Posted by Seth on March 18, 2010 under News | 
Two of the worst airports in the country for tarmac delays are in the New York City area: Newark and JFK. And the carriers with the most operations out of those airports, Delta, American Airlines, jetBlue and Continental, have significant exposure to the impending DoT rule regarding 3-hour delays on the tarmac. The response of those carriers has been two pronged, one in the public and one to the government. The carriers are very publicly stating that they will be canceling more flights rather than risk the fines and they are also applying for exemptions from the rule at those airports.
The exemption applications started with Delta and jetBlue last week. American submitted a similar request a couple days later. And now, feeling a bit left out, Continental has now submitted an even broader request, claiming that all three NYC airports should be treated equally because the runway construction at JFK will have a cascading impact on the entire airspace, not just on JFK directly.
As ridiculous as I think the rule is, the way the airlines are responding is even more ridiculous. I fully expect that United Airlines will be applying for an exemption at Dulles US Airways at Philadelphia (they each more 3+ hour delays than Newark did last year) just to round out the party. I also don’t expect the DoT to grant the exemptions. If they do it will be an admission that the rule was never intended to actually be enforced in the first place.
Yes, flights will be cancelled. Yes, passengers will suffer for that. And there’s even a decent chance that a flight or two will actually cross the magical three hour limit and the carrier will suffer for it. But the cry-baby attitude that the airlines are displaying is pathetic.
No matter which way the DoT rules on these applications, the situation is a joke.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on March 16, 2010 under frequent flyer, points |
You never know when frequent flyer miles are going to take center stage in a conversation. I’m sure that it is more often than it should when I’m around, though I have been better lately about trying not to always talk about travel. Still, when I sat down at the dentist a few months back and started chatting with my new hygienist the conversation turned to travel. She mentioned her recent engagement and honeymoon planning and my brain went into overdrive. I couldn’t resist.
We started talking about all the options available, which programs made sense (she was already pretty tied to Continental’s OnePass program and Hilton’s HHonors program) and which destinations offered the best bang for the spend. I don’t actually remember the cleaning that day so much or even if it happened (though I have the bill to suggest that it did). We talked about sign-up bonuses for credit cards and bank accounts. We talked about buying points through the US Mint dollar coin program. So much fun for me because she actually wanted to hear it all as opposed to my of my victims.
Six or so months later and I’m back in the office for another cleaning. The first thing out of her mouth was a huge thanks for all the help I provided. We spent the next ten minutes or so going through the itinerary (Hawaii and Fiji) and discussing how they got to use all the points that they earned from the last round of promotions (upgrades all the way through the trip). We chatted about hotels on Waikiki beach (Hyatt being MUCH better than the Hilton Hawaiian Village), a few of my favorite off-the-beach restaurants and things to do other than sitting on the fake beach there.
Finally, when scheduling my next appointment the receptionist mentioned that it will be just after the hygienist returns from the honeymoon, meaning I’ll get the follow-up report, too. It is always fun to have the conversation when the other person in them actually is interested in the information being shared, and hearing about the successful bookings makes it even better. I’m looking forward to hearing about the trip in a few months.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on March 15, 2010 under News |
For the past couple years Continental Airlines has made a point of advertising the fact that they still serve complimentary “meals at mealtime” for their passengers, even on domestic flights in coach where other carriers have all cut back service. That era is coming to an end later this fall as the carrier follows the trail blazed by a number of other US-based carriers: Buy on Board meals. The new purchased meal option will be offered on most domestic routes under six hours in duration as well as many Latin America routes. Intercontinental and longer international routes, as well as the longest of the domestic flights, will continue to have complimentary meals offered.
Perhaps most telling regarding this change is the quote offered by Executive Vice President Jim Compton:
Our traditional free-food model has served us well for many years, but we need to change to reflect today’s market and customer preference.
Yup, it is actually the customers who are clamoring for the opportunity to buy meals on board. Or demanding fares that aren’t profitable. Either way, definitely the customers’ fault.
To be fair, Continental has been watching the numbers for quite some time now and, just like their decision to initially not charge for a checked bag, they aren’t seeing any return on that goodwill towards customers. One executive recently noted that customers simply weren’t booking to Continental because of the meal on board; their corporate Twitter account said the same thing in reply to an earlier tweet of mine on the topic.
