Essential Travel News for 2/26/07

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AIRLINES

Debate heats up on regulating airlines’ treatment of passengers

The debate over whether or not to regulate airlines’ customer service standards and treatment of passengers heated up last week, in the wake of JetBlue’s February 14 stranding of several flights on the tarmac for up to 10 hours, and its subsequent cancellation of hundreds of flights. In recent developments:
*California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer introduced a passengers’ bill of rights in Congress that would require airlines to deplane persons stuck aboard an airplane the ground for more than three hours. California Rep. Mike Thompson said he will introduce a similar bill in the House, but with an added provision requiring airlines to provide passengers with updated information on the reasons for and status of delayed flights.
*JetBlue issued a Customer Bill of Rights which promises that from now on, passengers will be deplaned if an aircraft is ground-delayed for five hours. It also sets new compensation policies for delays. For example, if a flight lands and can’t get to a gate right away, passengers will get vouchers good for future JetBlue travel, ranging from $25 for a 30-60 minute delay to a voucher for the full value of their roundtrip ticket for a delay of more than four hours. For ground delays on the tarmac before departure, compensation will be a $100 voucher for a three- to four-hour delay, or the full value of the trip for more than four hours. Compensation for flights delayed before boarding “in a situation within the company’s control” (i.e., not counting weather delays or air traffic control problems) range from a $25 voucher for a one- to two-hour delay to the full value of the ticket for a delay of more than six hours.
Pundits and newspapers joined in the debate. A New York Times editorial supported the call for federal legislation, arguing that the two above bills in Congress don’t go far enough. “Both proposals would be strengthened if they required the Transportation Department to impose suitable fines or passenger compensation should an airline fail to comply,” the Times said. A Washington Post editorial said the two bills were correct not to saddle “the very competitive and not-very-profitable airline industry with potentially crippling penalties,” and that the government should not be “micro-managing airline customer service. But setting minimal standards of decency seems like a fair approach.”
The airlines’ trade organization, the Air Transport Association, predictably argued against federal regulations, claiming such legislation “would be counterproductive, and could easily result in greater passenger inconvenience.” Instead, ATA asked the Transportation department to convene a meeting of airlines, airport officials and FAA representatives to figure out “procedures to better respond to weather emergencies resulting in lengthy flight delays.”

American launches assault on the New York market

American Airlines said last week it is starting a new marketing initiative “to become the clear-cut airline of choice for passengers in the New York market” – something that Continental has long claimed to be, on the strength of its big Newark hub. Besides rolling out a number of special offers and promotions to boost New York traffic, American said, it will also enhance its operations there with new or increased service in several markets. The promotions tie in with the scheduled completion late this summer of American’s new $1.1 billion terminal at JFK Airport, the base for its transatlantic, transcontinental and Caribbean service network. The carrier said its service enhancements will include:

• New LaGuardia-Cincinnati service starting April 10, with four daily American Eagle roundtrips.

• Supplementing existing American Eagle service between LGA and Raleigh/Durham with one daily mainline jet roundtrip, starting April 10.

• Boosting LGA-Atlanta service to four daily mainline jet flights, effective April 10.

• Upgrading JFK-Rome service from seasonal to year-round effective April 10.

• Increasing frequencies from JFK to Caracas, Venezuela and Port au Prince, Haiti starting June 14.

• Adding a sixth daily JFK-San Francisco flight beginning August 15.

• Starting new American Eagle service from LGA to Louisville, Ky. and mainline service from JFK to Las Vegas, both on September 5.

Northwest strikes back in Memphis

Last week we reported on Frontier Airlines’ plans to begin service May 12 to three cities (two daily flights to Denver, one each to Orlando and Las Vegas) from Memphis, long a Northwest Airlines stronghold. It didn’t take Northwest long to respond: Last week, Northwest said it will increase its Memphis-Las Vegas schedule from one flight a day to two effective May 2; boost Memphis-Orlando frequencies from three a day to four, also on May 2; and add “hundreds of seats” to its Memphis-Denver schedule by June 7, replacing the regional jets now used on the route with mainline A319s and 320s. Northwest said it will also add a second daily Memphis-Seattle roundtrip starting June 7, and a new non-hub route of its own, perhaps intended to send a message to Frontier – Indianapolis-Denver service, with one daily A319 roundtrip starting June 7.

Delta adds HBO programming to in-flight entertainment

Will salty cable series like The Sopranos, Deadwood, and Sex & The City appeal to airline audiences accustomed to G and PG-rated movies in-flight? Apparently Delta thinks so: The airline said that this summer, it will start offering exclusive programming from cable giant HBO to its passengers. Besides the regular HBO series, offerings will also include exclusive HBO selections like performances by Bill Maher, Chris Rock, and the controversial Da Ali G Show. The programming will be available in 30-minute blocks at no cost aboard Delta aircraft equipped with overhead monitors. For flights that offer seatback screens, a dedicated HBO channel will be added, available at no cost to first class and international BusinessElite flyers, and to domestic economy passengers for $5 per feature film or $2 for other TV programming. HBO in-flight programming will be updated quarterly, Delta said. There was no word on whether Delta’s censors will work their magic on the programs’ notoriously unedited language.

Comair/Delta Connection pilots vote on new contract

It’s not like they had much bargaining power after a bankruptcy court judge barred them from striking, so pilots at Delta subsidiary Comair have reached tentative agreement on a new contract that reduces their wages, and union members are currently voting on the pact. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the main benefit for pilots if they approve the contract is that Delta would agree not to shrink the Comair fleet by more than 10 percent when Comair emerges from Chapter 11, and Delta would promise to provide Comair with a certain percentage of new regional jets as its expands its overall regional fleet. The proposed contract would save $40 million for Comair over its four-year term, and would cut pilots’ base wages by 8 to 12 percent, with the starting wage dropping from $22,500 to $21,120, the newspaper reported.

FAA/SECURITY

TSA starts using controversial new scanner at Phoenix Airport

The Transportation Security Administration has started field-testing a refined version of a new “backscatter” body scanner at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The low-intensity x-rays produced by the machine can penetrate clothes but not skin, revealing any objects, metallic or otherwise, that a passenger might be hiding. But the fact that the machine can “see” through clothing drew protests from privacy advocates. TSA says the modified version takes those concerns into consideration by adding “privacy filters.” “TSA’s privacy-filtered image looks like a chalk outline of the person’s body, and shows any concealed items including weapons, explosives and other metallic and non-metallic threat items,” a spokesman said. “The officer attending the passenger will not view the image, and as an additional measure, the officer viewing the image will be remotely located and unable to associate the image with the passenger being screened. Once viewed, the image cannot be stored, transmitted or printed.” During the test period, all screenings of passengers with the device will be voluntary, TSA said.

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