Essential Travel News for 7/02/07

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AIRLINES

Northwest hopes for normal schedule this week after massive cancellations

After posting a mainline flight cancellation rate averaging 11.9 percent of its scheduled departures every day from June 22-28, Northwest Airlines said it expects to be operating normally this week. Northwest’s cancellation rate last week – about 10 times higher than normal – caused major problems for inconvenienced passengers, since many planes were already fully booked for the peak summer travel season, leaving few options for rebooking.


Northwest blamed the cancellations on “summertime thunderstorms…air traffic control congestion, and pilot absenteeism;” it said the latter factor was “80 percent higher in June 2007 than June 2006. The airline relaxed ticketing restrictions to reaccommodate passengers and added airport and reservations staff to cope with the crunch of rebookings.


But Northwest’s pilots union – which in mid-June had approved a vote of “no confidence” in the company’s management – said the problem was “management’s operational decisions that created inadequate pilot staffing for the summer months.” Pilots are limited to 90 flight hours per calendar month, and many had apparently reached their limit early during June, leaving the airline with a shortage of available flight personnel during the final days of the month. The union said it warned management “months in advance” that it would face operational problems this summer unless more pilots were brought in; some 400 Northwest pilots are still on furlough. “Currently, Northwest’s operation contains no slack in the system, thus increasing the possibility that the operation will continue to break down,” said a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association. He noted that “Northwest pilots have been flying at their personal and contractual maximums since last year, increasing stress and fatigue.”


The airline said it is taking steps to prevent a reoccurrence of the problems: Effective July 18 it will eliminate one of its two daily Detroit-Frankfurt flights “to free up 757 pilots to fly other routes;” in August, it will reduce its overall schedule by 90 flying hours a day (equivalent to three percent of its domestic mainline capacity) “to increase its reserve of pilot flying hours;” it will work to bring furloughed pilots back to work “as soon as possible,” and will hire new pilots if necessary.



Meanwhile, Northwest said that if future cancellations are necessary, it will try to make those decisions one to three days in advance to give it time to rebook everyone. The airline is encouraging customers to sign up for automated notification of cancellations by email, PDA and other technologies.

Southwest will reshuffle schedules, change boarding and rewards policies

Some big changes are in the works at Southwest Airlines for later this year. CEO Gary Kelly said in New York that the company will slow down its growth plans, reshuffle its schedules – eliminating some routes but adding others – and bring some changes to its boarding/seating and frequent flyer policies. “In this economic environment, we simply need to take less risk and grow more slowly,” Kelly said. To that end, he said Southwest’s fleet will increase by only 19 aircraft in 2008, instead of the 34 originally planned, so overall capacity growth will be reduced from eight percent to six percent for the fourth quarter of this year and all of next year. Kelly also reported, somewhat enigmatically, that Southwest intends to “enhance its low-fare structure, enhance its Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program, launch a new advertising campaign and unveil a new boarding/seating method.”



Kelly offered no details. It is known that the airline has been testing ways of changing its traditional open-seating policy, but no specifics have yet been announced. Kelly also reported that Southwest has “major revenue initiatives” scheduled to start by the end of the year, but he did not say what they might be. The airline has reportedly been looking into the possibility of offering in-flight Internet access, for one thing.


As for its schedule, Southwest did release details of a major overhaul coming in October and November, when it will cancel 39 existing daily flights but add 46 others, for a slight net gain. Among the routes scheduled to lose non-stop Southwest service are Baltimore-Los Angeles (two flights a day), Philadelphia-Los Angeles (two flights), Baltimore-Oakland (one flight), Philadelphia-Oakland (one flight), Chicago Midway-Orange County, Calif. (one flight), Phoenix-Cleveland (one flight), and Midland/Odessa-El Paso (one flight).


Denver will get the biggest boost in new non-stop routes this fall, including four flights a day to Seattle, three to Albuquerque, two to Amarillo, two to Oklahoma City and one to Austin. Southwest will also add three flights a day between Birmingham, Ala. and New Orleans, and one a day between Oakland and Tucson. A number of other existing non-stop routes will gain or lose one or two flights a day. For a full listing of the Southwest schedule changes, go to www.southwest.com/about_swa/press/070627_chart.pdf.

Consumer survey finds wide support for segregating families in-flight

The latest consumer survey on air travel preferences comes from St. Louis-based Maritz Research, which polled 1,000 adults who have flown within the past six months. And the most unusual finding is one we haven’t seen asked in any other polls: Almost three-fourths of the survey respondents (73 percent) said they would like to see a segregated “family section” on airplanes, so that young children wouldn’t be randomly seated throughout the aircraft. (It’s not likely to happen; when we asked airlines about this possibility several years ago, they cited various logistical and legal reasons why they can’t do it – although British Airways did try it briefly on a single route between London and the Middle East.)