@WanderngAramean It’s true. We know that economy-class customers have not selected airlines based on free meals.
Sure, they loved to poke fun at other carriers in the past with some entertaining TV ads on the topic:
But at this point they’re simply following the cash flow in the right direction. The sad part is that this does mark the end of an era in commercial air travel in the United States. It also means that there is still the potential for more bits to be sold off as unbundled services. Exit-row seating was announced just a few days ago. Now this.
What’s next?
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on March 8, 2010 under Flying, News |
As part of their efforts to monetize the extra leg room provided in certain exit and bulkhead seats, Continental Airlines has introduced new seat maps for their online booking engine. The new maps are prettier than the old ones and they have the added bonus of identifying the extra leg room seats on the maps so folks booking will know which seats they won’t have access to until check-in, at which point they’ll have to pay more money for the pleasure of sitting there.
Which seats are “special” on the continental fleet? It depends on the plane type (the unlabeled plane in a 757-300):
Not a whole lot of special seats in the fleet (16DEF are special on the 752 but are blocked from booking for all customers until close to departure).
The new seat maps are currently in testing and will go live on the continental.com website on the 17th of March, along with the new seating policy.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on March 3, 2010 under News, frequent flyer |
Continental’s announcement this morning that they will begin charging non-elite members for the seats with the most legroom has raised a number of questions. The company released an internal memo to all employees explaining some of the details behind the program. Here’s what it had to say:
Questions and Answers about CO’s Premium Seat Program
Why not just continue giving the better seats away for free? It has worked for years.
CO is focused on making money, and we aren’t going to be able to do that by doing the same things we have done in the past. There is additional revenue from new products, like extra legroom seats that are already in our coach cabin, that we have not effectively unlocked in the past. It makes no sense to give away the best seats in coach to non-Elites for free. So we are changing that, and will bring in new sources of revenue we’ve not tapped in the past.
Will our customers be willing to pay for extra legroom on the aircraft?
Yes. Certain customers strongly value having more space on the aircraft. On the other hand, some customers don’t value extra space. Customers will pay for the things that they value, and extra legroom is one of those things. Many other airlines like United, Virgin America, Singapore and British Airways have successful programs selling extra legroom.
Which seats on our aircraft are classified as premium seats with extra legroom?
Initially this program is focused on selling seat assignments for exit row seats that have extra legroom. We expect to start selling bulkhead seat assignments in the future. The exact seats that will be available for sale will vary by aircraft type. For example, not every exit row seat has extra legroom, and those seats would not be included in the program.
How much will the premium seats with extra legroom cost?
Pricing will vary based on numerous market characteristics, including length of the flight. We’ll experiment with various prices, and that will give us solid data upon which to base future pricing decisions. For example, extra legroom seats between IAH and EWR might be offered at $59. Certain days like holidays or weekends might get discounted pricing. All check-in applications like continental.com and kiosks will have the prices of seats at check-in.
If the only seats left on the aircraft are premium seats, will we force passengers to pay extra for them?
This is a pretty unlikely scenario, but if it happens, we won’t require a passenger to pay extra to obtain a seat assignment.
Will pass riders have to pay in order to obtain a seat with extra legroom?
No. Pass riders will be given these seats for free when they are available. Charging non-Elite revenue passengers for these seats should increase their availability to pass riders, as there will be customers who don’t value the extra legroom enough to pay for it.
None of the answers are particularly surprising – except for where they expect folks to pay $59 for an exit row from Houston to Newark – but the tone of the email definitely is. Continental’s inclusion of British Airways and Singapore Air in the list of companies that sell extra legroom is also quite interesting considering that those airlines actually have a wholly separate product that they are selling, not just a couple seats on the plane, and their Premium Economy product comes with other benefits as well. And while the bulkhead seats generally offer extra legroom there are also compliance issues with selling those seats. Continental will need to be very careful about that while ensuring that they can meet their obligations for passengers with limited mobility.
Also of note is the comment about bringing in “new sources of revenue” that have not been previously tapped. This leaves the door wide open for the airline to start charging for even more individual benefits than they do today. From the complimentary “meals at mealtime” to carry-on baggage, it is hard to take anything off the table at this point.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on March 3, 2010 under News, frequent flyer |
Continental Airlines announced today a new plan to charge for some of their most coveted seats – those with extra legroom. The seats will remain available for top-tier elites to assign in advance with no charge. Non-elite customers who want to sit in them will have to pay during the check-in process to have access to the seats. Pricing has not been announced but it will vary based on the amount of extra legroom, seat recline and flight duration, among other things.
