The Air Travel Consumer Report Needs Work

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 10, 2010
in Industrywide
. 1 Comment

Just for fun, I decided to take a look at the on-time performance of major carriers and their regional partners in their biggest hubs since the most recent Air Travel Consumer Report was just released by the DOT with data for January. Not surprisingly, the regionals didn’t do too hot. In only one case (Mesa in Phoenix) did a regional outperform the mainline partner.

I originally got the idea to do this small bit a research when Brett Snyder wrote on his BNET blog that on-time results should be sorted by marketing carrier, and I completely agree. In some cases, there can be some big difference. For example, United mainline had a 76.1% on-time percentage in San Francisco, but SkyWest, who had 20% more flights, only earned a meager 53.2% percentage.

But some changes do need to be made before it would work to report results by marketing carrier. Right now, a lot of regional carriers are missing, just because they’re not required to do so. Currently, only “air carriers that have at least one percent of total domestic scheduled-service passenger revenues” need to share their numbers with the DOT. The only regionals who qualify there are American Eagle, ASA, Comair, Mesa, and SkyWest. ExpressJet and Pinnacle are also included in the report, but only because they share their numbers voluntarily.

As a result, it would not make sense to change the report as things stand today because it would unfairly report results. For example, it’s quite easy to check out American’s performance because Eagle is a huge operation. Sure, Chautauqua is missing, but that’s only 15 ERJs. On the other hand, it wouldn’t work to report a single US Airways number because the only operation that is in the report is Mesa out of Phoenix. It’s hard to look at the East network as Air Wisconsin, Chautauqua, Colgan, Piedmont, PSA, Republic, and Trans States are all missing.

It is useful, of course, to know how well specific regional carriers operate, but not as much for consumers, for whom the report is made. Let’s be honest here – the aircraft wear the mainline carrier’s colors, and the flights are always booked through the major carrier. It seems only fair to group all the results by major carrier. But for that to work either more airlines need to report on a voluntary basis, or the DOT needs to change the requirements on sharing results.

Honestly, this wouldn’t be a big issue for me if the airlines didn’t promote their on-time performance like United has been doing (the same can be said for US Airways last year). But, in United’s case, over a quarter of their domestic capacity for 2009 (as measured by ASMs) was excluded from that number. Does that really make any sense?

Anyway, you can check out the results I compiled here. (Unfortunately, Google Docs lost some of my formatting from Excel.)

Photos: First Aer Lingus Regional ATR (And Why It’s a Good Idea)

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 9, 2010
in Aer Lingus
. 3 Comments

On March 28th, Aer Lingus regional starts up, with service provided by Aer Arann. The two have interlined in the past, but this brings the partnership much closer. I really think this is a good idea for Aer Lingus. Right now, the airline has a huge seat gap. The smallest aircraft it operates is the A320, with 174 seats. (It wasn’t always that way – the airline used to have Fokker 50s and BAE 146s but they were eliminated.) I think that seat gap makes them either too big for some markets or makes them serve them inefficiently.

Here’s an example – right now Aer Lingus has one A320 a day to Glasgow, while Ryanair operates two daily 737-800s. Once Regional starts up, the mainline service goes away and is instead replace with four flights with ATR s. In end, Aer Lingus will still have less capacity than Ryanair in the market, but with twice the frequency. Rynair’s flights are at the beginning and end of the day, but Aer Lingus has a schedule throughout the day, so Aer Lingus might be able to win some customers based on schedule here. The same thing for Endinburgh – right now Lingus has a lone A320 in the middle of the day (and Ryanair has two 737-800s), but now the ATRs can enhance that schedule with an earlier and later flight.

Personally, I’d like to see Aer Lingus get some other small aircraft of its own, perhaps a 319, or an E-Jet, or maybe even a CSeries. But enough about that. Check out these pictures of the first ATR72 to wear the Aer Lingus colors, snapped by photographer Malcolm Nason. I think the aircraft looks great – thanks to Malcolm for letting me post them here.

Allegiant and 757s: More Questions than Answers

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 8, 2010
in Allegiant
. 4 Comments

The Hawaii market has been fun to watch for the past few months, but it just got more interesting for those who observe the industry. It’s been rumored for awhile that Allegiant wants to go to Hawaii, and they’re finally doing it. The airline announced Friday that it will be acquiring six 757s from an unnamed European carrier, and they’ll be arriving over the next couple of years. The first two are slated to arrive within the next two months, and will be placed into service in the fourth quarter of this year.

