Essential Travel News for 3/05/07

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AIRLINES

Federal government will probe tarmac strandings

The government is planning at least two investigations of what went wrong in recent incidents where passengers were stuck aboard aircraft on the tarmac for several hours, with no chance to deplane and with limited supplies of food and water. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters last week told the DOT inspector general to investigate why this happened to several JetBlue flights at New York JFK last month and an American Airlines flight at Austin in late December, and to recommend how airlines could prevent such incidents in the future. Peters said she has “serious concerns about airlines’ contingency planning” when passengers are stuck on the ground “for hours on end.” She told the inspector general also to look into airlines’ customer service policies for handling long ground delays.
In Congress, meanwhile, where at least one “passenger rights” bill has already been introduced in the wake of the incidents, a hearing has been planned for April to probe the details of the JetBlue and American incidents. The Aviation Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is expected to hold the hearings; exact dates haven’t yet been set.
All the negative press about the incidents hasn’t stopped them from happening: The Chicago Tribune reported that on February 24 – 10 days after the JetBlue incidents in New York -- a United flight from Chicago to San Francisco sat on the ground at O’Hare for more than seven hours during a winter storm before the plane returned to the gate and the flight was cancelled.

US Airways warns of check-in delays at three airports

US Airways on Monday (March 5) was warning passengers flying out of Boston, Charlotte and Philadelphia to expect delays at check-in. The problem started over the weekend, when the company finally merged the computer reservations systems of the old US Airways and America West. The process somehow caused self-check-in kiosks at the three airports to stop working, so passengers with departing flights were forced to stand in long lines at the check-in counters to get their boarding passes. On Sunday, some passengers at Charlotte reportedly stood in line for up to two hours to check in, and some missed their flights as a result.

Midwest blasts AirTran plan, details route expansions

Continuing its effort to acquire Midwest Airlines, AirTran Holdings said last week that if it is successful, it would greatly expand air service at Midwest’s Milwaukee home base, adding 74 daily departures and serving 29 new destinations. Midwest and its regional partner currently have about 149 flights a day from Milwaukee to 40 destinations. But Midwest CEO Tim Hoeksema blasted AirTran’s claims in a letter to shareholders, urging them not to respond to AirTran’s ongoing tender offer.
“Air Tran leaves a trail of broken promises in markets it enters with great fanfare,” Hoeksema said. “AirTran typically promises growth and enhanced service in new markets, only to quietly retreat when it can’t keep its word.” He noted that since 2004, AirTran has pulled out of 29 markets it served or promised to serve. For example, he said AirTran had pledged to operate 30 flights a day out of Dallas/Ft. Worth to seven destinations in 2004, but today it only has eight flights a day to two cities from that airport. “AirTran’s speculative plan for Milwaukee would have more flights and many more destinations than its current operation in Atlanta – a city much larger than Milwaukee. Why believe AirTran this time?” Hoeksema said.
The Midwest CEO also reiterated a litany of performance indicators from load factors to share prices to demonstrate that “by virtually any metric, AirTran’s business is deteriorating” while Midwest’s is improving. He charged that AirTran has a policy of adding capacity with no strategic plan to improve profitability, and claimed the Atlanta-based carrier is “desperate to buy Midwest to stave off further erosion of its business.” In addition, Hoeksema claimed a takeover by AirTran would mean a loss of the service quality that has earned Midwest top ratings in a number of consumer and magazine surveys over the years.
Meanwhile, Midwest unveiled more expansion plans of its own last week, including:

• New non-stops starting May 1 between Omaha and Los Angeles, the only non-stop service in that market.

• New daily service beginning June 18 between Milwaukee and Seattle/Tacoma, also the only non-stop service in the market.

• A second daily Milwaukee-LAX flight stating July 1 and additional summer service between Milwaukee and Tampa starting May 1.

• Extra flight frequencies starting May 1 from Kansas City to Boston, Los Angeles, Orlando and San Diego; and starting June 1, between Kansas City and San Francisco.

Midwest this month also introduced a new in-flight magazine called MyMidwest, available on all its flights.

JetBlue, AirTran add new routes; American Eagle drops some

Low-cost carriers JetBlue and AirTran both announced new route expansions last week.
JetBlue will introduce service May 1 between Boston and Charlotte, with one daily roundtrip; and between Washington Dulles and Orlando, with two flights a day. Also on May 1, JetBlue will begin new daily service between Boston and Bermuda; and on May 24, the carrier will inaugurate three roundtrips a day between New York JFK and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. JetBlue will also launch seasonal service May 24-September 3 from Orlando to Ponce, Puerto Rico.
AirTran will add Portland, Maine to its network June 7, when it starts three flights a day to Baltimore/Washington and one a day to Orlando. On May 24, AirTran begins new non-stop service from BWI to Seattle/Tacoma five days a week. Starting April 17, AirTran will resume seasonal service between BWI-Dallas/Ft. Worth, and on May 8, it will revive seasonal service between BWI and Milwaukee.
Meanwhile, American Eagle plans to discontinue service on two major business routes, dropping its four daily Boston-Newark flights effective April 1 and its two daily Chicago O’Hare-Washington Dulles flights on June 1.

