Monthly Archive for December, 2010

Arbitrator Rules ALPA’s Favor Over Continental Scope Issue

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 31, 2010
in Continental and United
. 0 Comments

Remember how awhile back how I wrote that United was planning to operate some 70-seat jet flights out of Continental hubs? Well, Continental’s pilot group (represented by ALPA) wasn’t too happy about it.

Their scope clause – which specifies how much flying can be outsourced to regional carriers – only allows smaller regional jets. That’s a big reason why the only large regional aircraft you’ll find at Continental is the Colgan Q400. Continental’s pilots said United’s plan would violate their scope clause, since these were flights flying out of Continental hubs and also have the Continental code. The issue was brought to arbitrator - who has ruled in favor of the pilots.

“Placing the CO designator code on the UAX jet aircraft with a certification of fifty-one or greater seats to and from CLE, EWR and IAH is a violation of Section 1 of the Continental/ALPA collective bargaining agreement. The Company is ordered to cease and desist advertising and placing the CO code on such flights,” said the arbitrator in his decision.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all pans out, especially since some of the 70-seat flying was slated to start on Tuesday.

UPDATE – Bloomberg reports that the flights can continue under the United code.

OPINION: So, About that ABC News Piece…

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 30, 2010
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

Yesterday evening I watched the beginning of ABC’s nightly World News broadcast, and impact of this week’s blizzard on travel was one of the first stories. It’s pretty logical that such a major weather event would attract a whole bunch of media attention, but one of the stories I saw last night was disappointing, to say the least. If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it online here.

The basic premise of the piece was this: Since airlines made so much money in the third quarter, why isn’t customer service any better? When anchor David Muir (filling in for Diane Sawyer) mentioned the industry’s “giant profits” when introducing the story, I braced for the worst, but there was more to come.

The reporter, Dan Harris, noted large year-over-year increases in third quarter profits for JetBlue and Continental, and then complained that wasn’t able to get in touch with an agent over the phone. In fact, he was automatically disconnected. He then discusses the industry’s “soaring profits,” driven by fare increases and additional ancillary revenue.

I would be lying if I said that the most recent quarter wasn’t a great one for the industry – in fact, it was the most profitable since deregulation. And it’s safe to say that the large profit increases experienced by JetBlue and Continental were not the exception. Not surprisingly, year-over-year comps are quite favorable. But there was no historical context presented by ABC.

Just for fun, I headed over to the free DOT data source, TranStats, and downloaded some interesting profitability data from Table P-12 of Form 41. This data set contains quarterly financial results for airlines with over $20 million in annual revenue. Using TransStats’ analysis tools, I was able to get the total net profit or loss for the past 20 years:

There are a couple of things to note here. First, look at the average net result from 1990 to 2009. An “average” year is a $2.3 billion loss! The industry hasn’t exactly done a great job of producing “giant profits” over the long term. Also worthy of note is that if the airlines are profitable in 2010, it will be the first time since 2007. The industry is just beginning to recover from 2008 and 2009 – when the industry lost over $26 billion! One strong quarter in 2010 does not mean airline service improves instantly along with it.

And even though the industry is on track to return to profitability, the global industry’s financial prospects are not the greatest. IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani had this to say when the trade group released its latest profit projection earlier this month:

Margins remain pathetic. With a 2.7% net margin in 2010 shrinking to 1.5% in 2011, we are nowhere near covering our cost of capital. The industry is fragile and balancing on a knife edge. Any shock could stunt the recovery, as we are seeing with the results of new or increased taxation on airlines and travelers in Europe.

Basically, the airline industry hasn’t always been the greatest financially. There’s a reason Warren Buffet wrote in 2007 that “if a farsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favor by shooting Orville down.”

The industry is doing well…for the moment. We have yet to see if it is sustainable.

I also want to visit one of Harris’ other points, that airlines have “cut their workforce by more than 150,000 people over the last ten years, leaving fewer actual humans to man the phones. And during a crisis like this one, kiosks and websites often do not cut it.”

This number appears to be quite inaccurate. If one looks at total airline employment, then yes, total airline employees decreased by 151,331 people (to 528,390) from the end of 2000 to the end of 2009, according to DOT data.

But the DOT breaks this number down into multiple categories. The passenger handling segment “includes reservations staff (both at airports and in call centers), ticket agents, gate or boarding attendants, and airport lounge staff, but not flight-related or baggage handling employees,” according to this document. (Small airlines report those numbers in the separate category, Passenger/General Services & Administration, but that category also includes flight attendants, so I’m excluding them.)

