The Dallas Morning News Aviation Blog is reporting that American Airlines plans to test passenger check in via cellphones and PDAs.  Similar to Continental’s Cellphone / PDA  boarding pass program currently available in several Continental cities now, AA will first test their program in Chicago and then at John Wayne International and Los Angeles International airports next. 

Passengers will be able to receive a 2D barcode that will permit passengers to clear through TSA security and board the aircraft.  The limited availability of this does suggest, however, that passengers will still be printing and carrying paper boarding passes until these systems dominate airports.

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Airtran Airlines has announced that it will begin charging for the 1st bag checked on their flights starting December 5th (2008) and those purchasing tickets on or before November 11th will not have to pay those fees.  In light of the fact that Delta recently announced its intent to implement such a fee, this really comes as no surprise. 

Clearly a la carte fees are the new model for air travel and while many can no longer be argued against, this 1st bag checked fee continues to rankle many travelers.  It is akin to charging a cafeteria customer for his tray.  However, since most airlines have adopted this fee, it will be difficult to escape it as a traveler.   I even wonder if Southwest will backtrack on its “no fees” campaign in light of the industry direction.   It will become increasingly difficult for Southwest to remain competitive in many markets by forgoing this revenue opportunity that virtually ever other competitor has adopted. 

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Southwest Airlines has just announced a new codeshare with Mexican airline Volaris (partially owned by billionaire Carlos Slim.)  Like Southwest’s codeshare agreement with WestJet, this allows Southwest to gain access to international markets.  With these agreements with WestJet and Volaris, Southwest gets access to all of North America and gets to work with two airlines that have similar (not the same) operating environments. 

I’m quite certain that these new codeshare routes will, in fact, boost Southwest’s revenues (as well as the revenues of these other participants) and I’m sure both relationships will prove to be rewarding in many ways other than just money.  If one airline could operate throughout North America, it really would look very similar to this codeshare arrangement.  

These two new arrangements for Southwest found me pondering how it could be done better than just a simple codeshare.  One way to further integrate without attempting a merger (something all three airline’s governments are very unlikely to allow) would be operating an interchange. 

An interchange was a fairly common tool in previous decades within the United States.  The idea is that two (or more) airlines operate the same equipment on a route that is shared.  One of the most famous interchanges was when Braniff operated the Concorde from Dallas to Washington D.C. where an Air France or British Airways crew would take over and fly the aircraft across the Atlantic to either London or Paris.  At the time, each time the Concorde arrived in Washington, the aircraft would be “sold” to Braniff who would then hang new ownership papers in the cabin and change the registration temporarily for operation in the United States.  Obviously that kind of inconvenience would not be tolerated today between airlines but there really isn’t a reason for it either.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see Southwest operate such an interchange with each of their partners.  A Southwest aircraft could be used to fly an international interchange between Canada, Mexico and the United States with only crews changing between focus cities for each airline.   For instance, imagine a B737 flown from Toronto to Chicago by a WestJet crew where a Southwest Airlines crew would take over and fly it from Chicago to Houston.  In Houston, a Volaris crew could take over and fly that same aircraft to Mexico City (Toluca) and then turn it around for a return trip.  

The advantage is that customers never have to leave the aircraft and it would therefore permit a more seemless network for transitioning from one country to another.  The only problem with that scenario is that Volaris has an Airbus A320/A319 fleet and while WestJet flies the 737, they are partial to the 737-800 type instead of the 737-700 aircraft preferred by Southwest.   Nonetheless, it does cause one to think about the possibilities that might exist between the three airlines. 

It also points to other opportunities for other airlines.  Codeshares are good and convenient for airlines but they still require a passenger to travel from one hub to another hub and when it comes to international connections, it does force the passenger to often de-plane, clear customs and transition to another part of an airport to continue on to a destination.  Sometimes that isn’t all that painful but more frequently it is a great inconvenience to the passenger and a barrier that many avoid.

With airline alliances relatively stable now, many could choose to adopt similar (if not the same) types of aircraft and offer trans-global interchanges for both companies and their passengers.  It also would allow them to further standardize their service and even possibly take advantage of fleet flexibility between partners.  For instance, what if QANTAS and American Airlines shared a portion of their 787 fleet and allowed it to “flex” between North America and Australia according to seasonal demands?

