I went to DFW Airport this afternoon to see a family member off on their flight home.  Since I was there, I decided to visit the Founder’s Plaza viewing center and take some photos with my new (to me) Olympus SP-550UZ camera.  It has a 18X optical zoom (equivalent to 28mm to 504mm 35mm lens) and a great reputation for its dual image stabilization.

Before anything else, let me comment on these photos.  First, this was my first practice run and there are some not so good ones.  Second, there are some worth pointing out as well. 

• It still excites me to catch a photo of tire smoke as an airplane lands.
• American Airline’s Susan G. Komen EMB-145 is one that I caught but, sadly, slightly out of frame.  When I shot it, I didn’t notice the pink ribbon or I would have shot another photo. 
• United Airlines has some of the dirtiest aircraft out there now and it is likely it isn’t noticed too much because they have that truly awful paint scheme to distract you from it.
• I got an AA B777 accidentally.  I literally just pointed and shot the photos without knowing what it was at first.
• The Alaska Airlines B737-900 is my family member departing.
• ATR-72 aircraft are very frequent visitors into DFW now.
• That Anubis Statue is still a very strange thing to have at Founder’s Plaza particularly since it was placed there to advertise the Dallas Museum of Art’s King Tut exhibit and it would do a far better job placed at the north or south entrance of the airport.
• DFW is still one of the more boring locations for airplane spotting simply because of the ubiquitous AA MD-80s.

So, without further ado, here are the PHOTOS.

Filed under: Airplane Spotting, Airports by ajax
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The Dallas Morning News Airline Biz Blog is reporting that they have placed a 25 foot tall statue of the Egyptian god Anubis at their new Founders Plaza airplane watching area.  Anubis is the god of the dead with a body of a human and the head of a jackal. 

There is no doubt in mind that whoever at the DFW airport board decided that this was a good idea will shortly be looking for new careers on Monster.Com.  I’m pretty sure you don’t want to put the god of the dead from any culture anywhere near where people are about to take off on an aircraft.

Filed under: Airports by ajax
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I have a family member who will be flying to the DFW area on December 24th.  She lives in the PDX (Portland, OR) area and it has been snowing for several days now.  A weather forecast check reveals that it might still be snowing there on December 24th, her departure date.

Now, I first inquired as to whether or not the PDX airport ever closes for snow.  It turns out that they do not do so very often.  You see, PDX is nearly at sea level (next to the Columbia River) and it remains pretty warm down there so it’s quite easy to keep the flights moving.  However, this family member lives in the Southwest hills of Portland where the altitude is much higher.  In Portland, it is quite possible for the street conditions to be much worse in the hills than it is down by the river.  In fact, this family member has seen more than enough snow at her altitude that she hasn’t been able to drive her car both because of the snow as well as the icy conditions on steep roads.   PDX Airport has had little or no delays during that same time.

So, she might need a backup plan.  That might be simply taking a cab (most cabs will have chains or traction devices or at least be of sufficient size to navigate the roads safely) or an airport shuttle.   Another backup plan might include having someone drive her to an airport hotel the day before when it is possible to navigate the roads.  The real dilemma, however, is that it may be quite possible for her to be snowed in but for airplanes to continue to take off.  How do you think an airline might treat her non-arrival for the flight? 

Most likely, they may let her change her travel date but with a substantial charge.   She is flying a legacy airline (Continental) and they do charge for changing travel dates and that change is subject to availability *and* the difference in the cost on that leg.  Such a change could quite literally run to several hundred dollars more.

Not many people are faced with such a situation around the country.  At least few do in most major cities.  Yet, watching the weather and having a backup plan can save you hundreds of dollars too.  Airlines don’t have a lot of sympathy for the reason of your delays.   Their outlook is most likely to be determined on whether or not they could take off, not how the weather might be affecting your ability to get to the airport.  Plan ahead and save money.

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USA Today’s Today in the Sky Blog is reporting that Australian news outlets are now writing about an imminent announcement that Delta will begin flying from Los Angeles to destinations in Australia.  Such destinations likely begin with Sydney and add Melbourne and/or Brisbane. 

If true, this will mean that Delta will be the first airline to fly regular scheduled routes to all 6 inhabited continents in the world since Pan American Airlines.  More important, it means competition for QANTAS, V Australia and United Airlines.  

