originally appeared on CNBC:
More travelers will take to the roads and skies this holiday season and spend a little more on travel than a year ago, AAA said in a new forecast released Thursday. (Read more: America's Most Popular Holiday Destination Is... ?)
AAA projects 93.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the year-end holiday period defined as December 22 to January 1. That's up 1.6 percent from the 91.8 million people who traveled during the same time last year.
Primary economic indicators all show modest improvement from last year and AAA is projecting an increase in the number of Americans stuffing their stockings with airline tickets and hotel reservations, said AAA's President and in a prepared statement.
Highlights From AAA's 2012-2013 Year-End Holiday Travel Forecast
Ninety percent of travelers (84.4 million) will travel by car, representing 26.7 percent of the total U.S. population, or one in four Americans.
Holiday air travel is forecast to rise 4.5 percent to 5.6 million travelers from 5.4 million in 2011.
Median spending is expected to increase about 6 percent to $759, compared to $718 in 2011 with transportation costs consuming about 29 cents of every travel dollar.
Average distance traveled is expected to increase to 760 miles round-trip from 726 miles
The national average price of gasoline, meanwhile, is forecast to slowly drop through the end of the year and average between $3.20-3.40 a gallon by New Year's Day. While AAA does not expect gas prices to have a major impact on travel volume, fuel-cost savings could mean consumers have more money to spend on holiday shopping, dining and entertainment if prices drop through December as expected.
Airfares Down, Hotel Rates Rise
Those traveling by air will find lower airfares this holiday season, according to AAA. For the year-end holiday period, the average lowest round-trip rate is $203 for the top 40 U.S. air routes, a 3 percent decline from last year's rate of about $209.28.
Hotel rates for AAA Three Diamond properties are expected to increase 2 percent from a year ago — $129 per night compared to $126 last year. AAA Two Diamond hotels will be 3 percent higher, or an average of $95 per night compared to about $92.23 in 2011.
Showing posts with label Air Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Air Travel. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2012
Thursday, August 4, 2011
DISCOUNT AIR TRAVEL FOR THE FALL
Story first appeared in the Associated Press.
Southwest Airlines Co. and its AirTran subsidiary launched new sales on Tuesday for travel during late summer and the typically slower fall season.
The sales were announced as an attempted fare increase led by United and Continental collapsed.
The Southwest and AirTran deals are being offered through Aug. 1, although seats are limited and not available on all flights.
The AirTran sale covers flights between July 30 and Nov. 16 for most cities, with the lowest prices on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Some short trips, such as Atlanta to Richmond, Va., are $59 at off-hours. Peak-time flights between Milwaukee and Cancun start at $134 each way, the airline said.
Southwest's sale also starts at $59 each way for some short trips, and covers travel from Aug. 23 to Dec. 14 except Fridays and Sundays. There are 18 blackout dates around Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
Airline pricing is complicated and constantly changing, and sales aren't always what they appear.
In Southwest's case, the lowest sale prices are $35 to $50 cheaper each way than some Houston-Denver and Houston-Los Angeles flights the day before the sale takes effect.
But on some Chicago-Boston and Chicago-Denver flights, Southwest's website showed available fares one day and one week before the sale starts that were $24 to $52 less than the advertised special rate that begins Aug. 23.
The sales were announced a day after an effort by United and Continental to raise fares on many U.S. routes by $4 to $10 per round trip collapsed. The price hike seemed to be sticking over the weekend but crumbled after Southwest, which raised some prices, and American Airlines first matched, then rescinded the higher fares.
FareCompare.com said all the airlines rolled back their increases by late Monday night. They said after Southwest only partially matched the increase and American retreated on Monday, the hike was doomed.
Airlines want to raise prices to offset high and volatile jet fuel costs, but the strong growth in travel demand earlier this year has slowed as fares rose and the economy remained sluggish. Traffic declined in June at United, Continental and Delta, compared with June 2010.
It is expected that United will continue attempts to raise prices over the next few weeks.
Southwest Airlines Co. and its AirTran subsidiary launched new sales on Tuesday for travel during late summer and the typically slower fall season.
The sales were announced as an attempted fare increase led by United and Continental collapsed.
The Southwest and AirTran deals are being offered through Aug. 1, although seats are limited and not available on all flights.
The AirTran sale covers flights between July 30 and Nov. 16 for most cities, with the lowest prices on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Some short trips, such as Atlanta to Richmond, Va., are $59 at off-hours. Peak-time flights between Milwaukee and Cancun start at $134 each way, the airline said.
Southwest's sale also starts at $59 each way for some short trips, and covers travel from Aug. 23 to Dec. 14 except Fridays and Sundays. There are 18 blackout dates around Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
Airline pricing is complicated and constantly changing, and sales aren't always what they appear.
In Southwest's case, the lowest sale prices are $35 to $50 cheaper each way than some Houston-Denver and Houston-Los Angeles flights the day before the sale takes effect.
But on some Chicago-Boston and Chicago-Denver flights, Southwest's website showed available fares one day and one week before the sale starts that were $24 to $52 less than the advertised special rate that begins Aug. 23.
The sales were announced a day after an effort by United and Continental to raise fares on many U.S. routes by $4 to $10 per round trip collapsed. The price hike seemed to be sticking over the weekend but crumbled after Southwest, which raised some prices, and American Airlines first matched, then rescinded the higher fares.
FareCompare.com said all the airlines rolled back their increases by late Monday night. They said after Southwest only partially matched the increase and American retreated on Monday, the hike was doomed.
Airlines want to raise prices to offset high and volatile jet fuel costs, but the strong growth in travel demand earlier this year has slowed as fares rose and the economy remained sluggish. Traffic declined in June at United, Continental and Delta, compared with June 2010.
It is expected that United will continue attempts to raise prices over the next few weeks.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Delta Attendants' Union Rejection May Be Voided by U.S.
Bloomberg
Delta Air Lines Inc. flight attendants’ vote to reject union representation may be nullified by a U.S. labor board controlled by Obama administration appointees, according to a senator and an analyst.
The National Mediation Board, which in August ordered a new election for technicians who work on simulators for Delta, will take similar action after reviewing flight-attendant allegations of company interference in balloting, said Ray Neidl, an analyst at Maxim Group LLC in New York. “The deck is stacked in the union’s favor,” he said in an interview.
Democratic appointees of President Barack Obama gained a majority on the three-member board last year, and in May eased rules for organizing elections in the airline industry. Given that stance, the panel will probably order a revote by flight attendants, said Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican.
“Nothing tells me they won’t do that,” Isakson said in an interview. “To come around and revote again, it’s a lack of respect for the employees.”
Nullifying the vote results announced Nov. 3 would present a new challenge to the position of Atlanta-based Delta as the least-unionized major U.S. carrier. The flight attendants rejected union representation with 51 percent of the 18,760 votes cast against organizing.
A mediation board spokesman didn’t return a telephone call for comment. The board referees relations between labor and management at railroad and airline companies under the 1926 Railway Labor Act.
Claims ‘Ridiculous’
A spokeswoman for Delta, the world’s second largest airline after United Continental Holdings Inc., declined to comment on what the board may do. “Claims of interference are ridiculous,” said Gina Laughlin, the spokeswoman.
The union plans to file interference charges by a Nov. 12 deadline, or seek an extension if the organization needs more time, said Pat Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. Union leaders are discussing whether to seek a revote or a recount, in which votes cast via company computers would be disqualified, possibly changing the outcome, she said.
The computer ballots may have allowed the company to track whether employees voted, a violation of their privacy, Friend said. “We expect that this board will in fact investigate,” she said. “I believe they will ultimately agree with us that there was egregious interference.”
Laughlin of the airline said, “Delta did not track anyone’s votes.”
Previous Efforts
Harry Hoglander, a former pilot-union official who became the mediation board’s chairman in July, twice sided with the flight attendants’ union when it brought interference charges following losses seeking to organize at Delta in 2002 and 2008. In the first case he called for a new election and in the second urged additional investigation.
Hoglander was overruled both times by the board’s Republican majority. He declined to comment on the Delta allegations.
Obama gave the board a Democratic majority by adding former flight-attendant union President Linda Puchala, who replaced a former lobbyist for Northwest Airlines.
The Democratic-controlled board found in August that Delta tainted the organizing election for 91 flight-simulator technicians by announcing a pay increase and holding “coercive” one-on-one meetings. The board ordered a revote.
The workers in February had rejected representation by the International Association of Machinists, with 40 voting in favor. In the revote, the union lost support, with 18 voting for representation, Delta announced Sept. 16.
Republican Opposition
Hoglander and Puchala also made a change that lets employees form a union with majority approval from those who vote, rather than most of all workers in a class. Unreturned ballots are no longer counted as “no” votes. The change was made over protests from the panel’s sole Republican, Elizabeth Dougherty, a former White House special assistant.
The board’s political bent that began with the George W. Bush administration “is here to stay,” said Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. “This board is clearly very divided.”
The board made a political decision in 2008 when it found no basis to further investigate Delta flight-attendant allegations, contrary to evidence, Bronfenbrenner said. In the upcoming case she said she the board will follow the law.
Given the board’s May action to change voting rules, it will be watched carefully as to how it handles the flight- attendant protest, said William Swelbar, a research engineer specializing in air transport at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
“I see this board as having to tread very lightly,” Swelbar said. “There’s a lot of credibility to win or lose.”
Neidl said a revote probably will produce the same result, a defeat for the union organizers. “Delta is a strong entity,” he said. “They can survive nicely with or without a union.”
The National Mediation Board, which in August ordered a new election for technicians who work on simulators for Delta, will take similar action after reviewing flight-attendant allegations of company interference in balloting, said Ray Neidl, an analyst at Maxim Group LLC in New York. “The deck is stacked in the union’s favor,” he said in an interview.
Democratic appointees of President Barack Obama gained a majority on the three-member board last year, and in May eased rules for organizing elections in the airline industry. Given that stance, the panel will probably order a revote by flight attendants, said Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican.
“Nothing tells me they won’t do that,” Isakson said in an interview. “To come around and revote again, it’s a lack of respect for the employees.”
Nullifying the vote results announced Nov. 3 would present a new challenge to the position of Atlanta-based Delta as the least-unionized major U.S. carrier. The flight attendants rejected union representation with 51 percent of the 18,760 votes cast against organizing.
A mediation board spokesman didn’t return a telephone call for comment. The board referees relations between labor and management at railroad and airline companies under the 1926 Railway Labor Act.
Claims ‘Ridiculous’
A spokeswoman for Delta, the world’s second largest airline after United Continental Holdings Inc., declined to comment on what the board may do. “Claims of interference are ridiculous,” said Gina Laughlin, the spokeswoman.
The union plans to file interference charges by a Nov. 12 deadline, or seek an extension if the organization needs more time, said Pat Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. Union leaders are discussing whether to seek a revote or a recount, in which votes cast via company computers would be disqualified, possibly changing the outcome, she said.
The computer ballots may have allowed the company to track whether employees voted, a violation of their privacy, Friend said. “We expect that this board will in fact investigate,” she said. “I believe they will ultimately agree with us that there was egregious interference.”
Laughlin of the airline said, “Delta did not track anyone’s votes.”
