Air-France is planning its first cross-Atlantic flight with its shiny new Airbus A380 jumbo jet but not all is rosy for Europe's largest airline. Air France-KLM has announced plans to trim 1,700 jobs next year following a worse-than-expected quarterly loss. The company is blaming the numbers on fuel hedging losses and poor cargo traffic. Passenger revenues were also down 17.2 percent but the effects of that would have been offset partly by a reduction in capacity. Air France-KLM had previously announced earlier cuts so this new staff reduction means that the airline carrier will enact 4,500 job cuts in the year to March 2010, reducing its global workforce to 105,000. Another reduction by March 2011 will trim the workforce by a further three to five percent by March 2011 in an effort to lift profits by 500 million euros for March 2012.

It was an idea that flopped phenomenally in the past (see Silverjet, MaxJet and EOS, three business-only London to NYC flight companies which all folded) but now British Airways is giving luxury all-business service between London and New York a shot. However the fact that the airline will fly just 32 passengers on an aircraft normally fitted for 100 people doesn't sit well with some environmental groups. The Guardian reports that environmental group Plane Stupid will stage a protest at London City Airport tomorrow as the maiden flight launches, angered by the fact that recently British Airways CEO Willie Walsh had pledged that the airline would do its part to fight climate change. The layout of the plane means that each passenger is basically responsible for three times the emissions of a regular flight.

British Airways will offer twice daily service on Airbus A318s with flat beds and access to the internet. Round-trip fares will start at around $3,00 but go up to nearly $8,000 for more flexible tickets. Flights leaving from London will be forced to make a brief refuelling stop at Shannon airport in the west of Ireland because the London City airport's runway is too short to handle an A318 aircraft with a full fuel load. In order to ease the journey, BA is arranging for passengers to use the Shannon stop to clear US customs and immigration.

Last week, I told you about Air Tahiti's new designer crew uniforms. While I was more concerned about mid-air wardrobe change logistics, and noted only in passing that the new togs didn't look so-very-Balenciaga to me, Jeffries Blackerby of The Moment was right on it. He reports that the outfits were designed by Balenciaga Uniforms, which is a division of a company that apparently has absolutely nothing to do with the design sensibility of Nicolas Ghesquière, Balenciaga's creative director. Blackerby advises Air Tahiti: "let's not get all excited", presumably about being associated with Balenciaga.

Now, let's take a step back. Blackberby is right to point out that Balenciaga Uniforms, which handled the design of Air Tahiti's new uniforms, is owned by a French company called Creation & Image. (Wheras the fashion house Balenciaga is owned by PPR, which also owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and many others.)

But licensing of a designer's name is what makes the fashion world go 'round -- should you need a little brush-up on how this works, here's a nice article from the New York Times (and of course The Moment is a New York Times' blog) concerning Vera Wang. I'll grant that some designers retain more control than seems to be the case at Balenciaga Uniform -- which is apparently absolutely none. (And that's despite the smoking gun that some commenters at The Moment think they've discovered when they point out that Nicolas Ghesquière apparently once worked in the uniform division -- an amusing, if meaningless, sidenote, absent any evidence that Ghesquière is keeping a loving and attentive eye on all the rungs of the ladder he's climbed.)

Still, I submit that Air Tahiti should get every bit as excited as it wants over its Balenciaga uniforms. If we're only going to allow purchasers to take credit for the designer items that they buy that are not made by license, the licensing business ceases to have all value, and really -- do we think our economy can take that? Leaving aside world economic well-being, for the more important fashion issue, I agree with a point that Danica Lo made over at The Haute List: Designers need to keep more control over their name.

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Now, I'm all for everything being lovely down to the smallest detail, but I've sat through enough in-flight safety demonstrations to be able to do them myself, or at the least to mumble along: Flight attendants are here for your safety first, you are required to comply with crew member instructions... We're used to seeing authority figures in uniform, that's partially why they wear them in the first place. I wonder how seriously people will take a crew member's instructions when they're wearing an outfit more typically worn to a cocktail party (in the case of Delta) or at a beach picnic (in the case of Air Tahiti). And who's minding the cabin during the wardrobe change? Will auto-pilot bring me my champagne?

You don't get to be a billionaire without playing a little hardball. We've covered Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev before for his interest in publishing but Lebedev also owns the airline Blue Wings. This week Germany revoked his company's operating license meaning that the budget carrier can no longer transport passengers in Germany. Lebedev's response was quick and brutal. As Bloomberg reports, he has said he will have to cancel $1 billion order for Airbus SAS planes.