Currently, QANTAS is by far the main leader in that market flying Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A-380 aircraft.  It has been said that about 1/5 of their net profit comes from such routes.  V Australia, an international arm of Australia’s Virgin Blue, was originally scheduled to begin flying Boeing 777-300ER’s in December but had to slip the start to February 2009 due to Boeing’s labor strike this past fall.  United Airlines flies the same routes regularly with 747-400 aircraft that by many accounts are worn and tired and certainly not offering the service options the other two do.

It seems that Delta, if it does fly the route, is planning to use 777-200LR aircraft that are very capable of flying the distances as well as carrying a full load of cargo while doing it.  Ironically, the 777 was originally designed with QANTAS in mind although they never ordered any of the aircraft.  Indeed, with optional fuel tanks and a light cargo load, it is said that the 777-200LR might be capable of flying from Atlanta to Sydney regularly although it is highly unlikely that this will happen.  A more likely choice might be a late build 787-800 which Delta will be receiving as a function of purchasing Northwest Airlines.

This kind of competition is not want any legacy carriers on this route want.  Delta is operating with relatively low labor costs, new aircraft that are the most efficient available for long haul routes and they have a new network (from their merger with Northwest Airlines) that will feed the aircraft to capacity loads.    If Delta does launch this service, look for United Airlines to withdraw from the market.  They are the airline that lacks both the service product and fresh aircraft to compete.  

Filed under: Airline News, Airline Service by ajax
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The Today in the Sky Blog is reporting that Frontier has rolled out a new pricing model on their website today.   The airline is an all coach service but now they are differentiating that service with the designations “Economy” (primarily a Southwest Airlines emulation but you pay for your luggage), Classic ( a reserved seat and DirecTV and no luggage fees) and Classic Plus (Classic with a snack).  There are other benefits and restrictions with each class.

While I do believe that product differentiation is the way to go for airlines in the future, I’m not sure this is differentiated enough to offer a customer a choice.  Yes, service and amenities grow as you pay more and that’s good but look at the Today in the Sky’s story and examine the pricing.  I’m not sure you are getting enough differentiation for the price differences charged. 

A coach passenger is buying on price, primarily and to make the product differentiated enough to entice the passenger into a higher price requires something substantive.  Is it DirecTV and a snack?  I suspect not.  I suspect that DirecTV is worth about $10 to the passenger and a snack is worth maybe $8.00.   Free checked baggage?  Well, for Frontier that might be a mistake since Southwest, their major competitor, already offers free checked baggage.  They don’t offer more legroom but their other major competitor, United Airlines, does and for a price differentiation that really might be a better deal.

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USA Today’s Roger Yu is reporting that Los Angeles Airport, LAX, has now opened a new pay per use lounge for passengers. For $25, a passenger can use these facilities for 3 hours and enjoy free snacks, drinks, Wi-Fi and business services. The new lounge is located in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

This is, without a doubt, an excellent idea and a feature many airports could use.  It combines great value with great convenience and service.

Filed under: Airports by ajax
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This was written earlier today by my friend, Dave “Rigger” Vick, who is currently touring with the musical, A Chorus Line.  He reads this blog and since he has been experiencing a variety of travel scenarios for the past several months, we talk often about the challenges in aircraft, airports and airlines. 

So here’s some wacky fun…

 

When you fly out of Lester Pearson International Airport in Toronto to a destination in the USA, once you’ve checked in and collected your
boarding pass you have to go through US Customs & Immigration
Pre-Screening, inside the airport, which you might think is still
inside the City of Toronto in the Province of Ontario in the nation of
Canada…

 

But you’d be wrong.  Very wrong…

 

The line to get up to the pre-screening agents is in fact Canada, and
you can enter and leave the line as much as you wish – and they tell
you that, too – *until* you have passed through the pre-screening and
been cleared by the USCI agent there.  Now you are *technically* no
longer in Canada, and if you need to return to the terminal for any
reason, you are required to go through Canadian Customs &
Immigration…

 

However, the next stop after the pre-screen, on the way to your gate,
is the Canadian equivalent of the TSA security screening checkpoint,
which is *not* run by US-TSA agents, but by their Canadian
counterparts, and since the USA does not permit foreign nationals to
run its securty apparatus, ergo, you are *technically* not on US
territory, either.

 

You’re not in Canada… You’re not in the US…  You’re in No-Man’s Land.

 

So what happens when you happen to be, say for the sake of discussion,
the assistant carpenter-slash-rigger of a touring Broadway show,
leaving Canada after 35 days to return to the US for your next
itinerary stop, with your knapsack full of necessary tools; say for
instance two Motorola walkie-talkies, a PLS laser, a Leica Disto laser
rangefinder, a roll of 3″ wide gaffer’s tape, a roll of 2″ wide clear
Jalar tape, an assortment of measuring tapes, a soapstone marker in
its holder, a Pentel paint marker, a laptop computer, and a 9v-powered
Screamin’ Meanie, and consequently the security agent manning the
X-ray machine sends up all sorts of red flags and bells and whistles?

