Here we go again. Another day, another pilot behaving badly. A United Airlines pilot was arrested at Heathrow Airport earlier this week for allegedly having alcohol levels above the limit. Plain English: He was drinking. Something. What? I don't know. How much? I don't know. The alcohol blood limits for pilots flying a plane are quite a bit lower than they are for us to drive a car - with good reason. And to make it worse, this isn't an isolated incident.

The United pilot, Erwin Vermont Washington, is the third U.S. pilot arrested for being under the influence in just 13 months, according to The Associated Press. Instead of taking off with 124 passengers bound for Chicago, the pilot was arrested and will have to appear in British court on charges that could net him prison time. AP also reports than some 4,000 pilots have successfully completed an alcoholism-treatment program run by the Air Line Pilots Association and most returned to their jobs.

Here's an idea: what if all pilots had to take a Breathalyzer test before getting behind the controls in the cockpit? Would that make passengers feel more safe? Or is this just another alarmist tale that wrongly paints all pilots with a broad brush of injustice?

Associated Press Photo

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

My colleague Dave over at Read Street had an unsettling flight from Baltimore to Denver over the weekend. Apparently, he had to sit next to a friendly toddler who spilled a drink in his lap and eagerly shared all of his toys. This all happened while the books blogger was trying to catch up on some reading during a 4-hour flight. Kids and planes are a hot topic now - especially with holiday travel right around the corner.

 Reality Check Sarah wrote recently on Charm City Moms about taking her toddler on a flight to Portland, Oregon. (Let's just say it wasn't all smooth, but her son is so charming I'm sure the passengers didn't even notice the stains.)

Southwest has open seating so you can sit where you want - and Dave chose to sit next to adults, but didn't see they were with child until it was too late.  I've noticed that passengers with kids tend to take the seats at the front of the plane, mostly because they're boarding early and but also because who wants to walk past 20 rows with a screaming baby on your hip? I've never had a bad experience with a child on a plane. They often like to interact, but I'm OK with that as long as I don't end up with the baby in my lap. But I imagine if you're looking for a peaceful and quiet trip, you may be disappointed.

So, would it be a good idea for Southwest to reserve a section of the plane for adults or those ages 14 (arbitrary) and older? Or does Read Street Dave just need a good pair of noise-canceling headphones and water-resistant pants?

Associated Press Photo

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Airlines
        

Not that long ago, major airlines added a $10 surcharge if you were flying near the holidays.

According to this story from Associated Press' David Koenig, it just got more expensive. He writes:

"Several of the largest U.S. airlines have increased a surcharge for travel on the busiest travel days to $20 each way, up from $10. The surcharges apply to a large number of flights within the U.S. on more than a dozen peak days around holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Delta, American, United, US Airways and Northwest all boosted their surcharge on some routes, said Tom Parsons, who runs the discount travel site Bestfares.com."

Buy those tickets quickly before airlines raise the fee again. Or, maybe this is the year to call home for the holidays.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

Wanna go for $25 each way? Southwest has the deal for you - but only for the next 72 hours. The 4th Quarter Sale lets travelers book a flight of less than 375 miles one-way and pay just $25. For flights between 375 and 549 miles, the airfare is $50 each way; between 550 and 999 miles, it's $75 each way. Any trip of more than 1,000 miles is $100 each way.

Now, if this sounds familiar, that's because Southwest had a similar sale back in July. Then it was the $30-$60-$90 sale. Fares for the new sale are slightly cheaper, but, as you can guess, the distance you can go for $25 is also slightly less. The fares are available for travel Dec. 2-16 and Jan. 5-Feb. 10. Either way, $50 roundtrip flight is a bargain. (And travelers know it, too, since the Southwest site appears to be loading veerrrry slowly.)

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Airlines
        

Tomorrow AirTran is unveiling a new look on one of its planes that will have a familiar theme for Baltimore football fans. The "Ravens One" is to feature "custom aircraft livery" in Ravens colors. A purple plane? That's my guess. (And considering the weather forecast for Tuesday, could be a purple plane in the rain. But I digress.)

Baltimore's not first for the new football-themed look from AirTran. In late August, they unveiled an Atlanta Falcons jet (above). And I've read that the Indianapolis Colts are getting one too. (if they haven't already). AirTran is the official carrier of the Falcons, Ravens and Colts. I didn't know that, but now it all makes sense. A few years ago, US Airways painted on a Steelers-theme on one of its planes and they also have jets with Eagles, Cardinals and Panthers logos. (Wonder how the NY Jets feel about all this?)

But it's not just a flying football kind of thing. Southwest has been making art out of their fuselage for years - they were definitely the first to catch my attention with themes including Shamu, the SeaWorld star; 'Maryland One,' featuring the colors of the state flag; and then the top model theme earlier this year featuring the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Bar Rafaeli. And they have many others, too.

So AirTran's a little late from the gate, but they get credit for making tomorrow's unveiling as much about charity as it is about a change of paint. The airline will donate $10,000 to Franklin Square Hospital as part of the event. Green - it's my favorite color.

Our plane is prettier than your plane. Photo courtesy of AirTran.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Airlines
        

Did you hear the one about the pilots who totally overshot their destination by 150 miles and ended up at 37,000 feet above a totally different state? If not, it's a must read. And unfortunately it's no joke.

A Northwest Airlines plane headed to Minneapolis somehow missed the bright city lights and didn't realize it until they were in Wisconsin. Hello? Anybody there? I guess it's the equivalent of missing your exit - I've done that many times, but I'm not a professional chauffeur with 144 passengers in the back.

But one wonders what in the world those pilots were doing for nearly an hour while air traffic controllers and the flight attendants were trying to reach them? The pilots say they were having a heated debate about airline policy. A 60-minute discussion usually loses its heat after about, oh, 5 minutes.

Sleep apnea has been raised as a possibility. Hmm - both of them nodded off at the exact same time? Rick Seaney over at FareCompare.com wrote recently about how the FAA should and may consider allowing pilots to take a nap since FAA rules permit them to work up to 16 hours a day - but only 8 hours can be in the cockpit. What do you think? Do pilots need some down time up there? Or is napping a no-go for those in the air? Maybe there's more to this mishap than a bedtime story?

And did you hear the one about the Delta plane that landed on the taxiway instead of the runway? - the equivalent of going in through the out door. (That was a great album!)

Photo: The flight path of Northwest Flight 188 on Wednesday as released by FlightAware.com.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Airlines
        

I wrote today about how BWI Airport has seen an uptick in passengers in four out of the last six months because people are flying its discount airlines.

Thanks to economy, many people aren't traveling at all. But those who are taking trips are looking for the best price out there.

More than 63 percent of BWI's flights are with discount airlines Southwest, AirTran and JetBlue. If you do enough comparison shopping you can normally find a good deal.

Take our poll and let us know how you decide which airport to use.

Photo by Amy Davis at The Sun

Posted by Andrea Walker at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Airlines, Budgeting, Cheap/Frugal, Travel
        

JetBlue is adding another roundtrip flight between Boston and Baltimore in the spring, the airline announced Monday. This will mean JetBlue operates five roundtrip flights on the route beginning in March, which would be the same number as rival discount carrier Southwest except Southwest announced last week they were adding two Boston-bound flights in the spring. So they're staying just a step ahead of JB, which began offering the flights about the same time. Now, neither is ahead of AirTran, which has been flying to Boston for a lot longer and still offers nine daily nonstops - the most number of flights from BWI to Logan.

Spring flights on JetBlue and AirTran start at about $39 each way. Southwest starts at about $41 one-way.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

Southwest says thanks to the shift in seasons from winter to spring, they'll be able to fly an additional 18 flights from BWI-Marshall come spring. The airline today announced an additional 100 flights nationwide as they set their schedule through May 7, 2010. But, to be clear, the airline said the new flights are being created through time savings, not an expansion. A lot of the new flights are to Florida, but the airline is also adding two daily flights on the Baltimore to Boston route, where it competes with JetBlue and AirTran. Southwest also has a Winter Sale going on through Thursday with flights from Baltimore starting at $59.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

Here's an idea: a subscription for your luggage. United Airlines has a deal, for a limited time, called the "Premier Baggage" program. You pay a fee of $249 and then every time you - and up to 8 companions traveling under the same confirmation number - take a trip, your first two "standard" bags fly free. So, normally you would pay $20 to check a first bag at the airport and $30 for the second. That's $50 per leg of your trip, which means you would have to take six one-way trips or three roundtrip flights in a year (and check two bags) to make the premier plan work for a single traveler. Now, if you have a family of four, the plan will work out for you after just a single roundtrip flight. (You can even purchase the plan as a gift.) Right now, it's just United offering this deal but look for other airlines to do something similar. Except Southwest, where we know bags always fly free. Wheeeeee.

Baltimore Sun File Photo

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Airlines
        

The eagle-eyed folks over at FareCompare.com have spotted a surcharge surge by U.S. airlines. We noted a few weeks ago that some airlines had added a $10 fee for three dates of travel around the holidays: Nov. 29, Jan. 2 and 3. Now it seems there are an additional 10 days - peak travel times - where passengers will have to pay an extra 10 bucks to fly. Those new dates include the two days after Christmas, dates in March around the typical spring break season and Memorial Day.

What's interesting, too, is that no airline added the surcharge for 13 days. Instead, for example, American added it for 3 days and then US Airways added it for a different 6 days and then American Airlines added 4 more dates. Then they just matched each other's fees and spread the wealth, so to speak. Remember, the $10 surcharge is each way. And holiday airfares are already among the highest the airlines charge, so this just adds the cherry on top. For them.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

I'm not flying this Thanksgiving - I gave it up several years ago when an overbooked flight bumped me and my husband to another flight that ended up being re-routed to a nearby city - and then we had to take a bus to get to the family. No more, I said. And you may say the same, but probably won't mean it - Thanksgiving is a big draw for the travel industry and they know it -  when you hear the latest from some major U.S. airlines: they're tacking on a $10 surcharge for holiday travel. According to the Associated Press, American, United, USAirways and Delta are all adding the fee for Nov. 29, the Sunday after Thanksgiving and also Jan. 2 and 3. Continental has not added the surcharge and neither has Southwest. Not sure on AirTran and JetBlue.

I've said it before and will say it again - just raise your airfares. Don't nickel and dime me to death with all these fees. it makes it so much harder to do a fair comparison of fares. I'm sure they know that. Bah-humbug.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

Jet Blue is starting service from BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport to Boston today and to celebrate the inaugural flight, it is offering $9 flights to the city.

The flights can be bought until 11:59 p.m. today and are available for travel  Sept. 16 to Nov. 18. The fare is available for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Posted by Andrea Walker at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

While we're speaking of Southwest today, I would be remiss not to give brief mention to their parts scandal. If you haven't heard, the airline replaced some parts on its aircraft with other parts that were not FAA-approved. That doesn't mean they were bad parts, just means they didn't have the right paperwork, according to Southwest. But other experts say unapproved parts can be good parts or total crap made without any regulations.

Yesterday, the FAA said it would give Southwest until Dec. 24, to replace the unapproved parts with FAA-A-OK parts. They also said Boeing had looked over the replacement parts and determined that they wouldn't affect the safe operation of the aircraft, according to The Associated Press. The parts were on about 50 planes, which were grounded briefly last month when the FAA discovered the problem. The planes make up about 10-15% of Southwest's fleet.

Today, some folks are saying that perhaps the FAA and Southwest are a little too cozy. After all, the airline in March agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine for operating thousands of flights without doing required safety inspections for cracks in the fuselage. Now they're using unapproved parts. Maybe the FAA is using a "three strikes" tack? I know airlines are really up against it in this economy, but most passengers draw the line at safety. Fliers deserve to know that the FAA will keep airlines, even hugely influential ones like Southwest, from crossing that line.

Photo: Associated Press

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

Here's the good news: Bags still fly free on Southwest. The bad news: The airline has introduced a new "customer convenience" that may just symbolize the beginning of fee creep. But you be the judge. Here's the deal:

Beginning Thursday, Southwest passengers can pay an additional $10 - each way - to receive "EarlyBird Check-in." The new service reserves a boarding position for you prior to general check-in. You won't be first, though. Early birds will board the plane after Southwest Business Select customers and Rapid Rewards A-listers. You'll be able to check-in online within 36 hours of your flight, buying you an extra 12 hours. (But you'll still have to wait until 24 hours before your flight to print your boarding pass.)

"With EarlyBird Check-in, you no longer need to watch the clock or set your alarm to be one of the first Customers to check in for a Southwest flight. EarlyBird Customers can relax, and let us do the work for them," said Kevin Krone, Southwest's Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Distribution.

Hmm. Southwest says the early bird special won't guarantee you an "A" pass. Why not? Because what if everybody pays the $10 upgrade on your flight?  Could happen. Still, I say it's a fee for a service that was once a free and somewhat democratic process. Early bird catches the worm and all that. Now, I have to pay to be first. So tack on $20 to a basic roundtrip ticket. Of course, you don't have to pay. You can check your bag for free and enjoy the middle seat in Row 24. Still gets you there.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Airlines
        

Here's a new one: fly your fill for $599 with JetBlue's new offer. It's an All-You-Can-Jet pass which gives you, dear flier, unlimited air travel anywhere they fly between Sept. 8 and Oct. 8. That's 30 days of you flying high at $19.96 per day. (taxes included). The pass is on sale through Aug. 21.

JetBlue begins flights to Boston from BWI on Sept. 9. You can connect from BOS to Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Denver, New Orleans, Bermuda, San Juan, PR, and more. You can also fly from Dulles to a host of other destinations, including Florida and Jamaica. 

Once you decide on this course, you'll have to sign up for the TrueBlue loyalty program - frankly if you spend a month on a plane, you will have earned mad miles so you might as well join the club. There's a boatload of other rules and technicalities about booking your flights. The two most important in my mind being 1) you can only book one flight per city per day and 2) they won't tolerate "no shows" - you'll be charged a $100 fee and your pass will be suspended - you'll have to pay before you can book another flight.

All in all, sounds like a good deal if you've got time to jet. And you may want to get in on this offer early since JetBlue reserves the right to end it at any time. Although the travel is unlimited the number of passes is probably not.

AP Photo

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Airlines
        

I don't travel enough to be overly concerned about frequent flier miles - unless I earned them on Southwest, I typically don't even bother. But I know lots of people do and these people are among the most loyal of any airline's customers. That's why Delta and United are throwing them a bone. A tasty one at that.

United Airlines is dropping the $75-$100 fee they charge when you cash in your frequent flier miles to book a trip less than 21 days in advance. The airline announced the changes Monday and said it plans even more upgrades for its Mileage Plus level customers. An aviation consultant said the airline has near 500 billion outstanding miles as of Dec. 31 and may be motivated to reduce that liability on their balance sheets. Naaww. Something in it for them, too?

Delta Airlines today announced it's going with a rollover plan for SkyMiles Medallion frequent fliers. You know, like your cell phone. Any miles above a certain threshold would be carried over to the next year, making it easier to earn that status, according to The Associated Press. The airline is also creating an even more elite status within the elite: Diamond Medallion status is for customers who fly 125,000 elite miles per year. The New York Times points out that more people qualifying for elite status means more competition for upgrades.

