Essential Travel News for 3/19/07

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FAA/SECURITY

FAA sees boom in small-jet air taxis as commercial flights get crowded

The Federal Aviation Administration’s annual forecast for commercial aviation, issued last week, predicts a boom in air taxi services provided by new “very light jet” aircraft, as well as continued crowding of regular commercial flights as passenger demand keeps growing faster than capacity. Very light jets, also known as microjets, are a new category of planes being developed by several manufacturers; most models carry just four to six passengers, and they are significantly less expensive than existing business jets, making them perfect candidates for on-demand air taxi services. “Next year, we project that 350 microjets will join the fleet, with that figure growing to 400-500 per year through 2020,” the FAA said,” noting that the microjets “may redefine on-demand air taxi service.” And who will be flying on those little planes? Probably an growing number of business travelers who are becoming put off by increasingly crowded and congested commercial airline flights. The FAA forecast said that the number of passengers boarding commercial flights of U.S carriers this year is expected to grow by 3.6 percent – but overall capacity is only projected to grow by 2.8 percent. Last year, U.S. airlines carried a record 741 million passengers. “U.S. commercial aviation remains on track to carry one billion passengers by 2015,” the FAA predicted. “In addition, international traffic is growing at much faster rates than domestic traffic.” Domestic capacity of major airlines is expected to increase by 2.1 percent in 2007, the FAA said, while regional carrier capacity is expected to grow by 2.9 percent. Part of the latter increase may be due to a shift in aircraft types: The FAA reported that “while demand for 70-90 seat aircraft continues to increase, we expect that the number of 50-seat regional jets in service will continue to fall.” Airline economics are improving, the agency said, noting that the industry was profitable as a whole in 2006 for the first time since 2000. “We see the industry returning to a period of sustained profitability, buoyed by a strong national economy,” the FAA said.

Weapons arrests lead to spot checks of airline, airport employees

With all the passenger security screenings and precautions in place at U.S. airports, how is it that two men were able to board an Orlando-to-San Juan flight last week carrying 14 guns and eight pounds of marijuana? Because they were employees of Comair, which operated the flight, and used their employee IDs to avoid screening before boarding. One of them carried on a duffel bag with 13 handguns, an assault rifle and a big stash of pot. They were both arrested (and fired by Comair), but the incident shook up the Transportation Security Administration so much that the agency started an immediate program of random screenings of airline employees at four Florida airports and at San Juan’s airport. (Interesting choice of words: The TSA announcement was headlined “TSA launches airport-wide security surge.”) Will this be enough to fill in this glaring gap in security? From now on, “Every employee should have a reasonable expectation that they could be screened at any time, at any access point within the footprint of the airport,” said TSA Administrator Kip Hawley.

Muslims sue US Airways, other passengers for civil rights violations

Six Muslim religious leaders who were taken off a US Airways flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport last fall have filed a civil suit against US Airways and the airport authority for violating their civil rights. According to press reports, the suit also seeks to bring in some other passengers as defendants, claiming they called the airline to report “suspicious behavior” by the six imams. The other passengers are identified only as John Does in the suit, since the plaintiffs have yet to determine their identity, according to a report in the Washington Times. The suit charges the defendants with violations of state and federal civil rights laws, and seeks compensatory and punitive damages. The plaintiffs claim they were denied boarding simply because of their “perceived race, religion, color, ethnicity, alienage, ancestry and/or national origin.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations is supporting the imams in their lawsuit.

AIRLINES

Winter storm keeps passengers on grounded plane for 14 hours at JFK

The winter snow and ice storm that blew into the northeast last Friday disrupted air travel for thousands – and resulted in what may be a new record for passengers stuck on a plane at the airport. It was at New York JFK, but it wasn’t JetBlue this time – it was a Royal Air Maroc fight bound for Casablanca. The flight was loaded and ready to depart at 8 p.m., but it never got off the ground -- and passengers didn’t get off the aircraft until 10 a.m. the next morning, according to the New York Times. The newspaper said that passengers aboard a Swiss flight to Zurich were stuck on the plane for eight hours at JFK. Hundreds of flights were canceled in advance as the storm approached – including a large number by JetBlue, still smarting from its February 14 meltdown that renewed calls for a passengers’ bill of rights. It was no picnic at Philadelphia, either, where storm-related problems at US Airways’ hub reportedly caused a backlog of 100,000 travelers systemwide for that airline; many were reportedly diverted to Charlotte.

