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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
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| May 29 2007, 9:59 AM EDT (current) | jimglab | 2360 words added, 1 photo added |
| May 29 2007, 9:39 AM EDT | jimglab |
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Essential Travel News for 5/29/07
To sign up to receive an expanded version of this weekly e-Alert bulletin from Executive Travel SKYGUIDE, click here. This week's question for readers:A new survey from J.D. Power and Associates finds a growing dissatisfaction among passengers with their airport experience (see story below). It found that the three best-liked large airports are DFW, Detroit and Atlanta. What’s your favorite airport – or your least favorite – and why? Post your comments here. (If you want to be quoted by name, add your name to your comments.) Post your comments here. |
FAA/SECURITY
FAA expands program to reduce summer flight delays
The peak summer travel season is almost here, when already-crowded aircraft will be squeezing in record numbers of vacation travelers along with business flyers. The Air Transport Association is predicting passenger numbers from June through August will total 209 million, a three percent increase over last summer. And now, to keep the system flowing smoothly, the Federal Aviation Administration said it hopes to reduce flight delays this summer by expanding its Airspace Flow Program, which was introduced last year at several airports in the northeastern U.S. The agency said delays in that region fell by nine percent as a result.With the Airspace Flow Program in place, “If your flight isn’t scheduled to fly through bad weather, you don’t have to sit on the tarmac. If it is, your airline has the choice of taking a delay shared evenly by all the affected flights or flying around the storm,” said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. Without the Airspace Flow Program, all flights at affected airports are delayed – even those whose flight plan wouldn’t take them near the bad weather. The new program imposes weather-related delays only on those flights headed for the problem airspace. The FAA said this summer it will deploy the Airspace Flow Program to 18 locations instead of last year’s seven. “The additional locations will ease delays for passengers flying through the South and Midwest, as well as those on transcontinental flights,” an FAA spokesman said. “Dynamic programs will be introduced in other areas to target storms with surgical precision as they develop and move. Airspace Flow Programs will also be used in conditions not related to weather, such as severe congestion near major cities.”
Meanwhile, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association has created a pair of websites that travelers can consult to “help them navigate what is likely to be a very busy and delay-prone summer travel season,” a NATCA spokesman said. One site offers travel tips from traffic controllers like times of day to avoid flying, advice on connections and so on. It’s at www.natca.org/mediacenter/AvoidDelaysTips.msp.
The other site has information helpful to travelers before they book flights, with statistics on most-delayed departure and arrival airports; worst times to fly at major airports; which flights are most likely to face delays, etc. It’s available at www.avoiddelays.com.
Senate panel approves watered-down “passengers’ rights” bill
The Senate Commerce Committee has reported out an FAA Reauthorization bill that includes protections for airline passengers who are stuck aboard planes that sit on the tarmac for hours waiting for clearance to take off, or for an open gate. The legislation would give passengers the right to deplane after sitting on the ground for at least three and a half hours, and would require airlines to provide stuck passengers with adequate food, water and toilet facilities. However, it also provides that airlines can be exempt from the requirements if they create their own plans for handling long ground delays and file them with the Transportation Department. The Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights, an ad hoc consumer group founded by a flyer who sat on an American Airlines flight for nine hours last winter, said it will press Congress “to expand and improve the basic provision as the bill moves forward.” The group said it has “serious concerns about the potential consequences of the current language” in the legislation. Another consumer group, the Aviation Consumer Action Project (ACAP), said it cannot support the bill in its present form. “The Commerce Committee has just approved legislation that would authorize each airline to file plans for confinements (of passengers) that could be 8-10 hours or even longer,” ACAP said. “This legislation could potentially legalize current wrongful imprisonment practices of some airlines.” The group added that the legislation in its present form “could also have the perverse effect of abolishing most remaining common law rights passengers have to sue airlines for damages for abuses under wrongful imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress or contract law principles.”TSA deploys new technology for scanning bottled liquids
