Business Travel Coalition: The 3-Hour Tarmac Rule Is Working

So far, it would appear, the draconian rules imposed in late April by the Transportation Department to address the problem of stranded passengers and long tarmac delays have worked. The reports of three-hour-plus tarmac delays by U.S. carriers almost disappeared in May, as the rules -- including a fine of $27,500 per person for unwarranted delays over three hours -- took hold.

At the same time, however, routine airline arrival delays in general, which had been running in the 25 percent average numbers for years, dropped sharply. A reason for that is that airlines have cut back. There are fewer flights, for one thing.

Still, I'm persuaded that the DOT rules put the fear of God into the airlines. The only major tarmac stranding I'm aware of recently is one by Virgin Atlantic -- a foreign carrier that is not covered by the DOT rules (though the department has issued a new proposal that would, if enacted, include foreign carriers.

The airline industry fought the DOT rules tooth and nail, and has also been fighting similar regulations that are included in a passengers-rights section of the pending F.A.A. Reauthorization bill. In the spring, airline after airline warned of massive preemptive flight cancellations when bad weather approached, in what would be moves to avoid the penalties.

That hasn't happened, though the weather has generally been good for flying. We shall see if and when a period of big thunderstorms disrupts operations.

Nevertheless, the industry recently released a detailed study by two aviation consultants and academics claiming that the DOT rules will cause massive harm to airlines, and result in costs to the public of $4 billion over 20 years for canceled flights. The researchers were Darryl Jenkins and Joshua Marks, airline consultants who were formerly with the George Washington University Airline Institute.

The DOT itself scoffed at that report in an unusual statement on Tuesday. "The study, conducted by two business consultants for aviation companies, offers a misleading and premature assessment of the impact of the new passenger protections," the DOT said.

Jenkins, for one, is known as one of the authors of an annual report on airline quality that is generally derided by consumer experts for its total dependence on published statistics that anyone with an interest already knows. Nevertheless, the media usually pay credulous attention to its "findings."

Anyway, another organization now weighs in on the DOT matter, the Business Travel Coalition, which represents travel executives and suppliers and works to encourage transparency in air-travel operations, including costs.

In a report to be published tomorrow, the BTC disputes the airline consultants' assertion and says, "the three-hour rule has in fact forced airline senior management to finally prioritize extended ground delays as a problem to be thoughtfully, if not urgently, addressed."

Here's the full BTC report:

"On April 29, 2010 a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) rule went into effect, after a 120-day notice, requiring U.S. airlines to provide passengers an opportunity to deplane after 3 hours of an extended tarmac delay, on most commercial aircraft, providing it is safe and operationally feasible to do so.

AT ISSUE
Last week two airline consultancies (The Aviation Zone and Marks Aviation) published an analysis exceedingly critical of the DOT’s 3-hour rule asserting that the public harm from the rule could reach some $3.9 billion over 20 years; a conclusion based upon just the first full month’s aggregation of flight-cancellation data. The analysis, seriously flawed on many levels, would have likely received little press attention were it not for overreaction by a sensitive DOT that criticized the report in an official statement, supported by a quote from Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood himself!

The factual and statistical defects in this study are stunning and include:

• ignoring the significant and complex work ahead for airlines to efficiently comply with the 3-hour rule;

• avoiding the central fact that passengers need only be given the opportunity at 3 hours to deplane versus cancelling a flight;

• dismissing the built-in exceptions to the 3-hour rule for safety and unworkable operational conditions; and

• basing conclusions on only the first full month of data since the rule has been in effect (1).

Any experienced analyst or business executive understands the significant length of time it takes to drive fundamental change to where a new model produces normalized and predictive results; to take a snapshot at the beginning of such a major change-management process and make such grand assertions is inexpert in the extreme.

BACKGROUND

The airlines brought the 3-hour rule on themselves after 10 years of not treating the issue as a management priority; on this there is nothing to debate. The issue all along has not been the cause of these extraordinary irregular operations, e.g., severe weather systems, but rather, how airlines responded to them. Were there coordinated plans in place for such events? Were communications systems adequate? Were staffs trained? Did senior executives care enough to engage? Were their spokespersons indifferent? Too often since 1999 the answers were the wrong ones; airlines did not sufficiently heed the many early warning signs of government intervention coming at them.

We live in a country compassionate enough to send a fire truck to extract a cat from a tree or a Coast Guard helicopter and crew to rescue a dog from a swollen river, and without a second thought! What were the airlines thinking? Did they seriously believe our country would allow elderly, infants and health-compromised citizens to be kept on parked planes in freezing cold or sweltering heat at risk for 4, 6 or 8 hours in poor and deteriorating conditions while some airline industry leaders disingenuously dismissed concerns on the rationale that such circumstances are rare?

On the other hand, DOT gave just 120 days for airlines to prepare for the 3-hour rule; under these circumstances it is no surprise that flights will be canceled this summer. No study needed to be conducted to know this. This was a terribly insufficient amount of time to implement the rule given the enormous work that will be required to make adjustments, which includes complex internal airline planning as well as negotiations with federal and local governmental bodies such as TSA, FAA, Border Control, airport authorities and law enforcement.

Many airports, for example, can and should arrange for removal of passengers (who want to deplane after 3 hours, per the rule) by way of truck-mounted stairs, as Dallas Fort Worth International Airport does, thus minimizing flight cancellations. It will likely take a good year or more for airlines, airports and other participants to adjust to this rule. As I stated in a May 2010 National Journal posting, “Passengers will likely be negatively impacted by the rule, largely emanating from flight cancellations, at least during a transition period of a year or more from April 29, 2010.”

INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP MISSING

The Air Transport Association (ATA), which represents U.S. airlines, acknowledged its leadership responsibility in stepping up some 10 years ago, after the Northwest Airlines winter-storm debacle at Detroit, and subsequent Congressional hearings, with airline Customer Service Plans. Business Travel Coalition (BTC) had advocated that very step to the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and ATA in 1999, i.e. let the industry solve its problems before considering legislation. That positive ATA initiative unfortunately turned into industry indifference, and then annoyance that this issue continued to persist.

The airlines, at the industry level, have provided next-to-zero leadership on this issue since those Customer Service Plans were announced in September 1999. BTC testified 4 times in Congress over the past decade against Congressional / government intervention in this passenger-rights area. After 10 years of airlines not taking the issue seriously BTC, the American Society of Travel Agents and the National Business Travel Association all reversed positions last summer with respect to supporting a 3-hour rule.

WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING

The new DOT rule will have been only the proximate cause of cancellations this summer. The root causes will have been over-scheduling, especially at NYC airports, as well as inadequate planning and implementation time to comply with the new rule. Blaming the 3-hour rule and DOT for cancellations is akin to saying Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on drug-cartel activities is responsible for the 25,000 violent, cartel-related deaths since 2006, without acknowledging underlying root causes.
Despite the disruption that is likely to be rained-down on passengers this summer, the 3-hour rule has in fact forced airline senior managements to finally prioritize extended ground delays as a problem to be thoughtfully, if not urgently addressed. To their credits, Continental Airlines and US Airways proactively implemented steps to comply with the new rule ahead of its April 29 implementation date. Airline hyperbole as mirrored in these consultants’ report regarding mass cancellations is really just part continued denial of a legitimate problem, part advance blame-game antics to set DOT up as the cause of all 3-hour rule-related problems and part posturing to have the $27,500 per passenger fine reduced.

THE 3-HOUR RULE IS ALREADY EFFECTIVE

The simple fact of the matter is that because of the new rule, airlines are now forced to fix this extended ground delay problem, and they are and will continue to do so. Canceling flight-loads of business travelers on a sustained basis would disastrously dampen demand just as these high-yield travelers are returning to the market, or drive these customers into the open arms of more able competitors. Mass cancellations represent an unworkable proposition, and well-managed airlines will successfully emplace new systems and processes to avoid this highly undesirable outcome.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES ANYONE?

From a DOT perspective this study and its associated branded website and PR campaign probably look like more of the same coordinated airline industry stonewalling on this issue; apparently the study was initiated before the ink was even dry on the order! What negative "unintended consequences" for airlines might this ill-considered and ultimately shallow attack likely have as DOT takes all manner of decisions later in this year regarding the currently open passenger-rights Notice of Proposed Rulemaking? Have airlines not learned anything from the “gift” of the 3-hour rule? Not content any longer to just shoot themselves in the foot, are airlines now embracing amputation in place of true industry leadership?


1)SOURCE: AirlineForecasts, LLP

May 2010’s 1.24% cancellation rate is much lower than the annual average of 1.5% over the last 15 years, as reported by the DOT. However, the 10-year average has been 1.17% and may be a more representative base line. However, there is a large variation around the mean cancellation rate over the last 20, 10, and 5 years so a one-month comparison would be too noisy to produce anything that could be considered representative of a trend. As an example, cancellations as a percentage of operations increased 116% year-over-year in 2005 [May-over-May] and 85% in 1998, but decreased 48% in 2001 and 45% in both 2002 and 2005. The monthly variations are significantly more volatile than the annual variation."

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God Almighty!

Southwest Airlines last week issued a revised "contract of carriage," which is the fine print laying out what an airline risibly regards as a legal contract between passengers and itself, in which mechanical breakdowns are included under the standard "force majeure" clause, commonly known as the "acts of God" clause.

That would mean that mechanical failures are God's fault, rather, you see, than the airline for screwing something up that is entirely under its control. You want a refund for that missed connection caused by a mechanical problem? Pray!

[Here's a smart story on the Southwest move in today's Arizona Daily Star, the Tucson newspaper.]

Here's the exact language of the force majeure section in the revised Southwest contract of carriage. The italics are mine:

"Force Majeure Event means any event outside of Carrier’s control, including, without limitation, acts of God, meteorological events, such as storms, rain, wind, fire, fog, flooding, earthquakes, haze, volcanic eruption or any other event, including, without limitation, government action, disturbances or potentially volatile international conditions, civil commotions, riots, embargoes, wars, or hostilities, whether actual, threatened, or reported, strikes, work stoppage, slowdown, lockout or any other labor related dispute involving or affecting Carrier’s service, mechanical difficulties, Air Traffic Control, the inability to obtain fuel, labor or landing facilities for the flight in question or any fact not reasonably foreseen, anticipated or predicted by Carrier."

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Airline 'Fee' Revenue Up 43 Percent in Year

I was talking today to Jack Riepe, the savvy PR guy for the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, about the apparent discrepancy between surging airline revenues and improved, but still lagging, hotel revenues.

"The way I see it, there's a lot more people flying, but apparently they're staying in public shelters," he said.

As he and I and a lot of the rest of you know, the real reason for that discrepancy is that airlines are in pig city over fees that are slapped onto regular fares. For the first time in a long time, airlines have been reporting big profits for the second quarter. Business and travel demand is, without question, generally greatly improved and fares are also up significantly, in an environment where airlines have managed to shrink supply.

But wow, then add up those fees.

A report released today by IdeaWorks, the airline revenue consultancy, and Amadeus, the giant reservations technology network, shows that world airlines racked up $13.5 billion in fees and other ancillary revenues in 2009. That's a 43 percent increase over 2008.

Even more interesting than the overall haul of money, I think, is the breakdown by airline on per-passenger fee revenue. This highlights those airlines that are banging their customers for the greatest amount of extra charges.

The top three in terms of fees as a percentage of per-passenger revenue:

Allegiant -- 29.2 percent (or $31.90 per passenger)

Spirit -- 23.9 percent ($28.64 per passenger)

Ryanair -- 22.2 percent (per-passenger figure NA)

Overall, the top three in total fee and ancillary revenue in 2009:

United -- $1.94 billion

American -- $1.92 billion

Delta -- $1.4 billion

Also of great interest, the report finds that fee revenue from the top producers has become more stable in the last two years, while that from previously lower ranked fee producers has "jumped dramatically," said IdeaWorks.

That means, of course, that airlines in general are jacking up fees wherever they can.

"By every measure the ancillary revenue movement is growing," IdeaWorks says. "More airlines are switching on a la carte fess [and] existing practitioners are boosting revenue streams by adding services, testing price limits and becoming better marketers."

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American and British Airways Get Antitrust Immunity in Joint Venture As Airline 'Consolidation' Grows

The trend toward U.S. airlines operating jointly on some international routes with foreign carriers is one of the most important, and most overlooked, developing stories in commercial aviation.

Basically, while U.S. carriers can't merge with foreign carriers under federal law limiting foreign ownership, under recent practices they can essentially form quasi-mergers on certain routes, with immunity from anti-trust prosecution for setting fares and limiting competition. The airlines in question, meanwhile, can point to various efficiencies, and to the widening of choices of easier-to-reach destinations such quasi-mergers create for passengers.

American Airlines, British Airways (and BA's partner Iberia) today received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to create a joint business governing flights between North America and Europe. Both said they will expand their global cooperation as a result of receiving antitrust immunity. Fellow oneworld alliance members Finnair and Royal Jordanian also received antitrust immunity from the DOT.
The European Union approved the joint business on July 14.

Said Gerard Arpey, American's CEO: "By working collaboratively with our oneworld partners, we will enhance our product offerings, strengthen our route networks, and better position our airlines to compete in the ever-changing global aviation marketplace."

Said British Airways CEO Willie Walsh: "As we have argued all along, the EU-U.S. market is highly competitive, and Heathrow’s liberalization in 2008 opened it up even further. We are delighted that the U.S. and EU authorities have recognized this.

"We’re pleased that the DOT and EU have worked together to ensure that there is consistency in the number of slots that the three airlines have to give up to our competitors to use on services from Heathrow to the U.S. We made the pragmatic decision to give up these slot pairs so that we can start operating the joint business as soon as possible."

Said Iberia’s chairman, Antonio Vazquez: "I am convinced that consolidation is the best and only way to succeed in the airline industry, and the approvals we have received to create a joint business are a very important step towards this consolidation process."

Said airline passengers: What the hell does this "consolidation" trend mean for fares and competition? More on that later.

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Airlines Had a Happy 2nd Quarter: United Reports Big Profit

Airlines continue reporting happy second-quarter results as business travel rebounds, boosting demand amid shrunken supply.

United Airlines today reported a $430 million profit for the second quarter, compared with a $321 million loss in the second quarter of 2009.

United's healthy earnings report comes one day after Delta reported a second-quarter profit of $467 million compared with a $257 million loss in the 2009 second quarter.

As noted here yesterday, the second quarter was a very good time for most domestic carriers, with planes nearly full and fares rising as demand picks up. Airlines have kept those planes full by reducing capacity -- cutting flights and retiring some planes to the desert.

At the same time, U.S. airline revenues have been boosted significantly by all of those extra fees they have been merrily slapping on passengers. ($785 million for checked bags and $553.9 million for reservations-change penalties in the first quarter, for example -- and that doesn't count fees for priority coach seats, upgrades, meals, blankets, etc. etc.)

By the way, even when they have great news to report, airlines seem constitutionally incapable of honestly providing information.

United today describes its $430 million second quarter profit as "an improvement of $751 million from second quarter of 2009." Delta used the same kind of wording to make its second quarter results look more swell.

Who do they think they're fooling? Reporters? ... The poor souls employed as airline stock analysts? (Well, maybe). ... Customers?

United coming up with that $751 million "improvement" required a wondrous kind of arithmetic that did a kind of back-flip to count the big fat loss of the previous year as a positive number. That is: $430 million profit + $321 million loss = $751 million "improvement."

Only Wall Street could love semantics like that.

Come on, airlines. Just state the facts without jive, please. The facts are good enough.

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Senate Unanimously Approves Free Speech Protection Act

The Senate Monday unanimously approved bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to protect American authors,
journalists, publishers, researchers and others from foreign libel lawsuits that undermine the First Amendment. The bill, called the Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage (SPEECH) Act, now goes to the
House of Representatives.

Leahy said, "The freedoms of speech and the press are cornerstones of our
democracy. They enable vigorous debate, and an exchange of ideas that shapes our political process. Foreign libel lawsuits are undermining this informational exchange. While we cannot legislate changes to foreign law that are chilling protected speech in our country, we can ensure that our courts do not become a tool to uphold foreign libel judgments that undermine American First Amendment or due
process rights."

Sessions said, "This bill will allow American writers to clear their names when they are improperly found by a foreign court to have committed libel. It will also bar enforcement in this country of foreign libel judgments that are contrary to our Constitution and laws. In short, this bill is a needed first step to ensure that
weak free-speech protections and abusive legal practices in foreign countries do not prevent Americans from fully exercising their constitutional right to speak and debate freely."

Leahy and Sessions are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which unanimously approved the legislation on July 13. The SPEECH Act provides protections from foreign libel suits and prevents a U.S. federal court from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation that is inconsistent with the First Amendment.

The bill also provides a separate declaratory judgment remedy for an author or publisher who wishes to demonstrate that a foreign judgment would not be enforceable under American law, even where the foreign party has not attempted to enforce the judgment in the United States. This provision would allow authors and publishers to clear their names, regardless of the actions of the foreign party.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) is the author of similar legislation (H.R. 2765), and last year worked to secure the House passage of that bill. The Judiciary Committee adopted the Leahy-Sessions SPEECH Act as an amendment to the House-passed companion
bill. The House is expected to consider the SPEECH Act soon. The SPEECH ACT is supported by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Vermont Library Association, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Civil Liberties Union, First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and the former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, James Woolsey.

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After Years of Losses, Airlines Now See Profits

[Chart: AirlineFinancials.com]

The nine largest U.S. airlines will report about $1.77 billion in profits on $31.5 billion in revenues for the second quarter, Robert Herbst, of AirlineFinancials.com, estimates.

Airlines have begun announcing second-quarter results. Delta today reported a $467 million profit for the quarter, for example. That compares with a $257 million loss for Delta in the second quarter of last year.

Much of the new airline prosperity is being driven by a rebound in business travel.

According to Herbst: "Every major airline, excluding American, should be reporting significant profits for the recent 2nd quarter. American is estimated to be at or near break-even. ... "If these second-quarter 2010 estimates hold true, excluding 2007, they will be the highest second-quarter profits in the last ten years. Further, 2010 industry revenues are estimated to be the second highest in the history of the airlines, topped only by 2008."

He added, "Excluding American, and assuming fuel prices remain in the $75-$85 per barrel price range, the airline industry should see significant profits for the current third quarter."

Delta, meanwhile, crowed about its results.

"Delta's profit this quarter is our best result in a decade and proof that our plan has positioned us well as the economy begins its recovery," said Richard Anderson, the airline's chief executive officer.

Aside from relatively stable fuel prices, airlines are benefiting from record load factors, the percentage of seats filled by paying customers. In general, domestic flights are taking off 85 percent or more full on average -- meaning that most flights are full. To keep planes full, airlines have been carefully reducing seat capacity to try to keep it in sync with growing demand. For passengers, that means crowded flights and less comfort, of course.

Oh, and they've been raising fares, too.

Airlines are also raking in unprecedented piles of dough on unbundled fees. In the first quarter of this year, U.S. carriers nailed passengers for $768.5 million in charges for checked bags and another $553.9 million in penalty fees for changing itineraries on so-called nonrefundable tickets, according to the Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (The BTS doesn't break out revenue from things like selling meals, priority seating and boarding, etc.)

Internationally, things are also improving for airlines. International premium travel -- that is, people flying in first class and business class -- rebounded sharply in May to a level 18.7 percent above May of 2009, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. Coach travel was 10.2 percent higher; total passenger numbers were 10.9 percent up in May.

For the first five months of 2010, premium travel was up 10.8 percent.

"This strong post-recession rebound is being driven in large part by business travel, as business confidence and world trade rebound sharply," IATA said.

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Strong Demand From Asia-Pacific Airlines Buoys Boeing Forecasts

Surging growth in the Asian Pacific market buoys Boeing's forecast of $3.6 trillion in new aircraft sales over the next 20 years, with 30,900 new commercial passenger and freighter airplanes expected to be bought by 2029.

Boeing said it foresees passenger traffic growing 5.3% a year over the long term, and the single-aisle airplane segment, which has outpaced long-haul markets over the past 10 years, is expected to continue to dominate worldwide growth worldwide due to the retirement of older fleets, proliferation of low-cost carriers, emerging markets including India, China and Southeast Asia, and volatile fuel prices.

"The world market is doing much better than last year, but there are still challenges," Boeing's marketing vice president, Randy Tinseth, said.

Boeing identified Asia-Pacific as the region showing the healthiest market growth, and said that region's airlines are expected to be the largest buyer of twin-aisle airplanes, roughly 40 percent of total demand.

"Today, about one-third of all airline traffic touches the Asia-Pacific region, and as a result of the growth in this market, by 2029 almost 43 percent of all traffic will be to, from, or within the region," Tinseth said.

It called the Middle East as another "very strong market," and said that North American and European markets will see "substantial demand for replacement airplanes," as they retire the less-efficient, older aircraft from their fleets.

Boeing said it predicts that airlines will grow by responding to their passengers' preference for more flight choices, lower fares and direct access to a wider range of destinations. Air carriers will focus on offering more flights using more efficient airplanes, rather than on using significantly larger airplanes. As a result, the market for large airplanes (747 and larger) is small at 720 airplanes. But it remains an important market segment with a value of $220b. It is a market largely for replacement of existing airplanes, not additional growth, with 45 percent of the demand from Asian customers and 23% from Middle East customers."

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Boeing's New 787 On Display

The long-delayed and greatly anticipated Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" made its international debut, landing at the Farnborough Airport for the annual global airshow in England.

In the first international trip made by a 787 Dreamliner, a new long-range mid-size plane, the airplane arrived after a nonstop flight from Seattle. Boeing officials said the crew performed tests along the way.

When flying commercially, the aircraft -- an innovation in the use of composite materials for fuel efficiency and to enable more spacious cabin design -- will carry 210 to 330 passengers depending on configuration.

The 787 introduction has been marked by delays. The plane originally was due to enter service in the spring of 2008, but it now appears as if the first flights by commercial airlines won't occur till late next year or early 2012.

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Free Speech Protection Act Advances in Congress

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved legislation that would prohibit federal courts from enforcing foreign libel judgments in the United States, in cases where the alleged offense would not constitute libel under the U.S. Constitution.

The bill, now called the SPEECH Act, now goes to both the Senate and the House for what is expected to be approval.

Here is the text of the bill.