Previous Efforts
Harry Hoglander, a former pilot-union official who became the mediation board’s chairman in July, twice sided with the flight attendants’ union when it brought interference charges following losses seeking to organize at Delta in 2002 and 2008. In the first case he called for a new election and in the second urged additional investigation.
Hoglander was overruled both times by the board’s Republican majority. He declined to comment on the Delta allegations.
Obama gave the board a Democratic majority by adding former flight-attendant union President Linda Puchala, who replaced a former lobbyist for Northwest Airlines.
The Democratic-controlled board found in August that Delta tainted the organizing election for 91 flight-simulator technicians by announcing a pay increase and holding “coercive” one-on-one meetings. The board ordered a revote.
The workers in February had rejected representation by the International Association of Machinists, with 40 voting in favor. In the revote, the union lost support, with 18 voting for representation, Delta announced Sept. 16.
Republican Opposition
Hoglander and Puchala also made a change that lets employees form a union with majority approval from those who vote, rather than most of all workers in a class. Unreturned ballots are no longer counted as “no” votes. The change was made over protests from the panel’s sole Republican, Elizabeth Dougherty, a former White House special assistant.
The board’s political bent that began with the George W. Bush administration “is here to stay,” said Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. “This board is clearly very divided.”
The board made a political decision in 2008 when it found no basis to further investigate Delta flight-attendant allegations, contrary to evidence, Bronfenbrenner said. In the upcoming case she said she the board will follow the law.
Given the board’s May action to change voting rules, it will be watched carefully as to how it handles the flight- attendant protest, said William Swelbar, a research engineer specializing in air transport at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
“I see this board as having to tread very lightly,” Swelbar said. “There’s a lot of credibility to win or lose.”
Neidl said a revote probably will produce the same result, a defeat for the union organizers. “Delta is a strong entity,” he said. “They can survive nicely with or without a union.”
Monday, October 18, 2010
Frontier Airlines Chief Bryan Bedford goes incognito as Flight Attendant for 'Undercover Boss'
LA Times
How much would you pay to have an airline's chief executive hoist your carry-on into an overhead bin or fetch you a cold Diet Coke? Frontier Airlines top dog Bryan Bedford did just that working incognito as a flight attendant during his star turn on the TV reality show "Undercover Boss."
In his high-altitude role on sold-out flights between Denver and San Diego, he got to schmooze with passengers ("I was happy to be in the air, happy to be helpful") and suffer their frustration when the flight was late ("I suspect I may have been the reason for the delay").
"When you’re doing a job you’ve never done before, you make a lot of mistakes,” says Bedford, whose job performance will be featured in an episode airing Sunday (9 p.m. PST/8 p.m. CST on CBS).
For the uninitiated, "Undercover Boss" each week features top executives who receive training and work side-by-side incognito with their employees. Recent episodes have featured other captains of industry from the travel world: Stephen Joyce of Choice Hotels and Kim Schaefer of Great Wolf Resorts water parks.
In addition to playing flight attendant, Bedford cleaned planes, emptied jets of waste and served as an all-purpose customer service agent who had to cover baggage claim areas as well as the ticket counter.
Bedford, who says he hadn't seen the TV show prior to being contacted about appearing on it, said his time in the trenches provided an opportunity to meet some of the 6,000 employees that were added after a three-way merger of Frontier, Republic and Midwest airlines earlier this year. (His airline is branded under Frontier, though the parent company he heads is Republic Airways).
Among the lessons that Bedford says he learned from his TV stint:
-- Airlines put a big emphasis on courting "high-value" business customers. But for the 70% of customers who are leisure travelers, flying is indelibly linked to whether they're having a good or bad vacation.
"Those leisure customers, we tend to take for granted," Bedford said. "We can’t do that."
-- He has a better appreciation for his front-line workers. After his TV experience, he instituted "town hall"-type meetings each week to better communicate with employees.
Despite his goofs and gaffes, Bedford says he enjoyed learning about his company from beyond the boardroom.
"The in-flight job was my favorite ... when I can sit with customers and have quality one-on-one time with them. It's rare," he says.
In his high-altitude role on sold-out flights between Denver and San Diego, he got to schmooze with passengers ("I was happy to be in the air, happy to be helpful") and suffer their frustration when the flight was late ("I suspect I may have been the reason for the delay").
"When you’re doing a job you’ve never done before, you make a lot of mistakes,” says Bedford, whose job performance will be featured in an episode airing Sunday (9 p.m. PST/8 p.m. CST on CBS).
For the uninitiated, "Undercover Boss" each week features top executives who receive training and work side-by-side incognito with their employees. Recent episodes have featured other captains of industry from the travel world: Stephen Joyce of Choice Hotels and Kim Schaefer of Great Wolf Resorts water parks.
In addition to playing flight attendant, Bedford cleaned planes, emptied jets of waste and served as an all-purpose customer service agent who had to cover baggage claim areas as well as the ticket counter.
Bedford, who says he hadn't seen the TV show prior to being contacted about appearing on it, said his time in the trenches provided an opportunity to meet some of the 6,000 employees that were added after a three-way merger of Frontier, Republic and Midwest airlines earlier this year. (His airline is branded under Frontier, though the parent company he heads is Republic Airways).
Among the lessons that Bedford says he learned from his TV stint:
-- Airlines put a big emphasis on courting "high-value" business customers. But for the 70% of customers who are leisure travelers, flying is indelibly linked to whether they're having a good or bad vacation.
"Those leisure customers, we tend to take for granted," Bedford said. "We can’t do that."
-- He has a better appreciation for his front-line workers. After his TV experience, he instituted "town hall"-type meetings each week to better communicate with employees.
Despite his goofs and gaffes, Bedford says he enjoyed learning about his company from beyond the boardroom.
"The in-flight job was my favorite ... when I can sit with customers and have quality one-on-one time with them. It's rare," he says.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Southwest CEO Risks Keep-it-Simple Strategy to Reignite Growth
Bloomberg
Southwest Airlines Co. Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly, taking on his biggest acquisition ever, is dismantling the carrier’s keep-it-simple strategy in a bid to reignite growth.
The largest U.S. low-fare carrier’s decision to buy AirTran Holdings Inc. for $1.4 billion will mark its first foray into a second jet type and its first boost in seating capacity since the end of 2008.
Southwest will also face off with bigger Delta Air Lines Inc. at its primary hub of Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport and the only major U.S. city Southwest doesn’t serve. The Dallas-based carrier will start flying at Washington’s Reagan National, add its first international flights and mesh 8,000 employees into its workforce.
“They ran out of places where they could keep it simple,” said David Swierenga, president of consultant AeroEcon in Round Rock, Texas. “They’ve become such a widespread, far-flung airline and served just about every city that met that simple requirement. They figured it was time to go beyond that.”
With the cash-and-stock purchase, Kelly gives up some of the last vestiges of Southwest’s historic low-cost strategy, including flying just one fleet type, Boeing Co. 737s, to hold down maintenance and training costs, making short hops between cities at high frequencies and owning most of its jets.
More Seats
The deal will add 138 planes, ending Southwest’s self- imposed capacity ceiling that began at the end of 2008 and became the longest dormant period in 20 years. The combined company is to have 685 aircraft, including 86 Boeing 717s from AirTran. Southwest’s 737s can carry at least 122 passengers, while AirTran’s 717s have 117 seats.
“Growth is in Southwest’s DNA, and the growth pause of the last several years has not been a naturally comfortable place for the company,” said Douglas Runte, managing director at Piper Jaffray & Co. in New York. “The addition of AirTran will allow them to satisfy their briefly dormant, but always present, inclination for growth.”
AirTran flies to Cancun, Mexico, and the Caribbean, giving Southwest the “perfect opportunity” to add flights outside the U.S. for the first time, Kelly said yesterday at a news conference at Southwest’s headquarters.
Southwest’s offer values Orlando, Florida-based AirTran at $7.69 a share, including its convertible notes. That’s 69 percent more than the carrier’s closing price on Sept. 24.
Southwest rose $1.07, or 8.7 percent, to $13.35 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday, while AirTran jumped $2.79, or 61 percent, to $7.34.
Merger Terms
Under the merger agreement, each of AirTran’s common shares will be exchanged for $3.75 in cash and 0.321 share of Southwest common stock. Including AirTran debt and capitalized aircraft operating leases, the transaction has a value of about $3.4 billion, the airlines said.
AirTran’s debt as of June 30 included about $280 million in convertible notes, according to a July regulatory filing. Southwest will take on about $2 billion of AirTran’s aircraft operating leases, according to the Standard & Poor’s ratings company.
Southwest will partially fund the purchase with $670 million from cash on hand. The carrier currently has $3.3 billion in cash and short-term investments, and an available $600 million revolving credit line, it said yesterday.
The acquisition will add $2 billion a year in revenue and $400 million in cost and revenue synergies, the companies said.
‘Growth Opportunity’
“We have evolved our company to be able to take on a growth opportunity like this,” Kelly said. “Our own growth prospects near-term are quite modest.”
The merger must be approved by AirTran shareholders and the Justice Department. The U.S. clearance is “not a slam dunk,” said Vaughn Cordle, managing partner of AirlineForecasts LLC in Clifton, Virginia.
The two carriers overlap on 32 markets, more than twice as many as in the pending merger between UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc., Cordle said in an interview.
The Justice Department will analyze direct service on a route-by-route basis to determine whether the merger leaves too few competitors in any individual market, said Steve Martin, a senior vice president at InterVistas Consulting in Washington. Buffalo, New York-Orlando; Baltimore-Orlando and Baltimore-Las Vegas are among routes that will come under scrutiny, he said.
Acquisition History
Southwest, which started flying in 1971, has made two previous acquisitions: Morris Air in 1993 for $134 million in stock and Muse Air in 1985 for $60.5 million in stock and cash. AirTran, founded in 1993, formerly was called ValuJet.
Southwest failed in a 2009 bid to acquire Frontier Airlines out of bankruptcy. Frontier, based in Denver, was then acquired by Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
While Southwest hasn’t suffered annual losses that ravaged competitors such as American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and UAL, it posted net losses in four of the past eight quarters. The carrier’s third-quarter loss in 2008 was its first in 17 years.
In the 12 months ended Sept. 24, the shares jumped 29 percent, the sixth-best performance among the 12 carriers in the Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index. UAL more than doubled in the period, and US Airways Group Inc. and Alaska Air Group Inc. each surged 83 percent.
Pilots, Attendants
Southwest told employees yesterday it would add as many as 200 pilots and 300 flight attendants next year, in addition to AirTran employees. Combined, the companies would have about 42,700 employees, based on second-quarter data.
Southwest’s unions will negotiate with AirTran’s unions on how to mesh their seniority lists. There will have to be representation elections and contract negotiations with the carrier because the airlines’ major work groups belong to different unions.
Based on miles flown by paying passengers, Southwest now ranks as the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, while AirTran is eighth. The merged carrier will be No. 4 after United and Continental combine.
Southwest plans to use AirTran’s base in Atlanta and its flight slots at Reagan National to build on its strategy of attracting more business travelers. A blended Southwest and AirTran will account for 69 percent of flights at Baltimore- Washington International.
LaGuardia, Newark
The airline also will gain additional flight slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport with AirTran. Southwest agreed last month to lease flight space from Continental and United Airlines, which plan to complete their merger this week, at Newark’s Liberty International airport.
“Southwest has, until recently, avoided serving congested Northeast airports,” said Alan Bender, professor of aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. “This is a major entry into those markets. Southwest is saying it is no longer the airline of ma and pa -- we are going to become the airline of the business person.”
While Southwest flies into several airports that serve as hubs for rival airlines’ connecting flights, it hasn’t yet come up against the dominant position that Delta holds in Atlanta with 75 percent of passengers.
In Los Angeles, American Airlines has 16 percent of passengers, compared with 12 percent for Southwest. In Denver, United has 32 percent of passengers, compared with 15 percent for Southwest, and in San Francisco, United has 34 percent, while Southwest has 8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
‘Greater Appeal’
“We want to have greater appeal to more customers nationwide,” Kelly said. “The gaping hole in our route system right now is Atlanta. There is no easy way for us to get into Atlanta. We can start day one profitably and go from there.”
Southwest plans to extend its policy of not charging for the first two checked bags to AirTran, as well as its offer of a single class of service on aircraft. The combined carrier, which will remain based in Dallas, won’t assign seats.
The deal allows Southwest to eliminate AirTran, the second- biggest discounter, as a competitor and increase pressure on rivals JetBlue Airways Corp., Frontier and Virgin America Inc.
“It’s certainly going to change the competitive dynamics of the low-cost sector,” said Paul Mifsud, a Washington consultant and former airline executive. “They are going to become an extremely big competitive force in the domestic industry.”
The largest U.S. low-fare carrier’s decision to buy AirTran Holdings Inc. for $1.4 billion will mark its first foray into a second jet type and its first boost in seating capacity since the end of 2008.
Southwest will also face off with bigger Delta Air Lines Inc. at its primary hub of Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport and the only major U.S. city Southwest doesn’t serve. The Dallas-based carrier will start flying at Washington’s Reagan National, add its first international flights and mesh 8,000 employees into its workforce.
“They ran out of places where they could keep it simple,” said David Swierenga, president of consultant AeroEcon in Round Rock, Texas. “They’ve become such a widespread, far-flung airline and served just about every city that met that simple requirement. They figured it was time to go beyond that.”
With the cash-and-stock purchase, Kelly gives up some of the last vestiges of Southwest’s historic low-cost strategy, including flying just one fleet type, Boeing Co. 737s, to hold down maintenance and training costs, making short hops between cities at high frequencies and owning most of its jets.
More Seats
The deal will add 138 planes, ending Southwest’s self- imposed capacity ceiling that began at the end of 2008 and became the longest dormant period in 20 years. The combined company is to have 685 aircraft, including 86 Boeing 717s from AirTran. Southwest’s 737s can carry at least 122 passengers, while AirTran’s 717s have 117 seats.
“Growth is in Southwest’s DNA, and the growth pause of the last several years has not been a naturally comfortable place for the company,” said Douglas Runte, managing director at Piper Jaffray & Co. in New York. “The addition of AirTran will allow them to satisfy their briefly dormant, but always present, inclination for growth.”
AirTran flies to Cancun, Mexico, and the Caribbean, giving Southwest the “perfect opportunity” to add flights outside the U.S. for the first time, Kelly said yesterday at a news conference at Southwest’s headquarters.
Southwest’s offer values Orlando, Florida-based AirTran at $7.69 a share, including its convertible notes. That’s 69 percent more than the carrier’s closing price on Sept. 24.
Southwest rose $1.07, or 8.7 percent, to $13.35 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday, while AirTran jumped $2.79, or 61 percent, to $7.34.
Merger Terms
Under the merger agreement, each of AirTran’s common shares will be exchanged for $3.75 in cash and 0.321 share of Southwest common stock. Including AirTran debt and capitalized aircraft operating leases, the transaction has a value of about $3.4 billion, the airlines said.
AirTran’s debt as of June 30 included about $280 million in convertible notes, according to a July regulatory filing. Southwest will take on about $2 billion of AirTran’s aircraft operating leases, according to the Standard & Poor’s ratings company.
Southwest will partially fund the purchase with $670 million from cash on hand. The carrier currently has $3.3 billion in cash and short-term investments, and an available $600 million revolving credit line, it said yesterday.
The acquisition will add $2 billion a year in revenue and $400 million in cost and revenue synergies, the companies said.
‘Growth Opportunity’
“We have evolved our company to be able to take on a growth opportunity like this,” Kelly said. “Our own growth prospects near-term are quite modest.”
The merger must be approved by AirTran shareholders and the Justice Department. The U.S. clearance is “not a slam dunk,” said Vaughn Cordle, managing partner of AirlineForecasts LLC in Clifton, Virginia.
The two carriers overlap on 32 markets, more than twice as many as in the pending merger between UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc., Cordle said in an interview.
The Justice Department will analyze direct service on a route-by-route basis to determine whether the merger leaves too few competitors in any individual market, said Steve Martin, a senior vice president at InterVistas Consulting in Washington. Buffalo, New York-Orlando; Baltimore-Orlando and Baltimore-Las Vegas are among routes that will come under scrutiny, he said.
Acquisition History
Southwest, which started flying in 1971, has made two previous acquisitions: Morris Air in 1993 for $134 million in stock and Muse Air in 1985 for $60.5 million in stock and cash. AirTran, founded in 1993, formerly was called ValuJet.
Southwest failed in a 2009 bid to acquire Frontier Airlines out of bankruptcy. Frontier, based in Denver, was then acquired by Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
While Southwest hasn’t suffered annual losses that ravaged competitors such as American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and UAL, it posted net losses in four of the past eight quarters. The carrier’s third-quarter loss in 2008 was its first in 17 years.
In the 12 months ended Sept. 24, the shares jumped 29 percent, the sixth-best performance among the 12 carriers in the Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index. UAL more than doubled in the period, and US Airways Group Inc. and Alaska Air Group Inc. each surged 83 percent.
Pilots, Attendants
Southwest told employees yesterday it would add as many as 200 pilots and 300 flight attendants next year, in addition to AirTran employees. Combined, the companies would have about 42,700 employees, based on second-quarter data.
Southwest’s unions will negotiate with AirTran’s unions on how to mesh their seniority lists. There will have to be representation elections and contract negotiations with the carrier because the airlines’ major work groups belong to different unions.
Based on miles flown by paying passengers, Southwest now ranks as the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, while AirTran is eighth. The merged carrier will be No. 4 after United and Continental combine.
Southwest plans to use AirTran’s base in Atlanta and its flight slots at Reagan National to build on its strategy of attracting more business travelers. A blended Southwest and AirTran will account for 69 percent of flights at Baltimore- Washington International.
LaGuardia, Newark
The airline also will gain additional flight slots at New York’s LaGuardia Airport with AirTran. Southwest agreed last month to lease flight space from Continental and United Airlines, which plan to complete their merger this week, at Newark’s Liberty International airport.
“Southwest has, until recently, avoided serving congested Northeast airports,” said Alan Bender, professor of aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. “This is a major entry into those markets. Southwest is saying it is no longer the airline of ma and pa -- we are going to become the airline of the business person.”
While Southwest flies into several airports that serve as hubs for rival airlines’ connecting flights, it hasn’t yet come up against the dominant position that Delta holds in Atlanta with 75 percent of passengers.
In Los Angeles, American Airlines has 16 percent of passengers, compared with 12 percent for Southwest. In Denver, United has 32 percent of passengers, compared with 15 percent for Southwest, and in San Francisco, United has 34 percent, while Southwest has 8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
‘Greater Appeal’
“We want to have greater appeal to more customers nationwide,” Kelly said. “The gaping hole in our route system right now is Atlanta. There is no easy way for us to get into Atlanta. We can start day one profitably and go from there.”
Southwest plans to extend its policy of not charging for the first two checked bags to AirTran, as well as its offer of a single class of service on aircraft. The combined carrier, which will remain based in Dallas, won’t assign seats.
The deal allows Southwest to eliminate AirTran, the second- biggest discounter, as a competitor and increase pressure on rivals JetBlue Airways Corp., Frontier and Virgin America Inc.
“It’s certainly going to change the competitive dynamics of the low-cost sector,” said Paul Mifsud, a Washington consultant and former airline executive. “They are going to become an extremely big competitive force in the domestic industry.”
Monday, September 27, 2010
Some Airline Fees up by more than 50%
USA Today
Airline fees are steadily increasing — some by more than 50% since a year ago, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
The analysis, which compared 13 U.S. airlines' fees today with those in effect in June 2009, also reveals that passengers are encountering new types of fees.
Six big U.S. carriers now have priority boarding fees, and Spirit Airlines has begun charging for carry-on bags.
The numerous fees are a sore subject for many fliers, but their dissatisfaction hasn't deterred airlines from bringing in record revenue from additional fees.
U.S. airlines brought in $2.1 billion in ancillary revenue during this year's second quarter, including nearly $893 million from checked-bag fees and about $600 million from changed reservations, government statistics released Sept. 20 show.
That's up 15.8% from the same period the year before.
USA TODAY's analysis shows that:
•Most U.S. airlines charge $23 or $25 for a first checked bag. Only Southwest and JetBlue do not charge. Most airlines charged $15 — and four airlines charged nothing — in June 2009.
•The most expensive change fee for a coach ticket has jumped from $250 to $300, which American charges for some international flights. The most expensive change fee for Continental, Delta, United and US Airways is $250.
•Booking a reservation by telephone — even for a free frequent-flier ticket — can be costly. US Airways charges an extra $35 for a phone reservation for an international flight. Allegiant Air charges a $29.98 round-trip booking fee and a $14.99 convenience fee.
•The most expensive fee to cut the line and board before fellow passengers is $39 charged by United. The airline also has less expensive priority-boarding fees.
•The maximum charge for a preferred seat on some United Airlines flights has jumped from $119 in June 2009 to $159. Such a seat offers 5 more inches of leg room than other coach seats.
•Continental says it's not new, but the airline and at least three other carriers — American, Hawaiian and US Airways — charge a little-known fee for passengers who request receipts after they have flown. Continental charges $20 if a passenger requests a receipt more than seven days after a flight. US Airways charges the same amount if a receipt is requested more than 30 days after a flight.
The analysis, which compared 13 U.S. airlines' fees today with those in effect in June 2009, also reveals that passengers are encountering new types of fees.
Six big U.S. carriers now have priority boarding fees, and Spirit Airlines has begun charging for carry-on bags.
The numerous fees are a sore subject for many fliers, but their dissatisfaction hasn't deterred airlines from bringing in record revenue from additional fees.
U.S. airlines brought in $2.1 billion in ancillary revenue during this year's second quarter, including nearly $893 million from checked-bag fees and about $600 million from changed reservations, government statistics released Sept. 20 show.
That's up 15.8% from the same period the year before.
USA TODAY's analysis shows that:
•Most U.S. airlines charge $23 or $25 for a first checked bag. Only Southwest and JetBlue do not charge. Most airlines charged $15 — and four airlines charged nothing — in June 2009.
•The most expensive change fee for a coach ticket has jumped from $250 to $300, which American charges for some international flights. The most expensive change fee for Continental, Delta, United and US Airways is $250.
•Booking a reservation by telephone — even for a free frequent-flier ticket — can be costly. US Airways charges an extra $35 for a phone reservation for an international flight. Allegiant Air charges a $29.98 round-trip booking fee and a $14.99 convenience fee.
•The most expensive fee to cut the line and board before fellow passengers is $39 charged by United. The airline also has less expensive priority-boarding fees.
•The maximum charge for a preferred seat on some United Airlines flights has jumped from $119 in June 2009 to $159. Such a seat offers 5 more inches of leg room than other coach seats.
•Continental says it's not new, but the airline and at least three other carriers — American, Hawaiian and US Airways — charge a little-known fee for passengers who request receipts after they have flown. Continental charges $20 if a passenger requests a receipt more than seven days after a flight. US Airways charges the same amount if a receipt is requested more than 30 days after a flight.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Promises, Promises: FAA Fatigue Rules Finally Near
Associated Press
After a regional airliner crashed in western New York a year and a half ago, killing 50 people, the Obama administration promised swift action to prevent similar tragedies. High on the list: new rules governing the number of hours pilots may work, to prevent tired flight crews from making fatal errors.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote in June 2009 that the Federal Aviation Administration was in a hurry and wouldn't wait for Congress "to add mandatory layers to airline safety," nor even for crash investigators to complete their work, "because air passengers deserve action. And, they deserve it now."
It's taken 15 months and a half-dozen missed deadlines, but the FAA is finally about to propose new regulations on how many hours airlines can schedule pilots to be on duty or in the cockpit. A draft was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review last week, and a proposed rule is likely to be published within days, industry officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to address the issue publicly. A House hearing on the proposal is scheduled for next week.
Even when the new rules are proposed, it will likely be months — possibly even a year or longer — before they take effect. Pilot unions and relatives of crash victims who have been campaigning for the new rules said they're troubled by the lengthy process when safety is at stake.
"You can't be anything but concerned about the delays. This is supposedly (Federal Aviation Administration chief) Randy Babbitt's No. 1 priority and something there has been a crying need for decades now," said Kevin Kuwik, a spokesman for relatives of the victims of Continental Connection Flight 3407, which crashed near Buffalo in February 2009. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that both pilots on the flight were probably suffering from fatigue, although fatigue wasn't a direct cause of the accident.
At a private meeting with White House officials in June, relatives were assured the issue is a priority, he said.
Transportation and FAA officials declined to discuss the reason for the delays. Transportation Department spokeswoman Olivia Alair said only, "We are working as quickly as possible to get the proposal out for comment."
Lawmakers, industry officials and union leaders familiar with the process say the difficulty is in demonstrating that the safety benefits of stricter rules on flight hours — lives saved and injuries avoided — would outweigh the cost of the rules to the struggling airline industry. Depending upon how they are written, new regulations could cost industry billions of dollars over the next decade.
The result, these insiders say, has been a monthslong back-and-forth between the government and industry.
Officials at airline trade associations say they haven't been lobbying to block or delay new regulations. But the cost estimates the airline industry has supplied the government amount to a kind of lobbying, said Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
"I know for sure they are using the rulemaking process to make their case," said Oberstar, who has talked privately with Babbitt about the situation. He said one reason for the delay is that the FAA has been trying to "bulletproof" the proposal against possible challenges.
"The companies don't want any change that will cost them 10 cents," Oberstar said. "That's what it all comes down to."
Tom Hendricks, vice president for the Air Transport Association, an organization of major air carriers, said he hasn't seen either a draft proposal or cost estimates from the FAA. But he said, "We're always very concerned about added costs without a demonstrable safety benefit."
Current rules say pilots can be scheduled for up to 16 hours on duty — which means being at work, ready to fly — and up to eight hours of actual flight time in a 24-hour period, with a minimum of eight hours for rest in between. The rules don't take into account that it can be more tiring for regional airline pilots to fly five or six short legs in six hours than it is for a pilot with a major airline to fly eight hours across the Atlantic to Europe, say, with only one takeoff and landing. Takeoffs and landings are usually the most strenuous part of flying.
The rules also don't take into account pilots whose schedules put them in the cockpit during the period, typically 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., when people are more likely to become fatigued than if they were awake the same number of hours during the daytime. Cargo airlines — especially overnight package services — do much of their flying during those hours.
Major airlines have urged the FAA to balance a reduction in hours for pilots who fly more fatiguing schedules with an increase in hours for pilots who fly less taxing routes, which could offset much of the cost of new rules. Pilot unions oppose that approach.
Babbitt formed a committee of airline and labor officials last summer to make recommendations on new regulations. Instead of one set of recommendations, the committee produced separate proposals from cargo and charter airlines, commercial airlines and pilot unions.
Charter airlines — which fly 95 percent of U.S. troops and 40 percent of military cargo around the world — want to continue exceptions in current regulations that allow longer flight and duty hours for their pilots.
The military "is watching very closely what is going on with the flight and duty-time rulemaking because how that comes out that will affect their ability to move troops and their ability to move cargo," said Oakley Brooks, president of the National Air Carrier Association. "We're working closely with them."
Pilot unions oppose the exceptions, arguing that all airlines should be held to the same safety standards.
"Do we want pilots flying our troops around the world to be more tired than other pilots?" asked Lee Collins, secretary of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations.
The effort to overhaul the rules is also a victim of the aviation industry's safety success over the past decade, thanks primarily to better warning systems that help prevent planes from flying into the ground or colliding in midair. In some years, there have been no fatal airline crashes in the U.S.
Finding ways to prevent pilot fatigue has stymied federal regulators and the airline industry for decades. The NTSB has been urging since 1990 that rules be updated to reflect fatigue research.
The FAA proposed new rules in the late 1990s. The proposal lingered for more than a decade without further action, and agency officials cited an impasse between pilots and industry. The proposal was withdrawn last year when the agency began working on the issue again.
"I don't think there's anything hard about looking at what the science tells us and coming up with commonsense rules," said Russ Leighton, head of safety for the Teamsters aviation division. "Getting people to wrap their minds around that change or to stop acting like that change is going to put every airline in the country out of business — that's the hard part."
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote in June 2009 that the Federal Aviation Administration was in a hurry and wouldn't wait for Congress "to add mandatory layers to airline safety," nor even for crash investigators to complete their work, "because air passengers deserve action. And, they deserve it now."
It's taken 15 months and a half-dozen missed deadlines, but the FAA is finally about to propose new regulations on how many hours airlines can schedule pilots to be on duty or in the cockpit. A draft was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review last week, and a proposed rule is likely to be published within days, industry officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to address the issue publicly. A House hearing on the proposal is scheduled for next week.
Even when the new rules are proposed, it will likely be months — possibly even a year or longer — before they take effect. Pilot unions and relatives of crash victims who have been campaigning for the new rules said they're troubled by the lengthy process when safety is at stake.
"You can't be anything but concerned about the delays. This is supposedly (Federal Aviation Administration chief) Randy Babbitt's No. 1 priority and something there has been a crying need for decades now," said Kevin Kuwik, a spokesman for relatives of the victims of Continental Connection Flight 3407, which crashed near Buffalo in February 2009. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that both pilots on the flight were probably suffering from fatigue, although fatigue wasn't a direct cause of the accident.
At a private meeting with White House officials in June, relatives were assured the issue is a priority, he said.
Transportation and FAA officials declined to discuss the reason for the delays. Transportation Department spokeswoman Olivia Alair said only, "We are working as quickly as possible to get the proposal out for comment."
Lawmakers, industry officials and union leaders familiar with the process say the difficulty is in demonstrating that the safety benefits of stricter rules on flight hours — lives saved and injuries avoided — would outweigh the cost of the rules to the struggling airline industry. Depending upon how they are written, new regulations could cost industry billions of dollars over the next decade.
The result, these insiders say, has been a monthslong back-and-forth between the government and industry.
Officials at airline trade associations say they haven't been lobbying to block or delay new regulations. But the cost estimates the airline industry has supplied the government amount to a kind of lobbying, said Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
"I know for sure they are using the rulemaking process to make their case," said Oberstar, who has talked privately with Babbitt about the situation. He said one reason for the delay is that the FAA has been trying to "bulletproof" the proposal against possible challenges.
"The companies don't want any change that will cost them 10 cents," Oberstar said. "That's what it all comes down to."
Tom Hendricks, vice president for the Air Transport Association, an organization of major air carriers, said he hasn't seen either a draft proposal or cost estimates from the FAA. But he said, "We're always very concerned about added costs without a demonstrable safety benefit."
Current rules say pilots can be scheduled for up to 16 hours on duty — which means being at work, ready to fly — and up to eight hours of actual flight time in a 24-hour period, with a minimum of eight hours for rest in between. The rules don't take into account that it can be more tiring for regional airline pilots to fly five or six short legs in six hours than it is for a pilot with a major airline to fly eight hours across the Atlantic to Europe, say, with only one takeoff and landing. Takeoffs and landings are usually the most strenuous part of flying.
The rules also don't take into account pilots whose schedules put them in the cockpit during the period, typically 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., when people are more likely to become fatigued than if they were awake the same number of hours during the daytime. Cargo airlines — especially overnight package services — do much of their flying during those hours.
Major airlines have urged the FAA to balance a reduction in hours for pilots who fly more fatiguing schedules with an increase in hours for pilots who fly less taxing routes, which could offset much of the cost of new rules. Pilot unions oppose that approach.
Babbitt formed a committee of airline and labor officials last summer to make recommendations on new regulations. Instead of one set of recommendations, the committee produced separate proposals from cargo and charter airlines, commercial airlines and pilot unions.
Charter airlines — which fly 95 percent of U.S. troops and 40 percent of military cargo around the world — want to continue exceptions in current regulations that allow longer flight and duty hours for their pilots.
The military "is watching very closely what is going on with the flight and duty-time rulemaking because how that comes out that will affect their ability to move troops and their ability to move cargo," said Oakley Brooks, president of the National Air Carrier Association. "We're working closely with them."
Pilot unions oppose the exceptions, arguing that all airlines should be held to the same safety standards.
"Do we want pilots flying our troops around the world to be more tired than other pilots?" asked Lee Collins, secretary of the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations.
The effort to overhaul the rules is also a victim of the aviation industry's safety success over the past decade, thanks primarily to better warning systems that help prevent planes from flying into the ground or colliding in midair. In some years, there have been no fatal airline crashes in the U.S.
Finding ways to prevent pilot fatigue has stymied federal regulators and the airline industry for decades. The NTSB has been urging since 1990 that rules be updated to reflect fatigue research.
The FAA proposed new rules in the late 1990s. The proposal lingered for more than a decade without further action, and agency officials cited an impasse between pilots and industry. The proposal was withdrawn last year when the agency began working on the issue again.
"I don't think there's anything hard about looking at what the science tells us and coming up with commonsense rules," said Russ Leighton, head of safety for the Teamsters aviation division. "Getting people to wrap their minds around that change or to stop acting like that change is going to put every airline in the country out of business — that's the hard part."
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Airport `Naked Image' Scanners in U.S. May Get Privacy Upgrades
Bloomberg
Holli Powell, a Phoenix medical- software consultant who flies every week, says she avoids getting into airport security lines that end at what she calls a humiliating full-body scanner.
“Those scanners, I feel, are above and beyond,” Powell, 35, said in an interview. They generate “nearly naked images.”
The concerns of travelers such as Powell, which led privacy advocates to sue the government, may soon be eased. L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. and OSI Systems Inc.’s Rapiscan, makers of the scanners for U.S. airports, are delivering software upgrades that show a generic figure rather than an actual image of a passenger’s body parts. The new display would mark sections of a person’s body that need to be checked.
The revisions “certainly address most of the privacy concerns,” Peter Kant, a Rapiscan executive vice president, said in an interview. Every passenger will generate an avatar that “looks like a guy wearing a baseball cap,” he said.
The Transportation Security Administration aims to add the software to the machines, which sparked complaints, as more airports get the scanners. As of Aug. 27, 194 of the devices were in use at 51 U.S. airports, an almost fivefold increase from six months ago,
“TSA continues to explore additional privacy protections for imaging technology,” Greg Soule, a spokesman for the security agency, said in an e-mail. “Testing is currently under way.”
The agency is accelerating use of the scanners after the U.S. said Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on approach to Detroit Dec. 25 by igniting explosives in his underpants. The 1,000 scanners due at airports by the end of next year will put the devices at more than half the security lanes at major U.S. airports.
28 Airports
The 28 airports getting scanners in the second half of this year include New York’s Kennedy and Philadelphia, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Houston, Miami, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Seattle, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in July.
New York-based L-3, which already has one of its revised scanners in use at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, presented its upgrade to the U.S. security agency Aug. 31, and the technology is now being reviewed in a federal laboratory, according to the company.
“We look forward to a successful trial and certification process with the TSA this fall,” Bill Frain, an L-3 senior vice president for government sales, said in a statement.
OSI’s Rapiscan, based in Torrance, California, plans to present software for its machines this month, Kant said. The software change will be tested by the agency, he said.
302 Scanners
L-3 and Rapiscan shared a $47.9 million contract in April for 302 of the scanners. L-3 will get $31.7 million to build 202 machines and Rapiscan $16.2 million for 100. The funds were to come from last year’s $814 billion stimulus law.
The software changes are “a pretty substantial development” for the companies and “something that TSA has wanted,” said Jeffrey Sural, an attorney for Alston & Bird LLP in Washington and a former assistant administrator at the security agency. “There’s still a long way to go,” and months will be spent testing the technology, he said.
Using full-body imaging technology is voluntary, though passengers who refuse to be scanned may be frisked by U.S. security employees. The agency said data show when passengers were offered the choice of the scanner or alternate screening such as a pat-down, more than 98 percent chose scanners.
Separate Room
Machines now at airports are monitored by a TSA employee in a separate room, to prevent passengers and security workers at the checkpoint from viewing the full-body image that sees through undergarments. The software upgrade would replace the images with an avatar and alert authorities to a potential hidden threat, eliminating the need to keep an employee in a remote room.
The upgrade “really reduces the personnel costs,” Rapiscan’s Kant said. The Government Accountability Office estimated in March that agency staffing costs could climb $2.4 billion over seven years from expanded use of scanners, assuming current staffing requirements.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group that sued the agency in July over the devices, said revising the machine software “makes a lot of sense” from an engineering standpoint.
Linking, Saving Images
The upgrades don’t resolve privacy questions, said Rotenberg, whose Washington-based group objects to the use of the devices as a primary screening tool. The agency may someday decide it wanted to record passenger images or link scan results to traveler names, he said.
“Over time there’s every reason to believe TSA would want to know the identities of passengers, because it would make threat detection more informed,” Rotenberg said.
Powell said she will continue to allow extra time before her flights to find the line that won’t force her to walk through the body scanners, even if they are upgraded. The devices are still capable of transmitting and storing images, she said, and that “is scary.”
“Those scanners, I feel, are above and beyond,” Powell, 35, said in an interview. They generate “nearly naked images.”
The concerns of travelers such as Powell, which led privacy advocates to sue the government, may soon be eased. L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. and OSI Systems Inc.’s Rapiscan, makers of the scanners for U.S. airports, are delivering software upgrades that show a generic figure rather than an actual image of a passenger’s body parts. The new display would mark sections of a person’s body that need to be checked.
The revisions “certainly address most of the privacy concerns,” Peter Kant, a Rapiscan executive vice president, said in an interview. Every passenger will generate an avatar that “looks like a guy wearing a baseball cap,” he said.
The Transportation Security Administration aims to add the software to the machines, which sparked complaints, as more airports get the scanners. As of Aug. 27, 194 of the devices were in use at 51 U.S. airports, an almost fivefold increase from six months ago,
“TSA continues to explore additional privacy protections for imaging technology,” Greg Soule, a spokesman for the security agency, said in an e-mail. “Testing is currently under way.”
The agency is accelerating use of the scanners after the U.S. said Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on approach to Detroit Dec. 25 by igniting explosives in his underpants. The 1,000 scanners due at airports by the end of next year will put the devices at more than half the security lanes at major U.S. airports.
28 Airports
The 28 airports getting scanners in the second half of this year include New York’s Kennedy and Philadelphia, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Houston, Miami, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Seattle, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in July.
New York-based L-3, which already has one of its revised scanners in use at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, presented its upgrade to the U.S. security agency Aug. 31, and the technology is now being reviewed in a federal laboratory, according to the company.
“We look forward to a successful trial and certification process with the TSA this fall,” Bill Frain, an L-3 senior vice president for government sales, said in a statement.
OSI’s Rapiscan, based in Torrance, California, plans to present software for its machines this month, Kant said. The software change will be tested by the agency, he said.
302 Scanners
L-3 and Rapiscan shared a $47.9 million contract in April for 302 of the scanners. L-3 will get $31.7 million to build 202 machines and Rapiscan $16.2 million for 100. The funds were to come from last year’s $814 billion stimulus law.
The software changes are “a pretty substantial development” for the companies and “something that TSA has wanted,” said Jeffrey Sural, an attorney for Alston & Bird LLP in Washington and a former assistant administrator at the security agency. “There’s still a long way to go,” and months will be spent testing the technology, he said.
Using full-body imaging technology is voluntary, though passengers who refuse to be scanned may be frisked by U.S. security employees. The agency said data show when passengers were offered the choice of the scanner or alternate screening such as a pat-down, more than 98 percent chose scanners.
Separate Room
Machines now at airports are monitored by a TSA employee in a separate room, to prevent passengers and security workers at the checkpoint from viewing the full-body image that sees through undergarments. The software upgrade would replace the images with an avatar and alert authorities to a potential hidden threat, eliminating the need to keep an employee in a remote room.
The upgrade “really reduces the personnel costs,” Rapiscan’s Kant said. The Government Accountability Office estimated in March that agency staffing costs could climb $2.4 billion over seven years from expanded use of scanners, assuming current staffing requirements.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group that sued the agency in July over the devices, said revising the machine software “makes a lot of sense” from an engineering standpoint.
Linking, Saving Images
The upgrades don’t resolve privacy questions, said Rotenberg, whose Washington-based group objects to the use of the devices as a primary screening tool. The agency may someday decide it wanted to record passenger images or link scan results to traveler names, he said.
“Over time there’s every reason to believe TSA would want to know the identities of passengers, because it would make threat detection more informed,” Rotenberg said.
Powell said she will continue to allow extra time before her flights to find the line that won’t force her to walk through the body scanners, even if they are upgraded. The devices are still capable of transmitting and storing images, she said, and that “is scary.”
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Higher Fares, Fees Rev Up Airlines
The Wall Street Journal
The cheap-flights party is over.
After a string of mostly profitable earnings reports, a sizable jump in fee revenues and an uptick in fares, airlines are enjoying an unusually strong recovery coming off a dire two years and won't be shifting gears anytime soon.
"The pricing trend is up," says Rick Seaney, chief executive of Farecompare.com, an air-travel website. "It's not hard to trend up when we're coming off year-over-year comparisons that were at decade lows last year."
Industrywide second-quarter profits for the nine largest airlines rolled in late last month at $1.86 billion, only $8 million behind a decade high set in 2007, according to AirlineFinancials.com. Every major airline, with the exception of American Airlines, was in the black. Revenues reached $31.7 billion, just under the record $33.3 billion set in the second quarter of 2008.
That's a considerable comeback after two tough years that also saw crude oil reach a record $147 a barrel in July 2008. Since 2000, the industry has had estimated cumulative losses of $60 billion, according to the Air Transport Association.
Fees Add Up
The industry achieved profitability by sharply cutting the number of planes in the skies and instituting new fees for baggage, getting a pillow and landing an aisle seat, among other things. That was amid a recession that also saw a number of carriers close doors and no new ones pop up. It helped, too, that the cost of fuel has fallen considerably.
"Airlines aren't adding back capacity, and without that there's a lot of competition for those available seats," says Anne Banas, editor of SmarterTravel.com. "That creates a situation where the prices go up month over month from previous years."
Airfares climbed nearly 5% in the first quarter, the second-highest January-to-March showing since 2001, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Industry experts expect numbers due out this fall will show fares jumped 8% to 9% in the second quarter.
The average domestic round-trip fare in the first quarter stood at $328, which accounts for the ticket plus taxes and fees collected by outside entities, like the government and airports. It does not include ancillary fees that airlines have been charging in recent years.
In 2009, carriers world-wide generated $13.5 billion in what are called a-la-carte fees, a 43% jump over the prior year, according to IdeaWorks, an airline consultant.
U.S.-based airlines were the top three to take in ancillary charges, thanks mostly to baggage fees. United Airlines and American Airlines each brought in about $1.9 billion, while Delta Air Lines rang up $1.4 billion, the IdeaWorks study says.
"The airlines finally figured out how to earn more money without scaring people away by the purchase price of a ticket," says George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com.
As a result, most airlines are looking at new ways to charge extra fees. United Airlines President John Tague on a quarterly conference call late last month called the a-la-carte fees "an unequivocal success" that is on track to generate $1 billion a year.
Here to Stay
"I think this is the model of the future," Mr. Tague said. "I think there's tremendous upside going forward, and I think there are a lot of optional value-added opportunities for our customers as well."
Though the fees have angered many consumers who were accustomed to baggage and free meals as part of the ticket purchase, the airlines consider them choices that dictate the cost of your travel.
"If we raise the price of a ticket too high, we price out a certain segment of the market," says ATA spokesman David Casteleveter.
"This a-la-carte model parrots so many of the other models that we have been living with for many years," Mr. Casteleveter adds. "I wouldn't buy an all-inclusive pizza. I want to be able to choose what to put on it."
Of course, there will always be fare deals. But distinguishing how good those are will become harder as airlines become more creative in tacking on fees.
After a string of mostly profitable earnings reports, a sizable jump in fee revenues and an uptick in fares, airlines are enjoying an unusually strong recovery coming off a dire two years and won't be shifting gears anytime soon.
"The pricing trend is up," says Rick Seaney, chief executive of Farecompare.com, an air-travel website. "It's not hard to trend up when we're coming off year-over-year comparisons that were at decade lows last year."
Industrywide second-quarter profits for the nine largest airlines rolled in late last month at $1.86 billion, only $8 million behind a decade high set in 2007, according to AirlineFinancials.com. Every major airline, with the exception of American Airlines, was in the black. Revenues reached $31.7 billion, just under the record $33.3 billion set in the second quarter of 2008.
That's a considerable comeback after two tough years that also saw crude oil reach a record $147 a barrel in July 2008. Since 2000, the industry has had estimated cumulative losses of $60 billion, according to the Air Transport Association.
Fees Add Up
The industry achieved profitability by sharply cutting the number of planes in the skies and instituting new fees for baggage, getting a pillow and landing an aisle seat, among other things. That was amid a recession that also saw a number of carriers close doors and no new ones pop up. It helped, too, that the cost of fuel has fallen considerably.
"Airlines aren't adding back capacity, and without that there's a lot of competition for those available seats," says Anne Banas, editor of SmarterTravel.com. "That creates a situation where the prices go up month over month from previous years."
Airfares climbed nearly 5% in the first quarter, the second-highest January-to-March showing since 2001, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Industry experts expect numbers due out this fall will show fares jumped 8% to 9% in the second quarter.
The average domestic round-trip fare in the first quarter stood at $328, which accounts for the ticket plus taxes and fees collected by outside entities, like the government and airports. It does not include ancillary fees that airlines have been charging in recent years.
In 2009, carriers world-wide generated $13.5 billion in what are called a-la-carte fees, a 43% jump over the prior year, according to IdeaWorks, an airline consultant.
U.S.-based airlines were the top three to take in ancillary charges, thanks mostly to baggage fees. United Airlines and American Airlines each brought in about $1.9 billion, while Delta Air Lines rang up $1.4 billion, the IdeaWorks study says.
"The airlines finally figured out how to earn more money without scaring people away by the purchase price of a ticket," says George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com.
As a result, most airlines are looking at new ways to charge extra fees. United Airlines President John Tague on a quarterly conference call late last month called the a-la-carte fees "an unequivocal success" that is on track to generate $1 billion a year.
Here to Stay
"I think this is the model of the future," Mr. Tague said. "I think there's tremendous upside going forward, and I think there are a lot of optional value-added opportunities for our customers as well."
Though the fees have angered many consumers who were accustomed to baggage and free meals as part of the ticket purchase, the airlines consider them choices that dictate the cost of your travel.
"If we raise the price of a ticket too high, we price out a certain segment of the market," says ATA spokesman David Casteleveter.
"This a-la-carte model parrots so many of the other models that we have been living with for many years," Mr. Casteleveter adds. "I wouldn't buy an all-inclusive pizza. I want to be able to choose what to put on it."
Of course, there will always be fare deals. But distinguishing how good those are will become harder as airlines become more creative in tacking on fees.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Continental Tests 'Self-Boarding' at Houston Airport
USA Today
Boarding a plane without an agent to inspect or take your pass has arrived in the USA.
Continental Airlines has confirmed it's testing the procedure at a gate at its hub in Houston Intercontinental. It's the first experiment at what's called "self-boarding" in the U.S.
In self-boarding, passengers — much like customers of the New York City subway— swipe their boarding passes at a kiosk reader at the gate. That opens a turnstile or door to the jet-bridge. Although an agent isn't there to take the pass, one is typically present to handle problems and other customer service tasks.
Continental declined to provide further details on its experiment. The Transportation Security Administration, which is in charge of air security, "determined it does not impact the security of the traveling public," says Greg Soule, a TSA spokesman, adding all passengers are screened at airport checkpoints prior to arriving at boarding gates.
Self-boarding is the latest in a series of new technology that airlines are using to automate getting on a flight. Among others: check-in kiosks that print out boarding passes and boarding pass barcodes e-mailed to smartphones.
The practice has been common at many foreign airports for several years. And if the rate of adoption abroad is any indication, self-boarding could soon proliferate here.
Last year, 14 airlines worldwide were using self-boarding gates, including Air France, Korean Air, Japan Airlines and Air New Zealand, according to the International Air Transport Association. The association, an airline trade group, has been pushing members to embrace the practice and develop standard technology. The German airline Lufthansa started using its "quick boarding gates" in 2003. All its gates at Frankfurt and Munich are now automated.
To do this, airlines need to use boarding passes with so-called "two-dimensional" barcodes, which contain more traveler information than magnetic strips or traditional barcodes, says IATA spokesman Steve Lott. Airlines have agreed to phase out magnetic strips by the end of the year.
Lufthansa spokesman Martin Riecken says while loading customers at self-boarding gates is "a little faster" than traditional gates, the airline's primary goal was to free agents from the mundane task of scanning boarding passes. It frees them to handle other customer issues that require individual attention, such as upgrading seats, he says. The number of agents assigned to automated gates isn't different from other gates: one or two agents for short-haul flights, three or four for longer ones, he says.
Lufthansa passengers who don't like self-boarding can still approach agents to have their pass scanned in "the manual line," he says.
"It's a great idea," says aviation analyst Michael Boyd. "Any reduction in human contact between employee and customer is good these days."
Despite technological advancements, agents have more to do now than 30 years ago to get the plane out of the gate, Boyd says. "It takes more manpower. They let technology drive manpower rather than the other way around."
"As long as you have someone to tell grandma where to stick the paper," he says, "you're fine."
Continental Airlines has confirmed it's testing the procedure at a gate at its hub in Houston Intercontinental. It's the first experiment at what's called "self-boarding" in the U.S.
In self-boarding, passengers — much like customers of the New York City subway— swipe their boarding passes at a kiosk reader at the gate. That opens a turnstile or door to the jet-bridge. Although an agent isn't there to take the pass, one is typically present to handle problems and other customer service tasks.
Continental declined to provide further details on its experiment. The Transportation Security Administration, which is in charge of air security, "determined it does not impact the security of the traveling public," says Greg Soule, a TSA spokesman, adding all passengers are screened at airport checkpoints prior to arriving at boarding gates.
Self-boarding is the latest in a series of new technology that airlines are using to automate getting on a flight. Among others: check-in kiosks that print out boarding passes and boarding pass barcodes e-mailed to smartphones.
The practice has been common at many foreign airports for several years. And if the rate of adoption abroad is any indication, self-boarding could soon proliferate here.
Last year, 14 airlines worldwide were using self-boarding gates, including Air France, Korean Air, Japan Airlines and Air New Zealand, according to the International Air Transport Association. The association, an airline trade group, has been pushing members to embrace the practice and develop standard technology. The German airline Lufthansa started using its "quick boarding gates" in 2003. All its gates at Frankfurt and Munich are now automated.
To do this, airlines need to use boarding passes with so-called "two-dimensional" barcodes, which contain more traveler information than magnetic strips or traditional barcodes, says IATA spokesman Steve Lott. Airlines have agreed to phase out magnetic strips by the end of the year.
Lufthansa spokesman Martin Riecken says while loading customers at self-boarding gates is "a little faster" than traditional gates, the airline's primary goal was to free agents from the mundane task of scanning boarding passes. It frees them to handle other customer issues that require individual attention, such as upgrading seats, he says. The number of agents assigned to automated gates isn't different from other gates: one or two agents for short-haul flights, three or four for longer ones, he says.
Lufthansa passengers who don't like self-boarding can still approach agents to have their pass scanned in "the manual line," he says.
"It's a great idea," says aviation analyst Michael Boyd. "Any reduction in human contact between employee and customer is good these days."
Despite technological advancements, agents have more to do now than 30 years ago to get the plane out of the gate, Boyd says. "It takes more manpower. They let technology drive manpower rather than the other way around."
"As long as you have someone to tell grandma where to stick the paper," he says, "you're fine."
Sunday, July 25, 2010
As Flying Gets More Stressful, Some Passengers turn Rude
USA Today
When Mike Nugent flies, nothing annoys him more than settling into his seat, the plane taking off, and the passenger in front reclining into his lap. So he's come up with a solution.
"I put my knee right in the middle of the back of the seat," Nugent, 66, says. "They think it's broken. They try (to recline) two or three times, then they give it up."
Nugent, a hospital laundry consultant who's on the road most days of the year, has another way to sidestep the irritation that can accompany flying. "I've started to drive as often as I can," he says.
Long gone are the days when air travel was an elegant experience. Many road warriors say that courtesy, at the airport or on the plane, is becoming about as rare as a free, hot in-flight meal. They grouse that inconsiderate, or downright rude, behavior is more common and that it's spurred by an increasing discomfort with all aspects of flying, from security rules to bare-bones service, that put travelers on edge.
And behavior is unlikely to get better, some involved in the travel industry say, because irritants such as extra airline fees and more crowded planes aren't going away soon.
"The flying experience is terrible," says Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com. "You're getting less legroom. People fight over things like capacity in overhead bins. Airlines are charging bag fees. ... Airlines are doing things that are making it more difficult and uncomfortable for the passenger, and the customer service isn't getting that much better. You compound those factors, and you have a lot of frustration in the air."
Frustration can lead to bad manners.
"So much of etiquette is based on knowing what to expect from someone else," says Lizzie Post, spokeswoman for the Emily Post Institute, which was founded by manners maven Emily Post and is dedicated to the promotion of etiquette.
Passengers, she says, "don't know how long that security line is going to be. They don't know if they have anything in their bag that will meet regulations in this airport but not that airport. The nerves get up, and that's when we lose our awareness of the other people around us."
Frustrations add up
Complaints abound. Road warriors fret about parents who won't quiet screeching toddlers, the guy who had garlic for lunch and won't stop talking, and supersized seatmates who intrude on their space. They speak of dirty planes, testy flight attendants and loud passengers who won't turn off their cellphones.
There's the lady trying to stuff a steamer trunk into an overhead bin in the front of the cabin when her seat is in the back, and the passengers who give you whiplash dragging your seat down to pull themselves up.
And there can be a healthy dose of aggravation before you even board the plane, frequent fliers say, such as security screening rules that vary depending on the airport and flights canceled at the last minute with little explanation.
"I don't care whether it's a Big Mac or a Subway sandwich, the food smells gross in a confined place," Margaret Bowles, a lawyer in Tampa, complained in an e-mail. "If you are going to eat a sandwich, get one that isn't cooked and doesn't have onions or peppers."
"There needs to be a flying etiquette pamphlet handed out to anyone who takes less than three trips per year," writes frequent flier Faith Varwig.
Sometimes, behavior goes from merely discourteous to disruptive, and flights are diverted.
On July 10, a Southwest flight heading to Islip, N.Y., from Orlando was diverted to Raleigh, N.C., when a passenger began using foul language and became verbally abusive to the flight crew, says Paul Flaningan, a Southwest spokesman. In another incident this month, a Southwest flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City was diverted to Denver when a passenger began to act erratically and refused to sit down.
Travelers aren't just finding fault with the behavior of fellow passengers. A national Consumer Reports survey released in May found airline passengers were most annoyed by ubiquitous fees airlines charge to check a bag. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most vexing, bag charges scored an 8.4. Other fees, for such items as blankets, scored 8.1, while unhelpful airline workers got a 7.7.
More stressful flying
A decline in manners can be tied in part to a flying experience that's more stressful as security has intensified after the terror attacks of Sept. 11. And many airlines have cut service and added fees to make ends meet, some industry observers say.
Flying may get more stressful as people who'd put travel on hold during the economic downturn return to the air and find smaller planes and fewer available flights.
"Planes are flying more passengers," says Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants. "There's less available seats ... in a stressful environment and a very close environment. A lot of times there are disruptions that do occur."
Unruly behavior on the part of passengers "has heightened since 9/11, and we often see spikes when there's a new implementation of a rule or policy or procedure," Caldwell says. "(It's) really because these passengers are being exposed to more and more stressors."
