Singapore Airlines, one of the main companies of the Southeast Asia that wins passenger choice awards very often, gained top marks for its service in both classes.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific together with Dubai’s Emirates airline got the second rank in the premium-class category. Also Emirates occupied the second rank for its economy class service.

The third rank in premium class service was given to Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand.

Despite the fact that Continental, the U.S. airline, got a 15 score being behind the others, Tim Zagat, CEO of Zagat Survey, considered the result of the company as an achievement.

“The newer airlines continue to do well in the survey. Being less expensive to operate, they can therefore afford to provide better service,” said Zagat in his statement. He also added that such airline companies as Singapore, Emirates and Cathay Pacific prospered not due to governmental support. The question arose how Continental did so well as the company did not have any specific advantages.

Also Continental became the best value company in international routes.

As a result Continental Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways got the leading position in two categories. Southwest Airlines won in four categories while Virgin America was top-rated in three.

The Zagat survey was the third annual airline survey that exposed diminution in the number of flights because of the global economy recession.

The survey showed that only 7 percent of respondents flew more as well as others flew less this year.

The number of business flights diminished to 61 percent this year in comparison with 2007 when it was 64 percent. But as for leisure flights, their number increased by 4 percent this year.

Continental Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines were fined $100,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation for keeping passengers stranded on August 8.

The Department of Transportation also fined Mesaba Airlines with $75,000 for their role in ground handling Continental Express Flight 2816. A total of $175,000 fines were received for just one flight.

The 47 passengers stuck on the flight, having to endure crying babies and the smell of toilets, were issued a refund and offered compensation for their time and effort.

“I hope that this sends a signal to the rest of the airline industry that we expect airlines to respect the rights of air travelers,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We will also use what we have learned from this investigation to strengthen protections for airline passengers subjected to long tarmac delays.”

We can only hope that similar measures will be taken for budget airline flights such as WizzAir’s record delay.

Low wages for airline pilots aren’t a surprise to anyone, since the situation existed for years and it only got worse as the economical recession hit the airline industry. Salaries have been reduced so much that they have been the cause of strikes all over the world. But how much do pilots really earn these days? FltOps were the ones to first tackle the issue releasing a salary survey that took into account major US airlines.

Airline pilots earn considerably more if they have seniority or if we take into account overrides, overtime, special credits or per diem. Airlines taken into account are: AirTran, Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, FedEx, JetBlue, Southwest, United, UPS and US Airways.

The highest paid airline pilots work at Southwest Airlines. The company has a first-year minimum of $49,572 and hires more experienced pilots on average. US Airways pays first year pilots the lowest wage out of all surveyed airlines (a minimum $21,600 a year). The wage assumes 72 hours per month, a large part of this being flight preparations or overnights.

The lowest salary for an experienced captain is $123,480 at JetBlue Airways while the highest if found again at Southwest, at $181,270 a year. Airlines that offer higher wages in the US are UPS and FedEx, with a minimum of over $200,000 a year.

Delta Airlines, American, United and Continental pays aircraft captains a minimum between $156,000 and $167,000 per year.

On Tuesday Continental officially shifted from SkyTeam to the Star Alliance that includes United, US Airways, Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) and Lufthansa.  When Continental joins the Star Alliance, Air Canada that is considered to be the largest carrier of Canada will get new revenue from Continental and at the same time its customers will get access to new destinations. Also customers of Air Canada and Continental may collect and buy back Aeroplan (TSX:AER) miles.

Connecting to Continental, Air Canada will be able to obtain revenue from customers as a number of flights from America to Canada will increase, also it stands to receive a separate joint venture that will start working on profitable Atlantic routes in 2010.

According to Jeff Smisek, president of Continental, the integration of Delta and Northwest referred the airline company to junior-partner status for that reason it was decided to come out from SkyTeam.

Officials of Continental said that the airline was going to add flights to Frankfurt and Rio de Janeiro in order to connect to Star Alliance partners and they also underlined that new flight would add new jobs.

In July, Continental received immunity from antitrust laws that enables the airline to work with its new Star partners on setting prices and schedules for many international routes. But at the same time it will not be permitted for Continental and United to work on pricing of flights within the U.S..

5. Virgin Airlines started its environmental efforts by signing a deal with Boeing that supposes the purchasing a number of eco-friendly aircrafts to use on their routes. The airline will receive 15 787-9 Dreamliners, that use 20% less fuel for every passenger onboard than other planes of a similar size. The new aircrafts will also be able to offer less bumpier takeoffs and landings, cleaner air, larger windows, more storage space and enhanced lighting onboard. Boeing also announced that over 500 787-9 Dreamliner aircrafts were ordered.

4. Continental Airlines replaced a large part of their fleet with planes that are more energy-efficient. The company saved an impressive amount of fuel and reduced emissions by 5%, after installing winglets on all their Boeing 737s and 757s. Moreover, the airline has begin experimenting Boeing 737s flights with bio fuel, which is made from extracts of algae and jartopha plants.

3. easyJet plans on installing new energy-efficient engines on all their Airbus A319s. By doing that, the low cost company intends to cut the mono-nitrogen oxide emissions by 25 percent. By 2015, the Easy Jet officials have in mind reducing noise by 25%, CO2 emissions by 50% and NOx by more than 75%. According to the company’s officials, EasyJet has cut its CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre by 18% since 2002. Their efficiency and use of smaller airports allows easyJet to fly more passengers/flight and emit 27% less carbon per passenger km than regular companies. Here’s a crazy takeoff with an A319: