As I’m sure many of you did, I received an email from American today offering up to 20,000 bonus AAdvantage miles for flying Qantas-operated flights to Australia. Flights booked as American Airlines codeshares apply.

Registration is required using offer code QF20K at this link and the travel period is from April 19 through June 30, 2012. Sadly, tickets purchased prior to today’s announcement for travel during the promo period are excluded from this offer. Bonus miles accrued for roundtrip travel are as follows:

Economy fare buckets N and Q are excluded from this promotion.

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

• United Airlines will begin new nonstop service from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to San Francisco on August 15. North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue broke the news on Wednesday. United will operate a 154-seat Boeing 737-800 on the route and the flight will be timed to allow for connections to the popular international bank of departures leaving in the 11 o’clock hour from SFO.
• Sacramento International Airport is trying to court Virgin America. The airport received approval from the county to offer VX up to $400,000 to begin flights to Los Angeles. Also in the works for the debt-ridden airport are deals for two new airport hotels by 2014.
• Allegiant Airlines officially announced new service to Hawaii. The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 757s last year that it will use on the route, but they have yet to receive FAA certification. Allegiant plans to operate flights to Honolulu three times weekly from Las Vegas and one flight each week from Fresno. The planned service is scheduled to begin at the end of June.
• Free Wi-Fi will be coming to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in September this year. DFW reached an agreement with AT&T to offer the service in every terminal and passengers will have to view a 30-second commercial for every 40 minutes of network usage.
• The Qantas A380 that suffered an uncontained engine failure near Singapore last year will return to service later this month. Final testing is underway and the total cost of repairs came to about $143 million. The airline claims the entire cost is covered by insurance and represents more than a third of the current $389.9 million list price for a new A380.
• Hilton Hotels & Resorts will be shifting 447 properties up or down a category level on April 30. 330 hotels are going up a level while 117 are being downgraded. The full list of properties affected can be found here.
• Hong Kong International Airport will be getting the world’s first airport IMAX theatre in June. It will replace the former 4D Extreme Screen in Terminal 2 and is located before security. A mix of Hollywood movies and “edutainment” films will air in the 358-seat cinema at a cost of about $20 per ticket.
• Finally, my air-traveling idiot of the week goes to a woman who stripped naked at Denver International Airport on Tuesday. She was apparently smoking inside the terminal and decided to take her clothes off after being asked to put her cigarette out. An airport police spokesman said she wasn’t arrested, but instead taken to a hospital for evaluation.

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

• United Airlines shifted its Washington Dulles to Buenos Aires flight over to Newark on Friday. They didn’t totally Continental it up, though, as they’re using a legacy United 3-cabin 767 on the route. The airline is also ending service to Accra and Copenhagen later this year, according to Airline Route. Washington Dulles to Accra ends July 3 and Newark to Copenhagen terminates on September 26.
• US Airways has completed conversion of 14 of its 16 Airbus A330 aircraft with the new Envoy Class and is expected to get the remaining two birds completed by the end of summer. The seats are actually pretty darn nice looking and setup in a reverse herringbone 1 x 2 x 1 configuration. The airline was also awarded the “2012 MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) of the Year” award last week by Aviation Week and Overhaul & Maintenance magazine.
• Virgin America officially launched service to Philadelphia last Wednesday from Los Angeles and will begin San Francisco-Philly service tomorrow. Sir Richard Branson greeted the first arrival at PHL and hosted a “tailgate on the tarmac” party with a bunch of invited guests. Later that night, the official launch party was held at Hotel Palomar downtown and based on some Twitter reports, it sounded like a fantastic time.
• Allegiant Air began charging passengers with new reservations from last Wednesday for large carry-ons, joining Spirit Airlines in charging for the privilege to use the overhead bins. One bag is still free, but it must fit underneath the seat. You can get a discount on the $35 fee if you book the space in advance online.
• Southwest Airlines shifted some the flying it took over from AirTran in Atlanta back to the carrier, including flights to Los Angeles, Chicago Midway, Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas. A combination of IT issues and route optimization appear to be the reason. A Southwest spokesman said, “In some cases, until we get to a point a little bit further down the road, it makes sense to transfer some of that flying from Southwest to AirTran.”
• Starwood Hotels will open a dual-branded ski resort complex in China later this year. Both a 257-room Westin and 296-room Sheraton are opening in August next to the slopes of the Changbai Mountains.
• My “air traveling idiot of the week” award goes to a man who tried to smuggle a knife through security in a jar of mayonnaise. What? Yes, that’s correct. He was flying from New York’s Kennedy airport to Mexico City when the banned items were found and confiscated during routine screening. Amazingly, he was still allowed to catch his flight.