That group sounds and awful lot like the customer service employees Harris is talking about, right? Well, surprise! The DOT reports there were 93,241 of these employees in 2009. That’s lower than a couple of years ago but still represents a gain of 7,824 employees from 2000!

So, the main data points presented in the report are provided with no context.

Also, some moves by the airlines of late were completely over-looked. For example, what about Delta? The airline is investing in its onboard product, has made great progress with aiding customers using social media, and brought back its Red Coat program, placing highly-trained and experienced agents in some of the airline’s busiest stations. Harris also complains about being stuck on hold – but at least Southwest has a relatively new feature, where instead of waiting on hold, you will automatically be called back when an agent is available.

I’m not saying passengers don’t have a right to be angered about a horrible weather situation, or that customer service improvements aren’t needed. I think few would disagree with the idea that airlines could work harder in this area. And customer service is just one area of airline investment. Now that we are in the beginning of a recovery, airlines must now focus on improving their financial position (i.e. balance sheet repair). Meanwhile, other investments, like new interiors or improved inflight entertainment and connectivity options also improve customer satisfaction.

But painting the airline industry as one that is incredibly profitable is a mischaracterization of past results. Trying to connect them to the blizzard seems off, especially since the weather havoc could cost the industry over $100 million, according to one industry analyst.

Delta to Launch PVD-DCA

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 27, 2010
in Delta and US Airways
. 0 Comments

So my friend Rick texts me today and tells me that while looking around some schedules he found Delta nonstops from Providence to Washington National. At first I think he’s yanking my chain, but lo and behold:

Three daily nonstops! Woo! As a Rhode Islander I am very happy.

All of those CRJs are operated by Pinnacle, by the way. Service starts up on April 1 with two flights, and then goes to three the day after.

But this makes sense to me. US Airways has had a chokehold on this market for years. The average fare in the second quarter of this year was $272.28, according to the DOT’s Domestic Airline Fares Consumer Report. That’s a bit cheaper than United charged to IAD ($317.33), but that’s a smaller market.  But that’s more than double Southwest’s average $122.82 to BWI.

Anyway, I’m very happy about this. Delta’s spring schedule for PVD was already pretty impressive year-over-year, with seven Detroit flights by May (granted, it’s still early, but it’s promising).

Other things worthy of note – a quick check of schedules shows that Boston-DCA frequences are being reduced by four flights in April as this service starts up. I wonder how yields have been for US Airways and Delta in that market since JetBlue came in.

But this is certainly interesting, and something that wouldn’t have happened had the slot swap gone through. Delta announced a bunch of routes out of DC in July. This is also interesting as Delta has been adding more O&D routes out of smaller cities like Raleigh.

Trip Report: First Impressions of Delta

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 27, 2010
in Delta
. 9 Comments

Last week, I had the awesome opportunity to fly down to Atlanta to spend some time with the lovely PR folks over at Delta. (If you read Cranky Flier or AirlineReporter, it was a similar trip.) Before I get to the details of my visit, I wanted to share the impression of my flights.

In the full-disclosure department, Delta covered flights (in first class), hotel, and most of my food on the trip.

I was excited about this flight because it was my first on Delta. Well, not really – last time I flew them I was five. I don’t remember a whole lot about that trip in 1995, and obviously a lot about Delta has changed since. I did, however, fly Northwest in 2007.

Anyway, I usually do a summary of each flight, but I decided to try something new here. Let me know what you think. As usual, my trip reports are a bit on the long side. What can I say? I’m a bit nit-picky! :D

Pre-Flight Experience

Delta’s website was pretty easy to handle before my trip. Changing seats and entering Secure Flight information was a breeze. So no complaints there.

Another highlight was the @DeltaAssist Twitter account. A few days before my trip I couldn’t get to my flight info, so I tweeted about it. Soon I heard back that the issue was reported and was fixed. Impressive.

Despite signing up for every Delta e-mail alert possible, I only received a check-in reminder for my flight home to Providence. Delta’s iPhone app was very helpful here, as that was the only alert I received before arriving at ATL that my gate had changed:

Other than the e-mail issue, no complaints here.

Airport Experience

Providence – Atlanta

When I arrived at the Delta check-in area I first wanted to try the Sky Priority line, but a customer was being helped and I just went to a kiosk, which was very easy to use.

Priority security, one of the perks of Sky Priority, is available at Providence. I looked around for signage but quickly gave up – the general security line was so short it wasn’t worth looking.

