As I’m sure almost everyone has read, AA grounded 204 of their MD80′s today, forcing them to cancel hundreds of flights.

American Airlines grounded its fleet of Boeing MD-80s on Wednesday so crews could reinspect wire bundles to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. The nation’s largest carrier canceled more than 340 flights — or about 14 percent of its scheduled service — according to the latest results from FlightStats.com.

The need for the new inspections became known during an audit of American by a joint team of inspectors from the FAA and the Fort Worth-based airline.

“Preliminary results of the audit show a high rate of airworthiness-directive compliance,” Alison Duquette, FAA spokesperson in Washington, D.C., told msnbc.com. 

I’m really starting to get puzzled over all of this, especially after UA grounded some 747′s last week and WN not only grounded their planes, but was forced to pay a massive fine.

If I am understanding this correctly, it was an ”audit” that found out there wasn’t full compliance, so now they’re fixing their wiring issue. If this were a single event I would understand it, but with three cases like this in the span of about a week, I’m thinking there has to be more to the story. Has the FAA been totally lax the past few years and not seen the non-complying airlines? Did the airlines stop caring about safety overnight (highly doubtful)? Is the FAA overdoing it at this point and just trying to find things that are wrong, or are they doing a massive audit of all airlines?

Someone please enlighten me, because I’m confused!

While it’s not as good as the 9,000 mile offer (before they changed the T&C’s to actually require travel on BMI), it’s a good deal nonetheless. As of now the T&C’s are pretty straightforward, so for anyone that missed the last round of bonuses definitely take advantage of this one! Just register here and within a few days you’ll have 4,500 miles in your account.

There has been a lot of buzz the past view days regarding Delta’s new safety video, and rightfully so, at least by US standards. Heck, I was even shocked to hear a seven minute segment on the radio about it this morning. While it’s not earth shattering, it surely is edgy and “unique,” with some good parts and some not so good parts.

A few things I noticed:

• Something which peeves me, and I’m not sure why, is the fact that the pilot is apparently talking into the PA during his welcome. I think it’s inconsistent with the rest of the video since he seems to be addressing the cabin via video and not PA, much like the FA isn’t using the PA to make her announcements.
• I love the sassy attitude of the FA, she’s perfect for the type of safety video they were trying to make.
• The segment from 1:00 to 1:10 drives me nuts!!! As a frequent flyer I cringe at the cheesiness of the scene, and think anyone that travels with any frequency probably feels the same way. I don’t remember the last time I had an FA that was so overly enthusiastic.
• 1:48-1:50 also drives me crazy. It seems like she’s lip synching and I don’t remember the last time a person asked, so I think it would be better just built into the speech by the FA and not actually “acted out.”
• At 1:51 gotta love her little finger waving. Without a doubt that’s what makes this video different.
• At 2:00 they show the 737-700 to demonstrate the location of the exits. Am I missing something, or does DL not have 737-700′s?!?! Oh, actually I guess they’re getting them soon (or so I’m told), but it seems odd that the video circulating would be of it.
• Are all DL uniforms that low cut for females, like at 2:29? Doesn’t look bad on her, but not so sure about other FA’s…
• At 2:36 the oxygen mask falls down, and it takes the guy 15 seconds to put it on!!! I don’t know, but I would think in an emergency you’d be a bit faster, especially if you’re responsible for someone else, no?

Sorry for overanalyzing this, but I really found the video interesting. I’m a fan although I still prefer the Virgin America safety video.

CNN had a somewhat bizarre, long article today about the FAM program. I’m not quite sure what about the article strikes me as odd, but it certainly is to me.

Of the 28,000 commercial airline flights that take to the skies on an average day in the United States, fewer than 1 percent are protected by on-board, armed federal air marshals, a nationwide CNN investigation has found.

That means that a terrorist or other criminal bent on taking over an aircraft would be confronted by a trained air marshal on as few as 280 daily flights, according to more than a dozen federal air marshals and pilots interviewed by CNN.

The investigation found those low numbers even as the Transportation Security Administration in recent months has conducted tests in which it has been able to smuggle guns and bomb-making materials past airport security screeners.

