Essential Travel News for 4/09/07

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FAA/SECURITY

Consumer group opposes passenger “bill of rights”

It’s understandable that the Air Transport Association – the airlines’ trade organization – would oppose that “passengers’ bill of rights” that was introduced in Congress after JetBlue’s operational problems at JFK back on February 14. But now a group that represents the interests of passengers – the Air Travelers Association – has also come out against the bill.

The bill was introduced after JetBlue left hundreds of passengers stuck aboard aircraft on the ground for up to 10 hours during an ice storm. The incidents drew huge amounts of media attention, and JetBlue quickly issued its own “Passenger Bill of Rights” to protect the interests of its customers in the future.

As for the bill in Congress, Air Travelers Association president David Stempler said its provisions would actually create more problems for passengers than it would solve. Specifically, he noted that it gives any passenger the right to deplane after sitting aboard an aircraft on the ground for three hours, unless doing so would pose a safety risk. “The easiest way for airlines to deal with this rule is to cancel flights,” Stempler said, which is worse for travelers than a long delay. “With a cancellation, passengers may take days or never get to their destination, especially with today’s crowded flights, with so few seats available on subsequent flights.”

Cancellations will increase airlines’ costs, he said, and so will the bill’s requirement that every flight carry food just in case it gets stuck on the ground. The result will be higher fares. And fines proposed in the bill could “put subtle pressure on airline safety personnel to cut corners,” he added. Stempler said the bill in Congress would give “one passenger veto power over the decisions of the pilots, flight dispatchers, safety officials, meteorologists, air traffic controllers, other safety personnel and all the other passengers on a flight.”

Survey finds privacy concerns about slow-moving Registered Traveler program

Remember the Registered Traveler program? Even though the major airlines are opposed to it, the TSA-approved special security lines for pre-screened flyers are slowly being expanded, although the number of participating airports is still quite small. And now a survey of 1,580 consumers commissioned by Deloitte & Touche USA finds serious questions among the traveling public about possible participation. For starters, 61 percent of those surveyed didn’t even know about the Registered Traveler program, and even after they were told the basics, 83 percent said they had no interest in joining. This was somewhat ironic, since the program’s ostensible purpose is to move participants through security more quickly than other flyers – and 54 percent of survey respondents cited long lines as their biggest concern about airport security (23 percent cited having to remove their shoes, and 20 percent named the new three-ounce-bottles rule for carry-on liquids).

Although joining Registered Traveler costs about $100, “cost appeared to be only a minor issue for most travelers,” the study found. Instead, 75 percent of those surveyed cited worries about personal privacy as their biggest concern about Registered Traveler. “For this program to be successful, the Transportation Security Administration, airports and program operators must reassure travelers that their privacy and identities are safeguarded, and that enrolling in the program could be a solution to the long lines,” a Deloitte & Touche spokesman said. Some 36 percent of travelers said they might enroll if their employers picked up the fees; the rate was higher (70 percent) among those who travel at least once a month.

Operation of the program is handled by TSA-approved private companies, which issue special biometric ID cards to participants who submit to background checks. The major player is Verified Identity Pass (www.verifiedidpass.com), whose Clear program, which claims 40,000 registered members, is operational at the Orlando, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and San Jose airports, as well as JFK’s Terminal 7. The Clear operation is due to debut this month at JFK Terminals 1 and 4 as well as Terminal B at Newark. Another vendor, Unysis, is due to roll out its own plan, called rtGo (www.rtgocard.com), at Reno’s B and C Concourses this month. ID cards from any vendor will work at all participating airports.

It’s official: No cell calls in-flight

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission wanted to continue the agency’s existing ban on in-flight cell phone calls, and that a proposal to that effect was circulating among the commission’s members. This week it became official: The FCC will keep the ban in place, because it has determined there is “insufficient technical information” to show that such calls wouldn’t interfere with ground-based cell communications. The FCC has jurisdiction over the issue of potential interference with ground-based cell calls, while the Federal Aviation Administration is currently studying the question of whether in-flight cell calls might disrupt an aircraft’s navigation systems. However, the approval of both agencies would be necessary if in-flight cell calls were to be allowed. The FCC did leave open the possibility of a policy change in the future, if new technical data on the interference issue is presented.

