Air de Loon (Central Florida ... Again!)

Let's not get carried away by the crack response to this loon nabbed at the Orlando airport after trying to check a backbag that contained some pipes and some printed material on bomb-making.

Naturally, the usual media nitwits, locally and nationally, immediately began hyperventilating.

Knee-jerk politicians like Rep. John L. Mica, the Florida Republican, who used to chair the House transportation subcommittee, rushed breathlessly to get into the action and try to evoke 9/11.

"Within the last hour I received a closed Transportation Security Administration briefing from TSA Administrator Kip Hawley relating to the incident at Orlando International Airport. This appears to have been a serious matter with the potential for tragic consequences, and the incident is being thoroughly investigated. This incident serves as a reminder that our nation and our aviation system face the continued threat of potential attacks," he said in a statement hurried out by his office.

Yada, yada ... What the incident serves as a reminder of is: 1. The "behavior specialists" that Kip Hawley put in place to expand security, and try to spot trouble before it gets to the head of the line, are doing the job, and 2. Outright severely mentally disturbed people -- oh hell, let me use the term: lunatics -- generally behave in ways that are obvious, as this guy did. Evidently, passengers in the area also noted and reported his bizarre behavior.

According to one local television report:

"Passengers waiting to board flights at Orlando International Airport Tuesday said they noticed Brown acting suspiciously before agents moved in.

'He looked rather crazy,' a passenger said. 'He was rocking left and right and up and down. He looked a little wacko.' "

This is not the way a crafty terrorist behaves.

The FBI later said that the following were found in the backpack: "Two galvanized pipes, end caps, two small containers containing BBs, batteries, two containers with an unknown liquid, and bombing making literature."

The Associated Press says the man told authorities he had the stuff because he wanted to demonstrate to friends in Jamaica, his destination, how to make a bomb.

Remember: His backback never got into a cargo hold of an airplane, and he never got through security.

The way I see it, the system worked as it was supposed to. So calm down, congressman.

###

Just Saying ...

---How many bags? British Airways keeps inching up on the number of bags it says have gone missing in the Terminal 5 opening fiasco, and now it's supposedly 19,000. Howard Wheeldon, an analyst at BGC Partners in the UK, told Bloomberg UK that many observers think the number is actually higher than 35,000 -- and that British Airways' assurances that bags will be delivered to people within a week are "nonsense." Said Wheeldon: "It'll take months to get rid of all that baggage." Talk about timing: The Terminal 5 meltdown occurred just as new competitors, including Delta and Continental, began operating out of Heathrow with the kickoff of the Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and the E.U. "It couldn't have come at a worse time" for B.A., Wheeldon said.

Meanwhile, some British Airways flights at Terminal 5 are still being canceled, and now B.A. says it's bringing in FedEx to get the bags sorted out. At last, an outfit that actually delivers!

***

---Speaking of bags, there's another alleged incident of systematic theft from passengers bags by TSA inspectors. This one happened in -- where else? -- Central Florida (Tampa).

***

---Everybody's looking for indications that domestic air travel is slowing down as fares keep rising. Continental just reported its March operating data, and there's no sign yet of a slowdown. Continental had record domestic load factors for the month (the percentage of seats filled by paying customers) in March -- 85.2 percent, one percentage point higher than March 2007. Domestic seat capacity was down 0.3 percent, but passenger traffic was up 0.9 percent. Nearly a third (31.6 percent) of flights arrived late.

***

---The chronically overlooked story of aircraft maintenance, including rampant outsourcing of critical maintenance by domestic airlines (American is an exception), is about to get better coverage. And the Teamsters are going to be a part of it.

***

---I like to 'ave a laff as much as the next person, but I really do not understand this British fascination with elaborate April Fool's stunts in the media. Dunno, something inherently, well, creepy, in them, to me at least. Also, I really do not think that an airline should be pulling April Fool's jokes at all. Every day, after all, is April Fool's day in the skies.

###

Aloha Airlines Ceases Operations

Aloha Airlines is shutting down flight operations. The announcement is below. (I do wish they would have avoided blaming "unfair" competition, or saying that passengers will be "inconvenienced" rather than, as will be the fact in many cases, "stranded." Even on their death-beds, airlines seem to be unable to speak truth.)

