In the Global Distribution System aka Online Travel Agent Wars with American Airlines, SABRE just dropped a bomb and announced that it will discontinue AA listing one month before their contract ends in August and it will list AA different between now and then.

Care to guess who owns Travelocity?  That’s right.  SABRE does. 

So far, AA continues to insist that it is comfortable with booking levels at present while it remains in discussions with both Orbitz and Expedia. 

This really doesn’t feel like something that AA is going to win on its terms.  There may be some adjustments because, after all, Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity all have something to lose as well.  However, this whole push on the part of AA is beginning to smell a lot like its attempt to “rationalize” fares under CEO Crandall back in the 90’s.  That didn’t work out too well for AA either.

Care to guess who used to own SABRE and who developed the system as a subsidiary company?  That’s right, American Airlines did.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax
1 Comment »

There have been a few recent and prominent incidents involving the Russian airliner Tu-154 that have resulted in a number of people and agencies calling for it to be grounded.  The most prominent was the loss of the Polish President last year in a severe accident and the most recent was a Tu-154 that had an engine explode and cause a massive fire when taxiing for take-off to Moscow in Surgut.

A lot of criticism is levied at the Tu-154 (and it’s cousin, the Tu-134) is probably mis-placed.  If you look at the statistics involving the Tu-154 and its closest Western relative, the Boeing 727, the Tu-154 has a pretty comparable record.  In fact, most incidents in the last 5 years were related to human error, not an aircraft failure of some sort. 

The loss of the Polish President was due to a pilot risking a landing that his aircraft wasn’t capable of making safely.  Other hull losses were results of terrorism or mistakes involving governments firing missiles (Ukraine) during exercises.   Another hull loss was due to air traffic control mistakes in Switzerland involving the Tu-154 and another cargo aircraft. 

There were 1015 Tu-154s and 852 Tu-134s built and those two variants are roughly equivalent to the 1800+ Boeing 727s built over roughly the same duration.   Between the Tu-154 and Tu-134, there are roughly 94 serious incidents resulting in approximately 64 hull losses.  The Boeing 727 has a record of 325 “incidents’ (serious and not serious) with hull losses totaling approximately 110 airframes.   One would be tempted to say the 727 has a worse record but it should be recognized that 727s typically have flown more cycles than the Russian airliners over the same duration.

Is the Tu-154 dangerous?  No more so than other Western airliners of a similar generation.  What’s dangerous is airline pilot training and air traffic control facilities and maintenance facilities in Russia and other former Soviet Bloc and middle/central Asian countries.  Those places don’t always have the best standards for training pilots or the best equipment for weather restricted landings or the best maintenance workers with the best training at the best maintenance facilities.

It’s notable that, over the years, there have been some very boneheaded moves made in the 727 that resulted in very bad accidents.   Early in the life of that aircraft, its very safety was questioned when a few pilots literally flew them into the ground when landing because of its high sink rate on approach.  Training and procedures were changed and that aircraft went on to a very successful life. 

Would I hesitate to take a trip on a Tu-154?  Only if the airline was poor or had a poor safety record.  The basic airframe is perfectly safe and the most modern Tu-154M models are up to any Western standard.  The “B” models are old but they aren’t necessarily unsafe by definition either.  It’s all about the users.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax
No Comments »