Finally, here are some other noteworthy items from last week:

• A TSA screener throws coffee on a pilot at JFK.
• A Delta Air Lines flight attendant was removed from a flight for irregular behavior.
• Alaska Airlines will begin testing a nextgen ATC system at SEA in June.
• Qantas’ stranded A380 in Singapore will return to service in May.

Knowing I collect airline memorabilia, one of my readers contacted me last week and asked if I might like a piece of her family’s history – two certificates issued to her recently departed grandmother bestowing “Freeman of the Air” rights for crossing the equator.

My reader’s grandmother, originally from Australia, was married to a U.S. Navy man and living here in the United States, but needed to return to Australia to visit with her dying father. She flew British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines in December of 1952 and was issued the following certificate commemorating her first crossing of the equator by air.

It’s truly an incredible piece of aviation history and a reminder of just how much the industry I love has changed to one where such a crossing today has become so very commonplace without pomp and circumstance. My reader’s grandmother returned to Australia on another trip in 1978 flying Qantas and received a similar certificate.

I’m so very appreciative and thrilled to add these to my collection and thought some of you would be equally interested to see a piece of an era long since passed.

P.S. If there are any Boeing historians out there who have a deep insight about the original design process and development of the 747 (particularly of the team working on it), please shoot me an email as my reader is looking for information about her grandfather’s role on that team.

In other airline industry news this week…

• Delta Air Lines announced this week new interiors featuring lie-flat seats in BusinessElite and “slim line” seats with individual entertainment units as well as an Economy Comfort section in coach will be seen on all 747-400 aircraft by October 2012. A total of 48 seats will occupy the BusinessElite cabin in an angled herringbone configuration allowing aisle access from every seat. The Economy Comfort section will seat 42 passengers and offers up to four inches of additional legroom and 50 percent more recline than standard economy seating.
• A handful of original People Express executives announced the return of a rebranded PeoplExpress carrier on Monday. The new airline will be based at the Newport News-Williamsburg Airport in Virginia and expects to begin service this summer to Newark, Pittsburgh, Providence and West Palm Beach. COO Mike Morisi said service will be operated with single-cabin Boeing 737-400s and fares will be at a “pricing structure that is significantly more affordable than regional service provided by feeder airlines.”
• American Airlines posted a $1.1 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2011, accounting for half of the airline’s $2 billion loss for the full year. Executives mentioned much of the quarter’s loss stemmed from one-time charges attributed to reorganizing the company in bankruptcy. Jet fuel prices were also a factor and American paid an average of $3.01/gallon in 2011 versus $2.32 in 2010. The carrier expects to slash 13,000 jobs this year and is being very closely monitored by both Delta and US Airways for a possible acquisition.
• United Airlines this week confirmed it will adopt Continental’s “PetSafe” policy for transporting animals who don’t travel in the passenger cabin effective March 3. According to a company spokesperson, the rates aren’t significantly higher than the now current fees for checking an animal, with the exception of Japan whose government requires an extra fee be paid to a third-party handler. This change has many military families outraged as what cost some $130 when moving to Japan with their pet will now be in the $1,400 range under the new policy. PetSafe has been praised by pet transport professionals for taking exceptional care of animals in their care.
• Speaking of pets traveling in the cargo hold, more pets died on Delta Air Lines last year than any other carrier – 19 out of the total 35 reported deaths. Delta claims less than 0.2 percent of pets carried were injured or died while in its care and noted its size as the country’s largest carrier in terms of passengers carried often means it transports more pets than other airlines. Delta did institute changes to its policy and now bans certain types of dogs that are prone to respiratory problems. The Humane Society of the United States advises owners should not transport pets by air “unless absolutely necessary.”
• Low-fare carrier Spirit Airlines will resume service out of Denver this May. Daily nonstops to Chicago, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale and Las Vegas will commence on May 3 and enable passengers to connect to an additional 29 cities in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America. Denver is a hub for United, Frontier and (effectively based on passenger volume) Southwest. While I’ve noticed United tends not to match Spirit’s fares, it remains to be seen what impact Spirit’s entry will have on Southwest and Frontier fares.