The air marshal program began in 1970, after a rash of airline hijackings, and it was expanded significantly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Specially trained to safeguard passengers and crew aboard crowded aircraft, air marshals were seen as a critical component in the overall effort to secure America’s commercial aviation system.

One pilot who crisscrosses the country and flies internationally told CNN he hasn’t seen an air marshal on board one of his flights in six months. A federal law enforcement officer, who is not affiliated with the air marshal service and who travels in and out of Washington every week, said he has gone for months without seeing a marshal on board.

That’s only the tip of the iceberg, so I recommend reading the whole thing. I don’t know, if I’m reading this correctly, this “investigation” is based on the views of a few pilots and other people with guns that are allowed to fly. I guess what I don’t like about the article is that it’s making a connection between a FAM being aboard a flight and safety, as if we have no chance of stopping a terrorist without a FAM, or for that matter that we do have a chance of stopping them because of a FAM.

The 1% figure strikes me as being WAY low, though. Don’t all flights into and out of DCA still have FAM’s? I don’t know, maybe it’s just the routes I travel, but I’d estimate I have FAM’s on about 10-15% of my flights, but I do generally fly more FAM-worthy routes (aka flights with international First Suites on United where the FAM’s can, of course in the interest of national security, sit up front). I would estimate it’s closer to 3-5% as an average, but I just can’t imagine 1% is correct.

While I usually don’t post based on rumors and almost always take them with a grain of salt (Ted is going away, mergers, etc.), this time it’s different. There was a thread started on FlyerTalk in which the OP said that an agent told him wifi would be free in the RCC’s starting March 31, and a few other members have said they’ve heard the same from other agents.

Of course everyone’s first reaction is “well it’s about time!” I’m definitely excited about it, although I’m really wondering what United’s incentive is to do this. You might say “well most lounges like CO’s Presidents Club already have it,” but at the same time United charges some of the highest membership fees and the clubs are still consistently packed to the gills despite the relatively crappy product, not offering anything even remotely comparable to the Presidents Clubs. One could argue that it’s to make their C/F product better, although I’m betting that they’ll follow AA’s lead and only give the free wifi day cards to RCC members and maybe C passengers, and not Star Gold passengers.

So what do I fear? Packed club + more benefits +higher costs (they must be paying for free wifi, right?) = higher dues, right? Seems like a pretty basic application of supply & demand, but at the same time I’m not sure how much higher they could go. Maybe they’ll get rid of the options to redeem miles for membership? I definitely wouldn’t be willing to pay a lot more for my membership, but at the same time if the clubs get any fuller I wouldn’t renew either. On an unrelated note I’m wondering if UA would even be paying for free wifi? With T-Mobile’s recent woes with Starbucks, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was basically free.

This is a toughie, and ultimately I predict if it happens we’ll only hear on the 31st, but it really wouldn’t surprise me. Only time will tell…

The Charlotte Observer reports:

 The firearm of a Transportation Security Administration federal flight deck officer accidentally discharged during a US Airways flight from Denver to Charlotte on Saturday, according to the airline.

No one was injured, and the flight landed safely in Charlotte, according to a statement from US Airways. The incident occured on flight 1536, which was in the air between 6:45 and 11:51 a.m. Saturday.

Wow, this raises a few pretty critical questions in my mind. How the heck did the gun go off by mistake? Was someone playing around with it? What part of the aircraft did it hit, and how bad could the damage have been?

While I can’t blame this on the air marshals (as much as I’d like to;)), I have a serious problem with the idea of guns aboard an aircraft, be they federal flight deck officers or federal air marshals. I really feel less safe with FAM’s aboard since they’re so easy to spot, so anyone that wanted to find a way to get their gun could, but I’m sure there’d be an uprising. Still, with the amount of security measures being taken nowadays, the least of which is the TSA, and the complete lack of access to the flight deck for non-employees, it just all seems so unnecessary to me. Whatever, I guess we should be happy that no one got hurt and just hope that closer controls come as a result of this.

PS: I’d like to apologize for a post I made earlier today (now deleted) without even realizing that the article was months old. I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday and I guess I haven’t regained all my wisdom yet. I also promise some mileage run tutorial posts a little later in the week.