The issue is the growing number of libel lawsuits filed in foreign countries against Americans, for speech (or writings) made in the U.S. that someone in another country doesn't like. That is, you say something here and some known terrorism financier in, say, Saudi Arabia takes exception to it and sues you in a foreign court -- even traveling to, say, Britain to do so. That's what happened to the American scholar and author Rachel Ehrenfeld, who fought back. Dr. Ehrenfeld's case led to a law in New York state against enforcement of judgments in specious foreign libel suits. A handful of other states copied the New York law and now it looks as if the issue will be addressed nationally with a federal law.

Such suits always maintain that, even if the the allegedly offensive comments were not published in the foreign country, they nevertheless were available everywhere in the world on the Internet.

The threat to free speech doesn't just affect authors, journalists and bloggers. It affects scientific (and medical) researchers, speakers, and even users of social networking. If someone in any foreign country takes exception to something you say here that is utterly protected by the U.S. First Amendment, that aggrieved person can file suit in a foreign country that has weak or nonexistent free speech protections -- and then attempt to enforce that judgment in the U.S.

The federal law would put an end to that.

(In Arizona, one of the states where such legislation had momentum, the proposed state law has stalled in the state House after it passed 30-0 in the state Senate earlier this year. It isn't clear to me (yet) why proponents of that law, including the Arizona Republic newspaper, have now gone into hiding.)

I do have a dog in this fight, as is well known. I'm being sued for libel in Brazil after I reported (utterly accurately) on surviving a mid-air collision over the Amazon in 2006, and on the cover-up in Brazil over the causes of that crash. The charges are not only false but ridiculous, and would be laughed out of any court in the U.S. -- but the suit is real.

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T.S.A.: This Stuff's Asinine

[UPDATE JULY 6--The TSA reversed part of the ban in face of public ridicule today]

Continuing a long and breathtakingly expensive tradition of security theater farce, the Transportation Security Administration is blocking its Web users from accessing sites that might contain "controversial opinion," according to a report by CBS News. [UPDATE, July 5--The TSA reversed part of the ban in face of public ridicule today]

An e-mail was sent to all TSA employees from the agency's Office of Information Technology on Friday afternoon. It states that TSA employees will no longer be allowed to access five categories of websites that have been deemed "inappropriate for government access."

The categories include: "Chat/messaging; controversial opinion, criminal activity; extreme violence (including cartoon violence) and gruesome content; and gaming."

Wait a dang minute now, TSA. I hate to offer a "controversial opinion" here, but employees of the security agency can't get information on "criminal activity" and "violence," which sort of defines the terrorist threat? I'll bet that's going to go over big with the public and in Congress, where patience with TSA folly has worn very thin.

As to cartoons, let me quote the fighting words of Mr. Daffy Duck: "What a revoltin' development thith is."

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Surf's Up in Southern California, Way Up

Big waves are hitting the Southern California beaches today and will continue for days. The surf is being generated by a large storm off New Zealand. Here's the report in great detail on Socalsurf.com

No doubt, the truly skilled surfers will be out there doing spectacular things. For the rest of the surfing population, though, the warnings are serious, especially on south-facing beaches.

From today's story in the Los Angeles Times: "Everyone should take serious this surf forecast," said Ken Kramer, a district superintendent who overseas state park beaches from San Clemente to Huntington Beach. "It's going to be dangerous."

Gulf Coast Hotels Buoyed By Oil-Spill Workers

[Biloxi, Miss., Sun-Herald]

On the face of it, hotel occupancy and revenues aren't too bad -- so far -- as the summer season gains traction in the tourist hotels along the northern Gulf of Mexico. But a lot of the occupancy reported by hotels is by workers hired for Gulf-disaster cleanup and response work.

You can't sustain a beach-destination and resort industry with temporary emergency workers occupying the rooms, of course. But they do generate money.

Here's a report by Smith Travel Research, the leading hotel research firm.

Here's a smart story today in the Pensacola (Fla.) News-Journal, which has been doing an excellent job covering this intensely local story. It quotes an official from the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, which also has performed admirably in this awful time, saying that 75 percent of reservations might be canceled this month.

When this awful crisis has abated, at least to the point where tourism returns, I hope travel writers will remember how honest and up-front local organizations like the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce were in this catastrophe.

The photo, above, is by the Biloxi, Miss. Sun-Herald, accompanying this story.

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Summer's Here and Airlines Are Packing 'Em In

Not to pick on Continental, the subject of the previous post on how airlines are lousing up elite status benefits. Continental is actually one of my favorite airlines, all things considered.

(Which is sort of like saying the flu is one of my favorite diseases ... all things considered.)

Anyway, Continental, which is always the first airline to report monthly operating statistics, says today that its mainline domestic load factor for June was 88.2 percent, a record. Load factor is the average of available seats occupied.

At over 80 percent, the general rule of thumb is most flights are operating full.

Let's see how the rest of the domestic airlines come in for June. For well over a year now, domestic airlines have been running at load factors well in excess of 80 percent.

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Continental Screwing Its Platinums

Continuing what appears to be a coordinated campaign to annoy the hell out of its elite-status members, Continental Airlines today reminded them by e-mail that the date is looming to "deliver the redemption and fulfillment" of what Continental calls new "OnePass Elite benefits."

"Last year we announced several OnePass Elite benefits and their intended implementation in mid-year 2010. We’re working as quickly as possible through some technical issues and expect to deliver the redemption and fulfillment of these benefits to you by September 2010," Continental said.

The main "benefit?" Well, Continental is starting a new invitation-only level of Platinum Elite that has priority over the existing Platinum Elite. That means, if you faithfully patronized Continental last year to the tune of at least 75,000 flown miles, achieving Platiunum status -- well, guess what: Assuming you didn;t spoend at least $30,000 to do so, they're moving a whole new group of people ahead of you in line for those diminishing rewards such as free upgrades.

And of course, those in the mid-level Gold and lowest-level Silver niches also move down in priority.

As of September, here are the "benefits" Continental touts, "once you qualify" for invitation to the new Presidential Platinum Elite level. Boldface is mine:

"Presidential Platinum is an invitation-only Elite benefit designed to reward Continental’s top Platinum Elite members. Members who achieve this level will be given all the benefits of a Platinum Elite member, plus top priority in Elite Upgrade recognition and flight standby, a dedicated VIP phone line and an annual fee waiver on the Continental Airlines Presidential PlusSM Card subject to credit approval. ..."

Forget the fee-free offer for some crappy credit card, as if any of us needed another affinity credit card. It's the priority on the already diminishing pool of available upgrades that counts.

How does one get this coveted "invitation" to the new elite level? Well, one flies a minimum of 75,000 miles in a year and one spends a lot of dough doing so, meaning one's booking cheaper nonrefundable fares won't count all that much.

"To keep this program exclusive, our Presidential Platinum Elite level requires you to both earn Platinum Elite status and spend the minimum threshold required for a Presidential Platinum invitation." Which initially will be $30,000 a year, Continental says.

I have said this before, and it is becoming more clear by the day:

Airline mileage programs are already in a state of Weimar Republic-style hyperinflation. And airline elite-status programs within those mileage programs are increasingly not worth the effort.

Airlines are betting that customers will have no place else to go as mergers and capacity cutbacks make the system smaller. Take it or leave it.

Can we spell S-O-U-T-H-W-E-S-T? How about J-E-T-B-L-U-E? Or V-I-R-G-I-N A-M-E-R-I-C-A? ... E-T-C.

###

Delta Selling 2 Regional Carriers

[Photo -- Delta: What's the connection?]