I suspect there are many more opportunities to be had from both codeshares and, possibly, a new version of interchanges between airlines. 

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I receive a weekly (usually) listing of American Airline’s Net SAAver Fares to various domestic destinations.  Since my family lives all across the country, I tend to watch for fares to a lot of places in the dim hope I might spot a chance to go visit someone.  (I haven’t for several years.  Yes, years.)

Suddenly, the fares have dropped like a rock.  When I say “rock” I mean like a large boulder heaved off the side of a cliff.  One fare listing offered me the chance to do a round trip (with restrictions) weekend trip to Raleigh, North Carolina (where I could have BBQ with two very good friends) for just $135. 

Yeah, $135.  That trip was more than double that just a month or so ago. 

I could also fly from DAL (Love Field) to ORD (Chicago) for a paltry $120 and I’ve got family in Milwaukee.

If American Airlines is suddenly working this hard to attract customers for weekend flights, something has to have gone wrong with bookings very suddenly.    And if it happened to them, who else is suddenly gulping in fear?

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Every now and then you see an airline flying a flight to some very unusual destination.  Two Airtran aircraft were spotted flying to Keflavik, Iceland en route to Europe.  You can see HERE that the aircraft looks as if it departed the Miami area normally and just got lost. 

One reader of FLying Colors is a huge Airtran B737 fan.  Don’t worry.  They sell their aircraft relatively young and buy more.  The fleet will remain the same.

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The Seattle Post Intelligencer aviation reporter, James Wallace, is now reporting the possibility that Boeing’s new 787 may not make its first flight until February or March of 2009.  Citing the 57 day long strike just settled by Boeing, the program is now supposed to be under review.  At the beginning of the strike, Boeing’s 787 program manager had stated that it would be a day for day slip until first flight. 

However, late February or early March is not a day for day slip and I think this news begins to reveal that there are indeed other problems on finalizing the 787 for its first flight.  The 787 is now more than a year past its original forecast for first flight and had been definitively scheduled for a 4th quarter first flight this year.  Prior to the strike, that was expected to be some time in the middle of November, 2008. 

The delays to the program really should come as no surprise since this aircraft involves far more innovative engineering than probably any other commercial aircraft designed in the past 40 years including the 747 and A380.    Still, another schedule slip after re-defining the program schedule and including plenty of time for more unanticipated problems begins to reveal that this is in fact a program in trouble.   At this point, it is safe to say that Boeing is likely to experience a great deal of trouble getting the production ramped up to meet demand. 

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USA Today’s Today In The Sky Blog is reporting this morning that Delta CEO Richard Anderson and Delta President Ed Bastian have been rewarded handsomely for achieving the Delta / Northwest Merger.  Anderson will receive more than $13 Million in stock awards and Bastian receives just over $5 Million in stock awards.  Both men aren’t fully vested in the compensation until 2011.

While I think it appropriate to compensate two men who obviously worked very hard at making this merger happen, I do think this news comes out at the wrong time and I do think the reward is perhaps premature.  The unions involved in this merger, particularly the IAM, will no doubt bristle at this news despite the fact that Delta / Northwest employees will be receiving stock in the new company.  About 5% for the pilots and 4% for most other employees.  

It would have been better to tie this award to milestones for achieving all of the merger.  First, award some percentage, perhaps 50%, for bringing the two companies under one corporate structure.  Second, set milestones based on the full integration of the company such as pilot seniority lists being fully merged, flight attendant senior lists merged, both sides of the company operating under the same certificate, etc.   There isn’t anything wrong with rewarding accomplishments but I feel this job is only half done at best and there should be some strong incentives to complete the work before granting the prize.

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The Milwaukee Business Journal is reporting a quote from a pilot at Midwest Airlines that the Boeing 717 Fleet may be completely phased out in 2009.  The speculation is that all of the existing routes will be flown using Embaer 170 aircraft leased from Republic Airlines. 

On the surface, this seems bad.  In reality, I see a gleam of hope for Midwest.  The Embraer 170 seats almost as many people as the 717 but cost much less to operate and its pilots are paid less as well.   It’s actually a comfortable aircraft to fly and it would quite possibly allow Midwest to fly profitably the remaining routes it has. 