 

You sweat, my friend… You sweat, is what you do.

 

That was about the most nerve-wracking thirty minutes of my life,
trying to explain to a very flint-eyed Canadian woman exactly why I
was carrying all of that drek through from YYZ to BWI at 6:30am this
past Monday. She wasn’t having it, but there was apparently nothing
she point to that was blatantly enough evidence to get me into
rubber-glove-up-the-butt screening, so she had to settle for making me
squirm.

 

Filed under: Airports, Trivia by ajax
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Also on The Onion is this report about John Madden and his fear of airplanes.

I quote:

“Airliners have a not unreasonable fear that, were John Madden to board them, it would increase their chances of crashing,” said FAA administrator Robert A. Sturgell, reading from the report.

Filed under: Airline News, Trivia by ajax
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The Onion, a humour and satire website and newspaper, is reporting on American Airlines and new charges this morning.  Enjoy.

Filed under: Airline News, Trivia by ajax
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Runway Girl is reporting today on Embraer’s new slimline seat they are planning to install in the E-170/190 jets.   The new seat will either allow airlines to increase knee to seatback distance for more comfort or maintain the existing configuration and add more seats. 

In short haul markets such as Europe, it will likely mean increased seating density with some E-jets likely having as much as 118 seats.  However, in the United States, it probably will mean increased seat comfort as most airlines are using these aircraft for long stages rather than high density short haul routes.  The longer these planes fly, the less weight they can carry.

Filed under: Airline News, Airline Seating by ajax
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Dress comfortably but not slovenly.  Too many people travel in sweats and sweatshirts and then wonder why they aren’t taken seriously.  If you want to be taken seriously when you have a problem, don’t look like you just got out of bed. 

That doesn’t mean you have to wear a suit.  Wear comfortable but attractive clothes that imply you are person who means business.  Jeans are OK but not jeans with holes for instance.  Wear a comfortable pair of shoes but not sneakers or a sweater not a sweatshirt.  Going someplace that requires a dressier look?  Try wearing your sportcoat or jacket while traveling which will save room in your luggage and make you look professional at the same time.  Women should not wear pajama bottoms and men should not wear t-shirts.

Layer your clothing with a nice shirt, comfortable sweater and a jacket.  Getting a blanket on an airplane is unlikely these days but if you have layered your clothing, it becomes easier to adjust to the temperatures on airplanes.   Believe it or not, pilots control the temperature on most airplanes and they may well be unaware of how cold or warm it is in the cabin.  Flight attendants will often ask them to raise the temperature in the cabin so that people will feel drowsy  on flights they expect to be problematic.   Yet, if it is the first flight of the day leaving from a very cold destination it could take as much as half of the flight to warm the cabin to a comfortable temperature. 

Keep your clothing loose and of natural fibers such as cottons and wools.  You’ll feel less constricted and confined as you sit in that economy seat.  If you have to wear a winter jacket and it has zippered pockets, use them to carry the things you might take in a small bag such as a small snack or an MP3 player or gloves. 

If you do experience trouble at an airport, the right clothing can help a lot.  By dressing well, gate agents are more likely to take you seriously when there is a problem.  Agents are humans too and they will tend to respect those who are dressed respectfully and they will tend to ignore those who are dressed carelessly.   The bottom line is that if you are comfortable enough for a long airplane trip, you’ll be comfortable enough for an extended airport wait. 

Filed under: Travel Hints by ajax
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Every year I have someone in my circle of friends and family decry how risky it is to check baggage and everyone has an unsubstantiated story of lost luggage.  While it is true that luggage can get lost, it happens far less often than is ever portrayed.  I have been traveling by airline since I was 2 years old and my luggage was “lost” twice.  At one point in my life, I traveled more as a teenager than most seasoned road warriors of today.  Statistically, you are very unlikely to have a misplaced bag and if you do experience lost luggage, it generally can be available in as little as 6 hours. 

Some time ago, I wrote this POST about luggage.  It is a collection of strategies to mitigate against lost luggage.  Read it and practice it and you’ll be in a far better position to experience a happy holiday trip.  Because of baggage fees on most airlines, many recommend shipping your gifts rather than checking a bag.  In some respects, I agree.  However, it may be *cheaper* to take a bag along with gifts one way.