And if that's not enough making good on customer service, Delta is bringing back its 'Red Coats" program - the group of roving agents in crimson jackets who offer instant help to passengers in need. The new army of Red Coats - now in place in New York and headed to Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Memphis, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Newark and beyond - will be able to print boarding passes and issue vouchers to airport clubs.

Photo by Associated Press

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

Anyone who has tried to pick up somebody from Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport knows it can be a pain.

Wait more than a few minutes outside the terminal and you’ll get flashed by the lights of a police car, or worse they’ll write you a ticket. The strict enforcement is because of federal guidelines associated with homeland security.

The airport used to give people a half hour of free parking in the hourly garage to make it a little easier. But as of a week ago, that grace period has been eliminated. You’ll now pay $2 each for the first two half hours and $4 per hour after that.

The airport needs to raise revenue in this tough economic climate, said airport spokesman Jonathan Dean. The parking change is expected to bring $500,000 annually in additional funds.

Dean notes there is still a cell phone lot where you can wait if you’re picking up passengers.

But is that enough? Tell us what you think about the changes in parking at the airport.

Posted by Andrea Walker at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Airlines, Cars, Travel
        

Continental is cutting some 1,700 jobs, according to the Associated Press, but that's not enough to keep the Houston-based airline afloat in this economy. They also need your hard cash - enough to raise $100 million in revenue by slapping passengers with extra fees. It's the way of the travel world now and not so surprising - some airlines are in big trouble. (Southwest posted a $54 million profit in the second quarter, but said the demand for travel was weak.)

If you fly Continental and check your bags at the airport, you'll now need to pay $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second, a $5 increase. The changes take effect for flights on or after Aug. 19. The airline also boosted the fee for booking a ticket over the phone to $20. So let your fingers do the talking. 

Continental also said more "revenue-raising measures" were to come. Can't wait. I'm bored with baggage fees. Surely, there must be more creative ways to pick our pockets. Here are some ideas: charge by the inch for the overhead bin space; charge passengers by weight including shoes; make the seat-back table - and the bathroom - require a swipe of your credit card. Any other ideas?

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Airlines
        

Pet Airways, the new airline that only allows pets on board, took its first flight from BWI Airport Tuesday. I have to admit that I don’t have a pet so I was a little skeptical about the idea. But there seemed to be plenty of people willing to pay a little money to ensure their pets travel as comfortably as they do.

The airline, which is serving 5 major cities initially, is booked for the first two months. And there were plenty of the furry friends flying from BWI yesterday, including a Bernese Mountain Dog and four cats.

So, is there a niche for this kind of business? Read what my colleague Jill Rosen had to say about Pet Airways on the unleashed blog.

(Photo courtesy of Associated Press)

Posted by Andrea Walker at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Airlines, Pets, Travel
        

OK, I get a lot of airfare sales in my inbox. I'm sure you do too. I don't even look at all of them, so I can't say this one is the best. But it's certainly one I haven't seen from Southwest before and the price is right.

Here's the deal: One-way fares are based on the distance you're traveling. Travel up to 400 miles is $30 each way. For example, BWI to Boston or New York. (Take that Megabus.com. Well, not really, but it's close.)  Travel between 400-650 miles is $60 = BWI to Fort Lauderdale or Milwaukee. Anything more than 750 miles is $90 = BWI to San Diego or Seattle.

You have to travel between Sept. 9 and Nov. 18. Great for a fall leaf-peeping trip. (I can't believe I said "leaf-peeping" and it's not even August yet. Groan.) Book now - sale only lasts 48 hours - through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Airlines
        

TV pitchman Billy Mays died Sunday at his home in Tampa after complaining to his family that he didn't feel well. The day before Mays was on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia that had a rough landing in Tampa. By rough I mean the the tires blew out and, according to passengers including Mays, items fell from the ceiling. Some passengers had bumps or bruises, but the airline said there were no serious injuries.

Mays said in an interview that something hit him in the head. He wasn't specific, but frequent fliers know how overcrowded the overhead bins can get. Getting them to close sometimes requires brute force. Still, Mays told a local TV station that he had a "hard head," so he probably didn't think too much about it. But then he didn't wake up the next morning. (Brings to mind Natasha Richardson.)

The infomercial celeb was 50 years old so there are many natural causes of death out there and an autopsy is scheduled. For the sake of the airlines, I hope his death had nothing to do with a head injury.

UPDATE: Autopsy results apparently show Mays died of heart disease. There was no head trauma. Whew.

AP Photo

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Airlines
        

Continental is cutting in half the number of seats (why not flights?) it's flying to Mexico, according to the Associated Press. The airline will fly smaller planes, while maintaining at least some flights to the 29 cities it currently serves.

I don't know how, but I overlooked Continental in my previous post. Here's their policy for rescheduling or rebooking trips to Mexico: As of today, Continental has extended its waiver to allow passengers to reschedule without penalty by the end of the month. Rescheduled flights to the same city will not require additional fare if booked in the same class. If your flight has been cancelled, you can request a refund. Or the value of your ticket also can go towards another flight. And passengers have a year from the issue date of the original reservation to complete their travel. 