Fans of Midwest Airlines’ Signature Service will no doubt be upset about losing access to that hallmark service but the reality is that it isn’t profitable and was probably retained way too long. 

I continue to wonder what Midwest Airlines wants to be in the future.  A small regional airline with no real connections to any other airline?  That really doesn’t strike me as a recipe for financial success.  They do have connections to Northwest Airlines (Delta) but I firmly do not see them becoming a “feeder” or “connection” airline for them.  Delta / Northwest simply have too many successful regional airlines already under their umbrella and, in fact, Ed Bastian, President of Delta, has already said that Delta expects to pare down the number of regional airlines serving Delta.

While I do think Midwest Airlines can make some money flying the E-170, I still don’t think they have a viable long term strategy for success.  They stay on the death watch for now.

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Delta / Northwest is not only big with respect to the number and type of airplanes they have, they are also big for the number of hubs they are currently operating.  Conventional wisdom continues to bet that some of those hubs will be closed or rationalized just as it bets that the airline fleet will be reduced.

My guess is that there really won’t be a reduction in hubs of any real significance with the exception of two.  This new airline has two hubs in close proximity, Memphis and Covington/Cincinatti, and each serves similar markets.  However, rather than being combined into one, I suspect that Memphis will likely be de-emphasized into a “focus” city with more connecting traffic routed through Covington/Cincinatti.  The yields in each city are very good but Covington/Cincinatti is by far the city with the best yields.  Memphis is likely to remain as a focus city because it is a good gateway to the central midwest section of the US.

All other hubs in the US such as Atlanta, Minneapolis / St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City have the airline as a dominant carrier and there is no reason to combine any of them with respect to the routes they serve. 

Now, both airlines operate significant flights from gateway cities such as Los Angeles and New York and it is quite likely that the airline will work hard to combine some flights going to the same cities.   For instance, flights from the New York area going to the same destinations in Europe will be combined to raise the load factors on the equipment being used.  However, Europe presents an interesting problem because Northwest has been in a close relationship with KLM and has used Amsterdam as a “hub” to connect to other cities in Europe.  Delta, on the other hand, is used to flying direct flights to a variety of cities in Europe without a hub or close partner.  I suspect the relationship with KLM will be reduced so that Delta can raise the loads on its own flights to smaller European cities.

Northwest comes to the table with a hub in Tokyo, Japan and they have 5th Freedom Rights to pickup and carry traffic from Tokyo to other cities in Asia.   On the surface, that would appear to be a very valuable asset.  However, the value of that arrangement was far greater when the political climate in Asia was much different and the range of aircraft made it more convenient to fly to a central hub.   Today, it can be much more profitable to fly direct to a variety of Asian cities using newer, long range aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and the about to be introduced 787.  I have no doubt that the Tokyo hub will be retained in some form because the yields from traffic originating in Tokyo to other Asian cities is still well worth the effort but I suspect that there will be a renewed emphasis on point to point flying as things evolve in the new airline.

The thing most likely to change at Delta’s hubs will be the aircraft equipment.  With a wide variety of equipment to choose from, it would be unsurprising to see a shift of long haul aircraft between the hubs in order to improve yields, load factors and even to explore new routes.  That will be done slowly and carefully so that Delta doesn’t have to service too many different types of aircraft at each hub.  Once again, aircraft being used at various hubs to service various areas will probably be rationalized.  It would be unsurprising to see A330s shifted to longer South American and African routes with B767-400’s moved to trans-atlantic routes originating in MSP and DTW. 

Los Angeles will probably see a greater concentration of 747 aircraft being used on trans-Pacific flights.  New York and Atlanta will probably see 777 aircraft moved in for long range, point to point flying to destinations in India, South America and even Asia.  

At present, Delta has 4 different types of long range aircraft in the 747, 777, A330 and 767 with another on the the way (787).   Since Delta already operates GE powered 777-200ER/LR aircraft, they’ll likely place an order for some 777-300ER aircraft and use those to replace the aging 747 aircraft.  That will reduce flying by one type.  The A330 aircraft will be retained until a fleet of 787-9/10 aircraft can be purchased and then the A330 will likely be let go.   Delta’s 767-400 aircraft is fairly new but it will probably suffer the same fate as the A330 in being replaced by 787 aircraft in the future.  Suddenly, two basic types with 2 sub-types between them can service all the long haul routes and, at the same time, offer some harmony at each hub. 

