gross-ton, 20-deck vessel—sailed into PortMiami on Wednesday amid plenty of fanfare. Royal Caribbean employees, executives and fans celebrated the 1,198-foot-long mega-ship’s arrival with banner planes, fireboat salutes and a party at the Pérez Art Museum.  Read More…

The $3.8 billion JetBlue acquisition of Spirit Airlines has been grounded—at least for now. The judge presiding over the civil lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice along with the District of Columbia and six states against the proposed acquisition, announced in July 2022, ruled that combining the airlines would violate the Clayton Antitrust Act.  The non-jury trial took place late last year in a U.S. district court in Massachusetts. Judge William Young in his ruling noted that “there are no ‘bad guys’ in this case.” Read More…

Attempts to disrupt the major air carriers have had mixed success. That’s because the incumbents have a lot of advantages. Consumers have favorite carriers and many frequent fliers are tied to brands based on loyalty programs. Those programs are structured to prompt travelers to stick with specific airlines so they can earn perks like free flights and even seat upgrades. Southwest Airlines (LUV) – Get Free Report has proved to be the exception to the rule. It found success by offering high-value fares at low prices. Read More…