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Airlines
        

Today and for the next three days, Southwest has an ongoing "Mystery Sale." Oooh. Each day, the airline unveils one destination where travelers can save 50% off "Wanna Get Away" fares. Not a bad deal, if it's someplace you wanna go.

Today's location is Philadelphia (use code LUVPHL to book the discounted flights) - not exactly a big draw for Baltimore travelers - but the sale continues through the weekend.

Southwest flies to 65 destinations and I'm hoping for a little mystery in California, LAX or SFO.

Here are the dings: Gotta travel May 1 -June 10. Seats are limited. Blackout dates apply May 21-25. And you have to purchase roundtrip tickets, but you can fly any day of the week.

Now, there's no mystery left except where we're going.

Photo by Associated Press

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

Is United putting the squeeze on some passengers? Only if the passenger is: 1) Unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin 2) unable to properly buckle the seat belt using a single seat-belt extender and/or 3) unable to put the seat's armrests down when seated If any of those apply - count on paying for an extra seat. And, sorry, but that doesn't mean you get an extra carry-on bag. It's one bag per passenger, not per ticket. Plus, you're carrying on enough already, according to United.

Still, they're not the first to tack on the hefty fee for overweight passengers. Southwest and American have been doing it for a few years. The difference is that those airlines try to work it out by reseating passengers next to an empty seat if the flight isn't full. Sounds like United may be pretty strict about their new rule, though. What do you think?

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Airlines
        

Whatever was going on with Southwest's pricing for their new flights from BWI Marshall to LaGuardia - and there was a ghost in the machine - has been fixed.

After receiving a comment from reader Jean, a dedicated Southwest fan, I went back to their Web site moments ago and tried again. This time, the $49 fares magically appeared for both inbound and outbound flights. And for lots of dates in July and August. I used the exact same dates from before - July 28 and 29 - and got a roundtrip flight for $119.20. Sweet. And such a deal.

So to all you Southwest lovers - I love them too, actually - their halo is once again shining brightly. Though I was worried there for a minute. Must have been a glitch in the system.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

No, not Long Island. Closer. Beginning June 28, Southwest is putting to use those former ATA slots at La Guardia that they paid more than $7 million for and opening up flights from Baltimore to New York and Chicago to New York. According to the Washington Post, Southwest will offer three daily nonstop flights for $49 one-way in a bid to gain more business travelers.

Just doing the math reveals the potential for packed planes. Roundtrip on the Acela, a popular mode of travel from Washington or Baltimore to NYC, is upwards of $200, typically. So for $100 plus tax, you can get there for half the cost and in half the time, minus the inevitable flight delays. Now you also have to add 30 minutes for the $20-25 cab ride into the city, whereas Amtrak drops you off in Midtown. (If you travel light, I think MTA buses also serve LGA, with transfers to the subway.)

Maybe it's a case of the tortoise and the hare, but either way, Baltimore travelers have another option on the table for the Big Apple. Bus, train or plane - take your pick.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 5:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

If you haven't seen the latest customer service study, airlines in 2008 gave their best performance in four years, according to researchers who analyzed Transportation Department statistics to come up with the annual Airline Quality ratings. Surprised? I was. But then I kept reading to the part where it says the 2007 ratings were the worst in a decade, so essentially - compared with last year - the airlines had no place to go except up.

Passenger complaints dropped from 1.42 per 100,000 in 2007 to 1.15 in 2008. Airlines did a better job of handling luggage, getting you there on time and also making sure you had a seat (less bumping). Good for them, but there's still room for improvement - I'm talking about you, American Eagle, losing nearly 10 bags per 1,000 fliers, the worst of any airline. And only three airlines were on-time more than 80 percent of the time - and just barely.

So, congratulations to Hawaiian, AirTran, JetBlue, Northwest and Alaska - the top 5 airlines in the study. Now back to work.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

It’s another airfare wars Tuesday and airlines are nearing the frenzy point, so if you plan to jet this summer – I can’t imagine the fares getting a whole lot better. (And if they do, see this post.) Southwest has flights starting at $49 each way from BWI to Albany, Buffalo, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit, Hartford, Long Island, Manchester, Norfolk, Providence and Raleigh. Flights to Florida start at $69 each way. And $99 each way to the West Coast. All for travel through mid-August. Book by April 6 because if you don’t they’ll just drop another sale.

AirTran’s sale is through April 9 with flights from BWI starting at $49 for – you guessed it – Burlington. Their flights to California are priced at $129 each way, about $30 more than Southwest. Just sayin. But the airfare prices are good for travel through Oct. 30 – scary, right? JetBlue is in the fray too with one-way airfare starting at $39 each way from Dulles (IAD). Other airlines like United and American are probably matching on some routes, also. Whew.

Posted by Michelle Deal-Zimmerman at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

Southwest Airlines was fined $10.2 million for safety violations by the Federal Aviation Administration last year, but that's not what the company will be ultimately paying for missing inspections.

Officials said last March that 46 planes had gone into the air for nearly 60,000 flights in 2006 and 2007 without safety inspections for potentially dangerous cracks in the fuselage.

Southwest said that the lapse stemmed from overlapping maintenance schedules that overlooked some parts. The company stated then that it completed the inspections less than two weeks later.

