Joe Sharkey At Large

Never mind on that wonderful $63 Continental offer to fly US Helicopter’s 8-minute service between New York City and the ridiculously named Newark Liberty International Airport.

US Helicopter suspended its service today. The company says it’s only a temporary measure, and maybe so. But I have to tell you, I could never understand how the numbers worked on those flights.

Thanks to wanderingaramean.com for the heads-up.

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Global airline capacity for September shows positive growth for the second consecutive month, according to OAG, the leading aviation data business.

Airlines scheduled 296.9 million seats, a rise of 1.4% (4,130,744 more seats) over September 2008 levels, OAG says.

Says David Beckerman, vice president of OAG Market Intelligence: “As the summer season winds down, the steady upward trend we have seen since May is continuing. After 11 straight months of capacity cutbacks, these figures indicate a growing confidence within the industry that demand for air travel is starting to pick up.”

[My comment: Fare sales have something to do with that, but there is no doubt that more people are feeling the urge or need to travel again. There has been a definite uptick in business travel demand.]

OAG says that airlines scheduled 2.4 million flights, down 0.6% (14,321 fewer flights) compared with Sept. 2008. Last month, total flights were down 2% and capacity was up 0.2%.

The month-by-month trend since the start of the economic downturn can be seen here.

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Getting from the ludicrously named Newark Liberty International Airport into Manhattan is relatively easy by a train connection from the airport to Penn Station, but it can take a while. Another option is taxi or car service, and that’s going to set you back at least $100 — and also could take well an hour (sometimes two), depending on traffic.

US Helicopter flies between Newark and Manhattan in only 8 minutes, and Continental is offering the trip for $63 one way, with no round-trip purchase necessary (count on itadding up to about $70 with fee). That’s a big discount off the usual $169 price US Helicopter charges. The discount is available on bookings with Continental made through Oct. 30, for travel through Jan. 15.

I’ve flown US Helicopter from Manhattan to JFK, by the way, and that’s not only amazingly quick, but it’s also a spectacular sightseeing ride. And even at regular prices, it’s competitive with a car service, which of course can take an hour or two, depending on traffic. Manhattan to JFK also takes only eight minutes.

Here, via Continental, are the codes to use for online booking of US Helicopter through this promotional offer:

For travel to and from Downtown Manhattan Heliport, enter code “JRB.”

For travel to and from East 34th Street Heliport, code “TSS.”

US Helicopter also offers complimentary helicopter service between Manhattan and Newark Liberty to BusinessFirst customers booked in J, D or Z classes of service.

US Helicopter flights operate hourly, Monday through Friday from 1:15 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. Flights connect to and from gate C-71 at Newark.

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A heads-up on Virgin America today:

“Virgin America’s 24-hour “Let’s Get Down to Business” fare sale starts today. Tickets must be purchased by 7 am PT on Sept. 22, 2009. [Coach] fares start as low as $29 from SFO to LAX and SFO to SEA. Long-haul [Coach] fares start as low as $89 from BOS to LAX, BOS to SFO, JFK to LAS and IAD to LAX.

“Main Cabin Select Instant Upgrade fares are available for as low as $199 from JFK to LAX, JFK to SFO, BOS to SFO, BOS to LAX, IAD to LAX and IAD to SFO. Tickets are on sale today on Virgin America’s website … All travel must occur occur between September 22 and September 30…

Details here, after the palaver about the magazine award.

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Southwest Airlines announced today that Rapid Rewards members who register for the “double credit”  promotion, book a flight, and travel between today and Oct. 31 will receive one bonus Rapid Rewards credit per one-way flight–no matter where they fly.

Members can rack up four credits when traveling a single roundtrip from any city that Southwest serves. Customers will be able to earn a free flight after four roundtrips during the promotional period (after receiving a total of 16 credits).

Ryan Green, Southwest’s loyalty marketing chief said,  “Our Business Select customers will especially enjoy this offer because they will receive 2.25 credits for short-haul flights and 3 credits for medium and long-haul flights.”