German's aviation officials stated that Blue Wings has "business problems." Lebedev has said he will appeal the decision. Currently Blue Wings has 10 Airbus A320s that fly between Germany and Russia with additional charter flights to Turkey and the Middle East. The Airbus order would have added 20 more A320s to the fleet allowing Blue Wings to increase its routes. Certainly Airbus can't be thrilled about the prospect of losing such a large order so it's a shrewd move on Lebedev's part to potentially pressure Germany to reconsider.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reveals that speculation about that state of Lebedev's finances continues. He has said he will sue Forbes for saying that he had lost $2.5 billion in the economic crisis.

Just seven months after US Airways began charging customers $2 for sodas, coffee, and other beverages, it is reversing its policy and will now serve drinks for free.

MSN Money analyzed the situation and noted, "What happened? Well, in this airline's case, it was more about what didn't happen. First, other airlines didn't follow US Airways' lead. Sure, they were fine with fees for checking bags and other things, but they drew the line when it came to charging for drinks. Second, passengers didn't accept the fee. It became about more than a soda."

If you normally fly first class and don't ever pay for beverages, this won't affect you. But if you are watching your money a bit more and may now fly coach, at least you'll have a few extra dollars to spend on other things.

Luxury airline, Emirates may be slow to jump on the green bandwagon but now the airline is trying to do eco-friendly in a rather dramatic way. On December 15 Emirates Airline will undertake what they call the Environment flight, which they are saying is the world's first cross-polar green flight heading from Dubai to San Francisco. Emirates is working with government agencies in Dubai, Russia, Canada and the United States to plot the most environmentally-sophisticated trip possible to save fuel and carbon emissions on the 16-hour non-stop service.

The airline will fly the Boeing 777-200LR to service the San Francisco-Dubai route. To ensure a more fuel-efficient route, the flight will utilize new corridors of Russian airspace. The EK225 Emvironment flight will depart Dubai at 8:55 a.m.on 15th December and land in San Francisco at 1 p.m. local time the same day. The fuel and emissions savings features including washing the plane before the flight to minimize drag, using electrical power on the ground in Dubai rather than running its auxiliary power unit, getting priority clearance from Dubai Air Traffic control and real time updates of current weather and wind conditions to allow the flight crew to modify their flight path on route. The flight will track close to the North Pole and flexible routings will be pursued over Canadian airspace. Sounds more like clever than green to me but it sounds like those passengers are going to great some great views of the icy north.

The latest news from Delta Air Lines is a bit win some, lose some depending on how often you travel. Delta has said that it will charge $15 fee to check a first bag but that it will be cutting certain other fees. USA Today reports that as of December 5, customers flying within the U.S. will be charged $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second checked bag which is consistent with the policies of Northwest Airlines which they recently acquired. Those who purchased Delta tickets on or before Wednesday, and who are traveling on or after Dec. 5, will be charged $50 for a second bag, but can still check their first bag for free Delta's previous policy.

Good news for customers flying in first or business class, including SkyMiles Medallion members and WorldPerks Elite members, you can still check up to three bags, up to 70 pounds each for free. Delta is also eliminating the $25 to $100 fuel surcharges assessed for SkyMiles and WorldPerks award ticket travel now that fuel prices have declined. And if you purchase tickets over the phone versus online (which is free), you'll also save a little, the fee for tickets purchased over the phone from a reservations sales representative has been dropped from $25 to $20. Delta will also drop the $3 curbside check-in fee.

The news follows the announcement that Delta CEO Richard Anderson will get stock awards worth almost $13.6 million, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by some angry about the baggage fees.

Karma, the elegant California brut-style sparkling wine in modern single-serving bottles, has partnered with Richard Branson's California-based Virgin America airlines on upscale cocktails for high fliers. Created by San Diego native Patrick Wilson, the premium ready-to-drink treat is packaged in a glass bottle resembling a champagne flute.

Virgin America flights feature moodlighting, custom-designed leather seats and the only on-demand, in-flight food ordering system via a video touch-screen at every seat. Karma, made from hand-selected California grapes, is clean, crisp and dry with subtle hints of melon and pear. Wilson decided to package it this way to further the concept that every day should be a celebration. We're with him there.

