The past 24 hours have been filled with some pretty unhappy landings. Earlier this morning in Ormond Beach, Florida, a small passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Interstate 95 after it inexplicably lost power. Southbound lanes on the highway had to be shut down to accommodate the plane just before noon.
And yesterday in Phoenix, a Southwest flight coming in from Austin, Texas caught fire on the runway at Sky Harbor Airport. All 127 passengers aboard the plane had to be evacuated after the back right landing gear burst into flames. A spokeswoman for Southwest said "another plane will be put into service as soon as possible." Good idea!
Sadly for all you pyros out there, this incident didn't result in any cool photos like the ones we saw after the infamous flaming JetBlue landing in 2005.
Bob Crandall may not work for American Airlines anymore, but he's still an industry guru and when he talks, people in the air travel business listen. This week, Crandall made a speech at a trade meeting suggesting that the answer to the airlines' recent spate of money troubles might be a return to government regulation. Oversight would likely be a death knell for the popular cut rate carriers like JetBlue and Southwest.
If, as Crandall proposes, the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 were to be reversed, carriers would have to charge fixed fares and reduce the total numbers of flights on individual routes. Regulation would reduce delays and eliminate the need for extra fees, all while improving customer service.
The plan clearly has its drawbacks, but it's hard to argue with Crandall's overall point that the industry's projected $6.1 billion loss this year proves that changes need to be made. Though government oversight might mean higher fares and fewer flights, at least we won't have to pay $2 for a Coke, right?
Now that American Airlines is pulling back flights to the Caribbean, JetBlue is expanding its service to Puerto Rico. The low cost carrier is spinning the new flights to San Juan as part of its "commitment to the island," but this is obviously a cutthroat business decision to get AA's newly abandoned customers.
Not that we have a problem with that. American is more than halving its service to San Juan, making it harder to get to PR, and if JetBlue didn't step in, airfares would likely soar.
B6 isn't the only carrier swooping in to pick up capacity given up by another carrier. Southwest is slowly taking over Denver International as Frontier circles the drain.
Every time Spirit releases one of its frat-tastic ads, it falls flatter than a joke about airline fees. Yet, Southwest Airlines has managed to create an edgy ad that tackles nickel-and-diming--and doesn't make us groan.
This full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal is just perfect, and it works hand-in-hand with a new URL: southwest.com/nofees. With so many airlines adding extra charges, a bit of attention-grabbing "#$*!%" is just what Southwest needs to remind jaded fliers that you won't get charged for checking a bag on the carrier. Nicely done.
This interesting photo from the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University just landed in our inbox. Seems when Southwest CEO Gary Kelly stopped in recently to share words of wisdom with OSU MBAs and aviation students, a familiar face was in the crowd. Says our tipster:
In the back row of the photo you can make out Bill Diffenderffer. Seems a little late for him to be learning how to run an airline.
A new survey has found that travelers in the US are pissed off: For the first quarter of 2008, the US airlines collectively earned a 62 percent approval rating, their lowest since the September 11 attacks shook up the airline industry back in 2001.
The results of this latest survey reflect widespread dissatisfaction among frequent fliers. The lead expert behind the numbers told Reuters that air travel in America is "getting worse" because a lack of flight options allows poor service. Some airlines received survey scores in the low 50s, which makes them less popular than the IRS. Then again, as Chris Elliott says, "you need a survey to tell you that?"
Forgive us if we haven't been breathlessly reporting all the latest merger gossip: All these rumors and anonymous sources have us more than skeptical. But since everyone seems to be involved in something these days, here's a cheat sheet for all the merger mania swirling in the industry:
Delta and Northwest: These two are getting together, pending approval from the US government. You can keep up on both carrier's plans at the pompously named newglobalairline.com. Oh, and before you believe the hype that nothing will change when they get together, Northwest CEO Doug Steenland just announced that, yes, they probably will be cutting some service.
Let us present you with Exhibit A, Figure 1: This is a snapshot of boarding passes that we printed out yesterday for our Southwest flight from Oakland to Los Angeles.
Our travel partner, Michael Z, was able to check us in at the same time, since we purchased the tickets together. However, Michael was given the seating group A 57 while we were given B 26. What the heck?
We know that the first 10 rows or so are reserved for Southwest's Business Select passengers who pony up around $15 extra to get in the A group. But those people aside, we always thought your seating group was based on the time that you checked in. (As in, a passenger checking in seven hours before a flight would have a better boarding assignment than a passenger checking in at the airport.)
Here's something that may secretly be in play: We fly way more than Michael Z, especially on Southwest. But he's been a member of Rapid Rewards longer than we have. So is boarding group based on frequent flier status? And is the new boarding process less democratic than we previously thought?
