Airline News

With the American and US Airways merger hitting some turbulence, JetBlue becomes an even more attractive takeover target. But, although the new American must deal with a regulatory brushback pitch, the prospects for its merger are far from dead.

Some of these services are certainly more interesting than others, so Virgin will be a leading contender. Its "Red" in-flight entertainment system is impressive, innovative, and even a little racy - the ads that announced it strongly encouraged seat-to-seat flirting through the IFE chat application.

Don't expect American Airlines to exit bankruptcy anytime soon. Emerging from bankruptcy without the merger issue resolved isn't an option.

The lawsuit shows in graphic detail that the merger would cripple competition on more than 1,000 domestic routes, and that's a deep challenge to the airlines' contention that there is overlap on merely a dozen routes.

Today marks the beginning of what is expected to be extensive haggling between American, US Airways, and the DOJ. With enough concessions, the airlines still have a shot at completing their merger.

Despite its huge and continuing growth, the travel and tourism industry has a PR problem among Generation Y grads looking for serious business careers. The industry must fix its image quick, since it will be looking to fill millions of new jobs over the next few years.

The merger quickly gained approval from creditors, shareholders, and the EU before encountering this potential game changer. The filing could mean serious trouble for the airlines, especially since the U.S. government approved previous aviation tie-ups.

Officials from American Airlines and US Airways may have blundered big-time when they publicly stated that their respective airlines could indeed operate independently. This deal looked so bad from an anti-competition perspective that even the attorneys general from Texas and Arizona, where AA and US Air are headquartered, respectively, joined the suit.

Airline seats in coach are getting ever-more cramped as carriers leave the legroom to passengers purchasing higher-fare tickets. Anything that would make long-haul flights more comfortable to non-elite flyers would almost be like manna from heaven.

Airports, as miserable as they are in the overall travel experience these days, continue to be a place to show off, and social media outlets like Facebook are perfect venues for that.