I do wonder if Northwest’s 787 orders will be switched from Rolls Royce engines to GE GEnx engines.  That would permit Delta to operate two basic aircraft types that would use the same brand of engine and engines that share some basic design philosophy as well. 

The tricky part of managing all of these hubs for Delta will be the domestic fleet which is comprised of Airbus A320 series, Boeing 737 series, DC-9 series and MD80/90 series aircraft.  Because it is more efficient to perform maintenance on a domestic fleet that keeps the aircraft close to a maintenance center, I do wonder which hubs will get which aircraft.   Both Airbus and Boeing offer good choices for domestic fleets in the A320 and 737 series.  The DC-9 fleet is old and will be retired over the next couple of years so it isn’t a factor.  The MD-80/90 aircraft isn’t exactly old but it does become somewhat of an orphan and they don’t offer the fuel effiency that the A320 and 737 offer.  It’s quite possible that Delta will retain both the A320 and 737 series and simply order more of both until they can choose a next generation domestic fleet type from Boeing or Airbus.   I do believe that the MD80/90 fleet will be selected for retirement in the next 2 years. 

The exciting part of this merger will be watching the decisions that Delta makes about its new future. 

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The US Justice Department approved the merger between Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines today.   The two companies will now begin to work on executing the combination as quickly as possible and it should culminate with a combined operating certificate in 1 to 2 years. 

In the meantime, Delta and Northwest have already made a great deal of progress towards completing the merger.  The executive team has been selected, agreements with pilots have been obtained and each company has been working pretty hard towards merging the culture of each airline together.  While no doubt there are bumps in the road still to be encountered, this particular merger shows great signs of being accomplished with relatively little strife. 

Flight Attendants are targeted for being a trouble area.  Delta’s flight attendants are non-union and while there have been a few votes over the years to unionize, all have failed pretty soundly.  Northwest’s flight attendants are unionized and have been characterized as even miitant.  Delta’s CEO, Richard Anderson, has urged that everyone work together and while his stated preference is for no further unionization (and he has backed that up by being very willing to negotiate differences), he also has said that he and the rest of the executive team will abide by whatever vote there is.  It is likely that the flight attendants will have a vote after the merger is officially executed and it is likely that it will be in favor of unionization since a combination of Northwest’s flight attendants with the minority of Delta flight attendants in favor of a union would win any vote.

While both CEOs of each airline have professed that such a diverse fleet of aircraft will permit them to “right size” aircraft to a particular route, it is highly likely that the fleet will be pared down over time.   Northwest’s youngest aircraft are manufactured by Airbus and Delta’s fleet is comprised entirely of Boeing products.   Certainly both major aircraft manufacturers will see an opportunity with this merger and both will be pitching their mainstay aircraft lines, the Airbus A320 series and the Boeing 737 series.  With an gentleman’s agreement in place between Delta and Boeing that gives Delta preferential delivery slots, this is Boeing’s opportunity to lose.

A good guess is that, initially, the Douglas DC-9 fleet will continue to be eliminated and bases for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 fleets will be established at selected hubs.   It is possible that the Airbus A330 fleet will be phased out in favor of more Boeing products such as the new 787 of which Northwest already has a significant order on.  The 747 fleet will most likely be phased out over time in favor of the 777-300 and which Delta already owns in the 200ER/LR version. 

The combination of these two airlines will form the world’s largest airline both by revenue and traffic.  This will even dwarf American Airlines by a significant degree.  However, because of industry contraction and the obvious economies and advantages to be gained by constraining capacity in markets that the new Delta will be dominant in, it is likely that the airline will actually contract both its fleet and, to some degree, its employees.  However, major layoffs of any significant numbers are very unlikely and most contraction is likely to be done through natural attrition.

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American Airlines has just announced its intention to drop minimum mileage accruals for non-elite AAdvantage members.  Here is the emailed announcement:

Dear ,

Effective January 1, 2009, we are discontinuing the minimum mileage guarantee for non-elite status members for flights on American Airlines, American Eagle^®, AmericanConnection^®, oneworld^® member airlines, AAdvantage^® participating airlines as well as rail service and codeshare service booked under an AA flight number.