The Transportation Security Administration said it has started operational pilot testing of a new “bottled liquids scanner” device at airport security checkpoints. The hand-held scanner can be passed over a bottle of liquid to determine whether it might contain any kind of explosive materials. Passengers are not allowed to carry liquids or gels onboard a plane unless they are in three-ounce bottles and packed into a quart-sized zip-top plastic bag. “Though we do not anticipate changes to the liquid ban in the near future, this flexible and accurate new technology gives an important additional tool to our security officers,” a TSA spokesman said. The TSA said it expects to deploy as many as 200 scanners to the nation’s busiest airports during fiscal 2007. The scanners have already been tested at Miami and Newark airports, and testing is going on now at Detroit, LAX, Las Vegas and Boston Logan.AIRLINES
US Airways drops fee for elites to get confirmed same-day standby seat
US Airways said that Preferred members of its Dividend Miles frequent flyer program will no longer have to ante up a $25 fee to get a confirmed standby seat for an earlier flight on the same day for which they are ticketed. The change has already taken effect. “Our most frequent flyers tell us that when they’re traveling they need to be able to make changes on the fly, and that this fee was a nuisance,” said Travis Christ, the airline’s vice president-sales and marketing.American upgrades website with new search results options
In addition to searching for flights arranged by schedule or by price, users of American Airlines’ web site (www.aa.com) will soon be getting a handy third option: search results arranged by both price and schedule. Users who input a travel date will see results in a grid, with flights down the left-hand column (non-stops first, then one-stops/connections) and prices across the page from lowest to highest, depending on fare type, for each listed flight. Only fares that are still available for sale on a given flight will be displayed. By clicking on a particular flight, the user will be able to see flight details like travel time, miles, seat maps, aircraft type and meal availability. “The new display will enable customers to see how their trip choices impact the price, and will offer customers more control to customize their travel plans according to individual priorities,” a spokesman said.Northwest improves web functionality for mobile devices
Northwest Airlines said it has completed an enhancement of its web site for mobile devices, so that users of web-capable mobile phones, PDAs, Blackberrys, Treos and the like can now access all the functions that they could from a regular computer. Formerly, only a portion of the airline’s web features (www.nwa.com) were available via mobile devices. Making reservations, buying tickets, checking in for flights, changing reservations and selecting seats can now all be carried out in a low-graphics mobile format. “Northwest is the first airline to provide its complete web site in this format for mobile users,” a company spokesman said.Skybus uses menu-style pricing for passenger amenities and services
New low-cost carrier Skybus has started flying from its Columbus home base, giving passengers not only some bargain fares but also a taste of 2007-style airline pricing practices similar to those practiced by Ryanair, the fast-growing, low-cost, no-frills European carrier. Skybus said it can only offer very low fares by charging for lots of other things that passenger may or may not want. For instance, there’s a fee of $5 per checked bag for the first two bags, and $50 for the third. The carrier won’t let you reserve a seat in advance, but if you want first shot at the best seats, you can pay $10 for priority boarding. Soft drinks served in flight will cost $2 each, while alcoholic drinks are $5. You won’t be allowed to bring food onboard, but Skybus will sell you snack foods for $4 or a basic meal like a sandwich or salad for $5 to $10. Skybus even offers a fee-based flight status notification service via email or cell phone. One cost-cutting policy some travelers might find a bit extreme is that Skybus only lets you buy tickets via the Internet and doesn’t have any phone numbers for customer service. Skybus started out its Airbus A319 service last week from Columbus to Burbank, Calif.; Portsmouth, N.H.; Kansas City; and Richmond, Va.Delta will give larger, two-class regional jets to Comair
Delta Air Lines said its Comair subsidiary will get 14 new 76-seat Bombardier regional jets starting in August, replacing an equal number of 50-seat planes currently in its fleet. The new jets will have 12 first class and 64 coach seats. Routes and schedules have not yet been determined. The new planes will be the first in Comair’s fleet to offer two-class service. Other Delta Connection partner carriers, including Shuttle America, SkyWest, Freedom Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines already operate, or will soon add, two-class regional jets to their fleets, Delta noted.INTERNATIONAL