Attendants are under more pressure, she says.
"Flight attendants are having to be vigilant on a lot more fronts than they have before, and so after a 14- or 16-hour day, I think anyone is a little more stressed," she says.
Paul DeStefano, who travels two or three times a week, has a couple of peeves. One is flatulence.
"It is something that just infuriates me," says DeStefano, 43, of Bridgewater, N.J. "We're all human, but you're stuck in a tube with somebody for four hours and they have the audacity to think it's OK to let it loose."
DeStefano, who runs the sales force of a consumer products business, says he's also bothered by the sight of men who won't help elderly women or mothers who are struggling with their bags.
"You should fly as though your mother's with you," he says. "Would she expect you to pass gas? No. Would she expect you to get the bag? Yes."
Larry Stocker, a frequent flier, has a list of retorts at the ready.
For the fellow passenger who hasn't bathed, "I'll just say. 'Do you use a deodorant?' " For the guy yelling into a cellphone, "I say, 'This is a really interesting conversation. Could you tone it down because I'm trying to take a nap.' "
Stocker, 58, who is president of his own company, says he wasn't always so forward. But boorish behavior by fellow passengers is "so much more prevalent today ... you can almost feel like you're forced to take some action on your own behalf."
New nuisances
Some irritants, such as the kid constantly kicking the back of your seat, have long been traveling pitfalls. But the digital age has ushered in new nuisances.
Peter Juhren, 52, who travels 175,000 miles a year for his job, says he's had to ask passengers to more gently tap the console on the back of his seat. "Sometimes you get somebody behind you, especially when they're playing a game ... and they're just pounding away," says Juhren, a corporate service manager for a construction equipment business, who lives in Salem, Ore.
Pauline Weaver says she once had to admonish a fellow flier who kept texting long after passengers were told to stop.
"I tapped her on the shoulder, and I said, 'You've got to turn it off or I'm going to tell the flight attendant,' " says Weaver, 61, a lawyer based in Hayward, Calif. "I don't know from a hill of beans whether (the portable device) would have impacted the plane, but I don't really care. You're just not supposed to do it. ... If you want to fly, you have to follow the rules. If you don't want to, take a train."
Industry observers and etiquette experts say there are some behaviors that you just have to make your peace with when you're sharing a cramped, public space.
But there are ways to deal.
"People ask us all the time how do you combat the rudeness," Lizzie Post says. "I go out there, and I'm one less rude person. You consider things. I'm not going to bring my really smelly fish leftovers on the plane. I'm going to bring a turkey sandwich."
Travel experts say that you can ask the person behind you if it's OK to recline your seat, recline only halfway or for part of the flight.
Bring along headphones to block out noise, and it's fine to politely inform a seatmate that you're not in the mood to chat.
Airlines, on the other hand, should look at courtesy and customer service as a matter of dollars and cents, says Stuart Greif, vice president and general manager for global travel and hospitality for J.D. Power and Associates.
A J.D. Power survey released last month found that passenger satisfaction with North American airlines was up but still below the levels that existed before the widespread implementation of fees. And Greif says satisfaction continues to lag behind other industries, such as autos or insurance.
"Ultimately, those that make their customers happy and feel valued ... are the ones that are going to earn more revenue and be here in the long term," Greif says of airlines.
Despite all the frustrations that can crop up, frequent flier DeStefano says he still manages to see the bright side.
"I still get a little kick in the pants every time the airplane gets off the runway," he says. "You're taking a plane full of ... people at 500-plus miles an hour, going a time zone away.
"The fact that it works as well as it does is amazing."
"I put my knee right in the middle of the back of the seat," Nugent, 66, says. "They think it's broken. They try (to recline) two or three times, then they give it up."
Nugent, a hospital laundry consultant who's on the road most days of the year, has another way to sidestep the irritation that can accompany flying. "I've started to drive as often as I can," he says.
Long gone are the days when air travel was an elegant experience. Many road warriors say that courtesy, at the airport or on the plane, is becoming about as rare as a free, hot in-flight meal. They grouse that inconsiderate, or downright rude, behavior is more common and that it's spurred by an increasing discomfort with all aspects of flying, from security rules to bare-bones service, that put travelers on edge.
And behavior is unlikely to get better, some involved in the travel industry say, because irritants such as extra airline fees and more crowded planes aren't going away soon.
"The flying experience is terrible," says Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com. "You're getting less legroom. People fight over things like capacity in overhead bins. Airlines are charging bag fees. ... Airlines are doing things that are making it more difficult and uncomfortable for the passenger, and the customer service isn't getting that much better. You compound those factors, and you have a lot of frustration in the air."
Frustration can lead to bad manners.
"So much of etiquette is based on knowing what to expect from someone else," says Lizzie Post, spokeswoman for the Emily Post Institute, which was founded by manners maven Emily Post and is dedicated to the promotion of etiquette.
Passengers, she says, "don't know how long that security line is going to be. They don't know if they have anything in their bag that will meet regulations in this airport but not that airport. The nerves get up, and that's when we lose our awareness of the other people around us."
Frustrations add up
Complaints abound. Road warriors fret about parents who won't quiet screeching toddlers, the guy who had garlic for lunch and won't stop talking, and supersized seatmates who intrude on their space. They speak of dirty planes, testy flight attendants and loud passengers who won't turn off their cellphones.
There's the lady trying to stuff a steamer trunk into an overhead bin in the front of the cabin when her seat is in the back, and the passengers who give you whiplash dragging your seat down to pull themselves up.
And there can be a healthy dose of aggravation before you even board the plane, frequent fliers say, such as security screening rules that vary depending on the airport and flights canceled at the last minute with little explanation.
"I don't care whether it's a Big Mac or a Subway sandwich, the food smells gross in a confined place," Margaret Bowles, a lawyer in Tampa, complained in an e-mail. "If you are going to eat a sandwich, get one that isn't cooked and doesn't have onions or peppers."
"There needs to be a flying etiquette pamphlet handed out to anyone who takes less than three trips per year," writes frequent flier Faith Varwig.
Sometimes, behavior goes from merely discourteous to disruptive, and flights are diverted.
On July 10, a Southwest flight heading to Islip, N.Y., from Orlando was diverted to Raleigh, N.C., when a passenger began using foul language and became verbally abusive to the flight crew, says Paul Flaningan, a Southwest spokesman. In another incident this month, a Southwest flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City was diverted to Denver when a passenger began to act erratically and refused to sit down.
Travelers aren't just finding fault with the behavior of fellow passengers. A national Consumer Reports survey released in May found airline passengers were most annoyed by ubiquitous fees airlines charge to check a bag. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most vexing, bag charges scored an 8.4. Other fees, for such items as blankets, scored 8.1, while unhelpful airline workers got a 7.7.
More stressful flying
A decline in manners can be tied in part to a flying experience that's more stressful as security has intensified after the terror attacks of Sept. 11. And many airlines have cut service and added fees to make ends meet, some industry observers say.
Flying may get more stressful as people who'd put travel on hold during the economic downturn return to the air and find smaller planes and fewer available flights.
"Planes are flying more passengers," says Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants. "There's less available seats ... in a stressful environment and a very close environment. A lot of times there are disruptions that do occur."
Unruly behavior on the part of passengers "has heightened since 9/11, and we often see spikes when there's a new implementation of a rule or policy or procedure," Caldwell says. "(It's) really because these passengers are being exposed to more and more stressors."
Attendants are under more pressure, she says.
"Flight attendants are having to be vigilant on a lot more fronts than they have before, and so after a 14- or 16-hour day, I think anyone is a little more stressed," she says.
Paul DeStefano, who travels two or three times a week, has a couple of peeves. One is flatulence.
"It is something that just infuriates me," says DeStefano, 43, of Bridgewater, N.J. "We're all human, but you're stuck in a tube with somebody for four hours and they have the audacity to think it's OK to let it loose."
DeStefano, who runs the sales force of a consumer products business, says he's also bothered by the sight of men who won't help elderly women or mothers who are struggling with their bags.
"You should fly as though your mother's with you," he says. "Would she expect you to pass gas? No. Would she expect you to get the bag? Yes."
Larry Stocker, a frequent flier, has a list of retorts at the ready.
For the fellow passenger who hasn't bathed, "I'll just say. 'Do you use a deodorant?' " For the guy yelling into a cellphone, "I say, 'This is a really interesting conversation. Could you tone it down because I'm trying to take a nap.' "
Stocker, 58, who is president of his own company, says he wasn't always so forward. But boorish behavior by fellow passengers is "so much more prevalent today ... you can almost feel like you're forced to take some action on your own behalf."
New nuisances
Some irritants, such as the kid constantly kicking the back of your seat, have long been traveling pitfalls. But the digital age has ushered in new nuisances.
Peter Juhren, 52, who travels 175,000 miles a year for his job, says he's had to ask passengers to more gently tap the console on the back of his seat. "Sometimes you get somebody behind you, especially when they're playing a game ... and they're just pounding away," says Juhren, a corporate service manager for a construction equipment business, who lives in Salem, Ore.
Pauline Weaver says she once had to admonish a fellow flier who kept texting long after passengers were told to stop.
"I tapped her on the shoulder, and I said, 'You've got to turn it off or I'm going to tell the flight attendant,' " says Weaver, 61, a lawyer based in Hayward, Calif. "I don't know from a hill of beans whether (the portable device) would have impacted the plane, but I don't really care. You're just not supposed to do it. ... If you want to fly, you have to follow the rules. If you don't want to, take a train."
Industry observers and etiquette experts say there are some behaviors that you just have to make your peace with when you're sharing a cramped, public space.
But there are ways to deal.
"People ask us all the time how do you combat the rudeness," Lizzie Post says. "I go out there, and I'm one less rude person. You consider things. I'm not going to bring my really smelly fish leftovers on the plane. I'm going to bring a turkey sandwich."
Travel experts say that you can ask the person behind you if it's OK to recline your seat, recline only halfway or for part of the flight.
Bring along headphones to block out noise, and it's fine to politely inform a seatmate that you're not in the mood to chat.
Airlines, on the other hand, should look at courtesy and customer service as a matter of dollars and cents, says Stuart Greif, vice president and general manager for global travel and hospitality for J.D. Power and Associates.
A J.D. Power survey released last month found that passenger satisfaction with North American airlines was up but still below the levels that existed before the widespread implementation of fees. And Greif says satisfaction continues to lag behind other industries, such as autos or insurance.
"Ultimately, those that make their customers happy and feel valued ... are the ones that are going to earn more revenue and be here in the long term," Greif says of airlines.
Despite all the frustrations that can crop up, frequent flier DeStefano says he still manages to see the bright side.
"I still get a little kick in the pants every time the airplane gets off the runway," he says. "You're taking a plane full of ... people at 500-plus miles an hour, going a time zone away.
"The fact that it works as well as it does is amazing."
Friday, July 9, 2010
Long Delays on Tarmac Fall as Steep Fines Hit Airlines
USA Today
Airlines are cutting down on lengthy tarmac delays in the face of steep fines.
The number of planes stuck on airport tarmacs for more than three hours fell to five in May. That's the second-lowest monthly total since the federal government began monitoring them in the current fashion in October 2008, the Transportation Department said Thursday.
