The merger with US Airways announced today will make American Airlines the top carrier at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. According to current schedules and last year’s passenger counts, American and US Air have 32 percent of the RDU market, with 62 daily nonstop flights to 10 airports.

Delta will be RDU’s number-two carrier with a 27 percent share, followed by Southwest/AirTran at 24 percent, RDU says.

If airline executives focus their changes on eliminating duplicate American and US Air service, RDU travelers won’t notice much difference. The two carriers’ commuter partners, American Eagle and US Air Express, both offer flights from RDU to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Otherwise, there’s no overlap in service at RDU. ... [MORE]

American Airlines announced Friday that it will launch daily nonstop service from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on April 2.

Tickets will go on sale, and flight times will be posted, beginning Sunday.

American will be the second airline to offer direct flights from RDU to LAX. Delta Airlines has offered seasonal flights between the two cities since 2006.

About 150,000 people travel to and from the Triangle and the Los Angeles area each year, according to RDU.
 

Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster has had plenty of posed-with-the-Gods moments over the past quarter-century, playing behind Bob Mould, John Darnielle, Ryan Adams and other indie-rock luminaries. But he's in the midst of a pretty incredible 15 minutes right now, after bearing witness to last Monday's flight-attendant freakout at New York City's LaGuardia Airport.

Wurster had a first-class seat on the ill-fated RDU-bound flight, which was repeatedly delayed before finally being canceled after a series of altercations between flight attendant Jose Serrano and passengers. Wurster spent the five-hour ordeal posting dispatches about the unfolding fiasco via Twitter ("The plane is here but the crew isn't. I Know I can fly this thing. I've seen all but one of the Hindenburg movies.") and Facebook ("What followed was a tidal wave of drama including: cops kicking off passengers, passengers leaving in protest, Jose crying, children crying, Jose quitting and the flight getting cancelled. I did get two bags of nuts, so that was good.").

Wurster was quoted in the New York Post (which identified him as "drummer at the indie rock band Superchunk") and has since been called on to recount the story on outlets including The Today Show, CNN and Going Off Track. No doubt this will be fodder for another comedy routine -- or perhaps the rock memoir I keep pestering him to write.

Meanwhile, back in Rockville, Superchunk's next local show is July 12 at Cat's Cradle.

At this time, approximately 100 of Raleigh-Durham International Airport's 400 daily flights have been canceled for today.

In anticipation of Hurricane Irene, some airlines at Raleigh-Durham International Airport have begun canceling flights. American Airlines and American Eagle have canceled all flights scheduled for Saturday, August 27. American Airlines will resume operations on Sunday at 10 a.m. Here's more information:

Air travelers in eastern counties trying to reach the Windy City have a new choice for nonstop flights.

American Eagle, the regional sister of American Airlines, has started two daily flights between Wilmington International Airport and Chicago O'Hare.

The airline expects to draw business and leisure travelers, and the new service could create some competition for Raleigh-Durham International Airport among passengers in Eastern counties.

"There is plenty of demand in the Research Triangle region and eastern North Carolina to support additional service to Chicago," said RDU spokeswoman Mindy Hamlin.

The parent corporation of American Airlines has hired investment advisors to explore options for its American Eagle regional carrier, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources.

AMR Corp. could spin off American Eagle as a separate company, but a sale is still possible, Bloomberg reported. The evaluation could take more than six months.

A separation would divide two airlines that combined were the second-busiest carriers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport last year, just behind Delta and ahead of Southwest.

American Eagle will suspend its five nonstop daily flights between Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Boston on Sept. 7.

The carrier is ending the flights as part of its strategy of concentrating on flying to and from its "cornerstone" hubs in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago, said spokesman Ned Raynolds. The flights between RDU and Boston were not profitable last year, he added.

The move will creates hassles for local passengers flying to Boston, which is a hub for many biotechnology and technology companies. Raleigh-based Red Hat has offices in the Boston area, and Massachusetts-based Biogen Idec has operations in Research Triangle Park.

Any decline in competition can lead to higher prices and more scheduling headaches.

At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, the world's largest airline will still trail rivals Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

United and Continental announced this morning that they're joining forces to form United Continental Holdings. If the deal wins shareholder and antitrust approvals later this year, the company would pass Delta as the world's largest carrier.

But at RDU, the combined United Continental would still offer fewer flights than Delta, American or Southwest. From RDU, United offers direct flights to Washington Dulles and Chicago O'Hare, while Continental has nonstops to Houston, Cleveland and Newark.

In 2009, Continental handled 5.87 percent of the flights at RDU, while United handled 4 percent.

Delta merged with Northwest Airlines to take the top spot at RDU last year, with 24.12 percent of flights. American and American Eagle followed with 22.88 percent. Southwest was close behind with 21.25 percent.

It's too soon to tell how the United-Continental union will effect RDU, said airport spokesman Andrew Sawyer.

The carriers are merging with the goal of boosting revenue, especially from international and corporate travel. Consumer advocates have warned that reduced competition in the airline industry could hurt consumers.

American Airlines had said Tuesday that it would restore all service to the UK and Europe today. It didn't work out that way.

Lots of American jets are back in the trans-Atlantic sky as we speak. But RDU's round-trip to London Heathrow will not join them until Thursday.

"The RDU flights to London are not operating today, but they should be tomorrow," an American spokeswoman said by phone from Fort Worth this morning. "It's due to aircraft being out of place. It's positioning."

If you check American's flight status page (www.aa.com/gates/) you'll find Wednesday's RDU-LHR flights marked canceled, and Thursday's marked "on time." AA 173 is scheduled to arrive Thursday at 4:05 p.m., and AA 174 is scheduled to depart at 6:15 p.m.

Today is the seventh day American canceled its RDU-Heathrow flights because of hazards posed to jet engines by volcanic dust drifting across Europe from Iceland.
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