Delta Air Lines today sold its Mesaba and Compass regional carriers to Pinnacle Airlines and Trans States Holdings Inc. to cut costs and, Delta said, to focus more on its mainline routes.

Both airlines will continue to operate under the name Delta Connection -- but the flights will no longer be operated by Delta itself.

Why should we care?

Well, consider the safety concerns that have been raised about regional airlines and the training and scheduling of pilots. A regional airline owned and operated by Delta is run with Delta standards. An independent regional-airline holding company has its own standards -- not necessarily poor ones, but different ones.

One of the big issues in regional carriers has been that customers often do not realize that they are boarding an airplane that is operated by a company other than the airline whose name is on the side.

An example is Continental Connection Flight 3407, which crashed on approach to Buffalo in early 2009, killing 50. The flight was actually operated by a sub-contractor, Colgan Air, which in turn is owned by Pinnacle Airlines.

After that crash, the National Transportation Safety Board raised serious questions about training, working conditions and pay of the two pilots whose mistakes on landing in rough weather caused the crash.

###

The Lost Weekend

A British oil-futures trader, drinking heavily all night during a weekend binge, made $520 million in wild trades for his firm during an all-night session last June and singlehandedly drove up the world price of oil to an eight-month high. The trader, who was fired, said he doesn't remember slipping into his office after a drink-fueled golf weekend and trading, as it were, in the dark.


For two years now, the airline industry -- especially the Air Transport Association -- has been insisting that speculation in the oil market has sent prices on crazy spins -- and I think this guy is probably a smoking gun.

Here is a compelling lede in the New York Times online today:

"LONDON — Alcohol-induced behavior has produced many unintended consequences, but pushing up the global price of oil and losing $10 million must rank among the most novel."

###

As Big Holiday Approaches, Here Are the States Most (and Least) Likely To Hand Out Speeding Tickets

July 4 is a big driving holiday. The AAA, which gets copious and credulous publicity for its holiday travel predictions (how do they come up with these things, and does anybody ever check back to see if they were accurate?), predicts that holiday travel will be up 17 percent this July 4 weekend.

Meanwhile, a group that works to give motorists heads-up on tyrannical state law-enforcement fundraising tricks, like speed traps and those vile speed-surveillance cameras, has issued its survey of the states most and least likely to nail drivers for speeding.

This issue always draws letters-to-the-editor from the invincibly pious, who seem to believe that going a little bit over a posted speed limit is a reckless act, rather than a sensible response to road conditions that nearly every good driver takes. In general, endless studies have shown, highway traffic moves at a general consensus of what is a safe speed. The idiots are the obvious exception, but traffic cameras and speed traps tyrannize the rest of us.

Red-light intersection cameras demonstrably add to rear-end collision rates. And in state after state, it's been shown that speed traps and highway speed cameras don't affect safety -- and, in fact, those hidden speed cameras don't even have that much effect on revenue-generation, except for the profits of politically connected companies that manufacture and get the state contracts to install these hideous devices. (Arizona, bless its Wild West soul, recently dumped the company that was operating its despised speed cameras.)

Anyway, the National Motorists Association works against speed traps and other highway tricks that generate fines from what it calls "undeserved traffic tickets." The group issued a list of the best and worst states in terms of shotgunning speeding tickets to motorists.

The group says that getting precise numbers of tickets issued in each state is difficult because "most localities -- especially ticket-happy speed-trap towns -- are reluctant to publicize their ticketing prowess, and states typically don't have an agency responsible for gathering and summarizing ticket data from the
various jurisdictions."

The statement from the group says:

"Luckily, the National Motorists Association (www.motorists.org) -- a motorists' rights group that has been helping drivers fight their traffic tickets (link is here) for over 25 years -- has come up with a way to give 4th of July travelers some insight on which states are most likely to ticket drivers.

"The rankings below were generated by analyzing ticket-related search queries such as "speeding ticket" and "traffic tickets" over time using Google's Search Insights -- a public tool that shows state-by-state search trends across the United States."

Here are the 10 states (and District) most likely to ticket motorists:

1) Florida
2 (tie) Georgia
2 (tie) Nevada
4) Texas
5) Alabama
6) Missouri
7) New York
8) North Carolina
9) District of Columbia
10) New Jersey

And here are the 10 states least likely to ticket motorists:

51) Montana
50) Wyoming
49) North Dakota
48) South Dakota
47) Alaska
46) Maine
45) West Virginia
44) Idaho
43) Nebraska
42) New Mexico

The group says, "Obviously, these rankings aren't perfect (search queries can be
impacted by a number of different factors), but the National Motorists Association has found that the list matches up well with their day-to-day experiences helping motorists fight traffic tickets.

The full list of state rankings and further information on how they were calculated can be found at www.motorists.org/ticket-trends/.

###

Gulf Spill: Stormy Weather

The usual suspects have been issuing assurances that the hurricane now brewing in the Gulf of Mexico won't exacerbate the oil-gusher disaster. The usual suspects claim that heavy seas will merely rough that bad old oil up real good, causing it to be absorbed.

Here's an Associated Press photo of some storm-tossed waves hitting shore, and it appears -- dang it: eureka! -- that oil and water do not mix.

Hmmmm.

###

A Bill to Combat the Foreign Threat to Free Speech in the U.S.

Rachel Ehrenfeld, the New York author and scholar who has been battling the threat posed by libel suits filed in foreign countries over speech in the U.S. that would be fully protected by the First Amendment, has a new and important article out today on the issue.

Federal legislation to prohibit foreign entities from enforcing these absurd libel judgments in the U.S. against American citizens is currently pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it has widespread support. The Senate and especially the Judiciary Committee are busy places these days, but First Amendment experts are hopeful that the bill will soon be voted out of committee and will pass as law.

Here's a statement from Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee chairman, describing that proposed legislation, which was introduced by Leahy and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee.

As Leahy's statement says, the bill "prevents a U.S. federal court from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation that is inconsistent with the First Amendment. [to] ensure that our courts do not become a tool to uphold foreign libel judgments that undermine our First Amendment or due process rights."

Leahy added, "Over the past several years, the problem of libel tourism has grown. Today, countries whose weak libel laws impact American authors are no longer confined to a small number. England, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore are just a few of the countries whose weak libel protections have attracted libel lawsuits against American journalists and authors. This threat to American free speech must end, and the time to act is now.

"New accounts of libel tourism lawsuits emerge every day. This is because the dissemination of materials through the Internet, as well as the increased number of worldwide newspapers and periodicals, has compounded their threat. The likelihood that a book or story will have some contact with a foreign country is simply that much higher, as is the probability that a foreign court will determine that it has a basis for asserting jurisdiction over an American author or publisher. As we heard at a recent Judiciary Committee hearing, this has a dramatic chilling effect on Americans’ free speech."

And Sessions said, "this bill is a needed first step to ensure that weak free-speech protections and abusive legal practices in foreign countries do not prevent Americans from fully exercising their constitutional right to speak and debate freely."

The bill is cosponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Joe Lieberman (DI-Conn.).

This foreign threat is not just to authors and journalists who (like me) have written things in the U.S. that a foreign government would like to suppress or punish American citizens for. It also affects academics, researchers, travel reviewers, speakers and users of social network sites in the U.S.

If somebody in another country doesn't like what you say in the U.S., they can sue you in that country and try to enforce the judgment in the U.S. This kind of action has become much more prevalent in recent years, as the Internet provides wide (and perpetual) dissemination of speech made in the U.S.

