What do you do if you own an airline, and watch the devastation from hurricane Katrina on TV? You go searching for your very own bunker where you can safely house your important computer systems and 200 staff members in the event your city gets hit next.

The bunker is located in Montgomery, Texas, and was built by a wealthy Taiwanese businessman with a fear that the Russians or Soviets would attack the US with nuclear missiles. Ling-Cheih Kung made his money in the 70's with the now defunct Westland Oil company. When oil companies went bust in the 1980's, Mr Kung lost the title to his property (and bunker) and it sat unoccupied for almost 20 years.

The building itself is 50 feet below ground, and the area occupied by Continental is over 2000 square feet. If the Houston metro area is going to be hit by a category 3 hurricane, they move their IT operations to the bunker facility.

The bunker and surrounding buildings are owned by the Westlin corporation, who spent a small fortune renovating the facilities, and bringing Internet connectivity to companies renting space underground.

Continental Airlines moved into their spot in 2006, after just several months of construction. Some of the more notable parts of the building are jail cells, a decontamination shower (for washing off the radiation), and 2 pagoda shaped entry buildings, complete with gun turrets.

Moving into this facility shows some pretty clever thinking by Continental, and just 2 years after they moved in, Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast. Thanks to this facility, Continental staff hope to get their operations back on schedule as early as Sunday morning.

The UK's British Airways, American Airlines and Spain's Iberia this morning announced that they would soon be cooperating on flights between North America and Europe while they would also start to collaborate and expand on other routes together in the Oneworld Alliance.

Are the airlines merging? No. But aren't they already all part of the Oneworld alliance? Yes, they are. What the airlines have agreed to is tighter collaboration among their operations. Ground operations, codeshares and mileage programs will be better integrated to ensure seamless operation among carriers (read: keep passengers hooked in the alliance), while costs and overlapping spending will be reduced.

It's important to note that the airlines will continue to operate independently, similar to the Continental and United collaboration announced earlier this year. What's not clear is whether they will be collaborating on pricing. As Virgin Atlantic, the main competition, sulks about the conglomerate having over 50% of the landing slots at Heathrow, many have noted the potential for monopolistic pricing among the new bedfellows.

So will prices actually go through the roof? Technically, less competition in the market suggests that prices may have the potential to rise -- but there are still plenty of carriers and entry points into the EU. American, British and Iberia may soon have a good handhold on Heathrow (Sorry, Virgin), but Amsterdam, Gatwick and Frankfurt are still wide open, so with a little bit of creative routing you don't have to call of your summer vacation.

Several Oneworld airlines are filing for antitrust immunity to get the ball rolling on the cooperation agreement -- should this get approved, expect to see small changes in operations over the course of the year.

The airlines giveth, and the airlines taketh away. This has never been more true than in recent years. From pretzels and pillows to in-flight movies, we have all been robbed of the few things that made flying bearable.

But none of this applies to the airline executives that helped create the current situation. Most retiring executives leave the airline with hefty retirement packages, often including free flights and free medial care for life.

Departing Continental CFO Jeffrey Misner is clearly more creative than any of his colleagues. As part of his retirement package, he has secured a lifetime free executive parking spot at Jacksonville airport "in a lot that is the same or similar to the lot available to airport-management personnel".

He's also taking a cool $3 Million in unrestricted Continental stock with him, which is ironic since that is the same amount of money CO lost in their second quarter.

It's all spelled out in his retirement agreement posted online by the SEC. None of the other juicy details were described, but one can expect a pretty healthy chunk of our ticket money to head his way for years to come.

Misner joined Continental in 1995 and became their CFO in 2004. During his tenure, shares of the airline rose to the upper $40's in 2006, only to plummet back into the single digits in 2008.

So, next time you spend $26 a day for parking at the airport and another $20 for a snack on the flight, think of poor retired Jeffey Misner.

Source: Footnoted.org

Continental just issued a press release saying that they're entering a cooperative agreement with United Airlines, saying the two airlines will "cooperate extensively, linking their networks and services worldwide to the benefit of customers, and creating revenue opportunities and cost savings and other efficiencies." This means that Continental will also join United in the Star Alliance.

For those of you who follow airline alliances, this means that CO will be dropping Skyteam, whose partners include Delta, KLM and Northwest, and picking up partners such as Lufthansa and US Airways.

Basically, Continental Onepass members won't be able to accrue or spend miles on Skyteam anymore (similarly, partner airlines can't spend miles on CO), but they can on Star.

It does not, however, mean that the airlines are merging -- only that they'll be collaborating on many routes, codeshares and other logistics.

In the current airline industry, this change was almost inevitable. Carriers are looking at ways to collaborate on operations and cut costs, just like Northwest and Delta announced earlier this year. With the two airlines' combined routes and networks, a stronger entity will now exist that can better compete with the soon to be uber Delta Airlines.

No word yet on when exactly the alliance changes will take place and a schedule for the official divorce from Skyteam airlines. But if you were thinking about booking a ticket with your Skyteam miles on CO, now might be a good time to do it.

Paging through the Continental in-flight magazine last night, I stumbled upon a few "green living" tips.

