Kingfisher Airlines, an Indian carrier with hopes of flying A380s in the near future, reported that they lost about $150 million last year on roughly $450 million in revenue.  I only bring this up because I liked the quote from a company officer on why they lost money:  "the high cost is the main reason for the loss…aircraft
acquisition, depreciation, new routes, training requirement and the
spiraling cost of aviation fuel in India are the other reasons."

Basically everything.

Alas poor MAXjet, we hardly knew ye:

The lowfare business class airline has asked that trading in its shares be suspended until it clarifies its financial position.  They are not doing this because their financial position is even better than everyone thought.  When Eos and MAXjet were the only two small carriers flying New York to Stansted, they had a chance because they were so differentiated.  Once Silverjet (slightly more expensive, much better product though they fly to Luton), and American (worse product, but frequent flyer program) entered, and fuel prices roughly doubled from they launched, it was pretty much over by then.  Sure, they’ll still be around for a bit, but this is a terrible sign.  Shame – you could get a pretty nice seat over to London for $1200 round trip.  I’d expect Silverjet to up their fares a bit closer to Eos once MAXjet is gone.

JetBlue announced that it has partnered with Yahoo! and Blackberry maker RIM to offer free wi-fi on planes that will allow you to access Yahoo email, Yahoo instant messenger, and your blackberry emails.  The first plane to be outfitted with take off on December 11th from JFK to SFO, and could show up anywhere after that.  Sweet.

A bit of airline espionage in Canada:  Wasaya Airways, a small Thunder Bay-based airline, has been accused by cross-town rival NAC Air of stealing a password for their airfare pricing system.  NAC noticed that every time they changed a fare, Wasaya would immediately undercut them.  The fares were primarily for Heath Canada workers flying to remote parts of Canada to provide medical care to First Nation (I believe we would call them Inuit) communities. 

Strangely, a similar accusation was made by Air Canada that a Westjet executive was hacking into their pricing systems a couple of years ago.

(Editor’s Note:  A reader correctly points out that First Nations in Northern Ontario typically refers to Cree and Ojibway, not Inuit, who are located further North.  I shall now promise never, ever to get involved with Canadian anthropology again.)

A quick follow-up on yesterday’s story about the missing wing found on the runway in Jakarta:  turns out it wasn’t yours.  It belongs to budget carrier Lion Air, which isn’t a particularly good sign.  On the plus side, they’ve grounded the MD-90 that has the missing piece of wing.

A reader has written to me asking if I know anything about a situation that happened about 15 years ago at JFK where some circus animals (monkeys, possibly) got loose at JFK to the point where the airport was shut down.  I (nor the reader) can’t find anything about this online.  Does this sound familiar to anyone?  Thanks!

Do you own a plane?  Is it missing a piece of wing?  If so, it’s lying on the runway at Jakarta’s international airport.  Officials there don’t know which plane it fell off of, so it may have fallen off of yours.

Qatar Airways has a crazy cheap fare from JFK to Doha, Qatar through 31 March:  $220 round trip ($536 including taxes).  This is about half what it normally costs.  The Four Seasons Doha is great and a relative bargain for the Four Seasons.  Have a relaxing long weekend! (Editor’s Note:  Um, that would have to be a rather long weekend – 7 day minimum stay on this one).

Virgin America is offering a 25% discount on flights when you book using the code ELEVATE25 – but you must buy your ticket before December 7th.  Fares from Southern California to San Francisco are just $29, and transcon flights start at $89. 

Want a Delta Air Lines buddy pass so you can fly free anywhere?  This poor soul is willing to trade one for an apartment in NYC.  I guess (s)he wants the apartment for free, but it’s not quite sure.  We have an extra bedroom…