PlanetEye
Travel Beyond Words
August 28th, 2008
No-Frills Airlines Emerging
- Mark Evans
- Director, Community
There is little doubt that the airline industry is feeling the pinch of higher fuel costs but some of the cost-cutting measures taken by several airlines show how far they’re willing to protect the bottom line.
For example, Air Canada Jazz is going to remove life vests from its plans, a move that will save about 50 pounds per plane.
Meanwhile, United Airlines will become the first U.S. carrier to stop serving free meals in economy class on overseas flights as it attempts to deal with a $3.3-billion loss over the past nine months.
And there’s some people within the industry who suggest that more airlines – like American Airlines – should think about taking the paint of their places, and replacing it with decals – a move that would reduce a plane’s weight by 400 pounds and save millions of dollars in fuel costs for a fleet.
As airlines look to reduce costs, none of these moves should be surprising but what we fly and how we fly is definitely changing. At the very least, it’s a long way from when Ward Air would serve meals on china.
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One Response to “No-Frills Airlines Emerging”
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August 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I’m sorry but this all seems ridiculous and out of hand. I agree that we should be making planes use as little fuel as possible, but this ‘buffet’ charging scheme is bordering on the insane. Can’t they all agree to just raise their fares and compensate?
I cannot help but think this is only serving to prolong the envitable crash of the industry (not literally, thankfully) but crash in the sense of a number of major carriers closing their doors.