Things in the Sky

Last week TripAdvisor released the results of its annual travel survey, and I found a couple of the results, at least when it comes to airline-related items, very interesting. (You can see some of my thoughts on the airport side of things on my About Airport Parking blog.)

One big issue with the survey is that TripAdvisor didn’t release anything about the demographics of those who took the survey. If the majority of the respondents were very frequent travelers, then airlines looking at these results should probably pay attention. But, if most of the survey takers fly maybe once a year, then not so much. And of course, there’s always a difference between what people say they will do and what they actually do. I.e. they say they might prefer an airline with a good in-flight entertainment product but end up going with the carrier that has the cheapest price or most convenient schedule. But, let’s take a look.

First, the survey found that 25% of travelers found legroom to be one of their least favorite things about traveling. So that’s good for airline’s like JetBlue, United, Frontier, and Midwest because they all offer economy seating with more legroom for an additional fee. And now Continental’s announcement that they will start selling exit row seating makes even more sense.

Next up is baggage fees, and none of us should be shocked that travelers aren’t exactly fans. That’s certainly good for Southwest (two free bags) and JetBlue (one free bag). Basically, the debate about bag fees continues. The airlines that charge them have fallen in love with the ancillary revenue they provide, while Southwest has been thinking of late that its “Bags Fly Free” campaign is winning new customers, though I think it’s fair to say that’s more attractive to non-frequent leisure travelers than the business travelers Southwest has been trying to get (I think that group cares more about the lack of a change fee at Southwest).

There were a couple of interesting statistics when it comes to inflight Wi-Fi, especially because we can only guess about how popular and profitable it’s been. 30% of respondents said they would pick one airline over another due to Wi-Fi, so that’s good news for Virgin America and AirTran, who have their entire fleets equipped with Gogo. But then 61% of all respondents aid they aren’t interested in paying for inflight Wi-Fi, which makes me wonder what usage rates have been.

Anyway, those are the numbers I found the most interesting.

Update: 12/28 12:31PM

Apparently the TSA has updated the guidelines, and in true form has done a horrible job of communicating them to the traveling public. Other blogs have said that the rules involving flight one hour before takeoff no longer apply, which is good because they were the most annoying. Passengers, of course, will have to remain seated when instructed by crew. On the IFE front, JetBlue has resumed service, and United has said that it has found a way to disable the moving map, though it’s unclear if that still isn’t allowed.

Airlines still have baggage restrictions in place, and flights could still be delayed, so travelers should still check with their airlines about flight status or any policy changes.

Original Post:

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, you’ve probably heard about the attempted attack on Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, and you’ve also most likely heard about some new security measures being implemented by the TSA.

First of all, while security has been stepped up at some airports around the country, these rules are directed at international flights arriving in the United States. From some of the news reports I’ve been seeing, that fact hasn’t been made completely clear. These rules include additional security screening at the gate (including pat downs and hand luggage checks), no moving map display (which often means no IFE at all), and not being allowed to get up in the final hour of flight. (You can see the entire directive here on Flying with Fish.) Unfortunately, the TSA has provided very little information about the new rules, so the airlines are stuck communicating the changes, and some have done better jobs than others.

Like many others out there, I think this is just a knee-jerk reaction from the TSA, and many of these rules will not accomplish much. I won’t be touching that since there’s been plenty written already. But, the TSA has a pretty limited “toolbox” right after an event such as this one. Remember the strict rules right after the liquids plot?  These moves are most likely temporary, and the screening process will be adjusted later on.

But anyway, I mainly want to share some advice with those traveling, especially those who are flying to the U.S. from another country.

First, get to the airport early. This is a no-brainer.

Second, check your flight status. These additional security measures have been causing delays and gumming up operations, so check your flight status. Air Canada, for example, announced that it would be canceling some short-haul flying (mainly from Toronto to the Northeast) and “consolidate affected flights and operate larger aircraft.”

Third, see if your airline had made any adjustments to its baggage policies due to these new security measures. Some airlines, for example, are only allowing one carry-on item. This move is more due to efficiency rather than security. Restricting the number of carry-ons helps ensure that additional bag checks at the gate move quickly. And policies for checked luggage may have been changed as well. For example, US Airways is only allowing one carry-on, but as a result is temporarily waiving the first and second bag fees.

Fourth, be patient and polite! Airline staff are probably just as stressed as you are about all of these quick changes, so be nice! And while cabin crew are stuck enforcing these new rules, they aren’t the ones who made them, so don’t take it out on them!

Anyway, the rules will probably be changing soon – so I will post any important changes here.

“Up in the Air” looks like an amazing movie for any airplane geek or frequent traveler. Take a look at the trailer:

Wendy Perrin and Conde Nast are giving out ten pairs of tickets to a sneak peak of the movie. All one needs to do is comment on this blog post about his or her own biggest mileage dilemma. The top ten commenters will get the tickets will get the tickets and get some help from mileage king Randy Petersen!

More details here.

I’ve been using the Star Alliance screensaver for awhile, but I just thought of blogging about it after it was updated to provide Continental’s flights. (On a side note, it finally looks good on my widescreen laptop with has a 1440×900 resolution.)

There are two options – real time and accelerated, and it shows all of the airbone flights based on schedules. I prefer real time, but accelerated is also very fun because I enjoy watching various parts of the world “wake up.” I especially enjoy watching banks of flights go accross the North Atlantic.

You can grab the screensaver here.

The St. Louis Business Journal reports:

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport commissioners on Wednesday approved an expanded $1.67 million incentives package to encourage airlines to add flights and destinations.

Incentive programs are relatively common, and St. Louis has had similar offerings in the past. But this latest announcement comes as American announced a few weeks ago that St. Louis would lose even more flying, essentially eliminating any semblance of its past hub status.

The amount of assistance varies on the carrier and route. For example, a brand new carrier to the airport will get a better package than an airline that starts a new nonstop. In addition, some routes will get more assistance. For example, new transoceanic flights will get a longer waiver on rent and landing fees.

Will St. Louis ever look like it did as a TWA hub? Probably not. But one has to give the airport credit for actively looking for new service to fill the void that American has left behind.

My school gets a Chinese newspaper, and it caught my eye recently:

I can’t read Chinese, but that’s an article about the upcoming Chinese-built Comac C919, which is supposed to have its first flight in a few years. The aircraft will seat up 190 passengers, putting this aircraft as a competitor for the 737/A320 families and their replacements from Airbus and Boeing.

This one will be interesting to watch as air travel continues to grow in the Asia-Pacific region, which IATA predicts will overtake North America as the biggest market in the coming years. It also presents a challenge for Airbus and Boeing, as the aircraft certainly has the potential negatively affect them. This aircraft also presents an awkward situation for Airbus, as the company is now producing A320s in China.