Many people have nesting suitcases.  Take a large one with your gifts and pay the fee to carry all your gifts.  Pack your clothes in the smaller one.  Once you get to your destination, hand your gifts out and pack your clothes suitcase inside the larger one and then check that back to home on your return trip.  You can also use a softside duffle bag that you can compress to fit inside your clothes suitcase for your return.   If you travel with someone else, see if you can pack one suitcase to check, one bag to carry *both* of your carry-on items and use one other small bag to carry gifts as a carry on. 

If you are carrying gifts, it is best to leave them unwrapped.  The TSA may well want to look at the item, especially if it is an electronic gift and you don’t want that gift wrap messed up do you?  Do yourself a favor and put them in your luggage in a manner that lets the TSA look at them and put them back neatly.  Use a TSA luggage lock as recommended in this post.  Such a lock allows the TSA to open your baggage, do their search and relock your luggage.  Most theft actually occurs while the airline is handling your bags, not the TSA.  A TSA lock keeps people honest.  Let’s face it, it’s a lot easier to just move to a bag without a lock than it is to defeat yours where you might be spotted.

Identify your luggage.  Put tags on the inside and outside of the bag.  If you’re using one of the Ubiquitous Black Roll On suitcases, mark it with a colorful strap of some kind so you *know* it is your bag coming into the baggage claim and so others know it is *not* their bag.  

Best of all, if you know you’ll be checking your bag, get to the airport a bit earlier than usual so that the bag(s) have time to move through the system and to the aircraft.   If you must connect to another flight in another city, try to schedule those connection with 1 1/2 hour of connection time or more.  That gives you some lee way to make a flight if you are late and it lets your bags make that same flight if you are late.   Isn’t it better to spend an hour in the airport reading than it is to have to return to an airport to claim a lost bag a day later?

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Remember, the holidays have this nasty habit of scheduling themselvs at a time of year when weather is a major factor in air travel.  Now, if you’re flying from the northeast to the northern midwest, you don’t have many options.  But many of us do.

If you are traveling transcontinental or ir you are traveling in a way that requires transiting through a hub, consider very carefully your choice in hubs.  I have written about this before but its worth covering again. 

Let’s say you’re traveling from Albuquerque to Richmond Virginia.  You know you’ll have to transit at least one hub but which is the better choice?  Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Atlanta, DFW, Houston, Charlotte, Cleveland and Cincinatti are all choices.   Now, many people choose the cheapest and fastest routing for such a trip but the real question during the holidays is this:  do you want cheap and fast or reasonable and certain?

You could safely eliminate Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinatti and Chicago from the list of good choices.  All are subject to severe weather and most have a bad reputation for operating in severe weather (the exception really being Denver.)   Now, routing through one of those cities might be cheaper, but, is it really?  If you were stuck in Chicago with a flight cancellation, how much would you have paid to avoid that problem?  $50?  $100? 

And is time really of the essence or is getting to your destination with as little potential for trouble more important.  In most cases, I’m sure most of us would accept a slightly longer travel time in exchange for being much more certain of our arrivals.

Better hubs to search would be DFW (very rarely affected by weather), Houston (same as DFW) and to a lesser degree Atlanta and Charlotte.  Atlanta is always congested and while not subject to a lot of weather problems, it is a hub heavily impacted by operations at other Atlantic seaboard airports.  Charlotte is a minor hub but one that can be impacted by winter weather although not often.

Most likely, you could book through DFW or Houston for the same price (possibly less) and have a very high degree of likelihood in getting where you are going on time or reliably at the least.  No airport is totally safe and no airline is completely certain.  No connection is free of weather related problems either. 

Even if you were flying from Portland, Oregon to Virginia, your best bet is still via those southern hubs.   Yes, the flight may well take 1 to 2 hours longer but how does that stack up against the potential of being stranded for 5 to 8 hours or even days because you went through Detroit?  In most cases, that flight path would take no more than the same time to transit and sometimes less than it would routing through a northern hub.   The listed times might be shorter but the *real* times are often the same or better. 

Furthermore, it is far better transit a warm hub feeling secure about your flight and in no hurry to catch your next flight than it is to bet that Minneapolis will be snow free and you’ll save 1 to 2 hours on your travel.  It’s just not worth the hassle to you or the people you are visiting.

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In honor of the holiday season approaching, I thought I would start offering a series of tips on how to cope with holiday travel.  No doubt, some will be well known but I also hope to offer a better strategy than often supplied.