Aloha, battered by competition from the low-fare airline go!, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 20.

Code-share partner United Airlines is offering space available accommodations to Aloha code-share passengers with a United ticket, and offering "discounted one-way fares" for those with Aloha tickets to return home. Here's the United statement.

[Joe Brancatelli just sent out an alert to members of his subscription site Joesentme.com with good advice for Aloha ticket-holders left holding the bag: "Worst case scenario, contact your credit-card company to contest the charge. Under federal law, credit-card companies cannot charge you for services not provided."]

Here's the Aloha announcement:

"ALOHA AIRLINES TO SHUT DOWN PASSENGER OPERATIONS AFTER MARCH 31, 2008, ENDING A 61-YEAR TRADITION OF SERVICE TO HAWAII

HONOLULU – -- Aloha Airlines announced today that it will be shutting down its inter-island and transpacific passenger flight operations. Aloha’s last day of operations will be Monday, March 31, 2008. On that day, Aloha will operate its schedule with the exception of flights from Hawaii to the West Coast and flights from Orange County to Reno and Sacramento, and Oakland to Las Vegas. Code-share partner United Airlines and other airlines are prepared to assist and accommodate Aloha’'s passengers who have been inconvenienced.

For more information on United'’s accommodation options, contact United at 1-800-UNITED1 or www.united.com. Passengers who do not wish to be re-accommodated by another airline should contact their travel agent or credit card company to request a refund. Effective immediately, Aloha will stop selling tickets for travel beyond March 31, 2008.

The shutdown of Aloha'’s passenger operations will affect about 1,900 employees. Aloha also announced that its air cargo and aviation services units will continue to operate as usual while the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeks bids from potential buyers. On March 27, 2008, Saltchuk Resources, Inc., announced its intention to buy Aloha’'s air cargo business.

“This is an incredibly dark day for Hawaii,” said David A. Banmiller, Aloha’'s president and chief executive officer. “Despite the groundswell of support from the community and our elected officials, we simply ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or secure continued financing for our passenger business. We had no choice but to take this action.

“We deeply regret the impact this will have on our dedicated employees who have made Aloha one of the best operating airlines in the country. “Aloha Airlines was founded in 1946 to give Hawaii’s people a choice in inter-island air transportation.

Unfortunately, unfair competition has succeeded in driving us out of business, bringing to an end a 61-year-old company with a proud legacy of serving millions of travelers in the true spirit of Aloha. ”We realize that this comes as a devastating disappointment to our frequent flyers and our loyal business partners who have supported this company for many, many years.”"

###

The Morning News ...

---Disruptions continue at Heathrow's new Terminal 5, heralded (until it actually opened on Thursday) as the crown jewel of British Airways. No one really knows how many bags have gone missing, but 15,000 is the current estimate. And, of course, recriminations are flying.

###

That Mexican Border Wall

---Two reasons why we might want to think a little more about whether that border wall should be built:

1. Jobs:

http://www.twango.com/media/asan13.junk/asan13.10786

2: Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as quoted in today's Times: "Show me a 50-foot wall and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder." [Actually, the quote seems to be from Napolitano's 2006 State of the State speech in which she said, 'You show me a 50-foot wall, and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder at the border. That's the way the border works.'"]

###

Heathrow Terminal 5: Or, the Fall of Saigon?

So far, the only person to get in or out of the new Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 on schedule was the Queen, who stopped in to cut a ribbon two weeks ago and hustled out fast, pearls clicking, to return to the serenity of her castle.

Nobody expects a new airport terminal to function perfectly on Opening Day, but British Airways, which had proudly trumpeted the opening of the huge, modern new terminal that will be the center of its Heathrow operations, was clearly stunned by the mishaps, delays and customer fury after the terminal officially opened for business on Thursday.

It's been a customer-relations disaster for British Airways, an airline that prides itself on its reputation for quality in-flight service.

Here's a comprehensive update today from London's Evening Standard newspaper. (Today, even the terminal's elevators malfunctioned.)

###

The Nipple Rings and the TSA Response

Mandi Hamlin, the 37-year-old Texas woman who was made to use pliers to remove a nipple piercing by TSA screeners in late February, is being represented by Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who has called for a TSA apology to Hamlin.