Finally, here are some Quick Hits:

• Regional carrier SkyWest posted its first annual loss since 1988.
• Qantas is discontinuing LAX-Auckland flights, pointing to higher Air New Zealand fares on the route.
• Spirit Airlines intends to increase capacity by 23% in 2012 vs. 2011.
• Southwest Airlines officially launches service in Atlanta.

In other airline and travel industry news last week…

• United Airlines reported its January 2012 operational performance and enjoyed another month of increased consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) – up 8.5 to 9.5 percent. On-time performance and the number of flights successfully completed also grew about 1.1 percentage points from a year prior to 82.2% and 98.9%, respectively.
• Staying with January performance figures, Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) saw its strongest January in air ticket sales since 2001, realizing a 10.7% increase from 2011 and a 22.3% gain over 2010. ARC acts as a clearinghouse between travel agencies, airlines, and other companies that sell airline tickets to ensure funds are settled as expected. Adding to the good news was the fact that total transactions were up 3.2% vs. declining transaction figures the entire previous year.
• The TSA announced they will significantly expand the PreCheck trusted traveler program to include more than 15 new airports in the near future. The program is currently limited to select frequent flyers flying out of Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Minneapolis. American and Delta were the launch airlines, but the program has since expanded to other carriers. I’m hoping to soon receive notice from United that they’ll be participating at my home airport, LAX.
• Airport administrators across the country have a love-hate relationship with the newly passed long-term FAA funding reauthorization bill. While they are happy with the stability it brings, many airports are balking since the bill didn’t include an increase to passenger facility charges (PFCs), the funds they use for airport improvements. The current cap is $4.50 per flight segment, originally set in 2000, and they feel it no longer covers the increases seen in construction costs during the last decade.
• Alaska Airlines announced two new nonstops from their Seattle hub this week. Beginning June 11, they will launch daily service from Sea-Tac to Philadelphia in direct competition with US Airways, and on July 16, commence service to Ft. Lauderdale. The new Ft. Lauderdale flight will replace existing service to Miami. According to Joe Sprague, Alaska’s VP of Marketing, “By redirecting our flight to the lower-cost Fort Lauderdale airport, we can serve the same geographic area and continue to offer our customers low fares.”
• I think I need to start a new series here on Frequently Flying devoted to the airline-traveling idiot of the week. This past week, a passenger attempted to bring a hallowed-out grenade through security in his (or her – the article is gender neutral) carry-on bag. The TSA caught it (unlike previous items), confiscated it and the passenger was denied boarding. (S)he is now also under investigation by the TSA.

And finally, here are some Quick Hits:

• Air Canada posted a $250 million loss for 2011
• Air France had an awful week of flight cancellations due to labor unrest
• A Qantas A380 is out-of-service for wing inspections
• Chicago’s Mayor meets with United’s newest local employees
• Kayak drops support for their BlackBerry app

