Friday Flyer – May 25, 2023

This week was Outperform 2023 in Denver, and it was a huge success with a total turnout of over 700 people.  The presentations were really insightful on many different subjects.  Most importantly, it was a great opportunity to talk to airlines and partners on revenue management, offer optimization, and offer and order management.  If you want to see what’s been going on, go here to see all of the posts tagged with the hashtag #outperform2023.  A special shoutout to all the PROS team in Events and Marketing who made the event successful!

Links

• It’s official!  Lufthansa Group has officially announced that they will be acquiring a 41% stake in Italy’s ITA Airlines.  This airline is the former Alitalia and was primarily owned by the Italian government.  This agreement will need to get EU approval first but appears set to expand the Lufthansa Group with a big presence in Italy.   It appears that the investment is expected to grow over time as well.  This has been a long-rumored acquisition, so it is finally here.
• In the US, this weekend marks the unofficial start to summer as it is the Memorial Day holiday weekend. It also means that the summer travel season will be in full swing.  Many are expecting this summer to surpass 2019 figures.  So what does that mean for airlines?  Here are a few articles: 1) SWA doesn’t want to make the same mistakes as they did in the winter storm; 2) Today is expected to be the busiest travel day since 2019; 3) A comprehensive summary of the entire situation.
• France has banned flights between French cities where train service exists between the cities and can be taken in less than 2.5 hours.  The reason is to reduce emissions.  It will be interesting to see the impact as connections and private jets are still allowed.  
• Airlines performing on-time is an important metric for travelers.  So, which airline is the most punctual?  Iberia takes that award!  Here’s the article with the airlines taking the top honors.

Interesting Aviation Fact

This week at Outperform, Azul’s president, Abhi Shah, talked about the innovative way that they are using to try to improve the boarding process.  It’s a “magic carpet” method that tells you where to stand and the boarding order.  It looks like a cool concept.  This is an important innovation area for airlines as faster boarding means better aircraft utilization.

Cool Aviation Photo

It’s no secret that I like retro liveries.  It seems Paul Hohler knew that when he shared a photo of the United A320 “Friend Ship” in Denver this week.  I found a picture of it online so you can get a clear view.