For example, did you know that:

• If Americans used one less package of non-recycled paper napkins, it would save one million trees?
• Ninety percent of the energy used by your washing machine goes to hear the water? Using the cold cycle is much better.
• Producing and disposing of all the junk mail distributed in the US each year releases as much CO2 as 2,8 million cars?

Continental gives the following easy tips to live green every day:

1. When you are not traveling, get your morning coffee in a reusable cup. Americans throw away about 40 billion disposable coffee cups each year
2. Unplug all chargers (cell phone, iPod, etc) when they are not charging their intended device. This reduces carbon emissions by about 100 pounds per year, per charger.
3. Speed up your shower. Spending just two minutes less in the shower each day could prevent about 400 pounds of CO2 (in the form of energy used to heat and treat the water) from entering the atmosphere each year.
4. Cut your air travel by half. Just kidding. These are, after all, tips from Continental Airlines.

According to a report by CNN tonight, Delta has announced it's long rumored merger with Northwest has been approved by both airlines. This merger was supposed to happen months ago, but the airlines were holding out on an announcement until the pilot groups at each company could come to a seniority agreement. The pilots, both represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, were unable to negotiate a mutually agreeable seniority list. The airlines were trying to avoid the acrimonious situation that currently exists between the USAirways and former America West pilots that is threatening the combined airline.

The Delta name and Atlanta headquarters will be kept, and Delta will become the world's largest airline, a position held previously by American Airlines. Delta is hoping that a quick resolution to their pilot contract, which would eventually apply to both pilot groups, might make the merger a success.

Northwest Airlines hold a 'golden share' in Continental Airlines which has prevented Continental from seeking their own merger. Any deal involving Northwest would allow Continental to be freed from any veto power that Northwest has. Look for a possible Continental and United announcement shortly.

Update: Delta and Northwest have already launched a site with details of their plan for world domination.

Starting next January (sorry you'll have to wait ten more months), Continental will have Wi-Fi Internet access and satellite TV on every US flight. The Wi-Fi will be free for all passengers and satellite TV will be free in first-class and $6 in coach.

They're using the same Internet provider as JetBlue's, which has already started offering Wi-Fi. Other airlines have also jumped on the bandwagon: WestJet, Frontier, Virgin Blue, and AirTran. As for TV, you'll be getting CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, ESP, among others.

A part of me can't wait until next January, but I'm also going to be a bit nostalgic about the chance to get away from it all. If there was Internet offered on the plane, I would definitely jump on it, but then I would miss reading that good book or magazine.

It is not easy to be a backpacker these days.

I was buying air tickets from New York to Costa Rica (but out of Panama City) over the phone yesterday, using a free voucher. I am glad that I did it over the phone, otherwise I would have been spared this brilliant conversation.

After booking, the Continental operator informed me that a yellow fever vaccine was recommended and that I should have access to $500 in cash. OK, I think I can manage that.

Then, she said I will not be allowed on the plane in New York unless I can prove how I'm getting from Costa Rica to Panama. What? Isn't the fact that you have no idea how you'll travel around the entire point of backpacking?

To take it even further, she recited that in Costa Rica "entry is denied to gypsies or those with hippy appearance." I kid you not.

Are they for real?

Blogger Grant just posted about American Airlines' introduction of Hawaiian cuisine on the airline's mainland-Hawaii flights.

Serving gourmet food on flights is becoming a real trend as airlines try to make flying more enjoyable while also hoping to part passengers from their dollars. I think it's a bit sneaky to take away in-flight meals only to reintroduce them as items to be purchased, but I can't help but get excited about the idea of eating genuinely yummy food while flying.

Airline food has been typically always on the unflattering side of food comparisons (along with prison food), but its reputation is changing. Airlines are employing well-known chefs and sommeliers to create menus and wine lists; celebrity chef Todd English will be designing meals for Delta. As soon as November you'll be able to order a Mediterranean salad with grilled shrimp or a roast beef Cobb sandwich on Delta flights over 750 miles. Meals will run between $2 and $10 dollars.

Air France and Continental Airlines have also used big-name chefs to entice you to fly with them.

[via USA Today]

I used to be a big fan of buying tickets on travel websites such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com but lately, I found that it is often cheaper to buy them directly through the airlines's websites. Have we come a full circle?

I picked a random date--a long weekend Sept.13-17 from New York to San Francisco--to see what rates would come back.

A sample of a few direct flights:

• United: $303 on Expedia, $298 on United.com
• Continental: $357 on Expedia, $352 on Continental.com
• Delta: $303 on Expedia, $358 on Delta.com
• Alaska: $343 on Expedia, $498 on Alaskaair.com (hello!)

OK, so it's a mixed bag. I have to say though that I have yet to find a flight that is cheaper on Expedia or Travelocity than it is on Continental.com. Their website is really good, I think. It is comforting to know that airlines are starting to understand how to use the Internet to their--and our--advantage.

I now use kayak.com to see the best rates and then book directly on the airlines' sites. Plus, I get extra miles for booking online. Expedia, be worried!