In Travel News for October 20th, 2022 we talk about nation wide Strike affecting Air Travel in Italy, JetBlues purchase of Spirit, and StarLink Internet for air travel.
Spirit Shareholders Agree to JetBlue Purchase
Spirit Airlines is one step closer to being purchased by JetBlue Airways. Shares holders have been casting votes since September 12th, the vote concluded yesterday and the sale has been approved. JetBlue faces regulatory challenges with this purchase which will be difficult with the ongoing Department of Justices lawsuit over JetBlues NorthEast alliance with American Airlines. Be that as it may, JetBlue is hoping to close the sale during the first half of 2024. We don’t yet know what affect this will have on travelers. Spirit consistently ranked in the bottom of customer satisfaction where JetBlue is consistently at the top. The hope is that JetBlue will be able to expand their operations with the purchase of Spirit while continuing to offer the same high-level of service.
SpaceX Unvelis Starlink Aviation for Internet on Airplanes
SpaceX has recently debuted StarLink Aviation for use on Airplanes. The service hopes to provide inexpensive high-bandwidth - low latency internet service for travelers. A few airlines and Cruise ships have been working on deploying Starlink which include Hawaiian Airlines and Royal Caribbean. SpaceX has been busy launching satellites into space to create a kind of mesh internet that surrounds the planet, this has the potential to bring internet to everywhere on the planet so long as a clear view of the sky is available.
Stikes in Italy to Affect Air Travel
This Friday multiple unions in the transportation sector in Italy will be on Strike. This strike will affect air traffic control and ground handling services through out the country. Unlike a recent strike by air traffic controllers in France, these strikes won’t stop flights, Italy’s National Civil Aviation Authority did say that a number of flights will be guaranteed from 7:00am to 10:00am, and again between 6:00pm and 9:00pm. If you are traveling in Italy tomorrow your Travel Advisor or airline should be informing you of any cancelations. Disruptions such as this tend cause problems for days as airlines work to get travelers moving again. Our advise for anyone traveling to or from Italy is to plan for delays and cancellations, at least through the weekend.