Other than that, we don’t know much more. So let’s get into the analysis/speculation, shall we? To make it easier to read I’ve divided the rest of this post into shorter sections.

A Change in Strategy?

Do I see this as a big change in strategy for Allegiant? No. Allegiant’s current system has been kind of simple – big leisure market on one end of the route, small market on the other end, with MD-80s flying the route a few times a week. President and CFO Andrew Levy said in a press release that “this transaction will enable Allegiant to extend to Hawaii its strategy of serving large leisure destinations from smaller cities with no existing nonstop service,” so that doesn’t seem like there will be any big changes here.

Yes, adding a new fleet type is a big change for Allegiant, but I wouldn’t classify it as a major shift. The airline’s current strategy has been to buy cheap MD-80s that are in good shape, and basically they’ve extended that to another type.

So Where Are the Aircraft Coming From, Anyway?

The answer to that question will help clarify Allegiant’s strategy here, at least a bit. For example, there are two exit configurations for the 757 – three doors and two overwing exits, and four doors. The former can hold no more than 224 passengers in a one-class configuration, while the latter can seat up to 239 passengers.

Another big factor is the engines – 757s come with either Pratt & Whitney PW2000 series or Rolls Royce RB211 series engines. There are a couple of different versions of each type, but it can make a difference. For example, if Allegiant wanted to fly out of Bellingham, Washington to Hawaii with a PW2037-powered 757s, some weight restrictions might be in order, but might not if powered with RB211-535E4 engines. (According an investor presentation released today, the company reports that the aircraft are RB211-535E4 powered.)

So where are these coming from? All Allegiant says is, “The six 757 aircraft are sister-ships and have been in service with a single European operator since original delivery from Boeing. The aircraft come equipped for extended twin-engine operations (ETOPS), as required for long overwater flights.” In a SEC filing from today, the company also reports that the aircraft have RR21-535E4 engines, have an average age of seventeen years, and an average cycle count of 19,000.

Here are my best guesses, from what I think is the most likely to least likely:

  1. Thomson Airways. The initial rumors about Allegiant and Hawaii involved Thomson 757s.
  2. British Airways. Yeah, they announced in 2008 that the whole fleet was sold off to be converted into freighters, but, they conveniently have six in storage right now. (Though it appears one of them was with a couple of airlines.)
  3. Finnair. The carrier is dumping its fleet of seven leisure 757s, conveniently from 2010 to 2012. (Finnair’s have Pratt engines.)
  4. Thomas Cook.
  5. Icelandair.

Continue reading ‘Allegiant and 757s: More Questions than Answers’

AirTran’s Interesting Milwaukee Move

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 5, 2010
in AirTran
. 2 Comments

To be honest, it’s been an annoyingly slow news week airline-wise. Yeah, traffic reports and RASM estimates are kind of exciting, but I usually wait for all of the airlines to release results, because it just gets redundant otherwise, I think. So hence today’s fast post.

But this morning an interesting press release came over from AirTran about Milwaukee. And it’s not a new rote announcement:

ORLANDO, Fla., March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI), today announced that the airline will host its annual shareholders’ meeting on May 18, 2010, at the historic Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. This marks the first time the Company’s annual meeting will be held in Milwaukee. AirTran Airways operates a hub in Milwaukee and is the fastest growing airline at General Mitchell International Airport.

Is it just me, or is this decision to not have the meeting in Orlando, where AirTran is headquartered, fairly symbolic here? I think it shows that AirTran is really committed to this market. Heck, AirTran is calling itself “Milwaukee’s largest mainline carrier” and it’s opening a crew base there. Clearly they’re ready to face-off Midwest for an extended period.

There’s definitely a lot of overlap between the two airlines. But Midwest does have some advantages here, I think. First, while it’s probably eroded a decent amount, they still have brand loyalty as Milwaukee’s hometown carrier. Second, they still have some unique markets, especially the smaller ones with the ERJ service, so that can drive some connecting feed to their other flights. On a related note, Midwest does have some greater fleet flexibility. The smallest AirTran can go is 117 seats with the 717 (granted, there are a five SkyWest CRJs working for them, too), while Midwest can use those E170s, etc. in markets that might not work out for AirTran. Finally, Midwest has been able to expand its reach with the Frontier codeshare.