Atlanta -Providence

I checked-in at a kiosk again, and decided to check my bag. Printing out my boarding pass and getting my bag tagged by an agent took about a minute. My bag was properly tagged as “priority.” While it took almost 20 minutes after arrival for bags to start coming down the belt at PVD, mine was one of the first to arrive.

Delta was nice enough to put me up at the B25 Sky Club. The agents at the front desk were incredibly nice, employees were constantly going through to pick up used glasses and silverware, and the club and its bathrooms were also very clean. There was ample power available as well. My only complaint was that the club was a bit crowded for awhile. The other Sky Club on that concourse is closed for renovations, so that could have been a reason.

Boarding

Providence – Atlanta

I’m going to guess that by default, Delta schedules boarding times for MD-88s at 40 minutes before scheduled departure, which was 12:08 PM in my case. But that was also the scheduled arrival time for the inbound flight, so clearly that isn’t a realistic time. I know it’s a minor thing, but all that does is make the gate area more crowded.

The end of PVD’s north concourse is always the busiest thanks to Southwest, and having two Delta departures at gates right next to each other didn’t help. The Detroit flight was supposed to leave about 20 minutes earlier than mine, but since the inbound aircraft was delayed all of the passengers were waiting along with the Atlanta passengers. I’m sure it makes great operational sense to use gates 16 and 18 at the same time, but the ex-Northwest gate is in a much quieter part of the airport, and sat unused until the evening Minneapolis departure.

Atlanta -Providence

Nothing notable here, though the gate agent was particularly nice.

Pre-Flight

On both flights there was a pillow, blanket, and bottle of water waiting for me. Nice! The only thing worthy of note is that pre-departure beverages weren’t served on the PVD-ATL flight. With such a full flight, however, I just don’t think the crew had the time to serve them.

In-Flight Comments

I was excited about my outbound flight because there was a meal service, a choice between a salad or sandwich. I chose the latter, which was served with chips and a brownie. It was surprisingly delicious, and also very filling! The flight attendant was great about the service, too, joking how it was served on Delta’s “finest linen.” Hot towels were also provided before the meal.

On both flights, the flight attendants were great about passing through with the snack basket as well and keeping drinks refilled. On the flight down to Atlanta I received the whole can of soda, which I think is better.

But overall, great crews. I was very impressed.

My only complaint about both flights is the Gogo service, which was slow on both flights, probably because it was free. The service was unavailable for about 15 minutes on the flight down.

On my return flight to Providence, some passengers couldn’t even log in because so many passengers were using it. Eventually I ended up getting booted off, receiving this message. I was able to log back in, though.

As much as I enjoyed free Wi-Fi, I would have rather paid for more reliable service. While it’s great that airlines like Delta, AirTran, and Virgin made quick moves for fleetwide Wi-Fi, I’m starting to think that Southwest and JetBlue made the right call by selecting satellite service. But perhaps this issue doesn’t exist when Gogo is paid-only.

Conclusion

Overall, I was very happy with Delta. Compared to my one other flight in a premium cabin (DCA-ORD on United), I’d say my ATL-PVD flight on Delta was slightly better when it comes to service, but it’s close. I can’t really compare my PVD-ATL flight, as I haven’t sampled United’s domestic meal service.

An Interesting E-Mail from AirTran

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 24, 2010
in AirTran
. 0 Comments

A few days I got this e-mail from AirTran, which I found interesting. Free upgrades for elites makes sense since Delta does the same thing. But it’s interesting to see this when the current plan is to scrap Business Class after the Southwest merger closes. I wonder…will Southwest ever change its mind?

Text below:

At AirTran Airways, we have been hard at work to ensure that you receive the highest level of quality you have come to expect as an A+ Rewards member. To that end, we are pleased to announce the following enhancements to the program:

  • Promotional confirmed Business Class upgrades for Elites 24 hours in advance –
    From now until February 18, 2011, Elite members and up to one additional passenger on the same reservation will be upgraded automatically from any coach fare 24 hours before departure, subject to availability. Priority will be determined by fare paid. For more details on this exciting new Elite benefit, please visit our FAQ.
  • Elites can now purchase confirmed Business Class upgrades 48 hours in advance –
    As an additional benefit, starting today, Elite members will be able to purchase Business Class upgrades beginning 48 hours before departure by calling 1-800-AIR-TRAN. This benefit gives Elite members a 24 hour window before other passengers can purchase upgrades.