She's going to get it -- or at least a courtesy call with an acknowledgment that TSA procedures as followed in this case need to be modified.

TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe told me this afternoon that the agency has already spoken with Allred, and that arrangements are being made for TSA director Kip Hawley to call Mandi Hamlin personally.

Howe also said that based on the Hamlin case the TSA is changing its procedures to allow for a screener of the same sex to conduct a visual inspection of a private body part, such as a nipple with a piercing that has set off the metal detector alarm, if requested by the person who has triggered the alarm. Until now, the TSA operating procedures -- the details of which are classified -- prohibited screeners from inspecting or patting down private parts of the body such as genitalia and female breasts.

"We reviewed the situation and it appears [the screeners] did properly follow the procedures as they exist," Howe said. "They didn't have in their procedures the option to visually inspect."

She added, "We are going to acknowledge that the procedures caused difficulty and we are going to make a change that will enable the procedures in the future to meet security needs while providing additional flexibility for this kind of screening situation," Howe said.

"We had a good conversation with Gloria Allred yesterday and we definitely understand the woman's distress," Howe said.

Hamlin had said that she could hear male screeners "snickering" as she stood behind a curtain using the pliers to remove one of the nipple rings. The TSA's Howe said there was no indication that any routine checkpoint chatter overheard was directed at Hamlin, however.

At the press conference, Allred and Hamlin seemed to present a pretty straightforward case of a woman being arbitrarily humiliated by TSA screeners at Lubbock, Texas.

A video clip of the press conference is linked to at Allred's Web site, under "Featured News."

In November 2004, by the way, I wrote about a widespread problem of women being humiliated and arbitrarily patted down by airport screeners, and the TSA ultimately dealt with the problem. That story was initially prompted by an e-mail from the singer and actress Patti LuPone, who told me in subsequent conversations how she'd been humiliated and almost arrested when she refused to remove her blouse in public at an airport checkpoint.

(This has nothing to do with the subject, but Patti, by the way, opened on Broadway last night starring in the revival of "Gypsy," to great reviews.)

###

US Airways Wing Panel Broke Loose, Struck Fuselage

[A passenger on the US Air flight took a photo of the missing wing panel. Via MyFox Washington, D.C.]


A 5 x 7 foot panel from the left wing of a US Airways 757-200 tore loose last Saturday and struck the fuselage, cracking one window, according to an FAA report on the scary incident.

The FAA incident report, filed yesterday, describes the damage to the aircraft as "substantial."

The flight was at 27,000 feet and 45 miles from Baltimore when the accident occurred. It was bound to Philadelphia from Orlando and landed without further incident. There were 174 passengers on board. The FAA incident report was filed yesterday.

[It wasn't a great weekend for US Air and safety. The day before the wing-panel accident, as noted here in a recent post, a US Airways pilot accidentally discharged a firearm in the cockpit
of a flight from Denver to Charlotte. No one was injured.]


According to the initial FAA report on the wing-panel incident, because "the loss of the wing panel adversely affected the flight characteristics of the aircraft, the event has been classified as an accident. "

That preliminary FAA report went on:

"The wing panel has not yet been located. Safety Board
investigators are using a specialized computer program to
perform a Ballistic Trajectory Analysis with data such as
the aircraft ground track, speed, prevailing winds and other
factors to create a search area where the missing panel is
most likely to be found. Once a specific search area has
been created, local authorities in the vicinity will be
notified that an aircraft part may be located in their
jurisdiction. ..."

###

Cancelled Flights: Short Notice?

Delta Air Lines' flight schedule returned to normal this morning after a shaky start when 12 flights were canceled by 6 a.m., according to FlightStats.com data. Yesterday, Delta canceled 241 of its 1,656 scheduled flights as it pulled aging MD-88 aircraft off line to conduct FAA safety inspections.

I like Delta. But I think they dropped the ball on this one. Unlike American Airlines, which provided a day's advance notice earlier this week when it pulled its MD-80s out of service for the same FAA maintenance checks, Delta waited till Wednesday night to send out a news release that it was taking planes out of service on Thursday.