Back in March I reported on the fact that it seems that shuttle flights between cities on the East Coast like New York, Boston, and Washington haven't been faring too well in recent years. Joe Brancatelli who writes the Seat 2B column for Portfolio says that the recent news that Delta will add first-class cabins to its shuttle flights between New York, Boston, and Washington isn't a positive sign; it proves that the shuttles may well be on their way out. The shuttles have become less profitable and the shuttle aircraft which are equipped with standard first- and coach-class cabins can now be used on any flight path. In the 1980s large shuttles used to run every hour and promised no reservations needed. Now the remaining shuttles use smaller aircraft and fly less frequently especially on weekends and non-peak times.

Is this the last gasp of the shuttle flight? It certainly seems like it, the rise of technology, the high-speed Acela train, private jet charter services and even luxury bus lines have made shuttle flying less and less attractive. Like Joe Brancatelli, I'm a little nostalgic for the shuttles of my youth but in these days when it seems that hardly any flights go smoothly and airlines are struggling to stay afloat it seems like the shuttle is an idea whose time is long gone.

Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group, is in talks to acquire London's Gatwick Airport, the second largest and busiest airport in the United Kingdom after Heathrow. Gatwick's owner BAA Ltd., which also owns Heathrow, plans to sell the airport, valued at about $5.4 billion, due to antitrust regulations, Bloomberg reports.

The Virgin Group encompasses several companies including Virgin Atlantic airlines and Virgin Mobile. The adventurous Branson's personal fortune is estimated at $2.8 billion. He plans to form a consortium to bid for the airport, which handled 35 million passengers in 2007.

His partners on the potential deal are said to include Dubai's Royal Family, the London Telegraph reports. Obviously competitors would be worried that Branson and Virgin might gain an unfair advantage by controlling the airport, which is the sixth largest in Europe.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' relentless (and so far fairly fruitless) pursuit of an acting career has apparently taken a toll on his finances. In the latest installment of his video blog, the rap mogul complains that the gas price explosion has forced him to forego the use of his private jet on his now frequent trips to Los Angeles to meet with movie people. "Gas prices are too f-ing high!" he complains in the clip. "If I'm flying back and forth to L.A. twice a month, that's like $200,000 - $250,000 round trip. F-k that!"

As a result, Diddy says, he's gone back to flying commercial, and throws in an appeal to his "Saudi Arabian brothers" to "please send me some oil for my jet." He then insists, "This is really happening!", filming himself boarding an American Airlines flight, adding, "and I'm in coach!" We're pretty sure Diddy, who makes $35 million a year, is joking about that last bit.

Flying used to be a fun (or at the very least tolerable) but nowadays it's turned into an outright chore. Lines are long, seats are cramped, there are extra fees for absolutely everything, and forget getting served anything to eat (you're lucky if you get water and a few pretzels). That might be the case for most of us but it's not the case for everybody! There are some airlines (usually those flying overseas) that offer luxuries like champagne, caviar, private cabins, and lie-flat beds. Here's the list of the most luxurious airlines in the world:

Via Gadling

It's not on too many products that you find "authentic small dents and scratches" listed as a selling point and a good thing, but the case of these Vintage Airline Food Carts is one of the few exceptions. Available in several fun exterior finishes, the interiors all feature a retractable serving tray and 14 racks to hold drawers and shelves (which you can buy separately). The doors close with standard latches and each has a magnetic catch to help it stay open while you're using the cart, plus of course all the carts come equipped with the handy pedal-locking wheel brakes flight attendants rely on so dearly. $1450

Via Acquire

Use SeatGuru to search airplane layout charts before you select your flight seat so you'll never again be stuck with only partial reclining ability or in the back near the stale coffee. SeatGuru calls itself "the ultimate source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities and airline information" and it works -- I've used it. Even though the site is intuitive, there are directions right on the home page.

It's simple: Look up your airline. There's all kinds of info that you can navigate using the tabs that pop up, such as baggage rules, traveling with infants, policies regarding unaccompanied minors and travel with pets. Amenity info is listed, along with phone numbers that may be of use, all specific to your airline.

To get to the good part, the seating chart, break it down further by type of plane. A cool, color-coded chart assists you in picking the best seats for your needs (long legs, near the bathroom, not near the bathroom, etc.). First-class is included. Here's an example.

Thanks to my experienced travel buddy Laura for this tip.