A+ Rewards members will be able to enjoy all other A+ Rewards program features throughout the coming year, and the AirTran Airways brand will be in the market throughout 2011. Visit www.lowfaresfarther.com to read the latest news.

JetBlue To Serve Martha’s Vineyard This Summer

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 23, 2010
in JetBlue
. 2 Comments

JetBlue announced today that it will launch service from its JFK hub to Martha’s Vineyard, operating from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The airline has said service will be daily and operated with E190s, but it will not release schedules until next month.

While there’s no direct competition from JFK, US Airways flies to Martha’s Vineyard from LaGuardia using Saab 340s operated by Colgan Air. A quick schedule check indicates that those flights will launch in late June, with four flights during the week and reduced serivce on the weekends.

The new flight complements JetBlue’s existing seasonal service from JFK to Nantucket (also E190-operated), which will have two daily flights, and a third flight that operates a few times each week.

While JetBlue’s service to the islands is seasonal, its customers have year-round access to Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and other destinations on the Cape through its partnership with Cape Air.

Speaking of Cape Air – I always wished they’d partner up with Southwest and transfer passengers through Providence. (Of course, I’m biased as a Rhode Islander who loves his local airport.) But, alas, JetBlue happened. And speaking of that JetBlue partnership – Cape Air has a nice little hub out of San Juan. I wonder if the JetBlue partnership could be expanded to the Caribbean?

Delta Makes Some Changes to Domestic First Class

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 23, 2010
in Delta
. 2 Comments

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a week or so, but finals and a trip to Atlanta (more on that next week) got in the way. But I wanted to write about this before Christmas.

Anyway, Delta is increasing the size of its first class cabins on some domestic aircraft, with larger coach cabins as well. The extra space for the seats comes from the removal of unused galley space, the airline says. I find that smart for a couple of reasons. Revenue-wise, I’d imagine that extra seats are far more productive than a galley that is lightly used.

The fact that the extra first seats is not coming at the expense of a smaller economy cabin is also smart from a unit cost perspective.  If the total number of seats were to be reduced, that would mean less available seat miles (ASMs). That means fixed costs get spread over a smaller amount of ASMs, which puts some upward pressure on cost per available seat mile (CASM). Instead, Delta is increasing the number of available seats.

I also think this works well from a consistency standpoint. The old configurations of the MD-88 and MD-90 have 14 and 12 first class seats, respectively. After getting reconfigured they will each have 16 seats, the same number as the similarly-sized 737-800 and A320. The MD-88s will be done in the fourth quarter of 2011, while the much-smaller fleet of MD-90s will be done by the first half of the year.

A Delta MD-90 at PDX. Photo Credit: Russell Hill.

Meanwhile, the domestic 767-300s will get six more first class seats, up to 30. That upgrade will be done by the second quarter of 2011 like the MD-90s. The 757-200 fleet will take until the second quarter of 2013 to be completed. Delta says that, on average, it will receive four more seats, up to 28.

One thing that should be noted, however, is that the first cabin on the ex-Northwest A319 is shrinking. Those aircraft were originally configured with 16 seats in first and 108 in economy, but the current seat map on Delta’s website shows 12 first seats and 114 economy. (This is a topic that has been discussed at length on FlyerTalk.) That’s the same number of first seats as the 737-700s.

A couple of other thoughts on this.

First, it’s very easy for the comparisons to United to start. What’s worth noting is that currently, for every domestic aircraft type that’s shared between the two airlines, Delta has the same or more first class seats than United. The only exceptions are 767-300s and some of Delta’s 757-200s.

So, does that mean it’s better for frequent travelers to fly Delta instead of United? Both offer unlimited domestic upgrades for their elites – and intuitively one would think that Delta’s larger cabins is better. But there are a few things to consider here.

First, there’s Economy Plus on the pre-merger United fleet. So, there are less first seats on a United A319 than a Delta A319, but there’s a great chance of getting a seat with more legroom, which is better than just sitting in regular economy. But the new United has yet to make any decisions about the future of Economy Plus, so that’s up in the air.

The other question is how Delta’s planned upselling of first class seats will affect upgrades for elites. According to Delta’s recent investor presentation the program is currently in testing and will be launched in the second quarter of 2011. Here’s what Delta’s EVP of Network Planning and Revenue Management had to say about first class in general:

I think one of the biggest initiatives in terms of changing the P&L from 2010 to 2011 is the monetization of the first class product. And while we have a 92% sat load factor in first class we have only a 14% paid load factor in first class. So, if you assume just a 14% paid load factor we actually make a lot of money on the coach cabin and we lose money in the first class cabin. Now we all know that’s not the reality because as a frequent flyer when you buy a ticket on Delta you enter the great lottery of whether or not you’re going to be able to sit up in first class.