Most interesting in the announcement was this bit:
Extra legroom really means extra legroom. The seats that we’ll be selling have at least 7 inches of extra legroom. Specifically, our mainline aircraft will offer 10-12 extra inches on average, whereas our Continental Express aircraft will be closer to 7 extra inches
There are only two on the 737-700s, three on the 757-200s and 9 on the 757-300s. The 737-800 and 737-900 planes will have 12 seats each in this configuration. Not too bad, though most of these seats are likely to be filled with OnePass elite members. Plus, I’m not really convinced that the exit row seats on the 737-800 and 737-900 planes really have 10″ of extra legroom. I’ll be bringing my tape measure next time I’m on board.
The seats will be available for purchase starting on March 17, 2010 and will only be available at check-in, not in advance.
Of course, this does open the window for an Economy+ style operation similar to what United Airlines offers. United’s E+ does not offer as much extra legroom as Continental is suggesting and it will be difficult for Continental to maintain this offering while increasing the number of seats available in this setup; their 10-12 inches minimum extra space would be very difficult to accomplish without removing a lot of other seats. Still, the opportunity – and the billing infrastructure – will be in place.
Posted by Seth on March 2, 2010 under News, Trip Reports |
A few months back the news came out that the Department of Transportation would be issuing significant fines against airline operators when they had flights delayed more than three hours between the runway and the gate. The rule hasn’t actually done into effect yet – there are a couple weeks left until enforcement begins – but several airlines appear to be already running their operations in line with the new rules? The net effect of the change in the airlines’ behavior? Thousands of canceled flights across the country.
This should not come as much of a surprise to the traveling public but apparently it is. It seems that the airlines are choosing to cancel flights much more aggressively now when faced with a severe weather situation and they are doing so without any real obligations to their customers. It is not a good thing at all. But it is apparently what society thought they wanted so it is what we’re now faced with.
It is interesting to hear the spin that airlines are putting on their new policies. Take the line from Continental President and CEO Jeff Smisek about the company’s Operations Center policies:
During difficult weather our [Operations] team … works to pre-cancel flights in order to minimize inconvenience for our customers.… [The plan] not only allows Continental to minimize disruptions for passengers during irregular operations, it also permits us to return our operations to normal as quickly as possible after a weather event.
And there is no doubt that parts of this is actually true. It does appear that the airlines are able to get back to normal operations generally pretty quickly after a weather event, though it isn’t completely obvious that it is any better than before. There are, however, some parts that don’t seem to quite live up to the expectations being set. Things like the airlines simply canceling out all of their regional and express operations for a days at a time are not good for customers. When the ability to actually complete travel is frequently delayed two or more days from the weather event it is hard to see how that is minimizing disruptions for passengers. When airlines are unwilling to pay the cost of accommodating their customers on the airlines that are operating the situation becomes even more difficult, especially when the reasons given for the cancelations are less than wholly accurate.
And it isn’t just one or two airlines that take the wholesale cancelation approach. In the past month there have been a number of weather events in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States and many carriers have taken this approach to handling the situation. Southwest, Delta, jetBlue, United and US Airways have all done it at one more more airports for one or more days. That’s hundreds of thousands of passengers displaced because of thousands of flight cancelations.
But it could be worse. More troublesome than just canceling all the flights and telling everyone to go home is when a carrier cancels all their flights across the board and then starts putting a few back into operation. There are simply too many moving bits to keep track of to keep everyone informed. At Newark last Friday I watched as thousands of passengers, self included, were given the run-around while flights were reinstated, moved to new gates, delayed or canceled again and otherwise left with misinformation.
For my own flight a call from the lounge to the gate indicated that I was the only passenger who had not yet boarded the flight and that they were getting ready to depart without me. A quick sprint to the gate showed a much different reality. They were still trying to find a full crew to get on the plane and get us out of there. I’m not sure if the agent in the lounge just didn’t want to deal with me anymore, if the woman at the gate was less than truthful or if no one knew what was going on at all. But it truly sucked from a passenger perspective.
