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.
AIRLINE
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.
The Armchair Traveler shows you how to fix a ticket when you’ve got the wrong name on it. Yes, there is hope.
It’s Thursday, and there’s still no announcement that Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines will merge. Frustrating for shareholders and airline beat reporters? Yes. But a Godsend for air travelers, who would almost certainly benefit from a more competitive airline industry.
It should come as absolutely no surprise that someone like Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) would take a stand against the latest round of airline mergers. After all, Oberstar is the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, and he’s spent his career officiating the failed marriages of air carriers. “Mergers may mean short-term profits for investors,” he says. “But they inevitably mean long-term losses for workers and consumers.” It may, however, come as a surprise who is not opposing the likely unions of United and Continental, Delta and Northwest, and perhaps even American and US Airways.
The devaluation of mileage programs continues. US Airways just announced it would impose a new fee for redeeming award tickets and cut the number of miles it awards to frequent travelers on short-haul flights. The airline says it is taking the actions to “offset record fuel prices and rising airline related expenses.” But it’s got some convincing to do.
I realize that Valentines Day isn’t until tomorrow, but what’s 24 hours between friends? Here’s your ice storm. Here are your airport delays. It’s looking a lot like Valentines Day 2007, isn’t it?
It’s no secret that recent moves by airlines to impose new fees on checked-in luggage, which I discussed at length in yesterday’s MSNBC column, will hit working families the hardest. But should families hit back?
Airline passengers put up with a lot these days, including bad food, cramped conditions, high ticket prices, and the ever-present fear of being detained by the TSA. But they draw the line when it comes to their seats.
When Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus in 1955, she made history. When Randall Ulrich and his wife were instructed to move 11 rows back by a JetBlue flight attendant, did they have a similar case?
Think you’re protected by European consumer laws like EU 261/2004, which forces air carriers to compensate passengers in the event of a delay or cancellation? Think again. A report by the UK watchdog Air Transport Users Council concludes airlines have found a clever way around the rule.
Here’s an important footnote to the airline industry’s year from hell. A closer look at the Transportation Department’s 2007 report card shows some carriers were likelier to lose your luggage, deny you boarding, get you to your destination late and provoke a written complaint. And some airlines were above it all.
You don’t have to be a travel expert to know that 2007 was a bad year for airline service. But just how bad wasn’t clear until this morning. That’s when the government released its official numbers for domestic airlines, showing that in almost every major category, airline service is circling the drain.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
I'm on Facebook: Please "like" 
WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? If you're having trouble with a travel business - any business - and you've reached a dead end, maybe I can help. Send me an