Airline News

Somehow just three U.S. airports out of 300 have greatly increased oversight of airport workers in the last two years. This should worry travelers.

The Alaska Airlines-Virgin America deal synergies won't be of the Expedia-Travelocity or Expedia-Orbitz type, where the majority of staff members of the acquired companies got pink slips. Virgin America's front-line employees should do well from a job security standpoint but a considerable number of back-of-the-house staff will have something to worry about.

Alaska Air and Virgin America can rightly argue that they need a marriage to compete with the likes of Delta, America, United and Southwest. JetBlue, meanwhile, which made an unsuccessful bid, gets left out in the cold.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines continue to lead the pack when it comes to on-time arrivals. But Virgin America, which will likely be acquired by Alaska Airlines, stood above its competitors overall.

What Gogo's new study shows is that there is a great appetite for connectivity in the air globally, where it is rare. In North America, Gogo says the market is saturated, demand is lower. Whether this demand converts from 'would like to have' to 'would use' will depend on the costs of service, both for airlines and for passengers who pay the bill.

The combined Alaska Airlines-Virgin America would give it the leadership position in seat share on the U.S. west coast, make it the fifth largest carrier in the country, and put it in a better position to compete with the legacy carriers.

A little excitement in aviation today as two of the U.S. most-liked airlines plan to create a single carrier.

Qantas is making some very smart and bold branding moves. The timing of this collaboration with Tesla around the launch of the Model S is only the latest.

It looks like an Alaska tie-up is more likely and more beneficial to passengers.

These are the aviation trends we were talking about this week.