(In my own case, a lawsuit in Brazil claims that I somehow defamed the entire nation of Brazil in my reporting and commentary on Brazilian authorities coverup of, and scapegoating two American pilots for, a horrific 2006 mid-air collision at 37,000 feet over the Amazon. I was one of the seven survivors on an American business jet that was involved in the collision, in which all 154 on a Brazilian 737 airliner were killed. My reporting on the case has always been accurate, and the Brazilian lawsuit makes false and absurd claims that I insulted the nation by describing Brazil as the "idiot of all idiots" -- which I never said or wrote but which, even if I had, would not constitute libel in any court in the U.S.)

These kinds of lawsuits, over speech in the U.S. that would not ever be considered libel under U.S. law, pose the most direct, dire threat to free speech in my lifetime.

The federal government needs to act, as some individual states already have, to prevent this outrage. The states that have so far passed their own laws to prevent enforcement of spurious foreign libel judgments are New York, Illinois, Florida, California, Utah, Tennessee, and Maryland. A similar law passed the Arizona state Senate 30-0 in the winter, but has been unaccountably sidetracked in the state House since then.

###

Gulf Coast Beaches Fouled By Oil (Continued)

A few days ago, I wrote about beautiful Pensacola Beach as I remember it from being stationed in Pensacola a long time ago, and as it is today, a fine summer's day ...

Via the Pensacola News-Journal, which has been doing first-rate work on this story, Here's a link to video shot by a Sheriff's Department crew. It's just sad.


###

After 17 Months Without One, the TSA Finally Has a Director

The Senate confirmed John Pistole today as the new director of the TSA, which has been floundering without a permanent director since George Bush left office.

Here's a news story that, alas, falls into the trap of regurgitating the Accepted Narrative on the mess of naming a new TSA head. That is, the first of two previous unsuccessful nominees by President Obama, Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent and a well-respected law enforcement intelligence official, was scuttled because of some irregularities in the way he described doing a background check on a boyfriend of his ex-wife's. In fact, Southers' nomination really failed because South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint put a personal hold on it -- because DeMint considered Southers to be insufficiently opposed to unions.

Here's the White House announcement on John Pistole when the nomination was made last month

Meanwhile, there are calls for Pistole to move expeditiously to address longstanding problems at the TSA. Rep. John L. Mica, the ranking Republican member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that Pistole needed to get the "the bloated bureaucracy" at the "rudderless agency" back on track.

"It is difficult enough to get things done in a federal agency when someone is in charge, but it is nearly impossible in a headless bureaucracy of 60,000," Mica said, adding:

"Mr. Pistole will take over a top-heavy TSA, with more than 7,000 supervisors in the field and 3,526 staff at headquarters where the average salary tops $106,000."

He added, "TSA’s performance must be improved. Recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports highlight just the latest examples of the agency’s failures. In May, GAO found that TSA completely bungled the development and deployment of a behavior-detection program for the nation’s airports. GAO’s most recent report outlines TSA’s poor performance in all modes of transportation.

"Earlier airport screening penetration tests have repeatedly demonstrated TSA’s failure to detect threats to our aviation system. Unfortunately, penetration testing continues to show that even with new screening technology and the behavior detection program, the aviation screening system is not working."

He urged Pistole to "promptly begin a reevaluation and reorganization of this unwieldy and poorly performing bureaucracy."

###

American Offers 3x Elite Qualifying Miles on 2 Top Business Routes

[Above: Greetings from the Weimar Republic, 1923]

In an antique shop, I once bought a postcard featuring a pastoral scene in Bavaria that had been mailed in Germany in 1923, and which was affixed with 500-mark stamps, front and back, that totaled over 10 billion Reischmarks.

That was hyper-inflation. I was looking at that now-framed postcard this morning and considering the 13 trillion frequent-flier miles that are now reposing in airline customers' accounts, when here comes a statement from American Airlines saying that it is offering triple miles -- including the much-valued elite-status-qualifying miles -- on American or American Eagle flights between LaGuardia and O'Hare, or between LaGuardia and Boston Logan.

Here is American's press release today.

More details are at www.aa.com/elitebenefits

Said Rob Friedman, president of American's AAdvantage marketing, "We're happy to offer our loyal customers the opportunity to build their mileage balance and to reach elite status at an accelerated rate."

Tickets need to be booked between June 14 and Aug. 31 and you need to register first at www.aa.com/offers using promotion code NYTPL. Travel must be completed by Aug. 31.

###

How Airlines View 'Courtesy' to Elite Members

Yo, to evoke my native Philadelphia patois, notify this, Continental.

Listen to how an airline feels free in addressing its most elite-status customers. Have a look at the snotty, officious tone of this note from Continental that elite-status fliers see when they sign in. It says it all about how airlines feel toward their customers, even the most loyal ones. Sounds like a martial law directive or an eviction notice. I highlighted some particularly snotty sections. This is what happens when you let the house lawyers address your customers directly. Better you should keep the house lawyers locked in the basement, without Internet access.

"Program Changes
Continental Airlines and all OnePass partners reserve the right to change any aspect of the OnePass program at any time within 30 days notice to active members. This right includes, but is not limited to, changes in partner affiliation, rules for earning mileage credit, rules on earning Elite status, Elite benefits and mileage redemption levels. However, rules for use of travel rewards, cities served, flight schedules, limited seating or space availability, restricted travel dates and specific features of promotional offers are subject to change with or without notice at the discretion of Continental Airlines or the OnePass partner. Continental Airlines is not responsible for unilateral actions taken by OnePass partners.

Official up-to-date information concerning the OnePass program is available throughout the Frequent Flyer section of continental.com. Information about the OnePass program published through continental.com is the final authority with respect to the terms and conditions of membership in OnePass and supercedes any conflicting information contained in any previously published communications.

Continental Airlines reserves the right to discontinue the OnePass program with six months notice to members. This means that, regardless of your level of participation in the program, your right to accumulate mileage and claim rewards will be terminated six months after we give you notice.

Account Privacy
OnePass account information is proprietary to Continental Airlines. As a condition of OnePass membership, you consent and give permission for Continental to collect, use and transfer the personal data provided by you to Continental offices in the United States and around the world so that Continental may furnish you with our products and services.

At Continental's discretion, information regarding your OnePass account may be supplied to OnePass partners for promotions and also to certain government agencies for security reasons. If you choose to 'opt out' of Continental Airlines' promotions or our OnePass partners' promotions or have any changes made to your personal data, please visit My Account or contact your local OnePass Service Center. You may also access Continental's complete privacy policy.

You are authorized to access OnePass account information solely to obtain information regarding your OnePass account and for no other purpose. You may not delegate or grant any power of attorney or other authorization regarding any such access. Any other use of OnePass account information is strictly prohibited. You may reproduce information regarding your own account for personal use and, in consideration of this authorization, you agree that any copy of such information shall retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained therein. Redistribution in any way requires the express written consent of Continental Airlines."

###

Inevitably and Horribly, Oil Is Now Fouling Gulf Coast Beaches

[Top: Oil fouls Pensacola Beach {Pensacola News-Journal}. Middle: Fish in oily waves off Alabama. {Mobile Press-Register}. Bottom: Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour]

Some of the finest days of my youth were spent many years ago, when I was stationed for 18 months in Pensacola, Fla.

A friend and I rented a house on Pensacola Beach, back before it was discovered for Spring Break and other crowded diversions. It was quiet (well, till Saturday night) and so beautiful in the morning and at night that I can still see it and hear it and smell it.

Once in a while, for a change of pace (and for more excitement), we'd make the drive west to Biloxi, Miss., where the beach was also magnificent. This, too, was in the days before Biloxi got discovered.