First, boarding passes and check-ins don’t have to be a battle.  Or, at the least, there are strategies to win the battle instead of limping onto an airplane with the pain of defeat.   Most everyone knows they check-in and get their boarding pass with most airlines online.  But having a strategy is important.

First, find where you should check-in and print your boarding pass from a couple of days before your travel.  This is sometimes buried inside the website and if you find yourself unable to locate it at midnight on Tuesday night for a Wednesday departure for Thanksgiving, you’ll be sorry.  Find it ahead of time and if you can’t, then you have time to call and get directed to it.  Oh and make sure you have ink in your printer. 

Second, plan your airport check-in.  In other words, know your airport and know where you *can* go for check-in.  If you have baggage to check and there are long lines inside at the ticket counters, consider a bag check at a check-in kiosk.  If that looks extremely busy, consider going outside and having a Skycap check your bag.  This may cost you $2 per bag plus a gratuity per bag but if you’re just checking a couple of bags and it costs your a few dollars, isn’t that better than sweating things out inside the air terminal?

There may be multiple areas to check bags at certain airports.  For instance, DFW airport has numerous check in areas for several airlines such as American Airlines.  Often all you have to do is go down about 8 gates, check in and walk back to your actual gate area.  A quick check in / bag check combined with a light walk is far more preferable to long lines and crowd, no? 

This same strategy will work for going through security.  Some airports funnel everyone into a central area.  If this is the case, show up extra EXTRA early.  This kind of setup will often be overwhelmed and can’t be relieved easily.  Still other airports make it possible to go through security at a variety of points.  Know where security is and how to transit through it.  It can save time and aggravation.

If you aren’t a frequent flyer member of the airline you are traveling on, become one and get the phone number that the offer for reservations.  If you arrive to check in and find your flight delayed or cancelled, that phone number could make it much easier to reach a reservations agent.  Write it down and put it in your wallet or, better yet, program it in your cell phone. 

Get someone to drop you off or pick you up at the airport.  Traffic is always murderous but parking is even more murderous.  Arrange for the person dropping you off or picking you up to have access to flight tracking (FlightAware.com or FlightStats.com are both good) so they know when they have to leave.  Make sure you have exchanged cell phone numbers.  If you can’t get someone to do this for you, consider leaving a bit earlier and taking public transportation where possible.  It sounds bad but it can be much easier to navigate and much more reliable for arriving at the airport on time.

Most important, get some sleep the night before you travel.  This is always the time when people stay up late packing.  You really can avoid that problem.  Pack early, get to sleep early (even if your flight leave in the afternoon or evening of the next day) because starting the day off with rest always keeps you calmer in the face of challenges. 

Eat.  Eat something good for breakfast (again, even if you’re leaving much later in the day) and eat prior to getting on the airplane.  Avoid sugar or massive carbohydrates.  Try to have some protein such as a hamburger and avoid alchohol.   A hamburger will keep your temper more under control than, say, a candy bar and a cup of coffee. 

The central point is to leave early, know where you are going, have a back up plan and have enough information about your airline and the airport to deal with a problem.  Leave time for yourself to accomplish the tasks of check-in and if you have a chance to save sometime, even if it costs a bit of money, take it.  You may need that time later.

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No doubt many airports have been working hard to improve their services and offerings over the past 10 years and certainly the improvements are impressive when compared to the state of things in the 1980’s and early 1990’s.   Where there was often nothing, you now find restaurants, shops and even accommodations for cell phones and laptops.  Free wireless is starting to become popular at some airports (Hello Denver and Shame on You DFW) and you can definitely find  a Starbucks at most major airports.  If not Starbucks, at least a decent cup of coffee.

But air travel changed during those improvements.  When these changes began to be planned, people accompanying passengers could actually go through security and stay with their friends right up to the gate.   Airlines served something called a “meal” and it was often hot.  Beverages were free and it was usually possible to find an inexpensive flight without traveling before 6am in the morning. 

Not anymore.  One of the biggest challenges in picking someone up at most airports is that there is quite literally no place to loiter while waiting.  One hour or curbside parking has been eliminated from anyplace in close proximity of the air terminals.  Go visit a baggage claim area these days and see how that is working out.  There are few seats and because it is often the most ignored area of an airport, it is cramped and far away from other airport services. 

