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AIRLINES
Airlines Adding Checked-Baggage Charges.
Emboldened by the revenue success of
checked-bag fees, several carriers this week
said they are implementing new charges,
including Alaska Airlines' plan to follow legacy
carriers in implementing a first-checked-bag
fee, US Airways' plan to add a $5 surcharge for
customers paying to check bags at the airport
and Delta Air Lines' intention to bring its
second-bag fee to international markets. US
Airways said economy customers traveling on or
after July 9 would have to pay an additional $5
if they elect to settle checked-bag charges at
the airport. The carrier, like all of its
domestic legacy carrier competitors, already
levies a $15 fee for the first bag and $25 for
the second. The carrier today began enabling
customers to prepay first- and second-bag fees
as they check in online through its Web
site.

British Airways and Spain's Iberia is
delaying and could even ground the carriers'
plans to merge due to the global financial
uncertainty, sources close to the deal and
analysts have said. Analysts say that volatile
markets have made it almost impossible to value
the two airlines, both are more focused on
fighting the worst sector downturn in a
generation, and a power struggle for control of
Iberia's biggest shareholder has put the deal in
jeopardy. The Spanish airline said on Thursday
it was unlikely to make a profit this year and
would propose scrapping its 2008 dividend in the
light of weak demand from Spaniards, sliding
business traffic and general price pressure. An
official at Spain's UGT union said on Thursday
the Spanish flag carrier made a EUR100 million
euro operating loss in the first two months of
2009.
Friday's edition of Spain's La Vanguardia
newspaper cited sources close to Iberia as
saying business was so uncertain at the moment
that it made it practically impossible to move
merger talks forward. A Spanish source familiar
with the matter said that if a deal was done, it
was unlikely to be struck before Spaniards
returned from their summer breaks in September.
"We are hearing that the merger could be delayed
until after the summer," he said. A spokesman
for Iberia said only that "merger talks are
ongoing".

Delta
Air Lines. said Friday it will begin flights to
and from Dallas Love Field this summer. The
move will put Delta, the world's largest airline
operator, head-to-head against Southwest
Airlines, the dominant carrier at close-in Love
Field. To meet with legal restrictions at Love
Field, Delta will operate three daily nonstop
flights between Dallas and Memphis, Tenn., with
50-seat regional jets. Federal law limits
nonstop flights from Love Field to states far
from Texas, including Tennessee, but there is an
exception for planes with 56 or fewer seats.
Atlanta-based Delta said the service would begin
July 6 and be operated by Pinnacle Airlines
under the Delta Connection name. Delta
affiliates already offer three daily flights to
Memphis from Dallas-Fort Worth International
Airport.
more
airline news...
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