These beautiful Gulf coast beaches are now, as we knew they would, being fouled by nasty oil from the BP-Deepwater Horizon disaster. Here's a report from the Pensacola News-Journal. and a sorrowful feature story that accompanies it. Here's one from the Biloxi Sun-Herald which states that "Mississippi's lucky streak appears to be ending." You can say that again, Skippy.

A week ago, Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi (and who remains deep deep in the pocket of the oil industry), ridiculed those who expressed concern about what he dismissed as "a few little tarballs."

Still laughing, Haley?

[UPDATE: For reasons utterly baffling to me, the national media continue to give credence to the U.S. Coast Guard and the federal commander in charge of the Gulf disaster operations, Admiral "Ribbons" Allen, who has been noticeably tight with BP.

Coast Guard press conferences with Admiral Ribbons in his gold braids and stars and splendid ribbons are one thing.

But to get a little feel for how this is actually playing out on the local level, where the press conferences don't mean diddly, look at this notice and update from the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce. A Chamber of Commerce, of course, is not usually the place to be putting out dire news like this.]

And I just saw a news story saying that some people on Pensacola Beach have been throwing tar balls at BP clean-up crews, even though most of the workers are local hires.

The gods of journalism will judge the coverage of this story. It won't be pretty.

[UPDATE, June 25 -- I should add that the Pensacola chamber of commerce is doing a terrific job providing reliable, honest information, including to people who are inclined to visit Pensacola and deciding not to because of the oil. Also, the Pensacola News-Journal newspaper has been excellent. Here's a story from today saying that, while the beach looks like it was cleaned up fully Wednesday overnight, the oil yesterday was sill just an inch or two down in the sand.]

###

Spirit Airlines: How Oily Can You Get?

Yup, that's the new ad campaign by Spirit Airlines, super-low-fare and super- low-class carrier. The ad features many beach places that Spirit flies to, including the Caribbean and the execrable Atlantic City, N.J.

(Not only is the ad a disgusting exploitation of the Gulf disaster, the word "beach" is also a repugnant sexist pun in the context used by Spirit).

Now, given the immediately bad reaction, Spirit is all, like, "It is unfortunate that some have misunderstood our intention with today’s beach promotion."

In a statement issued to try to counter the immediate revulsion the ad campaign generated, the airline adds, "We are merely addressing the false perception that we have oil on our beaches, and we are encouraging customers to support Florida and our other beach destinations by continuing to travel to these vacation hot spots."

Ugh.

###

As Fares Rise Sharply, Airline Revenues Are Booming

Anyone who has flown lately on relatively short notice has seen it: Fares are up significantly on most routes.

With demand up, supply down and oil prices stable, airlines are feeling the benefits, even if passengers paying more to travel in all of those cramped planes are not.

In May, says the Air Transport Association of America, airline revenues (including fares, all of those fees and other factors) rose 21 percent over May of 2009, based on a sampling of carriers. It was the fifth consecutive month of revenue growth, the airline trade group says.

About 2 percent more passengers traveled on U.S. airlines1 in May, while the average price to fly one mile rose 17 percent. Meanwhile, international passenger revenue rose 36 percent, led by a 51 percent gain in trans-Pacific markets.

###

Heads Up On Travel In Northern Arizona, Including Grand Canyon

Illustrating once again Bill Moyers' axiom that journalists are paid to explain things they don't understand, some news reports this morning say that the big wildfire just north of Flagstaff, Arizona, is blocking the main route to the Grand Canyon from the south.

Actually, the fire -- which has burned 10,000 acres so far near the San Francisco Peaks -- has only shut down a part of Rt. 89, which leads northeast from Flagstaff into the western edge of the vast Navajo reservation. Traffic to the Grand Canyon South Rim -- the main tourist spot -- is moving on Rt. 180. To the northwest.

[UPDATE: Rt. 89 reopened this morning, though that's subject to change.]

Here's the fire as seen by satellite.

Overall, there would be less confusion if the media didn't have such disdain for maps.

Anyway, Rt. 89 is the main road to two popular tourist spots, the Sunset Crater and Wupatki national monument areas.

Both Sunset Crater and Wupatki have been evacuated and are closed.

There are three fires in the Flagstaff area. The main one is called the Schultz fire, and it's burning out of control in the hills just outside Flagstaff along Rt. 89, where lots of development has occurred in recent years.

(But oh, the real-estate lure of those spectacular mountain views of 12,000-foot peaks. Yes, the Southern California mistake has been recreated on a smaller scale in Flagstaff.)

A very wet winter and a hot dry spring were the ideal combination for lots of brush to kindle fires like the Schultz fire, which started in a carelessly left campfire, officials said.

###

Advice From a Reformed Hotel Housekeeper

Recommended reading in Salon today -- advice from a former hotel housekeeper. I often wondered about using the coffee maker (even as I used it), but whoa ... (Not for the easily-queasied).

###

Talk of 'Re-Regulating' Airline Industry

In the House of Representatives, there's been talk this week about re-regulating the airline industry if, as expected, the Justice Department ok's the merger of United and Continental airlines.

At a House hearing yesterday, James Oberstar, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Jerry Costello, chairman of the aviation subcommittee, broached the subject of some form of federal re-regulation.

There will be a lot of talk about this in coming months. One thing to keep solidly in mind, as air travelers: When the airline industry was deregulated in 1978, fares dropped sharply as new competition poured in.

Under regulation, airfares and routes were generally set and apportioned by the government among a small number of big carriers. After re-regulation came the free-for-all that we still see today.

Before de-regulation, airlines could make a (guaranteed) profit even running planes at 60 percent full. Air travel was profitable and way more pleasant -- for the airlines and for those fliers who could afford it.

So the airline industry, while it usually screams bloody murder about any federal intervention, is not uniformly opposed to some kinds of re-regulation.

Stay tuned.

###

Spirit Airlines, Pilots Agree On Contract

Spirit Airlines will resume its usual terrible service on Friday after canceling all flights since last Saturday.

Spirit and its striking pilots have agreed on a contract.

###

Spirit Airlines Now Shut Through Thursday

Now Spirit Airlines has canceled flights through Thursday. The airline has stranded passengers since Saturday, when its pilots went on strike. The cancellations have been announced day by day, giving disgracefully short notice to passengers.

I don't want to sound like the Spirit Airlines blog here. The airline carries only about 16,500 passengers a day -- but Spirit is known for its very low fares, and has an avid following, especially to and from Fort Lauderdale, where it is the main carrier.

Again my advice: Do not call Spirit's 800 number for remediation. You'll be on hold till Labor Day. Instead, assuming you bought your ticket with a credit card, call your credit card company and ask for a refund because of service not delivered.

UPDATE: Thanks to Joe Brancatelli for the heads-up on the following. Spirit later today changed the notice on its Web site to say, essentially, if you choose a refund rather than a "future flight credit," you won't get that extra $100 voucher that Spirit has been touting all week. (Even though people can't get through on the Spirit phone anyway)

Here's Spirit's new policy, which could have been written by P.T. Barnum at his worst:

"If you are scheduled to fly Spirit on Saturday, June 12 – Thursday, June 17, 2010, we will process a future flight credit for the full amount of the unflown portion of your reservation plus an additional $100 future flight credit to thank you for your continued support.

Or, if you would prefer to receive a full refund for the unflown portion of your reservation instead, please call 1 (800) 772-7117 and one of our Customer Service Representatives will assist you. (Customers who prefer to receive a refund instead of a future flight credit will not receive the additional $100 future flight credit.)"