Frontier makes improvements to frequent flyer program

Frontier Airlines has enhanced its EarlyReturns frequent flyer program by offering new ways to earn elite status and by adding more perks for elite members. Effective immediately, program members can now attain the elite “Ascent” status or the ultra-elite “Summit” status through accumulated flight segments or spending on the Frontier MasterCard, as well as total mileage flown. Members who fly 25 Frontier segments in a calendar year will get Ascent status; 40 annual segments earn Summit level. “This program enhancement will allow Frontier passengers who fly shorter distance routes to achieve elite status more quickly,” a spokesman said. As an alternative, spending $60,000 in a calendar year on the program’s affiliated credit card will also earn Ascent status. Members can use only one of the three methods – miles, segments or spending – to earn elite status, not a combination of the three. New perks include the opportunity for Ascent and Summit members to reserve exit-row seats when they book their flights. In addition, confirmed standby seats are available at a $25 fee for base-level and Ascent-level members, and free for Summit members; and $100 change fees are waived for Summit members.

Delta upgrades online searches for SkyMiles award travel

Delta is the latest major carrier to give its frequent flyer members more flexibility in booking award tickets online. The carrier said that SkyMiles members who look for award travel at www.delta.com can now see seat availability for an entire month at a time for any given city-pair. Members should click on the “Award Travel” link; and enter origin and destination cities, their preferred travel dates, number of passengers and cabin preference. Then by clicking “Go,” they can see availability of SkySaver and SkyChoice awards for every day that month. The new functionality lets members search for one-way or roundtrip travel, and switch between premium cabin and coach seating. In the months ahead, Delta said, members will also be able to search by the mileage amount needed for an award ticket; see outbound and return availability calendars side by side; and shop for award tickets on Delta’s partner airlines.

United rolls out red carpet for premium passenger boarding

United Airlines said it plans to expand a premium-passenger boarding lane that it put into place at San Francisco International Airport late last year. The separate board-anytime lane for United’s elite-level customers features “clear signage and even a red carpet that serves to recognize your status and avoid unnecessary congestion,” United said on its web site. The airline said the separate-boarding-lane concept will be deployed at its other four hubs by the middle of this year, and at 40 airports by the end of the year. Also at San Francisco, United is almost finished building a “United Premier Lobby” that will offer elite customers new check-in counters, more self-check-in machines, improved flight information and better signage.

INTERNATIONAL

US Airways, Singapore Airlines to begin code-sharing

Frequent US Airways flyers with business in Asia will soon be able to get there seamlessly. Subject to government approvals, US Airways said it plans to begin new code-sharing service with Singapore Airlines starting in June. Initially, the code-share will be good for US Airways passengers connecting through Los Angeles International Airport onto Singapore Airlines’ transpacific service to its Singapore hub, and to Asian destinations beyond Singapore. The agreement will also put Singapore Airlines’ code onto US Airways flights from LAX or San Francisco to Phoenix and Las Vegas, and from New York JFK to Charlotte. Both carriers are members of the global Star Alliance.

Air Tahiti Nui, Air New Zealand will coordinate services

Starting April 2, Air New Zealand and Air Tahiti Nui will revise their transpacific schedules to accommodate a new code-sharing agreement between the two airlines. Air New Zealand will no longer operate between Los Angeles and Papeete itself, but instead will put its code on Air Tahiti Nui’s flights on that route. Between Papeete and Auckland, each carrier will fly twice a week, sharing codes on all four flights. In addition, Air Tahiti Nui will increase capacity between LAX and Papeete on April 2 to a total of seven terminating flights a week, plus an eighth flight from June to October. Those flights are in addition to the airline’s daily Papeete-LAX-Paris service.

Air Canada introduces unlimited-travel transborder passes

Air Canada has started selling new flight passes good for an unlimited amount of transborder travel for a three- or six-month period. Through May 7, the airline is offering the passes at introductory rates starting at $1,657 per month for the lower-cost Tango Plus level or $2,360 for the Latitude level, which permits reservations changes at no charge and free upgrades to Executive Class. Persons who buy a six-month Latitude level pass will also get an automatic top-tier elite frequent flyer status with the airline. Pass prices include all airport fees and taxes. For details, go to www.aircanada.com. The unlimited-travel passes supplement Air Canada’s other transborder travel passes, which allow customers to pre-purchase a fixed number of flight segments, good for 10 or 20 one-way trips over 12 months.

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