News for Friday, May 25, 2012

@...AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of Southwest Airlines LUV +4.55% , announced today that the carrier is officially kicking off brand new international service from several markets including San Antonio, Austin, Orange County, Calif., and Chicago Midway, as well as new service between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The new routes were announced last winter and service details are outlined below. Today's departure out of San Antonio International Airport marks AirTran's first international destination and flight from the airport. The international service also brings AirTran service to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and John Wayne Airport in Orange County for the first time. Customers can book travel on the new routes at: www.airtran.com . San Antonio New Service: Beginning May 24, AirTran will operate four weekly nonstop flights between San Antonio (SAT) and Cancun (CUN) with service Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Beginning Sept. 1, 2012, through the end of the current schedule*, the carrier will operate three weekly nonstop flights on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Also beginning May 24, AirTran will operate one daily nonstop flight between San Antonio and Mexico City (MEX). Ft. Lauderdale New Service: Beginning May 24, AirTran will launch service between Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL) and San Juan, Puerto Rico, (SJU) with two daily nonstop flights. Austin New Service: Beginning May 25, AirTran will launch inaugural service to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) with four weekly nonstop flights between Austin and Cancun on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays through Aug. 31, 2012. Beginning Sept. 1, 2012, through the end of the schedule, the carrier will operate the service on Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays. Orange County New Service: Beginning June 3, AirTran will operate one daily nonstop flight between John Wayne Airport in Orange County (SNA) and Mexico City and one daily nonstop flight between Orange County and Cabo San Lucas/San Jose del Cabo (SJD). Midway New Service: Beginning June 3, AirTran will operate one daily nonstop flight between Chicago Midway (MDW) and Cancun. *Current schedules are available for booking through Nov. 2, 2012. "We've got exciting plans underway to celebrate our new international service with Customers, Employees, and the communities we serve," said Bob Jordan, Southwest Airlines Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer and AirTran Airways President. "The new service is a great benefit to Customers across both the Southwest and AirTran networks as we are seeing the reward of our integration efforts--more flights to more destinations."

@...American Eagle may still be spun off to shareholders after the feeder airline for American Airlines emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, its CEO said on Wednesday. It's not clear yet what structure either American or Eagle will have after Chapter 11. But one possibility is that Eagle would be sold or spun off to future shareholders, American Eagle CEO Daniel Garton said at a regional airline conference on Wednesday. "I'm sure we will look at all the different options" for Eagle's ownership, Garton said. "But I would think that those shareholders ... wouldn't mind a spin as a solution." That would allow future shareholders in American to be able to sell their new Eagle shares without having to sell their American shares, Garton said. He emphasized that it's not clear what the final shareholder setup will be. American and Eagle are both owned by AMR Corp., which is based in Fort Worth. AMR had tried to sell Eagle before all three of them filed for Chapter 11 protection in November. A deal ever materialized. AMR shares still trade on the over-the-counter Pink Sheets market, which offers quotes for stocks that do not meet minimum requirements to list on an exchange. In other airline bankruptcies, prior shareholders were wiped out at the time the company emerged from bankruptcy protection, and new stock was issued to pay unsecured creditors. Also, US Airways Group Inc. has said it's interested in merging with American while it's still in bankruptcy. American Eagle is in a tough spot. The bulk of its fleet at the time of its bankruptcy filing was almost 200 jets in the 50-seat-and-smaller range. Those are some of the most unpopular airplanes in U.S. aviation today because they're often unprofitable at current fuel prices. Garton said American Eagle is still negotiating with its banks and other parties over the future of most of those planes. Eighteen of its 37-seat regional jets that had been parked in the desert have already been returned to Embraer. Eagle also has 47 Bombardier CRJ 700s, with 65 seats. Garton said American Eagle expects to keep those planes. American Eagle provides nearly all of American's feeder flights. A unit of Republic Airways Holdings Inc. flies 15 regional planes for American out of Chicago. Republic CEO Bryan Bedford said Wednesday that his airline's contract with American runs through February 2013 and he doesn't expect it to be renewed.

