Airline News - North America.

Apr 14, 2008

U.S. Department of Transportation said on the consumer protection front that the DoT has initiated three rulemakings to enhance passenger rights and protections. In November 2007, the DoT issued a proposal to double the limits on the compensation required to be paid to "bumped" passengers. It is also enhancing the on-time performance data that carriers currently report to the department. And it has requested comments on various proposals designed to provide consumers information or enhance consumer protections, including proposed requirements that airlines: create legally binding contingency plans for extended tarmac delays, respond to all consumer complaints within 30 days, publish complaint data online, and provide on-time performance information for international flights. A Tarmac Delay Task force is studying delays, current and proposed practices of dealing with them, and developing contingency plans. Gribbin also said that the DOT looks to increase capacity whenever and wherever possible, with its support for expansion of O'Hare International Airport being one concrete example. Apr 11, 2008

U.S. Department of Transportation's new proposal creates a stronger correlation between what users pay and what it costs the FAA to provide them with air traffic control service, thus providing price incentives for systems users to reduce delays. The DoT's New York Air Congestion Working Group has developed a plan, which included establishing a New York Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), holding scheduling reduction meetings, implementing operational improvements, and enhancing customer satisfaction. The DoT has implemented some of the working group's recommendations. Among the actions being taken: caps on hourly operations at JFK; proposed caps on hourly operations at Newark; completion of eight of the 17 airport and airspace recommended operational improvements identified by the Air Transport Association (ATA) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Apr 11, 2008

One in four flights was delayed or canceled last year in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. On more than 88,000 flights, affecting about 5.9 million passengers, planes sat on the tarmac for more than an hour -- and often longer -- before takeoff or after landing. Last summer, the number of flight cancellations was 28% higher than in the same period in 2006. A chorus of committee members called the delays unacceptable, urging both the airlines and the government to do more to reduce delays. Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) recounted her own flying horror story from Monday as she waited through several delays while traveling to Washington. Apr 10, 2008

TSA plans to screen all passenger cargo. A new TSA program expected to launch this summer is aimed at screening all cargo on passenger jetliners. The program will rely on packing companies to voluntarily screen cargo that they bring to airports, purchase screening equipment, and subject themselves to TSA regulation. Apr 10, 2008

Airline passengers are less willing to fly, have skipped recent flights and plan to avoid air travel in the future, a new survey of travel professionals by the Business Travel Coalition (BTC) reveals. The BTC survey on aircraft maintenance, outsourcing and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight, underlines a deepening concern over the safety of U.S. airlines. The BTC says the survey shows concern regarding passenger safety and homeland security is driving a strong desire for additional maintenance-related consumer information to assist passengers in choosing an airline on which to travel. BTC said there is also strong support for an independent top-to-bottom review of FAA policy as well as worry that the environment is a victim of certain outsourcing practices. The BTC survey was conducted online from April 1-3 with 223 completing the survey. Respondents were asked to consider the survey from an individual passenger perspective. Ninety-four (94) percent of participants are very concerned or somewhat concerned about the overall aircraft maintenance and FAA oversight situation. Forty (40) percent are less willing to fly due to current aircraft maintenance issues. Thirteen (13) percent have skipped recent flights due to maintenance concerns. Twenty-five (25) percent indicate they are very likely or fairly likely to skip future flights, according to the BTC survey. Complete survey findings can be found at http://businesstravelcoalition.com/campaigns/outsourcing/maintenance_survey.doc Apr 8, 2008

Open skies lowers fares, but travelers face fuel surcharges. Airlines, travelers feel sting of soaring fuel prices. Travelers can expect higher fares and crowded planes this spring as carriers continue to face soaring fuel prices. Three carriers shut down last week, and all blamed higher fuel prices. Analysts note that fuel prices are not threatening to shut down large carriers, but they are forcing big airlines to scale back costs. Apr 7, 2008

The nation's air travelers may be wondering whether last week's three airline shutdowns signal more trouble ahead. But a bigger concern this spring may be the likelihood of more flight delays, jammed planes and even higher ticket prices. With rising fuel costs, fewer planes in the sky and heightened safety concerns with aging aircraft, travelers can expect flights to be more expensive, crowded and late, giving passengers more reasons not to fly this year. If fewer people fly, struggling airlines may not be able to manage the high fuel costs and decide to call it quits, following last week's demise of Skybus, ATA Airlines Inc. and Aloha Airlines, analysts said. The three regional carriers had different reasons for ceasing operations but all of them said high jet fuel costs helped push them over the edge. ATA, for instance, abruptly grounded all of its flights Thursday after it lost a major military contract for charter flights. Aloha cited "predatory pricing" from a new competitor, Mesa Air Group Inc.'s Go airline for flights between the Hawaiian islands, as a major reason for ceasing operations March 31. Apr 7, 2008

Travelers will likely see higher fares and crowded planes this spring as carriers continue to face soaring fuel prices. Three carriers shut down last week, and all blamed higher fuel prices. Analysts note that fuel prices are not threatening to shut down large carriers, but they are forcing big airlines to scale back costs. Apr 7, 2008

American Airlines

American Airlines customers scheduled to travel on any MD-80 flight from April 8 to 11, even if their flight was not been cancelled, may rebook without a change fee to any American flight with availability in the same cabin as long as their travel begins by April 17. Customers who were inconvenienced with overnight stays should go to www.aa.com where a link has been established to request information about compensation. Customers also were encouraged to continue to check ww.aa.com or to contact their travel agents for flight status information. An AA spokesman said the cancellations would continue into Saturday, but that the airline expected all of the grounded planes to be flying again by Saturday night. For more information, visit www.aa.com Apr 11, 2008

American Airlines

American Airlines canceled 1,094 flights, or nearly half its schedule, on Wednesday to re-inspect aircraft, a disruption that affected about 100,000 passengers and triggered chaos at the busiest U.S. airports. The airline said it expects more than 900 cancellations on Thursday. The disruption at American follows 460 cancellations on Tuesday and hundreds of cancellations two weeks ago. The March disruption was for the same reason as this week's problem -- to ensure compliance with a Federal Aviation Administration safety directive on wiring inspections for MD-80 aircraft. Apr 10, 2008

American Airlines

American Airlines expects to cancel hundreds of flights on Thursday. The airline canceled more than 1,000 flights on Wednesday as it inspected its fleet of MD-80 jetliners. American Executive Vice President of Marketing Dan Garton said the carrier is working to return operations to normal. Meanwhile, some industry experts say aging planes are the underlying cause of maintenance issues. Apr 10, 2008

American Airlines

American Airlines has canceled more than 2,000 flights this week to perform emergency inspections on wiring aboard its MD-80 aircraft. Other airlines that operate the aircraft have followed suit. The problems are not confined to the U.S. British Airways this month was forced to cancel dozens of flights into and out of its new Terminal 5 building at London's Heathrow airport following the failure of what was billed as a state-of-the-art, computerized baggage handling system. Apr 10, 2008

American Airlines

Canceled flights for failed safety inspections have reduced air travel to a crawl for many passengers, but it is only the latest bad news in a series of woes for an already battered industry. American Airlines canceled 900 more flights - 40% of its schedule -Thursday because the airline twice failed to meet an air-worthiness directive by the Federal Aviation Administration. That brings the total number of inspection-related cancellations for U.S. carriers to more than 3,100 in the past three weeks - with the potential of cancellations continuing into the summer, leading to multi-million dollar daily losses, according to industry analysts. But grounded passengers are not the only thing hammering airlines recently. Rising fuel costs, long delays and public relations gaffes have also beaten up the industry. Apr 10, 2008

American Airlines