And I was one of the lucky ones. I actually made it on to my flight with only a 5.5 hour delay and with an upgrade. Two other friends in the airport had no reasonable choice other than to cancel their travel plans completely. Ditto for two other guys supposed to make the trip out to Las Vegas for the weekend with us. So what is good for the customer about these new policies?
There are plenty of problems in the airline industry today but this new approach doesn’t solve many of them, other than to avoid DoT fines. Thanks for looking out for the consumers there. Y’all screwed up on this one pretty good.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on March 1, 2010 under Trip Reports |
I knew that something was wrong on Sunday morning when I didn’t get the confirmation email from Continental informing me that I was checked in for my return flight to Newark on Monday morning. I figured that my reservation was messed up thanks to the chaos at Newark on Friday trying to get out after the snow there and that it wasn’t too big a deal. Most likely just out of sync and a relatively trivial task for the agent to resolve when I called in. I was out at the NASCAR race all day and didn’t have time to deal with calling until around 8pm and that’s when I received some rather disturbing news from the reservations agent I spoke with. According to her I had “requested to cancel the reservation because I would be traveling on an alternate carrier instead.”
Say what?
Yes, I spoke to a dozen or so different agents throughout the day on Friday trying to get a new reservation put into place. But at no time did I actually ask for the ticket to be canceled. And the agent I was speaking with on Sunday evening continued to insist that was the case. After a couple minutes of my explaining that there’s no reason I’d cancel the return only and that I had actually flown on my original flight to get to Las Vegas she got a supervisor to reinstate the reservation so it wasn’t too big a deal. But it was definitely a bit disturbing to hear that I was talking to agents and requesting things, especially when I knew it to be untrue.
Even more strange was the time of the supposed request I made. I made a second call in to Continental to try to get some more information about the cancelation. Specifically, I asked what time I made this supposed request since they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) give me the name of the agent who I told to cancel the trip. Apparently Continental is the first airline to offer cell phone service in-flight in the United States as I was en route to Las Vegas on a Continental flight at the time.
Eventually the second agent and I figured out what happened. For some reason I was marked as a no-show on the outbound flight and the remainder of the ticket was forfeited. This is pretty typical of most airlines (jetBlue is the only one I know of that doesn’t do this as a matter of course) though it was definitely worrisome that I was listed as a no-show for a flight I actually took. I wonder what the other 220 folks on my flight had to deal with to get home. At least the second agent was willing to actually read through the details of the reservation history and get to the bottom of the situation, unlike the first agent who really seemed more focused on blaming me for canceling the trip.
All’s well that ends well, though this past weekend was certainly not Continental’s finest moment in terms of handling irregular operations.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on February 26, 2010 under Trip Reports |
I’d love to take credit for some sort of brilliant trick or negotiating skill I used with one of the half dozen agents I worked with today trying to get out of New York City to Las Vegas. I wish I had a special trick up my sleeve or a special code word I could share that explains how I actually got on the plane and got the plane out of the snow at Newark today. I don’t. I do have a lovely first class seat on the one 757-300 that Continental Airlines got off the ground this morning that was actually headed to Vegas and I’ll admit that it was mostly luck that got me here.
I’m actually on the same flight I was originally booked on when I woke up this morning. The flight was canceled at least once – maybe twice – and reinstated with customers being moved around and reassigned flights somewhat haphazardly from what I could tell. A few of the times I called in to ask about alternate routings I was apparently already assigned seats back on this flight. The folks at the airport couldn’t really tell me if the flight was going to happen or not; there was mostly just confusion as the various different computer systems were spitting out different data to people.
When I left the Presidents Club the second time two friends were in the midst of a very creative rebooking that the agent seemed to be quite keen on, more more helpful than the three I spoke with that denied much less creative or expensive reroutes earlier in the day. Such is life, I suppose, though the inconsistency in the application of the rules is certainly frustrating.
One smart move Continental made was to not waste all the food that their Chelsea Kitchens division had produced the night before expecting to serve on the flights today. Rather than trash it since most of the flights were cancelled they packed it all up and brought it over to the terminal, setting up a snack bar near the Customer Service station in the terminal. Definitely a classy move, even if a limited choice of options.