Executive says government should require separate luggage shipment

How’s this for chutzpah? An executive slated to speak at a aviation safety conference in New York – with the heads of the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration in attendance – said the government should “eliminate luggage from domestic air travel by requiring travelers to voluntarily ship their suitcases prior to the departure date.” Aside from the inherent contradiction of “requiring” travelers to do something “voluntarily,” the speaker’s idea contained more than a hint of self-interest. The comments (although they were actually delivered by a subordinate at the conference) came from Richard Altomare, who is CEO of Universal Express, a company that makes its money by shipping luggage ahead of time for air travelers.

AIRLINES

Airlines question validity of annual “quality ratings”

For many years, professors at the University of Nebraska and Wichita State University have been compiling an annual “Airline Quality Rating” (AQR) that seeks to quantify just how well major carriers are doing in keeping customers satisfied. Their annual report came out this week, showing an overall decline in the air travel experience for flyers during 2006. But the airlines’ trade organization, the Air Transport Association (ATA), this year is challenging the validity of the study, claiming that many things it measures as indicators of “airline quality” are in fact beyond the airlines’ control.

The study considers government statistics for on-time arrivals, denied boardings, mishandled baggage and customer complaints. For 2006, the authors said, “with 13 of 18 airlines showing year to year AQR score declines, performance declines can be viewed as characteristic of the overall industry trend for 2006.” It was the second year in a row that the industry’s overall AQR scores declined, they noted.

But according to ATA president James May, “The 2007 Airline Quality Rating study once again focuses on the symptoms rather than the root causes of passenger and airline frustrations. The vast majority of customer service issues arise from weather and congestion flight delays that lead to misconnected flights, lost luggage and related complaints,” he said. “These delays are inextricably linked with the government’s outdated and inefficient air traffic control system.”

The overall industry score for 2006 was the lowest since the year 2000. On-time arrivals in 2006 dropped to 75.5 percent from 77.3 percent in 2005; passenger bumpings were 1.01 per 10,000 passengers in 2006, up from 0.89 a year earlier; mishandled baggage reports were 6.50 per 1,000 passengers in 2006, up from 6.06 in 2005. The only improvement was in passenger complaints, which declined very slightly.

For 2006, Hawaiian Airlines had the best AQR score, while JetBlue ranked second and AirTran was third. The worst scorer among the 18 carriers studied was Atlantic Southeast. Also in the bottom three were Comair and American Eagle. The only airlines showing an overall improvement from 2005 to 2006 were Northwest and USAir.

Northwest wins approval to launch new regional subsidiary

The FAA last week approved Northwest Airlines’ plan to begin flights with a new wholly-owned subsidiary called Compass Airlines, which will operate as Northwest Airlink, flying new Embraer regional jets with 76 seats in two-class service. Compass is expected to have a fleet of 10 jets by the end of this year, and is expected to begin service next month between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Washington Dulles – although it will initially use a 50-seat jet. Other routes, yet to be announced, will be out of Northwest’s hubs at MSP, Detroit and Memphis. Mesaba Airlines, which also operates as a Northwest Airlink partner, is also expected to start using 76-seat regional jets, but those will be Bombardier’s Canadair jets instead of Embraer planes.

INTERNATIONAL

United. bmi apply for antitrust immunity

United Airlines and the U.K.’s bmi, both members of the Star Alliance, have asked the U.S. Transportation Department for antitrust immunity starting March 30, 2008 – the day that the new “open skies” agreement between the U.S. and the European Union is due to take effect. The two want to create a closer strategic and marketing alliance that would “effectively merge their transatlantic operations,” according to the Times of London, and would let bmi customers buy onward connections in the U.S. on United with a single ticket, and vice-versa for transatlantic United customers. The U.K. carrier flies from Manchester to United’s Chicago O’Hare hub and to Las Vegas, while United’s transatlantic operations to the U.K. go into London Heathrow.

American eyes Chicago-Buenos Aires route

The U.S. and Argentina have concluded a liberalized aviation agreement that should open up more air service between the two countries, and American Airlines wants to be among the beneficiaries. American last week applied with the Transportation Department for rights to operate daily non-stops between its Chicago O’Hare hub and Buenos Aires, starting October 28. American plans to use a two-class 767-300 on the route. The carrier already serves Buenos Aires from Dallas/Ft. Worth, Miami and New York JFK.

SAS debuts new business class seats

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) said it has completed installation of new Business Sleeper seats on all of its A340s and A330s used in transatlantic service from Newark, Chicago, Seattle and Washington Dulles to Copenhagen and Stockholm. The new seats have 61 inches of legroom, 20 inches between armrests, and recline to 170 degrees. They come with built-in storage bins for laptops as well as 10.4-inch personal video screens and a new audio- and video-on-demand entertainment system.

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