Hauenstein continued, saying that “what we are going to try and do is improve your chances of winning the lottery by choosing to use either mileage or nominal fees to confirm your first class seat at time of purchase as opposed to waiting to 24 hours before departure” to find out if one is getting upgraded or stuck in the back. “We’re really working very hard to try and figure out how to do that with enhancing the frequent flyer program,” Hauenstein said.

It’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out for the elites in terms of upgrade success. I wonder if Delta will change the upgrade windows for the most-valued elites?  Right now Diamond Medallions get upgrades five days out – perhaps that could be adjusted to make the sure the most-frequent customers get their seats?

American Looks to Delay Haneda Launch

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 22, 2010
in American
. 1 Comment

American is looking to delay the launch of its new service from JFK to Tokyo-Haneda, according to a filing with the DOT. When the regulatory agency awarded Haneda slots to American, Delta, and Hawaiian, it said they would need to be used within 90 days of October 31 (January 31).

The airline says it would like to start service on March 1 instead of January, where demand is higher. “We believe that it is consistent with the public interest to introduce new service and capacity when there is stronger public demand,” says American.

I find this move very interesting. The filing is dated December 20, Monday. Exactly a week before, American sent out a press release about it’s planned January 20th launch, offering bonus miles for roundtrips flown by April 31. It’s worth noting that Delta did something similar with its flights from Los Angeles and Detroit, but it did so in September. So I guess it’s just interesting that American is doing this much closer to the proposed launch.

Delta Still Waiting for DOT Approval of New China Flights

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 17, 2010
in Delta
. 1 Comment

EDIT 12/22: Today I received word from Delta that the DOT approved the flights, and provided me a copy of the DOT’s approval. The agency approved all twelve frequencies on November 24th. What’s interesting is that it appears the DOT never uploaded the approval to Regulations.gov - as nothing has been added to the docket since November 22nd! Apologies for the error.

—-

Just over a month ago, Delta issued a press release about some of its new international flying in 2011, and part of that included increased China flying, with daily service from its Narita hub to Guangzhou (with 767-300ERs), and twice-weekly flights from Detroit to Beijing (with 777-200ERs).

As is usual in this case – Delta had to file a request with the DOT for the use of US-China frequencies. In this case, Delta was looking for twelve frequencies.

After that application was submitted, however, American objected to Delta’s application, noting that the airline had seven unused China frequencies, two for Seattle-Beijing serivce (currently flown five times each week), and five others for Atlanta-Shanghai service (currently flown twice a week). American noted that the frequencies for the Atlanta flight are tied for that route, but that Delta could apply to get the re-allocated, and also noted the frequencies slated for Seattle-Beijing could be used on any US-China service.

American also said that Delta was “warehousing seven dormant frequencies,” and said that Delta’s application should not be approved, though American did say it would not object if Delta were awarded five frequencies. (Delta wanted twelve total and has seven not being used, hence that number.)

Delta then replied to American’s filing:

Despite having no competing proposal of its own, American opposes Delta’srequest “as a matter of sound principle.” American urges that Atlanta and Seattle bestripped of their allocations before Delta is awarded any additional frequencies to fund itsnew services. There is no merit to American’s suggestion, which is contrary to the publicinterest and contrary to the Department’s intent when it granted the dormancy waivers.

Delta also wrote that it “respectfully requests a Department decision by close of business on Monday, November 22 to enable Delta to make the Tuesday morning November 23 submission deadline for the Saturday, November 27 GDS load.”

But, since then…almost a month later…the docket remains quiet. Also worthy of note is that it appears Delta is boosting the aforementioned Seattle-Beijing service to daily.

Remember that Sun Country London Flight?

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 14, 2010
in Sun Country
. 5 Comments

Who remembers that once-weekly service from Minneapolis to London Stansted (with a stop in Gander) from Sun Country this summer?  It was certainly one of the more interesting routes announced all year, I’d say. Sun Country has lots of seasonal service down to Mexico and the Caribbean during the summer, so it was interesting to see them try summer transatlantic flying.