With this change, customers will earn AAdvantage miles equal to the actual distance flown or the applicable percentage* of the miles flown, and any associated bonuses will be calculated accordingly. Similarly, elite status qualifying miles and points earned for travel on eligible flights will also be based on the actual miles earned. AAdvantage Executive Platinum^®, AAdvantage Platinum^® and AAdvantage Gold^® members are exempt from this change.

The new policy will apply to non-elite status members traveling on or after January 1, 2009, regardless of when the ticket was booked or purchased. Flights flown on or before December 31, 2008, will continue to accrue AAdvantage miles under the current policy. For more information, visit AA.com/AAdvantage.

Thank you for your business. We look forward to seeing you onboard soon.

Sincerely,

Rob Friedman
President
AAdvantage Marketing Programs

What does it mean?  Not a whole lot for most people.  Most flights are more than 500 miles and therefore accrue actual mileage.  For Texas based fliers to regional cities, it means you accrue actual mileage instead of a minimum.  However, most people who might be annoyed by this are actually Elite AAdvantage members and therefore *will* accrue the minimum. 

 

All in all, it’s just another mild erosion of another frequent flier program.  Some airlines have already implemented this program (US Airways for instance) and some have done so in a modified form. 

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The Fort Worth Star Telegram Sky Talk Blog has written about the APA pilots union representing American Eagle Pilots now has a new contract and there are a few things of interest to me.  First, this contract got negotiated in almost absolute silence.  There was no real posturing in public and neither side managed to say inflammatory things to the press. 

Second, the instructions to the APA (Allied Pilots Association) negotiating team was to obtain real life improvements to the pilots quality of life and work.   Increased flexiblity (for pilots) and other tangible but not necessarily measurable changes were obtained but no salary concessions were given.  American Eagle got a contract amendment that apparently satisfied both sides needs.

Now, American Eagle pilots are not overpaid to begin with but they are well paid and they do have a pathway to upgrade into American Airlines’ mainline system which is a bit unusual for a regional airline.  American probably did not need to obtain wage concessions but I suspect that they wouldn’t ever mind paying less too. 

The really striking thing about this development is that American Eagle pilots apparently realized that there were no wage gains to be made but they *could* obtain a better quality of work life.  Such concessions from American Eagle may have cost them little or nothing to give.  Both sides won.

This is in direct contrast to the Allied Pilots Association representing American Airline mainline pilots.  These guys have decided that there need to be “givebacks” and that their world is severely impacted by executives who won bonuses.  Personally, I do agree that awarding bonuses to executives when the company has *not* financially performed nor rewarded its lower level employees is wrong.  Very wrong. 

However, if AA pilots think that there is room to give back $3 Billion (yes, that Billion with a “B”) in wages, they are kidding themselves.  If they think there is room give back $1 Billion, they are kidding themselves.  I suspect they could gain quite a bit of work life improvements themselves if they were willing to offer some concessions on productivity. 

And they face yet another problem.  In This Blog Entry, I describe the history of how pilot compensatioin began and why it is a problem today.  American Airline pilots realized that with the announcement that AA is buying new Boeing 787 aircraft, the old model might not fit for compensation.  You see, the 787 is considerably lighter (as a function of its high carbon fibre reinforced plastic construction) than it would ordinarily be.  Much lighter.  A very dim light has come on over their heads and they have begun to realize that, perhaps, pilot pay should be based on criteria having to do with something other than weight and distance. 

You see, the new 787-9 aircraft are capable of carrying almost as many people just as far as a 777-200 but with a lot less weight.  The pilots will want compensation equal to or at least close to a 777 pilot and they’ll begin to look for justifications for that.  Those justifications will inevitably lead to a discussion on all pilot pay because future aircraft such as the 737-RS will also likely be constructed in such a way as to offer the same capacity at less weight as current generation 737 models.  

For once there will need to be a rational agreement on how to pay pilots that involve new measurements instead of the ones in use for 80 years.  This is an opportunity for AA to obtain some sort of deregulation on the cost side of the equation and set new negotiating precedents for other union relationships in the future.

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I would love to speak to a group of pilots from a legacy carrier.  Particularly from American Airlines.  I want to ask them just exactly what *their* vision is for their airline.  What aircraft would it fly, how would *all* the employees would be compensated and what work rules would they want if it was the pilots running the show.