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[Updated, with comment from Spirit]

The U.S. Department of Transportation said today that it fined Spirit Airlines $375,000 for violations of rules on bumping passengers as part of a crackdown on “unfair and deceptive practices.”

On his blog, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, “This civil penalty is a record for these kinds of violations. The message should be clear. We will continue to take enforcement action when airlines violate our rules.”

Spirit, said LaHood “bumped passengers from oversold flights but did not provide compensation or a written notice of passengers’ rights to compensation–as required by DOT rules protecting consumers.”

He added:

“Spirit also failed to resolve baggage claims within a reasonable time. In one case, they took 14 months to provide traveler compensation. The airline provided compensation only for baggage on the outbound leg of round-trip flights. And, the airline refused to accept responsibility for missing laptops and other items Spirit had accepted as baggage.

“Spirit also violated DOT rules requiring airfare ads to state the full price to be paid. The fares advertised omitted fees Spirit tacked onto base fares.

“Spirit violated several other DOT consumer-protection rules, all-in-all leading to Enforcement Office review of complaints filed by consumers, inspections at airports, and a review of Spirit’s records. The Office will follow-up its investigation in the coming year.

“This kind of treatment of America’s airline customers is not just a violation of rules; it’s unacceptable. This DOT says passengers deserve better, and they will receive better.”

Hmmm, strong words.

On its Web site, Spirit says the following:

“Obviously we are proud to have broken the rules and created arguably the best airline in the Americas. But don’t take our word for it; book Spirit for your next trip so you can see first hand what everyone is raving about. …”

Nah, I’m kidding. that isn’t Spirit’s comment on being fined for actually breaking the rules. It’s just the boilerplate it runs on its Web site every day.

Spirit’s comment on the DOT fine:

“Our new ultra low cost carrier model is the most consumer friendly airline model in the world.  … We have addressed all the core issues that caused customer experience challenges a few years ago including upgrading our computer systems and utilizing a new reservations partner. Additionally, once the TSA relocated their machines in FLL, the airport experience improved significantly. …”

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“Early signs of an upturn in the number of passengers traveling in premium seats” on international flights are reported by the International Air Transport Association.

But not at those previous five-digit fares. Looking at July data, IATA said that average premium fares are down almost 25 percent over last July, and overall airline revenue from premium is down up to 40 percent over July 2008.

There, in a nutshell, is the dilemma for major airlines that made such big bets on continued robust growth in international business-class service in recent years, and who were accustomed to posting rack rates of $10,000 and up for refundable business-class fares on routes like New York-London. Those days are gone, and no one in the industry expects them to return.

IATA hopefully says that the number of premium-class international travelers (which it has forecast will be down 20 percent for 2009 overall) was down 14.1 percent in July, an improvement over the 21.3 percent decline in June. July, of course, is a very light business-travel month.

“Demand is still very weak compared to the recent past, and there remains much excess capacity, producing intense competition,” IATA says.

Bad news for the airlines.

Good news for business travelers who want to fly business-class internationally. Fares are way, way down, and everybody’s making deals.

That should prevail for the short-term at least, until the airlines manage — through more capacity cuts, a new wave of consolidation on code-share partnerships, and even some reconfigurations in long-haul cabins — to pull down capacity to meet demand. Even then, there is no sign at all that the premium fare-bubble will ever be seen again.

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American Airlines said today that its subsidiary American Eagle plans to add a first-class compartment on its fleet of 25 CRJ-700 regional jets and that it plans to order another 22 of the 70-seat regional jets from Bombardier, with delivery starting in mid-2010.

Here’s some background on the CRJ-700 airplane.

The move is part of a shift by American to concentrate more on feeding business-travel traffic to and from hubs in Dallas, Chicago, Miami and New York and to “eliminate unprofitable flying,” as American put it, by reducing service  in other markets, including St. Louis and Raleigh-Durham.

In a conference call this morning with stock-market analysts, American executives also said that the company had raised nearly $3 billion in new liquidity. The money was raised partly by hocking airplanes, including:

–A sale-leaseback arrangement with GE Capital Aviation for previously ordered Boeing 737s ($1.6 billion). American also agreed to buy GE engines for its on-order new Boeing 787s.

