JetBlue Airways was set to launch service between Montana's Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport and Long Beach, Calif. The seasonal flights will be offered Thursdays and Sundays through April, then restart in June and run through September.
United Airlines is looking to beef up its international service with flights from San Francisco to New Delhi, India; Toronto, Canada; and Melbourne, Australia. "This route expansion solidifies United's position at San Francisco as the gateway airline serving destinations across the Pacific, the continental United States, as well as to Europe and beyond," says United CEO Oscar Munoz.
The FedEx facility in east Reno, Nev., is running smoothly this busy holiday season, thanks to careful planning and an eye on the weather. "One of the great things for us is we have 18 meteorologists on sites 24 hours a day and they're monitoring weather events," said Shannon Eskridge, FedEx Express senior manager.
JetBlue Airways reported 4.11 billion revenue passenger miles in November, up 9.7% compared with the same month last year. The airline's capacity was up 10.6% for the month, and its load factor was 83.5%, down 0.7 points compared with last year.
United Airlines on Wednesday operated an hourlong Fantasy Flight from Newark, N.J., returning to the specially created "North Pole" at Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal C. "It's just a really fun, exciting day that kind of puts you in the holiday spirit," said United's Colette Pesce.
David Abney, CEO and chairman of UPS, spoke with CNBC's "Squawk Alley" about the peak holiday shipping season. "We've added aircraft. We've added, for this peak season, 100,000 employees from Thanksgiving to Christmas," Abney said.
JetBlue Airways has implemented mobile maintenance apps on its technicians' iPads. Maintenance teams can use apps to access manuals, troubleshoot and create part-number transactions. "We wanted to provide our frontline teams with up-to date information and the tools to do their jobs efficiently," one manager said. "The key benefit expected is a reduction in delays or cancellations due to maintenance needs."
JetBlue's "Go Get Gifted" holiday campaign features an online sweepstakes in which five winners will be wrapped from head to toe in gift paper and flown home to their families on Christmas Eve. A humorous 30-second ad from MullenLowe shows a family member still mummified in wrapping paper sitting down to Christmas Eve dinner because gifts are not allowed to be opened until the following day.
Nick Calio, president and CEO of Airlines for America, spoke with WGN Chicago's Steve Bertrand about this year's busy holiday air travel season and the affordability of airfares today. "I grew up in the '50s, '60s and '70s. Nobody in my neighborhood got on an airplane because we simply couldn't afford it. Now, everybody does," said Calio. "About 40% of the people who fly today have family incomes under $50,000, 58% have family incomes under $75,000 ... now that we have competition, fares are way down and way accessible."
There are a variety of cruises animal lovers can take along Southeast Asia's Mekong River. Travelers can watch Irrawaddy dolphins on Pandaw's Classic Mekong cruise and visit the monkey-filled ruins of Angkor Wat on National Geographic Expeditions' Vietnam and Cambodia tour.