Since airlines now insist on passengers arriving earlier for their flights  and because those same airlines can have a lot of trouble keeping a schedule, people have to arrive at the airport earlier and find themselves staying in the terminal longer.  But what about those who have friends they would prefer to visit with longer?  There are no comfortable areas to do so any longer and certainly no restaurants accessible landside.  What if they smoke?  It is highly inconvenient to walk from their gate back outside to have a cigarette and return.  Yet, those people get *real* cranky when they’re forced to sit gateside for hours waiting for an airplane to turn up and unable to enjoy a cigarette.

Airports actually need new solutions for these logistical changes.  They need cell phone holding areas on their property where people can park short term and wait in their car for a phone call asking them to pick up their arriving friends and family.  Sure, some airports do have this but they are often located in a poor section of the airport and they are poorly advertised or signed for their purpose. 

A few concessions such as newsstands and restaurants on the landside area would be good too.  Certainly most of those concessions should be on the airside of a terminal but having just a few locations landside would provide a huge service for all.  I once had to spend 5.5 hours in a vacant hallway at Philadelphia waiting for someone to drive from Tennessee to pick me up because there were simply no places to go and wait quietly.  Oh, I did walk nearly a mile to a hotel to have a meal and I did clean up in their restrooms but it took some time and effort to find that option too. 

On the airside, newsstands still fill a need but those places also struggle to provide the kind of goods that more and more people want prior to boarding an aircraft.  If I were 7-11, I would template a convenience store for airports and get myself into the business of being an airport convenience store rather than a newsstands that sells some water, juice and candy.   Fast food restaurants should look into packaging their food differently so that it can be carried on to an airplane conveniently.   Instead of using combination meals conceived for the rest fo the world, they should look into packaging combination meals that make sense for an airplane or a lobby seat. 

Don’t like smokers?  Fine, that’s your right.  However, more than 35% of the adult world does smoke and while you shouldn’t be expected to endure smoke if you don’t want to, it would be a good service to accomodate those who do want to enjoy a cigarette.  Provide a small, enclosed smoking area and be done with the problems that come from people who’ve spent hours without nicotine. 

Create a kiosk system of small vendors of things like hot dogs or coffee in the baggage claim area.  Those areas are crammed with people now who are waiting long stretches of times for arrivals and they’ll enjoy the opportunity to buy a snack or beverage while waiting.  Find a way to provide more seats in these areas and offer better information on arrivals.   The more you facilitate these pick ups, the smoother things will go in these areas. 

Airline service has had to change and while some airports have done better at accommodating those fundamental changes in the industry, most have neglected those needs in a bad way.  It is time to close that disconnect.

Filed under: Airports by ajax
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If Southwest gains those ATA slots and they do fly them all in and out of La Guardia, this does send an interesting message to those employees who are presently upset over the announcements of codeshares with both WestJet and Volaris.

You see, the big argument made for those codeshares was that it allowed Southwest to concentrate on its business model but enjoy the expanded business that those two airlines offered to Canada and Mexico.   It was an argument about focus and direction with the Southwest business model.  The employees, some of them at least and most important the pilots, have argued that with near zero growth planned for Southwest, these are routes (the international routes) that Southwest could fly with their own people and metal.

It’s an argument that I can see some truth in.   The flying remains a natural for Southwest.  After all, flying to either Canada or Mexico is not flying overseas.  Mostly it is flying to cities across a border in a manner that is quite consistent with the existing model.  While neither country would necessarily permit Southwest to build a network inside their country, there are plenty of provisions already in existence to fly to destinations in both countries. 

Southwest is perfectly capable of operating a website or websites that serve those countries as well.  Labor costs can’t be an issue because, frankly, they could literally outsource those functions to their two new codeshare partners.  WestJet knows how to turnaround a 737 and while Volaris owns A320 aircraft, they also know how to turnaround an airplane. 

Flying to either country does not require ETOPS aircraft and it doesn’t even necessarily mean overnighting aircraft and/or flight crew in either country.  Flights to either country can be “turns” that see no aircraft left overnight.   However, even if you did want to overnight staff in those countries, it isn’t logistically difficult.  Hotels are in abundance and all your staff need are passports.  Language really isn’t a problem either.  Oddly enough, Southwest flight crew speak English, a perfectly acceptable language for Canada, and I’ll bet that Southwest has plenty of crew capable of speaking Spanish already. 

Now La Guardia Airport does present some challenges that are contrary to the Southwest model.  It is a congested, expensive, weather affected airport with high labor costs and high costs to overnight aircraft.  I would wager that it is quite possibly MORE difficult to operate into and out of La Guardia than, say, Vancouver or Toronto or Monterrey or Gaudalajara.  