On Tuesday, American announced it was removing 200 MD-80s from service. The actual number was nearly 300. American ended up canceling 325 flights on Wednesday.

Delta left a lot of customers flat-footed yesterday. I happened to be at a book-party lunch yesterday at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South in New York, and a handful of people there had to either return to Washington or fly elsewhere. They all were anxious about whether they'd get there on Delta. All of them lacked information.

Airline management is often ham-handed, and Delta's is right in character on this. Here's the lecture ... I mean, customer-service statement ... that Delta put out yesterday to make sure you know your "inconvenience" was for your own damn good. Note how it fails to address the fact that Delta simply didn't give customers enough notice:

"DELTA AIR LINES OFFERS OPTIONS TO CUSTOMERS IMPACTED BY MD-88 RE-INSPECTIONS

ATLANTA, March 27, 2008 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) remains on track to complete all MD-88 maintenance re-inspections by late today and expects to resume normal operations Friday morning, March 28, 2008.

In a statement to customers on its web site, Delta said:

“Dear Delta Customer,

We are very sorry for any inconvenience the MD-88 re-inspections may have caused you and realize fully that our decision to conduct this review may have negatively impacted your travel plans. However, at Delta we take safety requirements very seriously and moved quickly to take voluntary action in addressing the issue. Though these re-inspections impacted the travel plans of many of our customers, safety is our No. 1 priority at Delta and conducting these inspections proactively was the right decision.

Delta is already taking steps to communicate with Delta SkyMiles members whose flights were canceled as a result of the MD-88 re-inspections. However, if you are a customer who is not part of the SkyMiles program and you experienced an MD-88 flight cancellation as a result of the re-inspection, you may contact Delta via a special form found on delta.com. You’ll be asked to provide your contact and flight information so you may be contacted and assisted by a Delta representative.

Many of you have already heard from Delta after signing up for our customer notification system, Delta Messenger, or worked with Delta’s reservation agents and airport customer service agents to be reaccommodated for canceled flights.

We once again apologize for any inconvenience this may have had on you and your travel plans and hope that you can understand how important safety is to everything we do at Delta.

Sincerely,

Steve Gorman
Delta Air Lines
Executive Vice President – Operations"

Delta's Statement Continued:

"Delta yesterday began working in full partnership with the FAA to proactively and voluntarily revalidate the full compliance of a prior Airworthiness Directive completed earlier this year.

Delta expects this voluntary review, which is taking place on the airline’s 117 MD-88 aircraft, to result in approximately 275 cancellations through early Friday, impacting about 3 percent of Delta’s worldwide flight schedule.

Based on the aggressive and proactive re-inspection schedule, Delta expects inspections to be complete on approximately 70 percent of its MD-88 fleet by early Thursday evening, with normal operations planned by early Friday. The majority of impacted customers have already worked with Delta reservation agents and gate agents to be reaccommodated or receive refunds for canceled flights."

###

The Hits Just Keep On Comin' ... (And Other News)

--Looks like domestic passengers on major airlines are about to get hit with another fare hike as the weekly, weekend airfare fandango approaches.

The latest attempt to hike fares and make them stick among the six legacy carriers was initiated today by Delta.

"After last week’s attempted hike failed, [Delta] persists this week, trying again by adding an additional $10 round-trip fuel surcharge systemwide," said Rick Seaney, the CEO of FareCompare.com

"This marks the sixth airfare increase attempt in the past five consecutive weeks, and the tenth attempted increases so far in 2008," he said. Five of those increases have stuck.

"Last week United was quick to match Delta, but the other legacy airlines stood on the sidelines for a few days and forced a rollback by both," said Seaney. He said he expects United to match the new increase, and that United and Delta would then "hope to drag along the other four legacy airlines over the weekend."

So far, I haven't seen any evidence that soaring fares have affected passenger demand, even as the summer peak travel seasons approaches. The convention wisdom is that demand will begin to soften in April, including business-travel demand, but we'll see.

Seaney agreed. "I continue to get mixed messages from a variety of sources on travel demand for the next few months. From all accounts bookings look to be strong, and typically late spring and early summer are strong -- which could support “even” more increases, but I also continue to hear more than the normal amount of rumbling about business demand waning slightly.