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Airlines have made many changes to their pricing models in the past year or two that have been annoyances or worse to passengers.   The Cranky Flier makes note of American Airlines moving to an a la carte pricing model such as what Air Canada uses in the near future and notes the benefit of choosing what you want up front and paying for it when you purchase a ticket instead of being nickel and dimed at each phase of traveling.

There has been a lot of discussion among many airline blogs and websites over these charges and quite frankly I’ve changed my mind in some respects.  I think the key is to identify what is an appropriate “extra” charge and what isn’t.   After some thought and reconsideration, I do not believe that food and soft drinks necessarily belong in the “must have” category.  To the contrary, it is difficult to find another mode of transportation where food and drink is complimentary.   So, go ahead and charge for it, I say.  As long as you have a convenient method for accepting payment, I’m sure it will work and, more importantly, be accepted in the long run.

Do pillows and blankets require an extra charge?  Frankly, I would do away with them on domestic trips all together.  Put them on international flights of 6 hours or more and, sure, go ahead and make them complimentary but get rid of those comforts on domestic trips.  If you haven’t dressed appropriately for traveling on an airplane, why should an airline provide you with a blanket?  For those of you traveling in halter tops or wearing sandals, let me suggest that that is a foolish way to dress for air travel anyway. 

Luggage is a tricky area.  I personally believe that at least one bag should be checked free.  At least for domestic travel.  Maybe 2 bags free for international travel.  I do think there is an implied agreement to tansport your baggage when you buy an airline ticket.  However, I do NOT think there is an implied agreement to transport your entire wardrobe.  Sorry but if you need to take a lot of things, then buy a full sized piece of luggage and pack it until it holds 49.99 lbs and then stop.  Or pay that fee. 

Since we’re talking about luggage, let’s talk about carry on pieces.  I typically travel with a briefcase and a medium sized roll-on piece of luggage.  I do not carry on the medium sized piece because it is slightly too large for the overhead bins so I do check it.   Frequently when I’ve arrived at an airport, I discover that I’m getting into a car/taxi/bus with people who carried their stuff aboard.  Why?  Because baggage does get delivered in a timely manner to most carousels and baggage rarely goes missing *if* you have packed and identified it appropriately.  Oh, be sure to tip that sky cap who checked your bag too. 

But you do not need to bring an overstuffed carry on into the airplane and then smack it into place with both hands as you crush my suit jacket that was laid carefully above.  Time for business travelers to get real.  Everyone *thinks* they are the world’s best packers and always insist that they “always” bring that on board.  I don’t think so.  If it didn’t fit into that MD-80 overhead today, it didn’t fit in there yesterday.   Who are you trying to kid?

So, if you are forced to gate check a bag that didn’t fit into the overhead compartment (again), then let the airlines charge you $25 for that one too.   After all, they have figured out how to run a credit card on board an airplane. 

What else?  Oh, yeah.  Seating.  Let’s have a variety of seat pitches and price those accordingly.  But instead of telling me about upon check in, pitch them to me on the travel websites as an upgrade.  Airlines should insist these travel websites should include upgrade pricing to an economy plus seating.  Why not charge $10 / hour / seat for 34″ or 36″ of seat pitch?  Would I pay such a fee?  Sure.  I’d probaby pay it if it was $15 / hour / seat.  Or I might pay it for the flight segment that I most wanted to relax in at the least. 

How about offering early or improved seat assignments for a fee?  Would I pay $10 to get a window or aisle seat 30 days in advance.  Without a doubt.  Would I pay $20 for such a chance?  In several instances, yes, I would. 

And, yes, let’s go ahead and get these charges taken care of before I arrive for check in.  Tally my choices online and present me with a total charge to pay when I pay for my ticket.  Let me pay, in advance, for a beverage or two on that flight from DFW to PDX and just note it on my boarding pass with a tear off area for the flight attendant to “collect” my fee.  Or just give them an advance manifest of customer names who have paid, in advance, their drink or food fees.

But don’t tell me that I have to pay $30 or $50 more to transport my suitcase.  That’s a joke.  A second one, sure.  Go ahead.  I’d probably pay it gladly anyway.  But not that first checked bag. 