The fines were the largest ever levied against an airline. 

Now, about a year later ...

Continue reading "Southwest Airlines safety violations: a Naughty Business update" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Cheap/Frugal, Naughty businesses/NBotW, Travel
        

Can airlines be so desperate for revenue that they will charge you to use the toilet during a flight? That certainly would cut down on the demand by travelers for free softdrinks.

Read this report from Shawn Pogatchnik of the Associated Press:

DUBLIN (AP) — Is a bathroom an optional extra when you’re at 30,000 feet? Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary seems to think so — as his no-frills airline contemplates charging customers to use its aircrafts’ toilets.

O’Leary whipped up a frenzy of indignation and potty humor Friday as he suggested that future Ryanair passengers might be obliged to insert a British pound coin before they gain access to in-flight relief. As always, O’Leary suggested a separate toilet fee would lower ticket costs and make flying, somehow, easier for all.

Nobody, even his own aides, seemed to be sure if he was serious or pursuing his well-documented penchant for making brazen declarations to win free advertising.

“One thing we have looked at in the past, and are looking at again, is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door, so that people might have to actually spend a pound to ‘spend a penny’ in future,” O’Leary said, using a local euphemism for relieving one’s self.

When asked, during an interview on BBC Television, what would happen if a customer really had to go, but didn’t have the correct change, O’Leary dismissed the scenario as implausible. This even though Ireland and most of Europe uses euros, not the British currency, and even on-board attendants often find themselves without the correct change.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in history gone on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound,” he said.

Politicians and analysts agreed that the man who pioneered charging airline customers to check bags, to use a check-in desk, and even to use a credit or debit card to make an on-line booking just might be serious about mile-high toilet extortion, too.

Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners in London, cautioned consumers that O’Leary might be attempting two for the price of one: Free publicity backed by cut-throat reality.

“This begs a simple question retort of: Is there absolutely nothing that this airline won’t do? Not really, so if you are thinking about flying cattle-class Ryanair in future, beware,” he said.

O’Leary’s own chief spokesman, Stephen McNamara, said his boss often spoke tongue in cheek — but then defended the idea of charging for a toilet as part of a logical trend.

 “Michael makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along and, while this has been discussed internally, there are no immediate plans to introduce it,” McNamara said, adding, “Passengers using train and bus stations are already accustomed to paying to use the toilet, so why not on airplanes? Not everyone uses the toilet on board one of our flights, but those that do could help to reduce airfares for all passengers.”

Rochelle Turner, head of research at British consumer rights magazine Which? Holiday, said Ryanair had a well-documented practice of “putting profit before the comfort of its customers” — but this one could backfire.

 “Charging people to go to the toilet might result in fewer people buying overpriced drinks on board. That would serve Ryanair right,” she said.

Tommy Broughan, transport spokesman for Ireland’s Labour Party, said the toilet-charge idea had to be taken seriously. He noted that Ryanair last month began threatening customers with euro30 fines if they tried to carry on board a second bag regardless of size — even one filled with a just-purchased item from the airport’s duty-free shops.

“When Ryanair introduced this euro30 extra duty-free charge, many passengers joked that next they would be charged for using the toilet — not realizing that this indeed seems to be the newest extra charge on Ryanair’s agenda,” Broughan said.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines
        

If you're already cheesed off about all the extra charges you encounter when flying these days, how ticked off would you be if you found out you got charged extra for checking an "overweight" bag because the airline's scale was inaccurate? The Today Show had an interesting segment yesterday about all the inaccurate airline scales they spotted at four different airports.

So many people are in a rush when they're at the airport so how many would actually notice that a scale is off? Most people just lug their bags in, plop it on the scale, show their ID and rush off to wait in the security line. Would you notice if the scale didn't start at zero? I can't say for sure that I would.

Continue reading "Paying for an overweight bag? Is that Airline Scale Accurate? " »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Airlines, Complaints, Consumer protection, Naughty businesses/NBotW
        

Better pack lightly for your holiday travel on Delta Airlines, folks --- and ship the cranberry sauce ahead of time.

Travelers will now pay a bag-check fee for the first as well as any additional luggage they tote with them. 

The new policy is what Northwest Airlines, which Delta bought last week, already has in place. 

In a press release, Delta also announced it would no longer levy fuel surcharges for trips earned with  frequent flyer miles or administrative fees for using skycap services.

Of course, they *will* be charging $15 for the first bag as well as $25 for a second, for travel on or after Dec. 5.

If you've bought a Delta ticket before today (Nov. 5) for travel before Dec. 5, you'll only have to pay ...

Continue reading "Delta charges fees for first checked bag" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Airlines, Cheap/Frugal, Travel
        

Not to step on any toes over at What's the Deal, the travel blog run by my very good colleague Michelle, but I thought we would share with you news on how other airlines performed in the Department of Transportation's most recent consumer report on air travel.

Michelle already told you that BWI's on-time performance was almost tops in performance in May, saying, it was "the second-best airport for flight on-time arrival performance in May, second only to Salt Lake City. Nearly 87 percent of planes arriving at BWI were on schedule. On-time departures were not quite as high, about 86 percent, but still good enough to rank the airport in the Top 5."

