This was supposed to be a feel-good column for the holidays, where I asked readers what kind of presents they wanted from the travel industry, and all of the resulting good tidings left us warm and fuzzy. And then I talked with you.
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AIRLINE
… American Airlines, according to a report released late today by FlightStats. Less than two-thirds of its flights — 64.55 percent — were considered on-time. An eye-popping 16.20 percent of its flights were more than 44 minutes late.
Five people. That’s how many bothered to comment on the Transportation Department’s latest rulemaking proposal that would force airlines to report more details about delays. If you’re not shocked – no, outraged – by that number, read on. You will be.
Just in time for the busy summer travel season, the Transportation Department this morning announced a series of steps designed to calm the frayed nerves of air travelers, including a new rule that doubles the limit on compensation airlines must pay passengers who are involuntarily bumped from their flight.
Discount carriers used to be the darlings of air travelers, if not travel columnists. With low fares and high standards of customer service, what wasn’t to like? That was then. This is now.
Now that Frontier Airlines has filed for bankruptcy protection, it’s time to get serious about a game we bloggers haven’t played since 2002. It’s called airline deathwatch.
In-flight safety videos are big news, thanks to Delta Air Lines’ spiced-up preflight announcements. So as a public service, I’ve reviewed the five sexiest in-flight safety videos online.
Here at the travel industry’s unofficial complaints department, we count on having a day or two off, Good Friday being one of them. Not this year. Here are three recent stories of compassion-less customer service that arrived in the “in” box on what was supposed to be our “off” day.
They may be a little late to the game, but then again, the first skiers who will probably be hit by these fees won’t see them until this summer (winter in South American ski resorts like Valle Nevado and Cerro Catedral). But a group of skiers is protesting the planned second-bag surcharge that United Airlines and US Airways have announced, hoping to enlist scuba divers, golfers and parents with strollers to their cause.
If you really want to understand how the Southwest Airlines safety scandal is affecting passengers and employees, there’s only one thing to do. Get on a flight and strike up a conversation with a crewmember. Which is exactly what I did this morning.
In an earlier blog posting, I wondered why membership organizations with large numbers of air travelers aren’t taking a stand against the coming wave of airline mergers. And so did Eric Voth, an AARP member who wrote to his organization to ask why it wasn’t using its considerable lobbying clout to block these corporate unions that would almost certainly hurt its constituents. You might be surprised by AARP’s answer.
There’s good news and bad news today for what some have called America’s worst airline. US Airways recorded the best on-time performance among the 10 major American carriers for the month of January, which prompted it to pay out $1.8 million in employee bonuses and issue a self-congratulatory press release. But at about the same time, reports in the blogosphere started bubbling up that the airline was falling apart … literally.
The passengers on a recent Continental Airlines flight 89 from Newark to Beijing were given an unwelcome lesson in patience. Halfway through the flight, their plane was diverted on a medical emergency and eventually returned to the states, where it was canceled. Then, the next day, the same passengers were finally sent to China. Are these air travelers owed anything for the trouble?
Even if you aren’t a know-it-all frequent business traveler or a smug aviation industry insider, you’ve probably come across the term “fortress hub.” It’s an airport dominated by a single airline that controls more than 70 percent of flights. Dallas/Fort Worth is an American Airlines fortress hub, for example. In Atlanta, it’s Delta Air Lines and in Charlotte, it’s US Airways.
Looks like the Delta-Northwest engagement is officially in trouble, which means folks like Kate Hanni and The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers the can keep their powder dry for the next merger. Or maybe not.
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