In other airline, hotel and travel industry news last week…

• The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics released 2011 full-year data for a variety of airline metrics last week. Among them are several positive results when compared to 2010 and previous years, including the best on-time results in a December for the past 17 years, a record low rate of mishandled bags and fewer flights where passengers were involuntarily denied boarding. Complaints, however, were up 3% likely due to airlines reducing capacity causing packed flights.
• United Airlines is selling a hotel it has owned for decades in Waikiki to an undisclosed buyer. The Waikiki Seaside Hotel has acted as a layover property for flight crews and a popular destination for United’s employees and retirees. Having previously worked very closely with Hawaiian hotels when I managed the Hawaii market of two vacation packaging companies, my best guess is it will become a low-to-mid range property in the Aston or Outrigger chain.
• The USA Today recently sat down with five top hotel executives discussing trends in the lodging industry. One of the hot topics discussed was internet access and whether or not to charge for the service. It’s definitely an ancillary fee many chains would hate to see end, but at the same time executives are aware of the demands from business travelers wanting it for free. Other items discussed were the new Room Key hotel search site, customer reviews, smartphone capabilities, increasing nightly rates and property refurbishments.
• InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will be overhauling the Crowne Plaza brand, as well as launch a new midscale brand in the United States and a five-star offering in China. The new brand names have not been disclosed and the company was quick to note the newest U.S. incarnation appearing in the next three years will result in “minimal cannibalization” to their current midscale offering, Holiday Inn. For Crowne Plaza, IHG plans to remarket the brand as an upper scale property through upgrades or having up to 41 properties leave the chain in the next two years.
• Air Australia, who rebranded from a primarily charter operation last November, met its death this past week. The airline suddenly went into “voluntary administration” (bankruptcy) on Friday, stranding thousands of passengers from Thailand to Honolulu. The airline bluntly released a statement saying, “It currently appears that there are no funds available to meet operational expenses so flights will be suspended immediately.”
• Hundreds of flights were canceled at Frankfurt Airport this past Thursday and Friday due to striking apron and runway workers. The airport’s operator, Fraport, claims it will lose approximately €5 million for every day workers strike. The union is demanding pay increases of up to 70%, for which Fraport deems ridiculous. Both parties are willing to return to the negotiating table, though further industrial action may occur this week.
• The “idiot airline traveler of the week” award goes to a man who tried to bring a loaded handgun through security at California’s Ontario International Airport. TSA officers and airport police arrested the man who claimed he forgot the weapon and additional ammunition were in his bag. He was cited and released, though was not allowed to fly to Phoenix as planned.
• Finally, many of my BoardingArea readers will thoroughly enjoy an article that appeared in the USA Today on Monday. It reviewed the recent oneworld MegaDo event where many mileage runners and “extreme fliers” participated in a multi-city (and country) behind-the-scenes experience. American Airlines and other oneworld alliance member airlines sponsored the event which allowed participants to meet with executives, ride in a flight simulator and slide down emergency evacuation slides at a flight attendant training center, among other things.

In other airline, hotel & travel industry news last week…

• An airline analyst predicts American Airlines could file bankruptcy in 2012. He points to the fact that American is “on track to lose $1.2 – $1.4 billion in 2011 and $1 – $1.3 billion in 2012.” The carrier’s cash position is also less than ideal and while I had a fantastic experience flying with them this year, I will not continue flying AA in part because of their financial situation and otherwise because I’m so close to million-miler status with United Airlines.
• Delta Air Lines is accelerating their addition of coach seats with extra pitch and revealed this week they will install their “Economy Comfort” seats on more than 800 aircraft by the summer of 2012. As is common in the industry today, those seats will be available for purchase to non-elite passengers for an additional fee between $19 and $99 depending on the flight distance.
• United Airlines has elected a new Air Line Pilots Association chairman as the carrier’s union representative. Jay Heppner will replace Wendy Morse in the position in January and he has been with United for 26 years & currently captains Boeing 777s. He states, “This election is not about our new contract (United & Continental).” He continues, “There are assuredly other issues that need to be resolved in parallel, but none so critical” as a joint contract.
• I previously reviewed Google’s Hotel Finder tool and they have now expanded it to include European cities. It’s a unique feature and allows you to search for hotels with the power of Google’s map capabilities. It still refers you to Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) to complete a hotel purchase with the option to visit the hotel’s own website. I’ll be monitoring how Google proceeds with this tool and their currently underwhelming Flight Search feature.
• Orbitz, another OTA, has been fined $60,000 for “failing to adequately disclose taxes and fees in certain airfare advertisements in early 2011.” The fine comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation who claims Orbitz had ads on their homepage that would only reveal full tax & fee information after clicking into an alternate page. Orbitz claims they have rectified the error and are currently in compliance.
• Looking for a job in the travel industry? Priceline is reportedly adding more than 500 call center positions in the U.S over the next five years. The new hires will work in the OTA’s call center in Michigan and primarily focus on Priceline’s Booking.com branch. Priceline currently employs 750 people in the U.S. and 2,650 overseas.
• Finally, there’s a bunch of articles from the past week about Lufthansa and Frankfurt Airport. Lufthansa will adopt the full-fare advertising requirement here in the U.S. on November 1^st, earlier than the required January 24, 2012 date. The carrier also claims the recent court ruling disallowing night flights at FRAport will cost the carrier “double digit million of euros.” The new rule bans flights at the airport from 11:00pm to 5:00am. On a more positive note for FRA, they’ve opened a new $1.05 billion fourth runway last Friday. Before Friday, the airport had two parallel main runways that couldn’t be used simultaneously given their proximity, so the new runway will ease congestion and delays.