In other poll results, eight out of 10 consumers said that when they tried to redeem frequent flier miles, they were able to get seats on their preferred flights – but two-thirds said they had a negative reaction to major airlines’ recent tightening of their mileage expiration policies. Predictably, 56 percent said they would not like to see cell phones used in flight. Asked to name two in-flight service options that they would be willing to pay extra for, the most frequent answers were more legroom (63 percent) and food (42 percent). Meanwhile, 34 percent of first class flyers said they would tend to fly on an airline that offered gourmet food from a name chef in the front cabin; and 57 percent of all respondents said they don’t think airports offer enough healthy eating options.

FAA/SECURITY

TSA heightens airport security in the wake of U.K. terrorist activity

Just in time for the travel crunch around the July 4 holiday, airline passengers can expect heightened security and possibly longer, slower-moving security lines this week. In the wake of terrorist activity in the U.K. last week – including an attempt to blow up a Jeep Cherokee in Glasgow’s airport terminal – the U.S. Transportation Security Administration is making some extra efforts at airports, including increased use of canine teams; random security checks of vehicles; and more visible presence of extra police and TSA personnel. If you’re going to Britain, expect even tougher measures at airports there. For one thing, officials are making private cars, taxis and limousines drop off their passengers at points farther from the terminals than usual, requiring longer walks to get to check-in facilities.

INTERNATIONAL

United expands service options to Middle East, South Asia

United Airlines, citing strong passenger demand, said it will increase service to the Middle East and South Asia by boosting frequencies to Kuwait and starting a new code-share partnership with Qatar Airways. Last fall, United began the first non-stop U.S. service to Kuwait City three times a week from its Washington Dulles hub. On January 2, 2008, it will boost that schedule to daily service, a spokesman said. The airline said it has also filed for government approval to begin code-sharing with Qatar Airways, a Middle Eastern carrier that last week started four flights a week from Newark via Geneva to Doha, Qatar; it also plans to begin Dulles-Doha service on July 19, with daily non-stops. The planned code-share deal would give United customers access to five destinations United does not currently serve, including Doha, Qatar; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Male, Maldives; and Peshawar, Pakistan. It would also let Mileage Plus member earn and spend miles on Qatar Airways flights.

Delta will add five Latin America/Caribbean destinations from JFK

This fall and winter, Delta Air Lines plans to begin new service from New York JFK to five points in Central America and the Caribbean. On December 13, it will launch non-stop JFK-Panama City, Panama service, followed on December 14 by new non-stops from JFK to Guatemala City. On December 20, Delta will kick off new non-stops from JFK to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. During February 2008, the airline will add non-stops from JFK to two destinations in Costa Rica: San Jose starting February 15, and Liberia effective February 16.

EU regulators won’t let Ryanair acquire Aer Lingus

A while back we reported that Ireland’s low-cost giant Ryanair was making a hostile bid to acquire Aer Lingus – but last week, European Union regulatory officials said they won’t allow that to happen. The EU’s Competition Commission said a Ryanair-Aer Lingus combination would restrict consumer choice and could lead to higher air fares, especially at Dublin. According to press reports from Europe, Ryanair intends to challenge the ruling in court, but that could take many months to resolve.

News briefs: BA plans DFW-LHR service; Lufthansa coming to Orlando

• British Airways said it will take advantage of the new “open skies” agreement between the U.S. and Europe -- which takes effect March 30, 2008 – to shift its current Dallas/Ft. Worth service from London’s Gatwick Airport to Heathrow on that date, giving travelers more connecting possibilities.
• Lufthansa said it will add Orlando as its 20th North American gateway on October 30, when it will launch non-stop service five days a week to Frankfurt, using an A330-300.
• As the U.S. and China prepare to award more new air route authority between the two countries, American Airlines said it will apply for rights to serve Chicago-Beijing, beginning in March 2009.

AIRPORTS

Paris CDG opens new satellite concourse

Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport last week increased its capacity by 8.5 million passengers a year when it cut the ribbon on a new satellite concourse linked to Terminal 2E by a 45-second people-mover ride. The new satellite will be used by the Skyteam global alliance, which includes Air France/KLM, Delta, Northwest, Continental and others. It is large enough to handle up to 26 aircraft – including six Airbus A380 super-jumbos simultaneously (six of its aircraft parking areas are equipped with triple boarding bridges for the giant planes). The facility also has 1,400 square meters of bars and restaurants along with 3,200 square meters of shops in its international duty-free section – including France’s first airport Armani store. “A lot of services are available and adapted to all categories of passengers: rest areas, work areas, WiFi connections, children play areas, nurseries, etc.,” a spokesperson said.

Vancouver Airport adds food and beverage outlets

HMSHost, the airport concessionaire, said it has opened several facilities at Vancouver International Airport’s new West Chevron International Pier, including a Starbucks Coffee, a Pizza Hut, a branch of Tim Horton’s – serving coffees, teas, breakfast and lunch items – and a Milestone’s Grill & Bar, a full service restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, drinks and dinner, with entrees like fire-grilled wild coho salmon and red curry chicken bowl.

BWI International gets a full-service bank

At Baltimore/Washington International Airport, M&T Bank has opened a full service branch located pre-security near the Southwest Airlines terminal. Customers can open accounts, cash or deposit checks, apply for loans and visit with financial advisors. M&T Bank already has 17 automated teller machines at various locations throughout the airport.
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