But I was leaving the club because my flight was boarding, so I didn’t mind all that much, even if it was 5+ hours after the original departure time. It was only around the tenth flight that Continental managed to get off the ground at all today so the fact that it happened to be the one headed to the place I was going was pretty much blind luck. Oh, and then there were the hundred or so other lucky souls who managed to get a seat on the flight from the standby list. I’ve never seen the list of cleared standby passengers quite so long and I don’t think we left anyone behind at the airport.
First up, deicing, with the nifty trucks that they use at Newark. The guy in the cherry-picker cab actually drives the truck via controls up there. Saves needing an extra guy in the truck and it is pretty cool too.
Thanks to the fact that there were basically no other planes flying we had a quick taxi out to runway 4L and a great view as we made the final turn to depart. I really look forward to this view every time I get on an airplane.
And then it was time for the meal service. Sure, it was 3:15 in the afternoon at this point, but the flight was originally scheduled for a 9am departure. That means it is catered as a breakfast flight. So it was Honey Nut Cheerios or Omelets for everyone. Ten hours after I woke up and three hours after I had lunch I was finally having breakfast. Not that I mind too much; I love Cheerios. But it was entertaining and the flight attendant was laughing at the fact that she was taking breakfast orders in the middle of the afternoon.
A nap and a fresh baked chocolate-chip cookie somewhere over the Rockies and we’re getting ready to start our descent into Vegas now.
I hope the other guys trying to get out from NYC had less trouble with their flights than I did. Most were taking afternoon or evening flights so I’m somewhat optimistic – not overly so, but a bit.
Posted by Seth on February 26, 2010 under Trip Reports |
And it sucks. Mostly because I found alternate flight options and the folks at Continental were unwilling to rebook them and then when I finally found someone who would the flights were sold out. But that’s just part of the fun.
Trying to get to Las Vegas out of anywhere in the Washington, DC – Boston area and not having much luck at all. Sure, I found options. The first couple were even codeshare partners with Continental. But the first call got disconnected after 30 minutes and the second was a rather unhelpful agent. The third got me a helpful agent but in the intervening 90 minutes all the flight options had disappeared. Not good at all.
Still trying to find other options but the well appears to have gone dry. I’m not happy about it at all.
At least I got to watch the cool snow melting machine in operation here at Newark:
UPDATE (11:07am): My original flight was reinstated and I got a better seat out of the deal. Now just delayed 4 hours. Here’s hoping it actually flies…
Posted by Seth on February 22, 2010 under News |
What do you do as a city when you cannot convince commercial carriers to offer more air service? In the case of Branson, Missouri the answer is somewhat surprising. They’re building their own airline.
Well, sortof.
The new carrier is named Branson AirExpress and is operating as scheduled charter service to five different cities from Branson: Austin, TX; Shreveport, LA; Des Moines, IA; Terre Haute, IN and Houston, TX.
Map from Great Circle Mapper
The flights will be operated by ExpressJet on 50-seat Embrear ERJ-145 aircraft. ExpressJet is mostly known for operating the vast majority of Continental Express flights and also for their failed efforts to operate as an independent carrier a couple years back.
The routes are all short – 284 to 507 miles – and there is no guarantee that the services will run daily. Actually it is likely that not all the cities will be served daily. I say likely because the news isn’t actually official yet, except for the part where the new website is online and is showing the destinations though not flight schedules yet.
I’m not a huge fan of scheduled charter service. The consumer protections aren’t quite the same as for regular commercial service. There are the usual things like baggage fees ($15 for the first bag, $25 for the second bag) and telephone booking fees ($13.25/person). There is also a $25/flight lap child charge, something that is rather uncommon for domestic US flights. And then there is the fact that, because it is a charter, the “airline” can actually raise the price of the flight as long as it is more than 10 days prior to the flight. Sure, if the fare goes up more than 10% the passenger can cancel, but that’s still a somewhat strange way to structure a plane ticket deal. Other things that the airline can do without recourse? Change the flight time. As long as the new time is within 48 hours of the original scheduled departure the passenger has no recourse. Lots more fun fine print here.
Assuming they can get any customers I’m sure this will be a good thing for Branson. The destinations are in the 6-12 hour driving range and they are all good connections for middle-America folks who want to stay domestic for their travels. It will be interesting to watch this play out.
Hat tip to Dan for the news of the new routes.