That's good news for BWI. But if you're anything like me, I know you're wondering who was lousy and which airlines performed the worst. (Heh. I'm all about spreading the joy, aren't I?)

Continue reading "U.S. airline on-time performance improved in May" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Travel
        

Yesterday, the California Assembly passed legislation "requiring airlines to provide passengers with food, water, lights, air and working toilets when they're stuck on airport tarmacs for long periods of time," so says the San Jose Merc News.

The bill passed with a 54-16 vote. It now goes to the California Senate.

A big issue still being argued is whether the state even has the authority to regulate airlines since a very similar law  passed in New York was struck down by an appeals court in March.

At the time, we told you the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier. The court also said that only the feds can pass such a law.

Continue reading "Round 2: Airline Passenger Bill of Rights passes again" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Airlines, Consumer protection, Travel
        

Welcome to my good colleague, Michelle Deal, and her new travel blog that just launched today, "What's The Deal."

Do check her out. Lord knows there's plenty to discuss and complain about when it comes to traveling.

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Travel
        

See how happy that couple looks about flying? Yea, not so much, right? That's because they're some of the very misfortunate thousands of people who missed their flights recently when American Airlines had to cancel more than 2,500 flights. Egads. What a headache.

Well, to try to improve the flight experience (for some reason, I kept chuckling while I was typing that line), U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced today a number of measures to strengthen passenger protections, improve consumer choice, reduce congestion, establish operational improvements to cut delays this summer and double the limits on compensation airlines must pay flyers bumped from oversold flights.

Under the new bumping rule, which goes into effect next month,

Continue reading "Flyers: Get paid more when you're bumped" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Travel
        

I can't tell you how glad I am to be home. It's not that I didn't love Barcelona or wish I could have stayed over there for another week. It's just that the thought of sitting at airports and waiting and waiting because of delay after delay was really wearing on me.

We were supposed to fly out of BWI on April 1 at 2 p.m. They delayed our flight four times that day so that by the time we caught a 6:30 p.m. flight out to JFK , we missed our connecting flight to Spain.

Worse, we couldn't find anyone who could give us a straight answer about why so many flights were delayed, especially since the skies in Baltimore were clear as day. We knew and the gate attendants knew we were going to miss our connecting flight, but when we got up to JFK, not one person there knew what to do with our big group of people.

I'm not saying that we wanted to be waited on hand and foot, but it would have been nice if we had gotten a straight answer from someone at Delta, the airline we were flying. Instead, we were sent to Air France, a partner airline with instructions that Air France would accommodate us. When we got to Air France's check-in, they had no knowledge of us or our group at all. So they sent some of us back to Delta. For a couple hours there, our group kept wandering back and forth trying to find someone who would help us.

It was maddening.

Continue reading "Flying the Not-So-Friendly Skies" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 8:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Travel
        

A federal appeals court struck down a New York state law yesterday that requires airlines to give food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck in delayed planes. The reason? The measure -- the first of its kind in the country giving passengers a bill of rights --stepped on the Fed's toes.

According to the AP story, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier. The court also said that only the feds can pass such a law. The New York measure was challenged by the Air Transport Association of America, the industry trade group representing leading U.S. airlines. Allowing the law to stand, as ATA argued and the court agreed with, would allow each state to come up with a confusing "patchwork" of rules governing airlines.

Continue reading "Airline passengers' bill of rights goes down the tubes" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 7:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Airlines, Travel
        

So Southwest grounded 41 planes after admitting that it missed required inspections of some planes for structural cracks. Southwest puts three employees on leave. As a result of the missed inspections and safety violations, the Federal Aviation Adminstration fines the Houston company a $10.2 million civil penalty for continuing to fly nearly 50 planes after the airline admits to this very serious infraction. And now, Southwest says it will appeal the decision.

I understand they don't want to pay such a huge fine, but am I missing something here? The airline flew a lot of planes they shouldn't have, yes? They put a lot of flyers in possible danger, yes? They've owned up to the violation, yes? So shouldn't they suck it up and pay the fine?

Continue reading "41 Southwest planes grounded" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Consumer protection, Travel
        

Southwest Airlines LUVs pretty people, but the Texas airline does not like rude, aggressive loudmouths -- regardless of how pretty some young women might think they are.

If you haven't heard, two 18-year-old women claimed that Southwest treated them rudely on a Feb. 14 flight from Tampa to Los Angeles and then banned them from future flights because they're too pretty. Click on that link to check out a photo of the young ladies.

I was sort of inclined to believe their story since this is the same airline that ended up apologizing to a passenger in October because they forced him to change out of a sexually suggestive T-shirt or risk getting thrown off the plane. The shirt used a sexual double entendre to promote a fictional fishing tackle shop that carried the words, "Master Baiter." And, this is the same airline that last July, had to apologize to a San Diego college student after an employee objected to her denim miniskirt and summer sweater over a tank top. The passenger was allowed to fly after agreeing to alter her outfit.

It would be easy to lump this third incident in with the other two, especially since Southwest's clothes police seem to have too much time on their hands. (By the way, the free-wheeling, cheery airline doesn't even have a dress policy).