Coming soon: More routes between the U.S. and China
It fell short of the “open skies” kind of agreement that was recently negotiated with Europe, but U.S. and Chinese negotiators have finalized an enhanced aviation regime that will more than double the number of flights between the two countries over the next five years. The agreement gives the U.S. the right to as many as 23 roundtrip flights a day into China by 2012, vs. the 10 daily flights currently operated by U.S. carriers. It gives China the right to an equal number of daily roundtrips by Chinese airlines. The U.S. can designate up to three more airlines to serve U.S.-China routes, although one of them must be a cargo carrier. The first U.S. route award could come as early as this year, from any point in the U.S. to Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou. Major airlines have already started lobbying for the first award; Delta wants an Atlanta-Shanghai route, while Continental is eager to win Newark-Shanghai rights and Northwest wants non-stop rights from its Detroit or Minneapolis hubs, for example.JAL will add premium economy seating to long-haul routes
Japan Airlines plans to reconfigure its long-haul 777 fleet with premium economy seating, and will also add a first class cabin on heavily-traveled domestic routes. Both new services should be available starting later this year. The premium economy seating will be installed on aircraft that operate key Japan-U.S. and Japan-Europe routes, the airline said. The premium economy section will include about 40 seats, arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration with 38-inch pitch – or 20 percent more than standard economy seating. Each seat will have a laptop power port and a larger tray table, as well as a leg rest to supplement the foot rest. The new domestic first class will go into 15 777s used on key domestic routes like Tokyo-Osaka and Tokyo-Fukuoka. Premium economy seating, priced in between standard economy and business class, is slowly spreading among long-haul international carriers; others that offer it include Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, bmi, ANA, Air New Zealand, Singapore, Eva, SAS and Thai.Qantas debuts new first class lounges in Australia
Qantas Airways has opened new first class airport lounges in Sydney and Melbourne, offering services “equal to those found in the world’s best five-star hotels and restaurants,” a spokesperson said. “For example, a full concierge service will help customers book a restaurant in any city around the world, or get tickets to the latest Broadway musical.” The lounges’ facilities include a Payot Paris day spa, with a variety of free treatments from 30-minute facials to 50-minute massages; a 48-seat restaurant with menus by Neil Perry; waiter service throughout the lounge; a library with newspapers, magazines, books and board games; an entertainment zone with plasma-screen TVs and Sony Playstation games; marble-lined “shower suites” with stereo and individual lighting controls; leather lounge chairs; and 11 PC workstations with free wireless Internet.AIRPORTS
J.D. Power airport survey finds more gripes about delays, bag delivery
How satisfied are consumers with their airport experiences these days? Not very, according to the latest annual survey by J.D. Power and Associates. The survey of more than 10,000 flyers found that one in five experienced a flight delay, up 12 percent from 2006. And while they spent an average of $25.54 on retail purchases at the airport, “satisfaction with retail services posts the greatest decline of the measures studied,” J.D. Power said, “driven by decreases in satisfaction with cost and variety of products.” A big increase in the number of passengers who checked luggage after the new “liquids and gels” security rules took effect late last year – from 67 percent in 2006 to 77 percent this year – led to a significant decline in customer satisfaction with baggage claim, “particularly for large airports,” J.D. Power said. “While airports appear to be managing the additional baggage volume at check-in, they have considerable room for improvement in making sure bags are delivered to passengers quickly and efficiently,” a spokesman said.Large airports with the highest satisfaction ratings were, in declining order: Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit Metro, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, New York JFK, Las Vegas McCarran and Orlando International. The highest ratings for medium-sized airports went to Kansas City, Sacramento, LaGuardia, Cleveland Hopkins, Chicago Midway and Baltimore/Washington. Small airports with the highest ratings were Houston Hobby, Dallas Love Field, San Antonio, El Paso, Bradley and Nashville.
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