In other airline industry news this week…

• Air New Zealand was named Airline of the Year by Air Transport World Magazine as part of its 38^th Airline Industry Achievement Awards. ATW bestowed the honor to NZ due to “industry-leading innovation and motivation of its staff which resulted in exceptional performance across market position, customer service, financial performance, fiscal management and operational safety.” The only U.S. carrier to receive an award was Alaska Airlines – the Joseph S. Murphy Industry Service Award – for service benefitting the airline industry and being involved in numerous environmental and corporate-giving initiatives.
• United Airlines, read Continental Airlines, received a lot of heat this week for their numerous amount of flights from Europe to the East coast that have recently required fuel stops due to unusually strong headwinds. The Wall Street Journal reports that United confirmed 43 flights operated with Boeing 757 aircraft had to stop for fuel last month due to the winds and limited range of the aircraft, up sharply from 12 the year earlier. That caused delays and misconnections for thousands of passengers and brought using the limited range jet into question. To the airline’s credit, though, the headwinds are the most extreme they’ve seen in the past 10 years.
• American Airlines will cut their Chicago-New Delhi nonstop March 1^st and totally withdraw from Burbank effective February 9^th, as well as lay off 150 employees citing “operational and business changes” resulting from its bankruptcy filing. The carrier is also hoping to delay their lawsuit against Sabre, a GDS, by three months while it focuses on reorganization. The still separate regional entity American Eagle, meanwhile, has hired Bain & Co. – to the tune of $525,000 per month – to assist in labor-cost assessment and negotiations.
• Tony Webber, a former Qantas executive, has boldly come out and proclaimed, “People weighing more than average should pay more for their airfares than slimmer passengers.” Ouch. He claims the extra fuel needed comes out to about $472 per plane and is affecting the airlines’ profits. As it stands, the airlines have an average weight they predict per passenger and while I don’t remember the figure from my days in Flight Dispatch with United Airlines, I do recall it being awfully low. Instead of an airfare increase, airlines need to up their average passenger weights and adjust their loads accordingly. Would you step on a scale at an airport?
• Horrible airplane etiquette continues in 2012 with a 65-year old man having been arrested for allegedly assaulting a Delta Air Lines flight attendant on a Tokyo to Honolulu flight. He was forced to surrender his passport and stay on Oahu to appear at a hearing on January 20^th. His bad behavior was apparently due to over imbibing on multiple glasses of wine.
• Southwest Airlines will launch a daily flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles beginning June 10^th. This is in addition to AirTran’s existing three daily flights already in the market. Southwest officially launches service February 12^th with 15 daily nonstops to five cities: Baltimore, Chicago (MDW), Denver, Houston (HOU) and Austin. Las Vegas and Phoenix service from Atlanta commences March 10^th.
• Finally, Hawaiian Airlines set a new company record for the most passengers carried in a single year – 8,666,319 in 2011 – a 17% increase from 2010. I imagine 2012 will be another record year as the airline continues to expand on the mainland with new service to JFK beginning in June.

In other airline industry news this week…

• As I expected and not at all surprising, American, Delta, United and US Airways have added a $6 roundtrip surcharge for flights to Europe to offset the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme. United’s 767-300s that fly to Europe hold a total of 183 passengers. If it goes out full in both directions, United will collect $1,098 in surcharge fees. I haven’t looked into what type of fees airlines will pay if they go over their allocated carbon emissions, but I can’t help but wonder if this might be a new mini-profit center for them.
• In fantastically pleasurable news to myself – and many, many others – United Airlines has officially confirmed that “Rhapsody in Blue” will continue as their theme song. Phew. The tulip has wilted, but I’m happy to cling onto at least one aspect of “my” carrier that I’ve grown to love.
• Staying with United for a moment, the carrier opened up exclusive experiences via MileagePlus that allow members to bid on a variety of auctions. I blogged back in April that I’d like the option to redeem miles on once-in-a-lifetime type events and United now offers some of them, including flight simulator rides, tickets to PGA Tour events and a host of other items.
• American Airlines was officially delisted from the New York Stock Exchange this week for failing to hold a minimum share price of more than $1 for a consecutive 30 days. I remember when United suffered the same fate, but they’ve bounced back and I’m certain American will, too. Sadly, current shareholders will likely see their stake in the airline wiped out while the carrier reorganizes in bankruptcy.
• AirTran Airways was fined $60,000 for failing to include a “prominent link” in an advertisement last fall that would take a customer to a page fully detailing additional taxes and fees. These type of fines will certainly be less frequent come January 26^th when airlines will be required to advertise prices inclusive of such fees. I look forward to it, actually, as the prices we see will be all-in and represent the actual amount we have to pay.
• With their reduction of international services, about 150 Qantas pilots have taken unpaid leave. The carrier has offered the option since the 2008 financial crisis and many pilots end up accepting jobs with overseas airlines. This is total conjecture, but one of my Cathay Pacific pilots on my trip last year had an Australian accent, so now can’t help but think he might be a Qantas pilot on leave.
• Brussels Airlines, a Star Alliance member, is set to begin service to the United States on June 1, 2012. Daily flights between Brussels and New York’s JFK airport will commence at that time with two-cabin Airbus A330 aircraft, either the -200 or -300 series, according to the carrier.
• Finally, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported this week that the world’s airlines netted $5 billion in profits for the third quarter of 2011, down from $9.71 billion for the same period in 2010. IATA also said passenger yields continue to increase due in part to “careful capacity management, particularly in the United States.”

