Travel&Vacation

The Department of Transportation (DOT) on Thursday released data for the first five months of 2008, showing the busiest U.S. airlines and airports for the period. A few highlights:Total TrafficThe number of people flying on U.S. carriers between January and May 2008 increased 0.1 percent, to 310.4 million, over the same period last year.Load FactorThe airlines’ collective load factor (the percentage of seats occupied) held steady at 78.4 percent. Busiest AirportsFor domestic flights, Atlanta boarded the most passengers during the period; Chicago O’Hare and Dallas/Ft. Worth were second and third. For international, it was Miami, followed by New York (JFK) and Atlanta. And overall, the ten busiest U.S. airports were Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas,
(Read the full post about ‘Southwest Is the Busiest U.S. Airline’…)

Doug Parker, CEO of US Airways, wants everyone to know that his airline will be around for the long term. As he told the editorial board of the Philadelphia Inquirer, “If there are other airlines whose strategies are based on US Airways going away, they’d better find a different strategy. We are going to be fine, and we are going to get through this. We can compete as well as anyone.” Take that, naysayers! It should be mentioned that airline executives have a history of reassuring the public of their airlines’ fundamental soundness—up until the very moment they file for bankruptcy protection or shut their doors forever. So Parker’s optimism must be taken in that context. Parker also put a predictably positive spin on his airline’s imposition of a raft of new and higher fees for all
(Read the full post about ‘The future of air travel: Fewer flights, higher prices’…)

Our airlines, once world leaders, are now laggards in every category, including fleet age, service quality and international reputation. Fewer and fewer flights are on time. Airport congestion has become a staple of late-night comedy shows. An ever higher percentage of bags are lost or misplaced. Last-minute seats are harder and harder to find. Passenger complaints have skyrocketed. Airline service, by any standard, has become unacceptable. That grim assessment of the current state of the U.S. airline industry was delivered on Tuesday by one of the travel industry’s most respected figures, Bob Crandall, retired chief of American Airlines. (The full text of the speech, delivered at a Wings Club luncheon, is here.) There are few who would argue with Crandall’s evaluation. But his
(Read the full post about ‘Former American Airlines CEO on the airline mess: “We can’t stand much more.”’…)

While it will go unnoticed by most, tomorrow marks the end of an era in U.S. commercial aviation. On Wednesday, May 21, Herb Kelleher, one of Southwest’s co-founders and its very public face for more than 30 years, will step down as the airline’s chairman. Since 1971, Kelleher has piloted the prototypical low-cost carrier through good times and bad, prospering through airline deregulation, recessions, crises related to fuel prices and terrorism, and so on. Dozens of other discount airlines have come and gone in that time. Many of them assumed that Southwest’s low-cost, point-to-point model was simple, and could be easily copied as a blueprint for success and profitability. They were proven wrong. Under Kelleher’s leadership, Southwest has grown to become one of the largest U.S. airlines,
(Read the full post about ‘Airline industry is set to lose a leading light’…)

Lurking beneath Southwest’s jokey, love-fest exterior beats the heart of a calculating predator. And its sustained profitability gives it the financial wherewithal to act on those killer business instincts. Denver will have a front row seat for the next episode of Southwest’s signature brand of self-effacing carnage, when the discounter launches new flights on August 4. In all, Southwest will be adding five new nonstop flights and three new destinations to its current Denver lineup, as follows: Two new daily nonstop round-trips between Denver and Sacramento One new daily nonstop round-trip between Denver and Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood One new daily nonstop round-trip between Denver and New Orleans One additional daily nonstop round-trip between Denver and Phoenix (for a total of seven)
(Read the full post about ‘Southwest, the Love airline, goes for the throat’…)

Never have so many been so unhappy with the state of the air travel industry. The traveling public. Congress. Airline employees. Investors. It’s impossible to think of a single interest group that doesn’t think the airline industry is in shambles. Blame it on Kahn. That’s Alfred Kahn, the economist appointed by Jimmy Carter in the 1970s to head up the Civil Aeronautics Board and oversee the transition of U.S. commercial aviation from a regulated to an unregulated system. The results of deregulation are all too apparent: delays, lost baggage, convoluted pricing, indifferent service, a rat’s nest of niggling fees, disappearing meals, and planes packed practically to overflowing. But the numbers are on Kahn’s side. More people are flying, and they’re flying for less. According to a USA
(Read the full post about ‘Air travel today: What Kahn hath wrought’…)

AskEd & AnswerEd

Given that airlines rank below even the IRS in customer satisfaction, it’s no surprise that you sometimes feel the urge to complain about treatment you received—or didn’t receive—from an airline. Many of you ask me about how to proceed. Although I’ve covered the complaint process in the past, some of you still aren’t asking the right questions. And if you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t get the right answers. Here are some tips that may help you focus your effort more effectively.

Don’t
expect a quick and easy resolution of your complaint, at least if you want something beyond a form-letter response.

Do
decide if your complaint is worth the effort it will take—which can be considerable—and if so, settle in for an extended
(Read the full post about ‘What to do when complaining to an airline’…)

Ed Perkins on Travel

Think airlines keep getting worse? You’re not alone: This year’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), just out, scores airlines below even the Internal Revenue Service. The average 2006 score for the airlines, at 63 on a scale of one to 100, is near the bottom of the survey’s range. Among the largest airlines, Southwest earns the highest score. Next comes the “other” category comprising the smaller lines at 75. At 69, Continental is the only other big line to score over the airline average. American, Northwest, and US Airways are closely bunched at an underwhelming 60 and 61, while Delta (59) and United (56) anchor the group’s dismal bottom end.

To set the airlines in perspective, the only industry segment to earn a lower overall score is “Cable and
(Read the full post about ‘Airline service: Bad, getting worse’…)