###

Patrick Smith, an international airline pilot who is a well-read and well-informed blogger and columnist for Salon, recently wrote this in his blog about Spirit and its pilots strike:

"Spirit is a larger carrier than you probably realize, operating a fleet of 30 Airbus A320-series planes from bases in Detroit and Fort Lauderdale throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. The strike is stranding some 17,000 travelers daily.

"Spirit bills itself not merely as a low-cost carrier, but an ultra-low-cost carrier. ... it was Spirit that touched off controversy back in April by announcing it would begin charging passengers not only for checked luggage, but carry-on bags as well. ... [As to striking pilots], a 10th-year first officer at Spirit earns as little as $65,000 annually."


###

That's the Spirit (Continued)

If you're one of the unlucky thousands stranded since Saturday by Spirit Airlines, which has canceled all flights through at least Wednesday because of a pilots' strike, please note that the current language on the Spirit Web site no longer mentions refunds. It says:

"If you are scheduled to fly Spirit on Saturday, June 12 – Wednesday, June 16, 2010, we would like to offer you a flight credit for the full amount of the unflown portion of your trip that is valid for one year from the original booking date. Spirit will also provide you a $100 voucher for future travel for your inconvenience and to thank you for your continued support."

Yessir, they sure would like to to offer you that flight credit for what you paid, valid for a year. This means, you see, that they get to keep your money.

Instead, get a refund. It's futile to call the Spirit 800 number to demand a refund, not a "flight credit." That's because the hold time is four hours plus.

But take my advice if you're stuck with a Spirit ticket, assuming you bought it with a credit card. Call your credit card company and ask them to refund your money based on the fact that the service was not provided by Spirit.

And never buy an airline ticket with a debit card, which doesn't have the same refund provisions that a credit card must by law have.

###

Spirit Airlines Cancels Wednesday Flights Too

Spirit Airlines has now canceled its flights through Wednesday, which will bring to five the number of days Spirit has scrubbed its schedule and stranded its 16,500 daily passengers since the airline's pilots went on strike Saturday morning.

Spirit continues to tell customers to call its customer service line for refunds or re-bookings, promising a $100 voucher as well. But people are spending hours on hold at the Spirit line, usually before giving up in disgust.

My strong advice continues to be: If you have a ticket on a canceled Spirit flight, call your credit card company for a refund for service not provided and forget about that $100 voucher of dubious value. (If you bought your ticket with a debit card, you're not covered by the fair-credit law, incidentally, so you're as much at Spirit's mercy as someone who paid cash.)

And my advice is, do not book on Spirit -- at least so long as this situation is unresolved. The airline has been giving very short notice on flight cancellations and, if and when it does return to its regular service, there will be a very large backlog of stranded customers to accommodate.

###

That's the Spirit

Spirit Airlines, as reported here in an update earlier today, has canceled all of its flights through Tuesday because of a strike by pilots.

What are your options if you are stranded by Spirit? Not just in Fort Lauderdale but in other places Spirit flies to, like Cozumel, Jaco, Lima, Costa Rica ...

Well, if you are stranded, you're faced with booking alternate flights on another carrier, and probably paying full-fare walk-up coach.

Meanwhile, Spirit claims it will refund your money. All you have to do is call. Hah! I did call several times, and the telephone hold is endless. ("Extremely high call volume," it says). People are reporting waiting up toi four hours before giving on on calling Spirit.

In the phone announcement, Spirit actually has the nerve to suggest that you call your travel-insurance company, if you bought travel insurance. Sort of like calling the fire department when your house is afire and being advised to contact your State Farm agent.

From Spirit's Web site:

"If you would prefer to receive a full refund, please call 1 (800) 772-7117 and one of our Customer Service Representatives will assist you.

"Customers who made their reservation prior to May 11, 2010 directly with Spirit and purchased travel insurance should call Travel Guard at 866-877-3191 if their flight has been canceled."

"Spirit is the official airline of P.T. Barnum," says Joe Brancatelli, of the Web site Joesentme.com

My advice, assuming you paid for your Spirit ticket with a credit card (and not, God forbid, with a debit card): Ignore Spirit and call your credit card company immediately for a full refund for service not delivered. And forget about that $100 "voucher" for future travel that Spirit offers, if you simply work through them on your canceled ticket.

And please, ignore lazy, asinine newspaper advice like this. It simply regurgitates a Spirit Airlines press release.

By the way, both Joe Brancatelli and I marveled at the media gullibility that Spirit benefited from in the walk-up to this strike, when the news media blithely reported that Spirit would continue flying, pilots strike or not. Here's an example.
. And here's another.
###

Spirit Airlines Cancels All Flights Through Tuesday

That mess at Spirit Airlines is getting worse. Spirit just announced that it has canceled all of its flights through Tuesday.

Here's the notice on the Spirit Web site as of noon EDT:

"UPDATE as of 6/13/10 at 12:00 pm EST:
--As a result of the pilots’ decision to strike, Spirit Airlines flights are canceled for Saturday, June 12 – Tuesday, June 15, 2010."

UPDATE 11 a.m. PDT: Here's the expanded Spirit notice today.


The biggest effect of the strike is at Spirit's hub in Fort Lauderdale, which has been chaotic all weekend as stranded passengers try to make alternate arrangements. As of 9:40 a.m. Pacific time (where I am) or 12:40 p.m. EDT, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper weirdly hadn't picked up the fact yet that flights are now canceled through Tuesday (hey, you expect a local newspaper to be working on a Sunday?) But here's their report on the way the first two days of the strike looked.

###

Spirit Airlines Cancels Flights As Pilots Strike

Spirit Airlines, known for cheap fares and bad service, canceled its flights today and Sunday after pilots struck this morning.

Here's the Spirit notice to customers. Spirit later updated its notice to say that Sunday's flights also are canceled.

Here's the Businessweek.com article on the strike.

###

The Talk of Berlin Air Show: Emirates Orders Another 32 A380s

[Above: The bathroom in the first-class cabin of the Emirates A380 fleet. Yes, that is a shower, and each first-class cabin has two such bathrooms.]

As a further example of the rebound in international travel, Emirates created a great big stir today at the Berlin Air Show by announcing that it has ordered an additional 32 Airbus A380 super-jumbo planes, valued at $11.5 billion.

Emirates is already by far the biggest customer for the double-decker A380. The new order will bring to 90 the number of orders Emirates has for the Airbus airliner. Here's a link to the Emirates site describing its A380 service.

The deal for the new A380s was signed today by Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum and Tom Enders, the Airbus CEO.

I've flown A380s on several occasions (though not Emirates), and I like these planes very much. For one thing, they're exceptionally quiet, with engine noise barely noticeable at cruise speed in the cabin. For another, they're spacious and comfortable -- if they're configured, as all have been so far, at 500 to 550 seats in three cabins. The A380 is rated for nearly 900 passengers in a one-cabin configuration, but so far no one has done that or said they would.

In addition to the orders placed today, Emirates has 48 Airbus 380s (9 of them have been delivered and are flying and the 10th is being delivered this week); 70 Airbus 350s; 18 Boeing 777-300s and 7 Boeing air freighters on order totaling 143 wide-body aircraft worth more than $48 billion. In a tough economic year for the airline industry, Emirates recently reported its 22nd year of profit, up 416 percent to $964 million over its 2008-09 profit of $187 million.

With the new Emirates deal, Airbus now has 234 firm orders for the A380 (30 have been delivered) and a total of 17 customers.

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British Airways: Flight Attendants' Strike a Failure

The British Airways' chief executive, Willie Walsh, calls the strike action by flight attendants a failure, despite the threat by the cabin crew union to cripple the airline.

The union, Unite, "failed to ground British Airways, and we are continuing to fly and we are continuing to work," Walsh says. Here's a report.

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