Anyway, I’m bringing this route up for a couple of reasons. First off, the DOT last week released international segment data for June, the first month of operation, allowing us to take first look at load factor performance. The flights are actually filed under Minneapolis-Gander, but there was no local Gander traffic allowed on the flights anyway:

So, an overall load factor below 50% is certainly on the low side, but we can only see data for the first month of service, and plus we don’t know what Sun Country was actually expecting.

Now, I had actually calculated those numbers for the first time last week, and was chatting about them with David Parker Brown of AirlineReporter, who alerted me that Sun Country announced last week it would be boosting the service due to its popularity. Flights will now operate twice per week, and Sun Country is also extending the length of the season. This year, flights operated from June 11 to August 15, while they will fly from May 24 to September 4 in 2011. Flights will also be to Gatwick instead of Stansted.

Photo Credit: Russell Hill. Used with permission.

One thing I’m wondering about is how this works from a crew perspective. This summer, flights arrived in Gatwick on Saturday and departed on Sunday, so I assume the crew spent the night in London and just flew back to Minneapolis.

Next summer, the Minneapolis flights depart on Friday and Saturday, and London departures are on Saturday  and Sunday. I assume the crew that operates the Friday flight can head back on Sunday, so does another crew stay in London over the week to operate the Saturday flight back to Minneapolis?

I called Sun Country with a couple of questions about the flight, such as the crew one above and the route’s performance, last week – but unfortunately haven’t heard back.

Edited at 11:58 to note that flights are moving from Stansted to Gatwick.

Republic Loses DCA Slot Pair to Sun Country

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 13, 2010
in Frontier, Republic and Sun Country
. 2 Comments

Remember that DCA slot extravaganza I wrote about awhile back? The matter came to a conclusion on Friday, with the DOT announcing that the slot pair currently used by Republic for Frontier service to Kansas City will be awarded to Sun Country for service to Lansing, Michigan. Sun Country said in its original filings that the flights would originate/terminate in Minneapolis, providing new competition in that market, though that doesn’t appear to have been a factor in the DOT’s decision.

Basically, the DOT decided that Sun Country fulfilled the most criteria for the flight, writing that the carrier “is a new entrant, would provide nonstop service to a small community that does not have service to DCA, and has a history of offering low fares.”

Republic had applied to keep the slots, while Southwest, US Airways, and AirTran had also applied.

I can’t say I saw this one coming, as it was easy to get caught up in the battle between Southwest and Frontier/Republic over Kansas City service.  I didn’t expect Sun Country to get the slots, but nevertheless it will be quite interesting to see how the service goes. For example, how much competitive pressure does this provide to Delta in the DC – Minneapolis market? How many of the passengers on these flights originate in Minneapolis or Lansing? In the case of the latter – are there many passengers who would prefer to use Lansing but are instead driving to Detroit for more convenient flights?

But naturally Republic/Frontier can’t be too happy here. While it’s probably a better outcome than having Southwest come in as a competitor for Kansas City service, it still hurts to lose slots. It seems that Republic’s unique structure might have hurt them a bit. One of the criteria for the slot award was that the carrier was a new entrant or a limited incumbent. Republic tried to argue that it was the latter because of the small number of  slots under its control (what it uses for branded service). In its final order, however, the DOT mentions that large number of slots that Republic and its subsidiaries operate at DCA. Of course, the vast majority of that service is for other carriers like US Airways, but that didn’t change their status, it appears.

Frontier will continue to serve Kansas City from DCA, but just with two instead of three flights. US Airways also provides nonstop service which is, ironically, flown by Republic. Nevertheless the loss of the flight is annoying for Frontier, Republic, and Kansas City. (And one would ask, what is the net benefit here? Do the benefits of the MSP-LAN-DCA flight outweigh the inconvenience of the loss of the MCI-DCA service?)

Anyway, Sun Country now has to tell the DOT within 10 business days of the award if it accepts or rejects it. If they accept (and I have no idea why they would not), they  have to start service by April 1. Frontier can continue to use the slot for Kansas City flights until Sun Country service begins.

Meanwhile, the DCA slot situation for Republic is just getting started. The DOT says it will launch proceedings about five slot slides the airline currently uses. What’s a slot slide? Well, each slot at DCA is assigned a time, but under some circumstances the DOT will allow the time to be moved.

You can find the DOT announcement, with an in-depth summary of the proceedings, here.

EDIT: Apologies for anyone who saw the original version of this post. Somehow, last evening, I accidentally pasted in some class notes, and thought I had deleted them from WordPress, but they were hiding in the HTML format of the past. So, yes, some of you got to see my notes for my ecology final tomorrow. Embarrassing, I know!