I follow the Australian airline industry pretty closely and one of my favorite websites to read every day is Australian Business Traveller. This week a reader asked the question, “Why does (Qantas) not want to sell me SYD-ORD via LAX on the A380?” I plugged in some sample dates on the Australian version of Qantas.com.au to find the following results for such an itinerary:

I’m only showing the first several options from the results page and as you can see, the top choices offer connections via Dallas-Ft. Worth and another through Los Angeles to eventually arrive in Chicago. Scrolling through the whole list, not one flight pairing included Qantas’ flagship A380 aircraft that flies from SYD-LAX, namely QF11. The original reader continues:

Another reader, Christopher, responded, “Conspiracy theory: they want to sell more flights on the DFW route because they’re not selling well.” It’s certainly no conspiracy theory… it’s fact. Here are the two SYD-LAX nonstops with QF11 being the A380:

Los Angeles has long been the preferred destination and/or connection point for Australians visiting the United States, and Qantas knows its load factors will be high on those two flights and that they can demand a premium for the A380. I even plugged in the same Sydney to Chicago itinerary looking to purchase a Business Class fare and the resulting options still left the A380 off.

It makes good business sense to drive as much traffic as possible onto routes where demand is softer and as the original reader notes, booking the A380 can still be done by using the multi-city booking tool at the same price. There’s nothing illegal about it and I agree with the practice.

In fact, it happened to me when I was booking my trip to Ireland next year. My preferred flight pairings were never shown online and I had to use the multi-city tool to piece my itinerary together.

This ‘screen bias,’ if you will, isn’t new to the industry. Back when GDSs were airline-owned, carriers would display their own flight pairings – American in Sabre, for example – before any other carriers’ flights would appear. When I worked at a couple of travel wholesalers in the 1990s, I was able to ascertain this bias went even deeper and the airlines had the ability to flow preferential availability to top corporate clients. Some would see seats available in the S-bucket, for example, while others wouldn’t. I have a feeling this practice still exists today.

Airline divestiture of ownership in GDSs and other governmental action has minimized such activity, but with the increase of customer-direct bookings via the web and the development of “Direct Connect” technology to bypass traditional GDSs, airlines can still divert traffic when needed.