It also puts Southwest into one of the most competitive markets in the United States and while it does give them access to the business traveler, it does so in a major market where business travelers often expect and even demand creature comforts that Southwest doesn’t offer.   If you have the chance to fly 7 round trips to NYC, what cities do you connect NYC to?  This is mere speculation but I would guess that flights to Chicago’s Midway Airport are a given.  Possibly a flight to either Baltimore or Orlando or Houston or even Philadelphia.   I would actually bet heavily on Chicago, Baltimore, Orlando and Houston.  But even if it was Chicago only, you have, at best, 7 frequencies.  On that route, you would probably need a minimum of 7 frequencies. 

There is something that is unrevealed in this plan.  Certainly Southwest could boost frequencies by obtaining more slots in the future.  Maybe.  But that is historically difficult in a slot controlled airport and a market that rarely sees significant contraction in flight quantities.  It is even more difficult when you are entering a market that major legacy airlines will defend to the death.  No one has any incentive to cooperate with Southwest in making gate space or other facilities available. 

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And, no, I don’t mean Islip on Long Island.  Southwest plans to purchase the operating certificate of ATA Airlines, now in liquidation, and ATA’s 14 slots to operate at New York’s La Guardia Airport.  Even with Southwest’s reputation for surprising the industry, this is a pretty stunning surprise.

Operating into NYC’s La Guardia Airport is contrary to Southwest’s operating model in every sense.  The airport is congested, expensive to operate in and certainly does not offer an opportunity to perform the famous 30 Minute Turn.   The airport (like all airports in NYC) is subject to weather both in the winter and summer and that certainly doesn’t mean on time departures and arrivals.

I actually can’t help but wonder if this is part of a greater plan that may or may not involve a new or existing partner for Southwest Airlines.   Perhaps these NYC slots will be used for limited flights by Southwest to other focus cities as well as offering WestJet and Volaris a chance to connect with Southwest in a huge market. 

There has to be more to this idea than just Southwest wanting to operate directly into NYC.  Look for further developments in this area and don’t even be surprised if it involves a European partner airline as well.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax
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The current economic climate doesn’t speak well for airlines who depend upon business travelers to meet their expenses on a flight.  For the past several years, airlines have been introducing airline seating that specifically caters to the business traveler and, quite frankly, a product that meets or exceeds anything that represented First Class even in the 1990’s. 

The airlines are always faced with a difficult set of priorities to balance.  On the one hand, catering to the business traveler is essential because they do pay for a good portion of each flight and they must compete for those travelers very aggressively.  On the other hand, filling those last 100+ economy seats is also essential because that is the difference between profit and loss.   Typically, an airline will woo the business traveler with comfort and the economy flyer with price.  In order to compete on price, that means reducing your costs per seat to the lowest possible and offering a ticket price that bests anyone else on a route.

Or does it?  In the late 1990’s, American Airlines began a program of more space in coach.  MD-80 aircraft were reconfigured to offer as much as 34″ of seat pitch and as someone who was flying a great deal at that time, I can confirm that it made a huge amount of difference.   Unfortunately, the post September 11th terrorist disaster forced American to reconsider its configuration and the aircraft were reconfigured back to a 31/32″ pitch.   But how many seats did that gain them?  Only about 9 seats.

The one thing airlines never seem to try to differentiate themselves on is seating.  While some airlines have tried an economy plus seating (offering about 34″ to 36″ of seat pitch), no one really advertises the advantage of more seat room.  It is never heavily marketed like many other airline qualities.   That is a lost opportunity.   I do not believe people would necessarily choose a flight on an airline on the basis of only price if they were fully aware of a more comfortable option at a minor extra cost.   Airlines such as United Airlines often only take the opportunity to tell a customer of these seats after they’ve already made a purchase and only as an upgrade. 

Offering an increased seat pitch and explaining its comfort and, possibly, better position in the aircraft would, I think, be an attractive offer. 

The question is how much extra do you have to price that seat per leg?   I suspect about $20 per flight segment would work.   Possibly as much as $30.  But why not offer it by the hour?  Would you pay $10 / hour for a better seat?  Chances are you would.  However, that upgrade must be presented BEFORE the purchase to be attractive on price and that upgrade must be described in what it offers the customer.  More leg room, a better position in the cabin which makes for easier entry and exit from the aircraft. 