But, Southwest wants to set the record straight by saying that the women in the February incident were NOT acting like ladies at all. In a statement the airline released yesterday about the incident, Southwest said:

Continue reading "Too beautiful for this Southwest flight?" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Airlines, Travel
        

If you're one of those people stubbornly avoiding e-tickets when you fly, brace yourself because come June 1, you'll have to say adios to paper tickets for good!

When the International Air Transport Association announced about four years ago that it would phase out paper tickets, only 18 percent of flyers world-wide were using electronic tickets. These days, e-ticket users make up 93 percent of flyers.

That's quite a transformation.

Airlines want to make the switch because, according to this Herald Tribune story, "Replacing paper tickets, and the elaborate global system that processed them, with electronic ticketing will save airlines $3 billion annually on the roughly 400 million tickets sold outside of the United States alone."

In the U.S., the move to e-tickets has been even more rapid.

Continue reading "Bye Bye Paper Tickets" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Technology, Travel
        

If you're a notoriously bad baggage packer when it comes to flying, get ready to pay more to bring more. According to this AP story about United Airlines, the carrier said today that it will start charging domestic passengers $25 to check in a second piece of luggage if they are not part of its most-frequent-flier programs.

The change, which applies to tickets purchased on or after Monday for travel starting on May 5, is expected to generate more than $100 million in revenue, United says.

You know, I can understand passing along a surcharge for the rising cost of fuel. I can even almost understand charging us more to check more bags since it would prevent an over-packer from bringing along ten gigantic bags, I guess. But recently, I bought tickets on AirTran to fly to Florida and was fairly annoyed to remember that most airlines are now charging us money to pick your seat ahead of time. If that isn't nickel and diming fliers, I don't know what is.

Continue reading "Too much baggage blues" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Airlines, Complaints, Travel
        

Do you hate flying? Do you love to vent? Do you want to share your angry thoughts about flying with someone who cares?

Well, don't do it here! We don't care!

Heh. Just kidding! We do care. We really, really do. We just don't have any power to do anything to help.

But check out the Transportation Security Administration's new blog, the evolution of security. Bob, Ethel, Jay, Chance and Jim want to hear what you have to say about liquids, shoes, and nail clippers.

There are some interesting comments to read, like this one:

I just want to report a potential security risk. On a flight last year, my mom was able to get on the wrong plane! She only discovered it when another passenger said she was in her seat. A flight attendant then looked at my mom's boarding stub and realized my mom's mistake.

But don't they scan the boarding passes to prevent people from boarding who don't belong there? And to keep track of who got on and who didn't? If my mom was a terrorist, then she could've left a bag or something on the plane before being removed!

It's things like this that make we wonder how secure we really are when flying.

And there are funny ones like this one, too:

Continue reading "Tell the TSA how you really feel about flying" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Complaints, Travel
        

In this job of mine, I get to hear a lot about bad businesses. I hear story after story about businesses that failed to fix things once a problem was pointed out to them. I am often drowning in stories about thoughtless, rude, inexplicable behavior from businesses toward their customers. So it's really nice to hear something nice about a business once in awhile.

Bargain Hunter Jerry must have known I needed an end-of-the-year pick-me-up because he shared this story with me:

Having an email provider that stores all my emails paid off today. Back in September, I booked flights for my mother during Southwest Airlines' buy-two-get-one-free promotion offering a free ticket to Rapid Rewards members for booking and completing two flights between qualifying cities before Nov. 15th. I managed to get her tickets between St. Louis and Baltimore and Kansas City and Tucson for just over $300 total, not shabby considering she was also getting a free ticket out of the deal.

Continue reading "Southwest owns up to mistake" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Complaints, How To, Jerry's Gems, Travel
        

(photo courtesy of Gus Sentementes)

Hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving with family and loved ones! I ate way too much and had trouble budging so forgive me for not posting until now.

Here's an idea next time you've got a hankering to travel over the holidays, but would rather have your wisdom teeth pulled before you deal with all the hassles of flying. Good Shopper Gus and his wife flew out Thanksgiving day. Here's his report:

We left baltimore at about 440am and arrived at the airport shortly before 5 a.m. Here is a photo of a bus at BWI at 5:10 am. at the Daily garage. It was packed with people. But there were still hundreds of parking spots at the garage. Only the ESP lot at the airport was full; the long term and daily lots were open.

We arrived at the AirTran desk and we waited in line for two minutes. No delay.

Continue reading "Migraine free and fast flying on Thanksgiving" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines, Travel
        

I'm a lucky girl during the holidays. Why?

1. My little Vietnamese mother makes a mean bird for Thanksgiving.

2. I don't have to fly anywhere to fill up my belly or visit family.

Good thing since Expedia.com is already warning flyers to avoid Boston, Chicago-O'Hare, Detroit, New York (JFK and La Guardia), Newark and Philly -- the top airports for arrival delays in Nov. and Dec. 2006. The Air Travelers Association is also warning passengers "to prepare for the worst." Bring food, beverages and something to read in case you get stranded (some aspirin might be useful, too!).

There is hope, according to the story on...

Continue reading "Flying the @#$*%! skies this holiday" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Airlines