Google’s competitors say that Google Flights, without fanfare, is taking assertive steps and is indeed making market share gains at the expense of competitors. One such move is intercepting consumer searches on Google for a specific airline like “united flights to Chicago” and displaying a Google Flights result at the top — or near the top — of the page instead of delivering a direct, free link to United.com or an online travel agency selling United tickets. So Google is transforming a search for a trademarked term like an airline’s name and turning it into money for Google. There is at least one notable exception to Google’s flight-search practices regarding searches for branded airline terms. A Google search for American Airlines flights does not generate a Google Flights search result but shows direct, organic links to AA.com. <br/>
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As more airlines embrace “basic economy,” many business travellers are feeling the pinch. Many bosses will not spring for business-class tickets, or even economy-plus fare. Their employees are caught between corporate travel managers who want to save money and airlines that want to wring every last dollar from the least expensive seats on the plane. The bind for business travellers may seem an unintended consequence of the airline industry’s race to the bottom in economy class. But travel consultants say it is partly a deliberate strategy by airlines, which are trying to nudge more passengers into paying business-class or economy-plus fares. “The basic economy fares have the added restrictions, which the airlines have created to make them deliberately unattractive to business travellers,” said one airline industry consultant. <br/>
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced a fifth delay in handing over Japan’s first locally made passenger jet to airlines and about a 30% jump in development costs, raising concerns about winning new orders for the single-aisle plane. Launch customer ANA will get the aircraft in 2020, 2 years later than the current estimate, Mitsubishi said Monday. Revision of some electrical configuration to meet certification requirements prompted the latest pushback of the deadline. The Japanese conglomerate has brought in bullet-train engineers and flown the jets to the US to speed up certification as it attempts to break into the dominance of Embraer and Bombardier in the market for aircraft with fewer than 100 seats. The move is “debilitating” for Mitsubishi, said one analyst. <br/>
As the DoT sharpens its proposal for airline refunds for delayed luggage, carriers and consumer groups are disagreeing about how late is "late. Airlines warned that setting the deadline too short for luggage to arrive without a fine could have the unintended result of raising the risk of lost bags and penalising carriers for allowing passengers to take an earlier flight without the luggage. But consumer groups and travel agents said the deadlines should be as short as possible, to encourage airlines to have a passenger and luggage on the same flight. “Indeed, we are of the opinion that each additional hour baggage may be delayed without triggering the right to receive a fee refund represents an incrementally greater inconvenience to the customer,” the general counsel to the American Society of Travel Agents, told DoT. <br/>
The much-delayed opening of Berlin Brandenburg International is expected to be postponed once again, after the discovery of new technical glitches with the control systems in the terminal doors, which present a fire safety risk. According to German news agency dpa, 1,200 doors need to be cabled to secure fire protection. If the doors do not close properly in the event of a fire, sufficient smoke extraction would be not possible. Dpa quoted BER CE Karsten Mühlenfeld as saying that, based on the new technical findings, “The risk of opening the BER this year is too high.” Berlin’s acting mayor Michael Müller said he expects BER will now open in 2018. Total costs of the airport project have reached E6.5b (US$7b). A BER board meeting will be held Feb 7 to discuss further consequences of the new delay. <br/>
The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand plans to suspend or revoke the Air Operator Certificates of a Thai-registered airline which is facing a financial crisis. An inspection by the agency found the airline was previously owned by a Thai operator who sold his shares to a Chinese firm which in turn used the Thai company as its nominee to run the business, CAAT director Chula Sukmanop said Monday. The name of the airline was withheld. The plan to suspend or revoke the AOCs came after the CAAT launched an inspection of all airlines operating international flights, prior to reissuing them with the AOCs in accordance with the safety standards of the ICAO. The airline was 1 of 3 required to propose a financial rehabilitation plan to the agency. The airline submitted the plan but failed to carry through with it, he said. <br/>