@...As millions of Americans take to the skies for the opening weekend of summer, families are encountering unprecedented hurdles to air travel that could be eased if airlines truly focused on customer needs and kept fees for seating, boarding and the like transparent through and purchasable from travel agents. But since most airlines fail to do so, whether it's fees for seating that make it hard for parents to sit with their children, or barring pre-boarding for families with small children, families are particularly susceptible. "What makes the behavior of the airlines even more exasperating for families is the failure to provide airfares on an 'all-in' (fares, taxes and fees) basis upfront," said Art Sackler, Executive Director of Open Allies for Airfare Transparency. "Because many airlines withhold that information, families can't figure out how much more it will cost them to sit together until after they purchase their basic tickets - and that could be hundreds of dollars round trip. And comparing prices among airlines including fees for seats or other add-ons before purchase? Forget about it." By federal law, airlines are not supposed to engage in "unfair" or "deceptive" behavior. But withholding fees is certainly unfair, and may be deceptive. Such practices can result in surprised and unhappy consumers whose total trip costs turn out to be far steeper than envisioned, unexpectedly reducing budgets for destination activities. But when it impacts families with small children, the effects are more than just fair disclosure of prices. Because airlines charge premium prices for "choice" or "preferred" seats, and reserve many for elite members of frequent flier programs, the time-honored methods of ensuring that families can sit together - a change at the gate, or flight attendants asking customers onboard to change seats - no longer work. If a customer has paid $45 extra for a specific seat, that customer is unlikely to want to change to a less desirable seat to accommodate someone else, including young members of a family. But with upfront disclosure of services, pricing and availability, and one-stop shopping with a travel agency or other travel services provider, families and other consumers could largely avoid such onerous circumstances. Airlines have refused for nearly half a decade to restore comparison-shopping for consumers in this new unbundled services era. The U.S. Department of Transportation is responsible for consumer protection in air travel, and has taken important steps on disclosure. But much more needs to be done to restore true comparison-shopping. The agency is considering additional rules to ensure fees are transparent, up-to-date and purchasable through travel services providers with whom an airline chooses to do business. It is essential that new rules advance to implementation on an expedited basis. For families and other air travelers, justice delayed is justice denied. Open Allies for Airfare Transparency is a coalition of individuals, companies, and organizations that believes that all airline fares and fees should be transparent and purchasable wherever the traveling public buys airlines' base airfares. Members include more than 380 of the world's leading travel management companies, corporate travel departments, consumer groups and travel agencies.

@...Gov. Jack Dalrymple today said United Airlines officials have confirmed plans to begin offering flights from Grand Forks International Airport to Denver. "This is good news for Grand Forks and the entire region served by the Grand Forks International Airport," Dalrymple said. "North Dakota residents who are served by the Grand Forks airport will now have air passenger service to and from the Southwest United States. United Airlines officials said a launch date, flight schedules and other details will be made available soon.

@...The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today assessed a civil penalty against Virgin America for filing incomplete reports with the Department about complaints registered by passengers with disabilities and for not responding adequately to these complaints. The carrier was ordered to cease and desist from further violations and assessed a civil penalty of $100,000. “We expect airlines to respond individually to disability-related complaints and to report those complaints to us,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “These are important parts of our rules protecting the rights of passengers, and we will continue to take enforcement action when they are violated.” DOT rules require airlines to record disability-related complaints, categorize them by the type of disability and nature of the complaint, and submit an annual report on these complaints to the Department. If a single consumer correspondence covers more than one issue, each issue must be counted as a separate complaint. In addition, if an airline receives a written complaint alleging a violation of the Department’s disability rules, the carrier must provide a written response within 30 days that specifically discusses the complaint, gives the carrier’s view of whether a violation occurred, and states that the complaint may be referred to DOT for an investigation. In July 2011, the Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office conducted a routine on-site inspection at Virgin America’s corporate headquarters, where it reviewed all disability-related complaints received by the carrier. The Enforcement Office found that in many instances, Virgin America failed to provide a written response that addressed the consumer’s complaint. In addition, Virgin America failed to properly categorize and account for all the disability-related issues that were raised in the complaints the carrier received during 2008 and 2009. As a result, a number of complaints were missing from Virgin America’s annual reports submitted to the Department in 2009 and 2010.

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