Filed under: Airline Seating, Airline Service by ajax
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USA Today’s Today in the Sky blog has a story about Airtran now offering upgrades to business class (space available of course) after a passenger has boarded the aircraft.  This is smart for a few reasons.  One, it’s one more opportunity to get that revenue.  Two, passengers may well be much more motivated to buy that uprade if they see the seat.  Three, passengers may well be much, much more motivated to buy that upgrade upon discovering that economy is full.

Filed under: Airline News, Airline Seating, Airline Service by ajax
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These days there is much ado about various First Class and Business Class services on a variety of airlines.  The introduction of the A380 brought a new level of first class service from Emirates, Singapore and QANTAS.  Even their business class on those aircraft are more in line with First Class on any other. 

A week ago, I visited the Fort Worth air show at Alliance Airport.  While that show (and most others) tends to be oriented around military aircraft, I did get to tour the new Pink Ribbon American Airlines 777.  Like all 777’s tend to be, it was an impressive 3-class aircraft.  At least for First Class and Business Class.   Indeed, I actually thought that the Business Class arrangement on that aircraft was as good as First Class with respect to how I would value it on space and comfort.   AA’s First Class separates you more from fellow passengers but I don’t think its seat or entertainment is necessarily any better.

In any case, what I wonder about is Economy Class.  In this airline world, Economy Class remains largely what it was 30 years ago.  If anything, instead of rising in service or comfort, it has, perhaps, fallen just a bit.  Seat pitch is reduced.  The seating itself tends to be older and less comfortable on most airlines.  There is rarely entertainment and only on international flights.  

In my world, I put a premium first on seat pitch, then seat width and then on seat location (the opportunities to get either a window or aisle seat.)  In almost every case, entertainment means nothing to me.  While I acknowledge that it *does* excite some people, I would wager that if you gave a person a choice between a 34″ pitch seat with no entertainment and a 32″ pitch seat with entertainment, you would sell more of the former.  At least on most domestic flights. 

There appears to be no game changer for Economy Class.  There is no incentive to improve economy class service for almost any airline.  American’s 3-class 777 offers 2-5-2 seating (imagine sitting in one of those 3 middle seats) that is not one iota more comfortable in any way.  The one amenity, that I could observe, was a personal entertainment screen.  That was it.  I sat in the economy seat and it did not seem, to me, to be any different in pitch, width or general comfort than a AA MD-80 seat. 

There really isn’t any incentive for most airlines to improve this experience either.  By operating fortress hubs, the airline knows that most economy class passengers are a captive market.  There really isn’t much choice when choosing an airline for most destinations.  The only incentive for an airline to change seating comes from either being able to fit more seats onto an aircraft or to provide a seat that lasts longer.  

Delta is going to introduce such a seat using Thompson Cozy Suites.  You can see more about it HERE.  It is more comfortable and it does allow Delta to add some seats to their aircraft but they also have contract to use it exclusively (at least for a while).   jet Blue and United do offer some economy plus seating but they market it poorly.  Most passengers are unaware of it as an option to search for and only learn about it at check-in as an upgrade option. 

Wouldn’t it be nice to see a game changer for economy class for once?  A seat that offers some comfort and space even if it costs just a bit more to purchase.   Keep the free soda and coffee.  Keep the entertainment because I can carry a tiny MP3 player for music and I really prefer a book to a TV show anyway.   Keep the food and the pillows and the blanket because I can dress appropriately and probably sleep better with just a touch more room.  Find us a seat that we can sit comfortably in for 3 hours and I’ll buy your ticket every time.

Filed under: Airline Fleets, Airline Seating, Airline Service by ajax
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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is hosting a video produced by American Airlines to show their idea of the 787 flying in AA colors.  You can watch it HERE.

Apparently someone in the media department of AA doesn’t know about the inability to have a “polished” fuselage yet.

Filed under: Airline Fleets, Airline News by ajax
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American Airlines just announced that it intends to purchase up to 100 Boeing 787 aircraft between 2012 and 2020 reports the Dallas Morning News Aviation Blog.

What I’m most curious about is this:  What color will they paint them?  American has had the tradition of not painting their aircraft although they have painted American Eagle aircraft white (they had to since most of the regional jet aircraft *must* be painted due to the alloy used for their skin) and they did paint their A300 aircraft grey (for the same reason as the regional jet aircraft). 