And, like I usually write here, it will be interesting to watch them duke it out.

bmi and Swiss Expand Partnership

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 4, 2010
in Swiss and bmi
. 0 Comments

Bmi is one of the newest members of the big, happy Lufthansa family, and it’s been interesting to see where Mother Lufthansa play with the airline to make it fit into its larger route network. Yesterday we saw that happen a bit with the announcement of a codeshare agreement between bmi and fellow Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss. That’s an extension of a partnership that started earlier this year with Swiss entering the Heathrow-Geneva market (potentially with slots acquired from bmi).

Photo Credit: bmi.

The codeshare is pretty simple to understand as it is quite wide -ranging: all UK to Switzerland routes. In a press release bmi says “will allow bmi to offer fares between Zurich, Geneva and Basel from London Heathrow, London City, Manchester, Birmingham International and Edinburgh and improve connections between Switzerland and the wider bmi network.”

But, in addition to this codeshare, we’ve seen some other interesting moves within the Lufthansa family. For example, bmi is launching flights from Heathrow to Vienna, a market that is currently served by Austrian as well. And this article from Business Traveller shows some interesting moves bmi has been making with its sister airlines in some other markets.

As usual, this will be fun to watch and see how Lufthansa positions its various airline brands around Europe.

Alaska to Cut Los Angeles – Cancún Service

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 3, 2010
in Alaska
. 0 Comments

Earlier this week, Alaska notified the DOT that the airline plans to cut service from Los Angeles to Cancún, a flight that Alaska has been operating for years. According to Alaska’s current timetable, the flight is operating six days a week with 737-800 aircraft. Service is slated to end on June 6.

Interestingly enough, on June 9 United’s usual Saturday-only flight goes to daily for the summer. Mexicana is a player on the route as well, and Delta currently has Saturday-only service. So maybe this route just wasn’t working out with so many players. Alaska also mentions that it will continue to place its code on Delta’s flights on this route, so the airline probably thought it could pull its own metal out of the market but still get revenue through its partner. I do wonder if Delta might increase capacity in the market now.

Meanwhile, Alaska will continue serving Cancún on a seasonal basis from Seattle. The carrier also serves a few other Mexican destinations from LAX (Guadalajara, Ixtapa, Loreto, Manzanillo, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo).

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/as737700/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

Volaris Applies to Expand US Service

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 2, 2010
in Volaris
. 0 Comments

Yes, it is Mexican route day here at Things in the Sky. :D

As I mentioned in my past post, I was catching up on DOT filings, and I found an interesting one from Volaris. The airline has applied to the DOT for permission to launch service to San Jose and Chicago from Guadalajara. San Jose would complement the carrier’s existing Californian transborder service, and would boost its position in the Bay Area as it already serves Oakland. The service, if launched, would compete with Mexicana’s existing nonstop service. (Mexicana has a nonstop from OAK as well.)

What’s interesting about the application for Chicago flights is that Volaris never specified what airport it plans to serve. Aeroméxico and Mexicana have nonstops from O’Hare, but I think Volaris would fly into Midway. That makes the most sense to me as it would open up a bunch of connecting opportunities with Southwest once that codeshare begins (hopefully later this year).

Volaris began transborder service last year with service to Los Angeles and Oakland. The former has service to Toluca (an alternate to Mexico City), Guadalajara, Morelia, and Zacatecas, while the latter has flights to Guadalajara and Toluca. Oakland had service to Tijuana, but service appears to have been cut. For both cities, only flights to Guadalajara are daily.

The airline also has the authority to fly to Fort Lauderdale,  though Volaris has not announced any service to the city.

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrsnchzhrs/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

US Airways Receives Approval To Add Mexican Routes

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 2, 2010
in US Airways
. 0 Comments

Yesterday, I caught up on some DOT filings, and there’s always some interesting stuff in there. Like US Airways’ February 17th application to add some Mexican routes, followed by approval from the DOT Monday last week. In its application for service, US Airways says it will launch flights from Charlotte to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo “on or about June 1, 2010.” (No official announcement of service has come from US Airways, however, and approval is needed from the Mexican government as well.)

A US Airways A319 taxis at Charlotte. Photo Credit: Chris Weyer.

Both of the cities already have mainline service to Phoenix, and on June 1st each will have four frequencies to US Airways’ western hub. Puerto Vallarta will see two A319s and A320s, while Cabo gets a 757-200, an A320, and two A319s. US Airways plans to operate the Charlotte flying with A319s, and will serve Puerto Vallarta four times a week, and Cabo five times a week. Service is slated to be year-round.