–A loan from GE Capital Aviation for $280 million secured by certain aircraft owned by American ($280 million)

The rest of the money ($1 billion) comes from a new deal for the advance sale of AAdvantage miles to American’s Citibank affinity-card partner, which in turn uses the miles to promote the credit card.

In the call, Gerard Arpey, the CEO, said that American’s focus on bolstering the hubs with 70-seat regional jets newly outfitted with first-class cabins (he did not specify what the exact configuration would be between coach and first)is “the cornerstone of our network going forward”.

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As summer ends, we’re going to start thinking a lot more about flu while traveling on business. Whatever degree of severity lies ahead, the swine flu will soon be returning as a thing to be really concerned about while on the road. And not just swine flu, but everyday seasonal flu as well.

There’s a story in USA Today about the availability of seasonal flu shots at various airport clinics in the U.S., with a chart listing locations.

Meanwhile, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives is proposing an idea that shaking hands is a custom that might be put on the bench for a while.

The organization sent a recommendation to its global membership suggesting the temporary suspension in business travel of that venerable tradition, the handshake, until the H1N1 influenza virus threat has been reduced to the status of the common cold.

The group’s executive director, Susan Gurley, said sidelining the handshake may go a long way in reducing the person-to-person contact that spreads this variety of influenza.

Medical consensus says “told that the best way to impede the spread of the H1N1 flu virus is to repeatedly wash our hands, especially after touching our faces, or coming into contact with someone else’s face or hand,” Gurley said. Dropping the handshake for a while thus makes sense, she said.

A statement by the association said:

“Projections regarding the impact of the H1N1 swine influenza are all over the board, with experts citing 30,000 to 90,000 fatalities, and the potential of 1.8 million patients overwhelming hospitals within a six week period — in the U.S. alone. Published reports indicate that the H1N1 flu virus could easily infect 30 to 50 percent of the US population, causing massive disruptions in schools, business, and travel, as most companies will urge employees with flu-like symptoms to stay at home.”

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Obviously, cutting back on handshakes also would have an effect on the spread of seasonal flu and other problems like the common cold.

Dunno, it might well be time in general to re-eevaluate the handshake and its annoying grandchild, that awkward kissy-cheek huggy-greet between sexes.

Some of the alternatives being bandied about, like the elbow bump, are just a bit … mannered for my taste.

I’ve always kind of liked the Japapese bow. Just a slight motion of the head and a slighter one of the shoulders, connoting acknowledgment and cordiality. But we’d have to lose the hierarchical element. Both parties bow at the same time. No cheating and waiting for the other party to go first.

The mutual greeting could be that old Philadelphia favorite, a word that always says so much: “Yo.”

Hey, it could happen.

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The International Air Transport Association today sharply revised its previous forecast for the amount of losses in the global airline business, saying total losses should be about $11 billion for 2009.  The trade group’s previous estimate was $9 billion.

Giovanni Bisignani, the director of the group, issued a dire new forecast in a Web conference this morning. “Yields have fallen dramatically,” he said, adding that IATA had “never seen anything similar” in its 65-year history representing the interests of worldwide airlines.

Some key factors contributing to those mounting losses, according to IATA:

–A 20 percent decline in premium traffic,  compared with a 5 percent decline in economy-class travel

–Overall revenues off $80 billion compared with 2008, when revenues were about $535 billion

IATA’s new forecast sees North American airlines losing $2.6 billion this year, while Asia-Pacific airlines stand to lose $3.6 billiom and those in Europe 3.8 billion. Losses in other regionals add up to the total $11 billion.

“The situation you see with the yields going down could be a long-term disaster,” said Bisignani, who noted that in previous crises, yields took many years to begin growing again. Instead, he said, the current dire revenue picture could portend “a long-lasting structural change” in air travel.

Bisignani said that the total industry losses in 2008 and 2009 would amount to $27.8 billion.

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