More room does not necessarily have to mean fewer seats either.  I’ve written before about Delta’s adoption of the Thompson Cozy Suite seats on their 767 aircraft.  There are other options as well.  Airtran offers a Recaro aircraft seat on the Boeing 737 aircraft that is unparalleled currently as an economy seat.  Its design offers just a tiny bit more leg room and yet configures easily to the same 31/32″ seat pitch airlines want to use.  It provides a more conventionally thick seat cushion on the bottom and upper half while offering a better contoured lumbar area that while thinner, is much more comfortable and yet offers the passenger behind you that little bit of extra room.

Sicma Aero is concentrating its efforts on a more ergonomic seat but I question that direction because how do you create an ergonomic seat that feels comfortable to both the 5′ tall 100lbs woman and the 6′ 2″ tall, 270lbs man?  It requires adjustability and that quite likely is going to cause trouble both with maintenance and the customer who doesn’t understand how to adjust the seat.

Avio Interiors has taken an approach more like Recaro by offering a seat that is properly cushioned in the right points but sculpted to again offer that small but important extra space for legs. 

 Thompson Solutions offers both the Cozy Suite as well as a more conventional but ergonomic economy seat.  The key to their offering is a staggered or herringbone style layout that allows airlines a 15″ gain in capacity or greater width and seat pitch.  Since aircraft are generally limited by either their load or the maximum seating they are certificated for, Thompson’s solutions (no pun intended) allow an airline to offer a new seat that is competitively priced, less maintenance intensive and vastly more comfortable than a conventional seat.  The key obstacle here is that airlines are afraid of making the investment and facing customer rejection of a design that is admittedly fairly radical in appearance.  With Delta introducing this on their 767 aircraft, I suspect the airline’s fears will be reduced and there will be a push to find similar solutions for new fleets.

Weber Aircraft, based in the United States, is offering a much more conventional product that, unfortunately, seems pointed towards high density seating without any emphasis of comfort.  Make of that what you will.

While airlines will no doubt seek to maximize their loads on aircraft and match pricing from their competitors, it becomes increasingly obvious that market capture can be based on these new seating options provided that the airlines themselves will actually market their product.  People still want comfort and the success of a la carte pricing indicates that people will still pay for what they want. 

The challenge is in airlines changing their marketing model both on their own websites as well as through popular travel sites.  When a customer can make their choices from an a la carte menu and choices include better, more comfortable seating that is well described, airlines will both differentiate and sell their product better.  Airlines even have the chance to sell such a product as a business offering to companies that do understand the value of taking care of their employees but who have to now measure that against the often 4 times greater cost of a business class seat.

Filed under: Airline Seating by ajax
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Using FlightAware.Com, I’ve been able to see some (but I don’t think all) of the government flights from around the world heading to Washington D.C. for the G20 Economic Summit.  So far, I have identified these:

The British Prime Minister on British Airways Flight 001

The Indian Prime Minister on Air India Flight 001

The Argentinian President on Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 1001

The President of the Indonesian Republic on Garuda Indonesian Flight 001

The President of South Korea on Korean Airlines Flight 63

The Prime Minister and his government on Japanese Air Force Flights 1 and 2

The Russian President and his government is on the Russian State Transport Flight 9031 and Russian State Transport Flight 9001.

The Saudi Arabian government is flying in on Saudi Flight 1B

The Chinese government is flying in on Air China Flight 17

The President of Mexico is arrving on Mexican Air Force Flight 001.

No doubt there are others that are not being tracked inbound. The mix of aircraft will include a 777, several 747 aircraft, Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft, a 757, IL 76, IL 62 and IL 96 aircraft from Russia and even a 747-SP (Saudi Arabia).

Filed under: Airline Fleets, Airline News, Airplane Spotting, Trivia by ajax
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The Milwaukee Business Journal reported that Midwest Airlines is being sued for lease payments on two jets and their engines.  Wells Fargo, Inc. is asking for some $82,000 in overdue plane lease payments and Polaris Holding Company, Inc., a GE Capital subsidiary, is asking for $14,000 in lease payments for engines. 

The interesting part of this is that with dollar amounts so low, these two rather large companies felt they had to sue for their money.  Midwest Airlines is backed by TPG, Texas Pacific Group, and other large minority shareholders.   The backers of Midwest Airlines aren’t exactly cash short, even in these economic times.  It makes me think that those two lessors identified something scary in Midwest and decided to get their claims in first.   It is possible that both lessors (financial giants in the credit and leasing industry) are just trying to raise as much cash as possible too.  It still seems suspicious though.

Midwest Airlines remains on my death watch and their prolonged viability is mostly due to vastly reduced fuel prices.

Filed under: Airline News, Death Watch by ajax
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