The Ponemon Institute claims that over 12,000 laptops are lost every week in US airports, two-thirds of which are never recovered. In research sponsored by Dell Computer, which used the study’s findings as a key selling point for their new laptop tracking and recovery service, Ponemon surveyed airport officials at 106 major airports to come up with this headline-producing number. LAX tops the list with 1,200 misplaced laptops a week; Miami is second with 1,000. Extrapolating the study’s findings (12,255 laptops lost/week * 67% never recovered * 52 weeks/year) says that over 425,000 laptops are lost in US airports every year. With these numbers, you’d think that someone would’ve noticed the growing stack of laptops a bit sooner.
The second phase of the study surveyed 864 business travelers in “the airport environment”. Only 1% of these travelers had ever lost a laptop. You’d think with 425,000 of them lost every year, the surveyors would have a better hit rate. I’ve never lost a laptop and I don’t know anyone who has lost one in an airport. I know people who’ve had them stolen out of rental cars, who’ve left them in a plane’s overhead bin, but no one who has lost one in an airport.
One thing I have seen is people picking up the wrong laptop. At the back end of security screening, it can be a race to grab your PC before it gets pushed off the conveyor and onto the floor by the constant stream of gray bins burping out the TSA’s x-ray machine. More than a few times, I’ve seen someone grab a ThinkPad that doesn’t belong to them. Personalizing that black matte finish with a business card or a sticker or even a large gouge can help prevent a mistaken adoption. Of course, not having to pull your laptop out of your briefcase would be an even easier solution. Of the 864 business traveler surveyed, only 12% of them agreed that “checking my laptop or notebook computer separately from other carry-on tems increases passenger safety and security”.
Today’s Chicago Tribune gave front page coverage to a US Department of Transportation consumer forum on air travel. The story’s title, You Are Now Free To Take A Flying Leap, says it all. The reporter’s conclusion is disheartening realistic — “airline passengers received an unapologetic warning at the forum that customer service will continue to diminish and consumers more than ever need to fend for themselves at the airport”. The airlines’ ever expanding set of nickel-and-diming fees are less about generating additional revenue and more about cost reduction — reducing the demand for services that aren’t directly associated with keeping a jet in the air. American Airlines’ $15 charge for the first checked bag is really all about reducing fuel costs — incenting passengers to bring less luggage, reducing fuel consumption through reduced load weight.
Comparing passenger jets to “flying buses” is not an exaggeration. The airlines are redefining themselves, shrinking the boundaries of their responsibilities. They no longer sell a travel experience; they sell transport. And they’re walkingrunning away from any service that doesn’t directly involve transporting passengers through the air. Is this a business opportunity for another company — say, for one of the private airport operating companies? Hmmm, not sure the result will be any better if BAA’s stewardship of London Heathrow is any guide. The real question, though — are regular coach passengers willing to pay for anything more than being hauled from one city to another?
I’ve re-uploaded Podcast #65 correcting an editing error. For some reason, Adobe Audition slid the TSA Theme Song clip forward (couldn’t have been user error). For those wanting to listen to the Bar & Grille Singers’ masterpiece uninterrupted, here’s a direct link to the podcast file. Thanks to Jess Green for pointing out the editing error.
Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago after taking a month’s break. We see if there’s anything to the TSA’s recent attempts to reduce security line waits — the Clear Registered Traveler and the Diamond Lane Self-Select programs. We also take a look at Southwest’s attempts to attract more business travelers. A listener story on traveling injured causes us to look into the cost trade-offs of air ambulance services, while another listener points us to the perfect song for the summer travel season. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.
I’ve had first hand experience with a couple of the TSA’s recent attempts to provide an “overall increase in throughput” — the Registered Traveler program and the Diamond Lane Self-Select program. To save you the suspense, neither is going to create a sudden outpouring of love for the TSA.
Finally recorded in the Brooklyn Marriott in New York after hauling my recording gear across the Atlantic to Amsterdam, over to Minneapolis, and finally to New York. In this episode, a number of listeners comment on airport security, we talk about breaking out of the “travel bubble” that insulates so many frequent travelers from the cities they visit, and I answer some listener questions on mileage credit cards and how to get the most out of frequent flier status. Also, at the end of the episode, we announce our 3rd Anniversary concert. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.
Gearing up for the 3rd anniversary of TravelCommons next month, here’s a link to the first “greatest hits” episode — the Best of TravelCommons 2005. Listening to it again after a couple of years, the medley of hotel bathrooms is a chuckle, but the the travel story excerpts is what makes this episode worth listening to again. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.
Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago after a week of skiing in Colorado. In this episode, we talk about some of the difficulties faced by today’s frequent travelers. A listener gives a blow-by-blow account of the myriad of lines he faced trying to get home from Newark. Another listener relates about the challenges of attending a business conference in a hotel full of 50+ year-old women. We talk about how lengthy delays on the New York-to-Chicago route are giving regular travelers a dazed look that might be called the “733-Mile Stare”. And I have to comment on a couple of recent TSA incidents. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.
It wasn’t that bad a day — for LaGuardia. Some strong gusts of winds in the morning resulted in two-hour departure delays by the end of the day. I had snagged a rare first-class upgrade on the 7pm flight back to O’Hare, but when I got to LaGuardia at 6:15pm and found the 5pm flight still there, it was time to call an audible. I gave up a couple of free drinks and (more importantly) 7 inches of leg room — moving from seat 2B on the 7pm flight to seat 30F on the 5pm (but now 6:45pm) flight — to have a chance to see my kids before they went to bed. It really wasn’t that bad of a trade-off. I even arrived early — 20 minutes before my 7pm flight would’ve arrived (had it been on-time).
Life wasn’t so good for the guy sitting next to me in seat 30D. He laid his jacket on the middle seat, loosened his tie, rolled up his cuffs, dropped his head, and was asleep — sitting straight up — before we pushed back from the gate. When the drink cart rolled by, he bought two bottles of white wine to my one bottle of red. Halfway through my bottle, the plane hit some big turbulence. We were bouncing up and down, and my wine was sloshing just up to the rim of the little plastic cup. The guy saw this and moved his jacket over to his lap, saying a bit wearily, “That would just be the perfect end of a lousy day.” He was trying to get home to Omaha, was certain he had missed his connection, and wasn’t confident that he had many alternatives.
This guy came to mind when I watched The Delay, the first of three short films produced by Ritz-Carlton Hotels and American Express. The first few minutes of the film were spot-on — the downcast trudge through an empty airport when you finally get to your destination. The rest of it, though, pounds the product placement a bit hard — the one-second pause so we can fully visualize the Amex Gold card being handed over for payment, the empathetic Ritz-Carlton desk clerk mentioning the time the spa opens in the morning. It’s nowhere near as good as any of BMW’s The Hire films from 2001/2002, but the opening sequence perfectly captures the mood of a head-hanging day.
Recorded in the Newark Liberty Airport Marriott in scenic Newark, NJ. We cover a lot of ground in this episode — why business travel and Disney resorts don’t mix, some choices that can make our personal air travel a bit greener, my experience with Southwest Airline’s new Business Select program, and the reason I’ve finally given up on Hertz. We also talk about the atrophying of wired connections — the modem is gone; is Ethernet next? — and the importance of Starbucks to the frequent traveler’s work day. And finally, is bad airline service bringing back the need for traditional travel agents? Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.
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