The airline industry reported that it filled up more than 80 percent of available seats in April, 2006. Yet the airline industry continues to lose money hand over fist.  That is what happens when you sell a 10 dollar steak for 5 dollars.

The competition in the airline industry on price is killing it. Until the airlines figure out this lesson that competition does not mean destruction the industry will continue to be in turmoil.

And the early results from April, which indicate that more than 80% of U.S. airlines’ seats were filled with paying passengers, portend a record-setting — and uncomfortably crowded — summer travel season ahead.

Seven airlines that have reported for April all show fuller planes. No. 4 Northwest ran fullest: 84.9%. No. 1 American filled 81.7% of its seats. And No. 5 Continental filled 82.9%. No. 3 Delta, despite a public battle with pilots over cost cuts that included threats of a strike or shutdown in mid-April, filled 77.6% of its seats. Even discounters Southwest and AirTran, which normally record load factors lower than the big network carriers, came close to filling 80% of their April seats.

For all of 2005, the domestic airline industry filled 77.6% of its seats, according to the Air Transport Association. The April numbers are good news for an industry that has lost more than $40 billion over the last five years. Better yet for the industry, travelers have been paying on average about 13% more for their tickets than last summer. via USATODAY.com

Venezuela has postponed its new restrictions on US airlines into their country for one month after talks with the US State Department. The country was planning on curtailing the ability for American, Delta, and Continental Airlines to fly into the country, but threats from the State Department to restrict further travel from Venezuela into the United States if these sanctions went into effect.

The threatened airline restrictions had heightened political tensions between left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the United States, which receives about 15 percent of its energy imports from Venezuela, the world’s No. 5 oil exporter.

Venezuela says it has improved aviation safety standards since it was first downgraded by the FAA in 1995, a move that imposed restrictions on Venezuelan airline services.

Under the FAA category two status, local airlines must lease aircraft and crew from a category one country to fly to U.S. airports and cannot expand flight services. Venezuelan airlines said they backed the ban because they wanted to force the United States to lift the restrictions.

Washington is caught in a heated dispute with Chavez over his close ties to Cuba and Iran. A self-styled socialist revolutionary, Chavez accuses U.S. officials of working to oust him while they counter that he is a threat to democracy.

Venezuela’s announcement at the end of last week that they were banning Delta and Continental Airlines from their country March 1st was unexpected for the airlines. Through negotiations Venezuela has decided to postpone the banning, but these airlines future is at risk.

Venezuela’s National Aviation Institute says the measure was pushed back for a month after the airlines protested the sudden announcement.
The ban announced last week would have barred flights starting March First by Houston-based Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines, and restricted flights by Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines.via WKTN.

Venezuela has been doing erratic things recently as a nation with their President Hugo Chavez, but the most recent one has aviation experts shaking their heads. On Thursday,  Francisco Plaz, President of the National Aviation Institute, informed Delta and Continental that they were not welcome to fly into Venezuela starting March 1st, 2006.

Speaking late Thursday, Plaz said that the measure, which also will restrict American Airlines flights, was taken because the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency had established a similar ban on commercial jets registered in Venezuela 10 years ago due to safety violations.
The ban would take effect on March 1, Plaz told the local Globovision television channel.
Delta Airlines currently services a daily route from Simon Bolivar International Airport to Atlanta while Continental Airlines has daily flights to Houston and weekly flights to New York. American Airlines services daily routes to Puerto Rico and Miami.

A spokesperson for the Venezuelan Association of Airlines, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press the three U.S.-based airlines received notification of the ban on Thursday.

(AP) Venezuela Bars Two U.S. Airlines | WKRN.COM.

The major airlines are raising fares 10 dollars per round trip trying to recoup the increased price of jet fuel. On Friday the price of a barrel of crude topped 69 dollars.

American, United Airlines and Continental Airlines all raised fares Thursday night, following a fare increase by Delta Air Lines, said Tom Parsons, chief executive of Bestfares.com, an Arlington, Texas-based firm that monitors airline ticket prices. US Airways matched the increase Friday.
While broad, the higher price does not include many markets where discount airlines, such as Dallas-based Southwest Airlines or AirTran Airways of Orlando, Fla., compete. It covers most advanced-purchase tickets, but did not affect last-minute tickets, which are generally the most expensive. via Buffalo News

With the demise of Independent Air, other airlines have provided alternatives for their ticket holders.

Visit these Airlines Sites to see how they can help you with your ticketing if you are holding an Independence Air ticket.

• AirTran Airways
• American Airlines
• ATA Airlines
• Continental Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Frontier Airlines
• JetBlue Airways
• Northwest Airlines
• Southwest Airlines
• United Airlines
• US Airways

I hope this helps travelers who are holding Independence Air tickets get to where they need to.

We’re not saying things are hunky-dory,” said John Heimlich, chief economist for the Air Transport Association, the trade group representing U.S. airlines. “All we’re saying is that some of the indicators we look at and some of the recent trends are promising, and that’s the first time I’ve used that word in a long time.”

With these words, we may see the airlines pull out of their free fall. The industry has been pummeled since September 11th, 2001 with fear of terrorism, high fuel prices, and unprecedented competition.

Responding by cutting back on flights, lowering labor costs, and raising prices, the major airlines are starting to get out from under the billions of losses that they have been facing. Adjusting to the new playing field that the low cost airlines such as Southwest, JetBlue, and Airtran have created has been hard for the majors, as seen by almost all of them entering into bankruptcy.

But hopefully, blue skys will be ahead for the airlines.  

Continental Flight Attendants reached an agreement with management with major concessions, while preserving the top pay scale of $50 per flight hour.

The four-year tentative deal preserves the pay scale for current flight attendants, boosts the top base pay rate to $50 an hour and includes a no-furlough clause, the union said.

The 8,300 flight attendants were the sole union Continental failed to convince to grant wage and benefit cuts earlier this year, which the No. 5 U.S. carrier said it needed to return to profitability.

Other workers voted in March to accept givebacks worth $418 million annually toward the Houston-based airline’s target of $500 million from all employees. via CNN

When Continental Airlines bumped a man and his daughter from a flight last year, and told him they could not get him on a flight for 6 days, the got more than they bargained for. The man sued Continental and won.

When Continental Airlines bumped Thatcher A. Stone and his daughter off a flight last Christmas Day, he bumped back.

This wasn’t a minor inconvenience. Their ski trip was ruined because Continental couldn’t get them on another flight to Colorado for six days, Stone says, and the airline refused to compensate him for lost deposits on a ski lodge and other expenses.

So, he sued in small claims court in New York City. Last month, a judge awarded Stone $3,110 for his expenses and inconvenience.

“Continental was just trying to be jerks,” said Stone, an aviation lawyer from New York. “They thought they could get away with it, but they got the wrong guy.”

Read the rest of the article in the St. Petersburg Times.