ExpressJet announces new schedules for seven cities

ExpressJet Airlines, the Continental Express feeder carrier, last week revealed schedule details from seven cities for the new independent regional jet operation it is beginning this spring. The new operation (www.xjet.com) will use a fleet of 50-seat Embraer regional jets to link a network of secondary cities where there is currently little or no non-stop service. Plans announced last week:

• From San Antonio, ExpressJet will start flying between April 30-June 12 to Tulsa, Tucson, Albuquerque, Raleigh/Durham, New Orleans and Oklahoma City, with two flights a day in each market. It already announced plans to serve Ontario, Calif. and Sacramento from San Antonio.

• From Louisville, Ky., the airline will begin service May 7 to Kansas City and Raleigh/Durham with two daily flights in each market, in addition to previously announced service from Louisville to Ontario and Jacksonville.

• From Birmingham, Ala., the airline begins twice-daily service to New Orleans and to Raleigh/Durham May 14.

• From Raleigh/Durham, service starts from May 7-June 12 to New Orleans, San Antonio, Louisville, Kansas City, Birmingham and Jacksonville.

• From New Orleans, ExpressJet will phase in service from April 30-June 4 to Austin, San Antonio, Kansas City, Birmingham, Jacksonville and Raleigh/Durham, with two flights a day in each market.

• From Jacksonville, service will begin between April 30-June 4 to Austin, Kansas City, New Orleans and Raleigh/Durham, with two flights a day in each city-pair.

• From Kansas City, service begins April 30-May 14 to Jacksonville, Raleigh/Durham, New Orleans and Louisville, in addition to previously announced flights from Kansas City to Ontario and Tucson.

Separately, ExpressJet last week signed a two-year agreement to work as a Delta Connection partner, dedicating 10 ERJ-145XR regional jets to the operation “that will enable Delta to offer customers more choices to and from the western ski markets and into Delta’s hub in Los Angeles,” a Delta spokesman said.

American liberalizes lavatory policy; Frontier goes all-plastic

In the latest news of in-flight service policy changes:

• American Airlines has decided to let most coach passengers use the first-class lavatories again, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The new rule reverses a policy that was instituted after September 11, 2001. (The newspaper noted that TSA regulations require passengers on flight coming into the U.S. to use only the facilities in their own cabin.)

• Effective April 1, Frontier Airlines flight attendants will no longer accept cash – only credit cards – for in-flight purchases like alcoholic drinks, movies and snack boxes, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

FAA/SECURITY

Government opens up web site for travelers’ security complaints

A new web site opened up by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is designed for travelers “who have inquiries or seek resolution regarding difficulties” experienced during security screenings, DHS said. Called the DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP)is at www.dhs.gov/trip. DHS said the site should be used by individuals who have been wrongly denied or delayed boarding an aircraft, denied or delayed entry into or exit from the U.S. at a port of entry or border crossing, or frequently singled out for secondary screening. “DHS TRIP is the central processing point for redress inquiries,” DHS said. “Requests received online are routed for redress to the appropriate DHS components.” The site also has information about how the individual’s privacy will be safeguarded when he posts an inquiry. The department will ask individuals to send in supporting documentation by mail or fax within 30 days of the original complaint.

NEXUS security program for U.S.-Canada trips is expanding

While the Registered Traveler program is off to a slow start in the U.S., with only a handful of participating airports, a similar program called NEXUS – for cross-border trips between the U.S. and Canada – is expected to expand dramatically this year. Registered participants can get expedited clearance through border crossings using iris-recognition technology; in fact, the NEXUS membership card can be used instead of a passport for Canada-U.S. travel, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service. A NEXUS enrollment center recently opened in Toronto, and another center and a passenger kiosk are due to debut soon at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport, followed later this year by similar facilities in airports at Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax. Since it started in a test mode at Vancouver Airport two years ago, more than 7,000 persons signed up for the NEXUS program. Membership is expected to reach 155,000 in the next year, the Customs Service said. For details, go to http://cbp.giv and search for NEXUS, or call 866-NEXUS-26.

INTERNATIONAL

News briefs: New routes from Delta, Air France, Air New Zealand, Iberia

• Delta said it plans to begin daily non-stop 767-300ER flights from Atlanta to Lagos, Nigeria on December 3.

• Air France set a June 11 start-up for daily Seattle-Paris non-stops, using a two-class A330.

• On June 2, Spain’s Iberia Airlines will add its fifth U.S. gateway: Washington Dulles, with five A340 flights per week. (Iberia begins new Boston-Madrid non-stops May 6.)

• Air New Zealand said it plans to kick off new seasonal transpacific service from November 2 to March 28 between Vancouver and Auckland, operating a 777-200ER three times a week.

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