US Airways already serves Cancún, Cozumel, and Mexico City from Charlotte.

This move makes sense to me. Only a few cities on the East Coast have a direct flight to Phoenix, so a connection in Philadelphia, Charlotte, or Washington is necessary. These flights will eliminate a second connection, which certainly makes life easier for travelers. It also makes US Airways more competitive here, since one-connection itineraries are available from the East Coast on other airlines.

Porter Launches Myrtle Beach Service

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 1, 2010
in Porter
. 0 Comments

On Sunday, Toronto-based Porter launched its new seasonal service to Myrtle Beach (KMYR/MYR) from Toronto City Centre Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (CYTZ/YTZ). (The name was changed in November in honor the Canadian flying ace Billy Bishop, who served in World War I.) The flights will operate twice a week (Sundays and Thursdays) until May 30th. Myrtle Beach is Porter’s fourth US destination, though the other three (New York (Newark), Chicago (Midway), and Boston) are more business destinations.

Destinations like MYR do represent a slight change in strategy for Porter, which has traditionally focused on business markets. But it has found success in more leisure-oriented markets like Halifax. And one would assume those Porter business travelers might want to play golf in South Carolina every now and then. :D

Regardless, there are no other nonstops to Myrtle Beach from Toronto. Plus, with the Q400 and only two frequencies a week, Porter isn’t throwing much capacity into the market here. So I think there’s a good case for the service here. Let’s see if they find it worthwhile to come back next year.

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomaspurves/ / CC BY 2.0

AirTran Partners with Amex To Woo Business Travelers

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 1, 2010
in AirTran
. 2 Comments

An interesting press release came this morning from AirTran, with the carrier announcing that American Express would be partnering with AirTran, or as they describe themselves, “America’s Most Business Friendly Airline.” The promotion is aimed at members of American Express’ OPEN Savings program. The OPEN card is meant for small businesses.

So what does the partnership mean? Members of the OPEN Savings Program can save 5% on all AirTran flights. Hertz and some hotel chains are already members of the program, so adding an airline the mix rounds out that program nicely. Of course, AirTran is hoping that 5% discount will send some more business travelers its way.

But you need not be an OPEN member to benefit from this promotion – from March 13th to the 27th, American Express will be sponsoring free Wi-Fi on all AirTran flights. (On a side note, I wonder how much of that revenue goes to Aircell…)

And while we’re on the topic of Wi-Fi, AirTran called itself “the only airline with Business Class and Wi-Fi on every flight.” AirTran’s done this before in press releases. Virgin America has Wi-Fi on every flight, too. Can we just accept it and move on?

Anyway, I think this is a smart move.

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wbaiv/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Midwest Rebuilds Kansas City Route Map

Published
by
Dan Webb
on February 26, 2010
in Midwest and Republic
. 2 Comments

Yes, three Republic-related posts in one week! Sorry to be repetitive, but some interesting route (and fleet) announcements have been coming from them of late. We’ve seen a bunch of routes from Milwaukee reinstated over the past few months, and now Kansas City is getting some love with new nonstops to New Orleans and Columbus, which are both routes the airline used to serve. Midwest launched flights to New Orleans in 2005 but left after Hurricane Katrina. Columbus has always had Milwaukee service, but Kansas City flights were cut a couple of years back.

New Orleans service will be daily and starts on May 20 – that’s interesting because Frontier is launching a daily Denver nonstop soon after in June.  The Midwest flights are a few hours earlier, so that gives Frontier/Midwest customers a few more options two and from the city. The service will be provided by Republic E-170s.

As mentioned earlier, Columbus is an existing Midwest city, and it has a few ERJs to Milwaukee per day. So why add Kansas City? There’s certainly some local demand there, but I think this is to help generate some extra connections, which is something that Frontier has done recently by announcing Denver service from some other Midwest destinations.

But after looking through the schedule, it seems that this flight adds a new connecting option to cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco. In fact, the outbound flight (YX1989) in the morning is a one-stop to Seattle. The inbound, YX1974, flies SFO-MCI-CMH, but for some reason that itinerary isn’t bookable on Midwest’s website.

The Columbus service is operated with Republic E-190s. CMH-MCI fights operate Monday-Saturday, while MCI-CMH operates Sunday-Friday.

As I’ve said a lot lately, it’s certainly interesting to watch Midwest rebuild. And it’s also fun to see a slew of route announcements in this economic environment.

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/ / CC BY 2.0