The 787 is made primarily of carbon fibre reinforced plastics and will not be able to be polished.  So, what color will they paint them?  Grey?  Doubtful just because grey doesn’t really represent their image well.  White?  Possibly but then they begin to blend in with several other airlines.   Could this force the introduction of a modified or new identity for American Airlines?

Filed under: Airline Fleets, Airline News by ajax
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1)  Robert Forman Six, legendary CEO of Continental Airlines, once had a Wild West Fast Draw team called “The Six Guns”.  Made up entirely of Continental management, these men were genuine “fast draw” artists with western revolvers.  Bob Six was a “fanner” and unlike most fanners, he was particularly accurate.  One other team member was the future President and CEO of Braniff International:  Harding Lawrence.

2)  American Airlines was once owned and controlled by E. L. Cord who owned the Cord, Auburn and Dusenberg automobile brands.  It was E. L. Cord who elevated a young accountant in his late 20’s to the presidency of American Airlines.   That man was Cyrus Rowlett Smith, known universally as C.R. Smith and who lead American Airlines from 1934 to 1968 and then again from 1973 to 1974.  Mr. Smith is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery because he served in the US Army during World War II and reached the rank of Major General before leaving the service to return to American Airlines.

3) Most people, even aviation enthusiasts, believe that the second commercial jetliner to be built was the Boeing 707.  In truth, it was the Avro C102 Jetliner built in Canada.  The C102 was introduced just two weeks after the DeHaviland Comet in 1949 and years before the Boeing Model 367-80 prototype jetliner.   Resembling the DeHaviland Comet with 2 jet engines contained within each wing, it actually flew faster than the Comet and carrying about 50 passengers, it was ideally suited to short and intermediate routes in the U.S.   The plane was never built because the Canadian government ordered Avro to concentrate all their resources on the military jet interceptor, the CF-100.  No examples were ever preserved although the nose section of the prototype was saved and given to the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

Filed under: Trivia by ajax
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The stock markets have slipped considerably again today (Friday October 10, 2008) and things continue to remain very volatile and probably will for another 10 days or so.  The consequence is that oil prices are plummeting.  Why?  Because a lot of speculative money was invested in oil as the value of the dollar dropped and inflation began to increase over the past 2 years.  Oil was an investment that preserved some value and for the past year has yielded some high profits for investors.

Now those same investors need their cash to cover other investments and they are selling their oil futures like crazy to recover their liquidity.   Today oil is selling at about $80 / barrel and that means much cheaper gasoline and jet fuel for the near future.    For airlines without fuel hedges or with few fuel hedges, that’s good news.

Oil could decline to as little as $60 / barrel but most likely will stabilize between $70 and $90 / barrel over the long term.  By the way, most airlines operating models are currently built to make a very decent profit with that oil price. 

For airlines who got a bit aggressive over the last year and bet on oil continuing its hurried rise towards $200 / barrel, that’s bad news.  You see, some airlines have already been reporting fuel hedge losses because of the slow decline in oil prices.   To better understand hedging and what has been going on, you can read THIS.

United Airlines appears to be particularly vulnerable to the fuel hedge losses.  It’s a good news / bad news thing for them.  For the near future, fuel should be cheaper and if revenue stays about the same, they should be fine.  They’ll be hit by fuel hedge losses but they’ll recover some of that loss in better profits from running an airline. 

If, on the other hand, revenue declines, then airlines like United (and there are others) will suffer from both fuel hedge losses as well as a decline in profits.    I suspect most airlines of any size will weather that problem because it is unlikely that they are hedged at high prices for very far in the future.  Maybe a year to a year and half. 

For those of you wishing evil on Southwest Airlines, don’t.  They’ll largely be unaffected one way or another.  They might experience some slight fuel hedge losses (unlikely) but more likely they simply will make less money from fuel hedges and more from profit.   Their revenue is far less dependent upon the high priced business class fares and that means their demand is more inelastic than most airlines.  They might see a slight decline in leisure travel but I suspect that that will hold more or less as people who want to travel transition from a legacy carrier to an LCC such as Southwest.

We live in interesting times.  At least gasoline will be cheap for a while.

Filed under: Airline News by ajax
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