In May of last year, 34 flights were delayed more than three hours, data from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics show.
This May was the first full month that U.S. airlines operated under a new federal rule that says airlines must let passengers off planes if they've been stuck for three hours on the tarmac or face fines of up to $27,500 per passenger.
"The rule is a resounding success," says Kate Hanni, director of FlyersRights.org, which pushed for the new rule. "I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so."
Four of the five delays in May were United Airlines flights to Denver on May 26 that were diverted to Colorado Springs because of weather. Delta Air Lines (DAL) had the other delay. The department hasn't fined either airline yet because it's investigating the delays.
The Air Transport Association, which represents many of the nation's big airlines, says the low number of delays in May reflects how airlines have worked to prevent them and how the weather has been good — more than the possibility of fines.
"The number of lengthy tarmac delays has been in decline over a year," says association spokesman David Castelveter.
Lengthy delays have been declining rapidly in recent months leading up to the rule. In April, when the rule took effect, only four delays were reported. There were 25 in March. In comparison, there were 268 in June 2009.
Castelveter says airlines and airports have taken new steps to curb delays in recent months. They've upped the "decision-making process" to higher-ranking executives during delays, he says.
Earlier this month, New York JFK extended its trial of a system that, to prevent planes from stacking up, limits the number of aircraft that can line up on the taxiway for departure.
Despite warnings that airlines would cancel flights rather than risk fines for lengthy delays, the department reported that the cancellation rate this May was 1.2% of all flights. That was just slightly higher than the 0.9% reported in May 2009.
The department also reported that 79.9% of domestic flights operated by 18 largest U.S. carriers arrived on time in May, or within 15 minutes of schedule. That's lower than the 80.5% in May 2009 and April 2010's 85.3%.
The carriers also reported a mishandled baggage rate of 3.29 reports per 1,000 passengers in May, an improvement over May 2009's rate of 3.65, but down from April 2010's 2.89.
The number of planes stuck on airport tarmacs for more than three hours fell to five in May. That's the second-lowest monthly total since the federal government began monitoring them in the current fashion in October 2008, the Transportation Department said Thursday.
In May of last year, 34 flights were delayed more than three hours, data from the department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics show.
This May was the first full month that U.S. airlines operated under a new federal rule that says airlines must let passengers off planes if they've been stuck for three hours on the tarmac or face fines of up to $27,500 per passenger.
"The rule is a resounding success," says Kate Hanni, director of FlyersRights.org, which pushed for the new rule. "I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so."
Four of the five delays in May were United Airlines flights to Denver on May 26 that were diverted to Colorado Springs because of weather. Delta Air Lines (DAL) had the other delay. The department hasn't fined either airline yet because it's investigating the delays.
The Air Transport Association, which represents many of the nation's big airlines, says the low number of delays in May reflects how airlines have worked to prevent them and how the weather has been good — more than the possibility of fines.
"The number of lengthy tarmac delays has been in decline over a year," says association spokesman David Castelveter.
Lengthy delays have been declining rapidly in recent months leading up to the rule. In April, when the rule took effect, only four delays were reported. There were 25 in March. In comparison, there were 268 in June 2009.
Castelveter says airlines and airports have taken new steps to curb delays in recent months. They've upped the "decision-making process" to higher-ranking executives during delays, he says.
Earlier this month, New York JFK extended its trial of a system that, to prevent planes from stacking up, limits the number of aircraft that can line up on the taxiway for departure.
Despite warnings that airlines would cancel flights rather than risk fines for lengthy delays, the department reported that the cancellation rate this May was 1.2% of all flights. That was just slightly higher than the 0.9% reported in May 2009.
The department also reported that 79.9% of domestic flights operated by 18 largest U.S. carriers arrived on time in May, or within 15 minutes of schedule. That's lower than the 80.5% in May 2009 and April 2010's 85.3%.
The carriers also reported a mishandled baggage rate of 3.29 reports per 1,000 passengers in May, an improvement over May 2009's rate of 3.65, but down from April 2010's 2.89.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
U.S. Wants to Boost Airline Passenger Bumping Fee
Reuters
Maximum compensation for bumping passengers off oversold flights would rise to $1,300 under a U.S. government proposal released on Wednesday.
The Transportation Department plan would also expand its runway delay program to overseas airlines, making them comply with the same requirements as domestic counterparts for ground delays exceeding three hours.
Current bumping fees range from $400 to $800, depending on whether an alternative flight is available and whether the trip is domestic or international service.
U.S. airlines also would have to clarify charges for checking luggage and notify consumers if the fees rise.
The rule builds on steps taken by the Obama administration to bolster consumer protection in the wake of long ground delays and charging for bags as a way to get more money from their customers.
Other aspects of the new rule, which would take effect later this year if finalized by regulators, would allow passengers to cancel ticket purchases within 24 hours of making them without paying a penalty.
Current bumping fees range from $400 to $800, depending on whether an alternative flight is available and whether the trip is domestic or international service.
U.S. airlines also would have to clarify charges for checking luggage and notify consumers if the fees rise.
The rule builds on steps taken by the Obama administration to bolster consumer protection in the wake of long ground delays and charging for bags as a way to get more money from their customers.
Other aspects of the new rule, which would take effect later this year if finalized by regulators, would allow passengers to cancel ticket purchases within 24 hours of making them without paying a penalty.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Ryanair Going Ahead With Pay-To-Potty Plan
The Consumerist
Almost a year after announcing their plans to charge passengers for using toilets on their planes, discount airline Ryanair is finally pushing ahead with not only installing the pay potties on their jets, but cutting down the number of toilets available to passengers.
Or as the very British Daily Mail puts it: "Spending a penny on a flight will soon cost as much as a pound."
Ryanair is currently redesigning their cabins to install the pay toilets on 168 of their planes, which will cost about $1.40 per trip to the loo. Additionally, they are cutting the number of toilets on the plane to make room for extra seats.
Says a rep for Ryanair:
Or as the very British Daily Mail puts it: "Spending a penny on a flight will soon cost as much as a pound."
Ryanair is currently redesigning their cabins to install the pay toilets on 168 of their planes, which will cost about $1.40 per trip to the loo. Additionally, they are cutting the number of toilets on the plane to make room for extra seats.
Says a rep for Ryanair:
By charging for the toilets we are hoping to change passenger behaviour so that they use the bathroom before or after the flight... That will enable us to remove two out of three of the toilets and make way for at least six extra seats on board.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Lufthansa Pilots Begin 4-Day Walkout
NY Times
Air travellers endured cancellations and disruptions Monday as pilots for Lufthansa, Europe’s largest airline, began a four-day walkout that has already forced the grounding of hundreds of flights.
The German flag carrier was operating a sharply reduced schedule that involved scrubbing roughly half of Monday’s 1,800 scheduled flights, up from an initial plan of 800 daily cancellations for the duration of the strike. The airline said some pilots that had been scheduled to work through the strike were not showing up and a spokesman estimated that as many as 1,000 flights might not get off the ground Monday.
The airline said most of the canceled flights were on domestic German routes, where Lufthansa was offering to rebook passengers on trains to their destinations. For European and intercontinental flights, the carrier said it was re-booking passengers whenever possible with its partners within the Star Alliance. Lufthansa said it planned to maintain all flights on routes where it has no airline partners.
Lawyers for Lufthansa asked a Frankfurt labor court to issue a temporary injunction to halt the strike by the Cockpit Association union, arguing that a four-day work stoppage would cause excessive harm to the airline. A hearing on Lufthansa’s request was expected later Monday.
The Cockpit union, which represents about 4,500 pilots at Lufthansa and two German subsidiaries — Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings, a no-frills carrier — voted last week to strike after failing to secure guarantees from the airline that it would not seek to transfer cockpit jobs to the company’s foreign subsidiaries such as Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Airlines which pay their flight crews less.
Salaries for first officers at Lufthansa start at €60,000, or $82,000, while for captains it is €110,000, according to the airline’s recruiting website. That compares with around €40,000 for a first officer and €75,000 for a captain at Austrian Airlines. Swiss first officers start at around €46,000 per year and captains at €68,000.
Lufthansa argues that the number of its pilots in Germany has increased by 20 percent since 2001, due to the expansion of its network through acquisitions and new airline partnerships. The airline last week offered pilots assurances that their jobs would be secure through at least 2012.
Last-minute efforts over the weekend to avert the strike were unsuccessful. The German transport minister, Peter Ramsauer, brokered a series of telephone calls between Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa’s chief executive, and Winfried Streicher, Cockpit’s president, but the two sides were unable to agree on ground rules for re-opening negotiations. Both the union and the airline expressed the hope that talks could resume on Monday.
Pilots demonstrated in the rain Monday outside Frankfurt International Airport, where Lufthansa has its main hub, with orange strike buttons pinned to their uniforms and signs such as: “If it says Lufthansa on the outside, it must be Lufthansa on the inside.”
Lufthansa has estimated the cost of the strike at around €25 million, or $34 million, per day.
The German flag carrier was operating a sharply reduced schedule that involved scrubbing roughly half of Monday’s 1,800 scheduled flights, up from an initial plan of 800 daily cancellations for the duration of the strike. The airline said some pilots that had been scheduled to work through the strike were not showing up and a spokesman estimated that as many as 1,000 flights might not get off the ground Monday.
The airline said most of the canceled flights were on domestic German routes, where Lufthansa was offering to rebook passengers on trains to their destinations. For European and intercontinental flights, the carrier said it was re-booking passengers whenever possible with its partners within the Star Alliance. Lufthansa said it planned to maintain all flights on routes where it has no airline partners.
Lawyers for Lufthansa asked a Frankfurt labor court to issue a temporary injunction to halt the strike by the Cockpit Association union, arguing that a four-day work stoppage would cause excessive harm to the airline. A hearing on Lufthansa’s request was expected later Monday.
The Cockpit union, which represents about 4,500 pilots at Lufthansa and two German subsidiaries — Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings, a no-frills carrier — voted last week to strike after failing to secure guarantees from the airline that it would not seek to transfer cockpit jobs to the company’s foreign subsidiaries such as Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Airlines which pay their flight crews less.
Salaries for first officers at Lufthansa start at €60,000, or $82,000, while for captains it is €110,000, according to the airline’s recruiting website. That compares with around €40,000 for a first officer and €75,000 for a captain at Austrian Airlines. Swiss first officers start at around €46,000 per year and captains at €68,000.
Lufthansa argues that the number of its pilots in Germany has increased by 20 percent since 2001, due to the expansion of its network through acquisitions and new airline partnerships. The airline last week offered pilots assurances that their jobs would be secure through at least 2012.
Last-minute efforts over the weekend to avert the strike were unsuccessful. The German transport minister, Peter Ramsauer, brokered a series of telephone calls between Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa’s chief executive, and Winfried Streicher, Cockpit’s president, but the two sides were unable to agree on ground rules for re-opening negotiations. Both the union and the airline expressed the hope that talks could resume on Monday.
Pilots demonstrated in the rain Monday outside Frankfurt International Airport, where Lufthansa has its main hub, with orange strike buttons pinned to their uniforms and signs such as: “If it says Lufthansa on the outside, it must be Lufthansa on the inside.”
Lufthansa has estimated the cost of the strike at around €25 million, or $34 million, per day.
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