In other airline and travel industry news last week…

• Southwest Airlines placed a monumental order for 208 Boeing 737 aircraft this week that includes 150 of the manufacturer’s newest Max version, making the carrier the official launch customer. The first delivery to Southwest won’t occur until 2017. At list prices, the order value is $19 billion and $4.7 billion for the aircraft and engines respectively.
• In addition to his new role as CEO of American Airlines, Tom Horton has been elected Chairman of the oneworld alliance this week. He offered to have another of the alliance carriers’ executives take the post, but “the unanimous view was that the alliance would benefit greatly at this time from the continuity in our leadership that Tom represents – while at the same time underlining the commitment of oneworld to American while it undergoes its restructuring.”
• Cathay Pacific opened their new lounge at San Francisco’s International Airport, the first CX-owned facility in the United States. A grand opening reception was held this past Thursday and Loyalty Traveler has a great review of it. The carrier also introduced details of its new Premium Economy Class product that will be rolled out beginning in March next year. The seats will feature 38 inches of pitch, enhanced recline, footrests, in-seat power and much more.
• Hearings for the dispute between Qantas and the pilots union won’t occur until June next year due in part to the complexity of the matter. The carrier has until March 19^th to submit key witness statements and expert evidence to the panel of “workplace umpires,” while the pilots union has to do the same by April 30^th. Other hearings will take place earlier between the carrier and baggage handler and engineer unions.
• The FAA granted certification to the passenger Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental this week, green lighting deliveries to begin early next year. Lufthansa is the launch customer for the passenger version. The FAA also approved extended operations (ETOPS) of Boeing 777s to 330-minutes, up from 240-minutes this week. This will allow carriers to fly more direct routes between airports and reduce carbon emissions.
• On the passenger front, a Frenchman was arrested this week for his excessive pilfering of items from Air France First Class cabins, which he then resold online. Among the items stolen were napkins, glasses, plates and blankets. The article claims he made about 10,000 euros off the sales of the items during the past three years. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t take a glass or two over the years, but I never resell the tiny amount of stuff I’ve taken.
• Speaking of fraud, the Airlines Reporting Corporation has seen a “marked increase” in unauthorized airline tickets issued. Last year, 18 of these incidents were reported, but the figure to-date for 2011 is 113 and those tickets are valued at more than $1 million. Phishing scams are the main culprit where travel agents receive what they think is official communication from trusted GDS companies and click the link to enter their credentials.
• Finally, staying on the GDS front, Travelport will begin charging travel agencies more for services they currently use for free. Beginning January 1^st, the company’s Agility program that allows agents to use certain client databases, PNR search capabilities, fulfillment services, queues and more will come with a $35 fee per terminal per month. Agency incentives for using GDS technology still remain, but new costs such as this are pointing to a changing landscape in the GDS-Agency relationship.

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

• United Airlines announced they will add a segment onto the existing Washington Dulles to Dubai flight and continue to Doha, Qatar beginning May 1, 2012. The news release claims the flights will be operated with United’s International Premium Travel Experience Boeing 777s, but there’s still always a risk of getting an unconverted bird until all 777s have been refitted.
• American Eagle has been selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to begin daily service from Chicago O’Hare to both Sioux City and Waterloo, Iowa. It’s a part of the Essential Air Service program where the government subsidizes airlines to serve certain routes to smaller communities that would otherwise be unprofitable to fly. The carrier is planning to begin flights next spring using Embraer regional jets.
• Virgin America’s size will now warrant the carrier to report on-time data for its flights to the DOT in 2012. ExpressJet Airlines will also be required to do the same, but they’ve been doing so voluntarily this year. Meanwhile, Atlantic Southeast and Mesa no longer have to report the stats, but Mesa says they’ll continue to report on a voluntary basis.
• The International Air Transport Association (IATA) lowered its 2012 profit forecast for global airlines by nearly 29% this week. European carriers are expected to lose a collective $600 million next year in part due to the meltdown of the Euro. Carriers in North America are expected to post $2.1 billion in profits.
• Airlines are asking the DOT to delay part of the new passenger protection rules that are scheduled to take effect January 24, 2012. Many carriers issued sworn affidavits saying they need at least another year to comply with the rule related to baggage fees and allowances on multi-carrier itineraries. Current system constraints and the inability to access a passenger’s previous flight from another carrier on the same itinerary are causing the headaches for IT staff.
• The Australian Labor Party is backing Qantas unions in their desire to keep the airline Australian-owned and controlled. Legislation is being considered to strengthen the Qantas Sales Act that will “keep the majority ownership, operation and governance of (Australian) airlines in Australia.” A carrier spokeswoman warned, “Any proposed plans to change the act that restricts Qantas from doing business will not protect Australian jobs.”
• Expedia and United Airlines have extended their agreement for another multi-year term. While not confirmed, the news blurb about it sounds like Expedia might soon be able to sell Economy Plus seats and other ancillary products. One of Expedia’s brands, Travelscape, is the current provider of hotel listings on United.com.