Now that Lufthansa will be using JetBlue as a feeder partner out of JFK and apparently they’ll be linking their FF programs somewhat, the question has to be asked, will they be joining the Star Alliance? I’m guessing the answer is no in the short run since it seems like LH is still trying to figure out how exactly it will work, but in the long run I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible, right? I’m somewhat familiar with the policy for admittance into the Star Alliance, but I’m not exactly sure how it would work in this case, with LH having a stake in B6 and all. I know United has veto powers, but maybe Lufthansa could influence United not to veto it (since they’ve given them quite some loans over the years). Of course I would totally love if JetBlue joined the Star Alliance, since I could fly to JFK without connecting in either ORD or IAD, have a great product, and to top it all off earn miles!

 Only time will tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the next year or so.

Don’t shoot the messenger, but here is what I heard (I don’t care whether or not anyone believes me, but I have a pretty good track record when it comes to this type of stuff and my sources are usually pretty in-the-know). As many may be aware, the seatmaps on united.com don’t accurately represent whether a flight will be served by a newly configured aircraft or not. Many people on UA916/917 between IAD and FRA in April think they’ll be flying the newly configured 747, but apparently United changed their plans. Now the newly configured 747 will debut on ORD-SFO-ORD in April, something United is doing to work out all the glitches in the system before it goes onto an “important” international route, a smart move in my opinion. Also, the newly configured 767′s that are currently operating IAD-ZRH and IAD-FRA will switch to ORD-LHR around the same time.

I wouldn’t change my plans based on that info, but I certainly would take it into account when making your travel plans.;) Of course this is also assuming that there isn’t a delay in the process, which judging by the 767 there’s always a chance of.

Ah, and the fun continues! Business Travel News Online reports:

MARCH 18, 2008 — Delta Air Lines beginning in May plans to join United Airlines and US Airways in charging passengers for a second checked bag, Delta president and CFO Ed Bastian told investors at a JP Morgan aviation conference in New York this morning.

I’m betting that at least two of the three legacies holding out announce the same policy within the next week. I wouldn’t be surprised if one kept it just so they can tout it for advertising (maybe CO), but now that three are in I see no reason the others wouldn’t join.

This is actually one of those changes that I think makes sense. With the soaring fuel prices the airlines obviously have to raise the fares and increase revenue (or at least try to), and this seems like a reasonable way to do it. Mark my words though, give it a week at most.;)

There was an excellent BusinessWeek article today about Glenn Tilton, United’s CEO. I highly recommend reading the whole article, but here’s the first paragraph:

It’s hard to find a chief executive more eager to dump his own company than UAL’s Glenn Tilton. For months now, airline CEOs have been playing the dating game, and Tilton seems to be most eager to tango. But the parent of United Airlines shouldn’t be sold merely because Tilton is itching to do a deal, or craves a big merger-related payday, or is plain tuckered out. Instead, the carrier’s board should take a more promising approach: Drop the merger talks and bring in a new CEO who’s committed to building a successful, stand-alone airline.

While this article does a good job of pointing out the issues with Tilton, I’m afraid I don’t see any hint that he’ll be leaving in the very near future. Unfortunately very few employees at United like Tilton, and many dislike him with a passion, to the point that it has totally destroyed employee morale. I actually have a lot of respect for some of United’s management (I won’t name names but there are certainly MANY great management people at United from my personal experience), and think overall they’re a pretty competent team. Furthermore I think United has some of the best employees in the world, but unfortunately many of them aren’t operating at their full potential since they see little reason to do so. Still, many employees give their all every single day, like Captain Denny Flanagan (for those not familiar with him, here he is featured on Good Morning America) and so many others at United.

Ultimately what scares me the most about the future of United is Tilton and his wet dreams about a merger. While I want to see United success, be it as a combined CO/UA airline, on its own, or as some other combination, I just don’t think Tilton has United’s best interest in mind.

I guess I’m still sitting here crossing my fingers that we’ll see a new CEO soon that can restore United into the great airline it once was  (and in my opinion still is, but it’s just hiding;)), with 60,000 dedicated employees.