Still, as the fare-hike hits keep on coming, comparisons with previous periods are difficult. "We are in completely uncharted waters right now," Seaney said.

Meanwhile, in a phone interview, Seaney -- who along with Tom Parsons of BestFares.com follows these mind-bogglingly complex fare structures carefully -- pointed out that there is a difference between a fare hike and a fuel surcharge. So far, he said, about half of the across-the-board increases or attempted increases this year have been filed as fuel surcharges.

To most of us, the difference is nil. But if you're a big corporate travel manager, you probably have negotiated fare discounts with one or more airlines. There's where the difference can be important, because under most agreements, fuel surcharges are added onto the bill after the discount. Fare increases, on the other hand, are usually subject to the negotiated discount.

Typically, he said, though contracts can vary, "you only get the discount off the base fare.” When your employees are the ones "buying those $1,000 tickets," the difference mounts up, he said.

On the other hand, calling an increase a fuel surcharge "gives some notion of its being temporary" and thus some perceived marketing advantage, he said. "Right now the fuel surcharge is around $40 or $50 for most city pairs, though some don’t have it on routes competing with carriers like Southwest, which are fuel hedged."

Internationally, fuel surcharges have crept up to the $200 to $300 level on many routes, by the way.

One dynamic Seaney sees affecting demand:

"The real issue will be pretty simple. Most business travelers need to do business face to face, which is the way deals are done," and that fact tends to support demand.

On the other hand, "there is a huge travel economy around consulting businesses -- with major corporations sending people all over the country. During the week, they fly out on Monday and come back on Friday.

"These are the people buying $800 to $1,000 tickets. What might happen is the companies they are consulting for could say, 'Why the hell am I paying $1,000 each for these 20 consultants to come work here all week'. And that will occur if the economy keeps in its present trajectory, when those corporations will say let’s cut discretionary travel spend by 20 percent. That's when we'll see the softening.

"That's the airlines' biggest fear," Seaney went on. "And when it happens, they're going to ground flights. If the flight is not profitable, or the lowest rung on their schedule, they're just not go to fly it. That will be very bad for consumers who have are used to basically walking down to the nearest airport and going wherever they want for a relatively cheap price."

***

In Other News ...

---Delta Air Lines became the third carrier to add a charge for a second checked bag, following United and US Airways. Starting May 1, it'll cost an extra $25 for a second checked bag on Delta. American is expected to follow imminently. After that, the other major competitors will likely also get on board.

(By the way, I caught hell from business travelers after I said a week or two ago that generally the only people who check a second bag are the "Clampett Family." Oh yeah? What about golfers and skiiers, several readers said. And families, and those of us who have to lug equipment or pack for three weeks? And so on. Sorry, I was way too glib on that one.)

***

---I never worked in PR, but I do know this is a basic rule: Don't go prattling on too much. You could end up as a snippet of video on, like, the Daily Show, and they won't be laughing with you ...

For example, TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird hereby wins the Quote of the Week award (no use even going through Friday; no one will top this) with the following utterance as quoted today by the Associated Press:

''I'd be really curious to know what this woman had in her nipples," Baird said. "Sometimes they have a chain between their nipples, or a chain between their nipples and their belly button. ..."

Here's the issue he was addressing.

***

---David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue who basically faded away after the Valentine's Day 2007 fiasco in which thousands of JetBlue passengers were stranded for four to eight hours on idled planes at Kennedy, announced plans to start a new airline modeled after JetBlue -- in Brazil, the land of troubled skies, but also the land of a vastly underserved air-travel market.

Neeleman said today he's looking for a name for the snazzy startup.

Oh, I dunno, given the horrible disasters Brazilian airlines Gol and TAM had in late 2006 and last year, how about: "NoCrash Airways?" ... Oh jeez, there I go again ...

###

Delta Cancels Flights for MD-88 Safety Inspections

[Above: A Delta Shuttle MD-88]


---Following the extraordinary action by American Airlines yesterday, Delta Air Lines says it's pulling an unspecified number of MD80 models -- MD88s in this case -- off line over maintenance issues. Flight cancellations will result. Delta flies 117 MD88s in its total mainline fleet of 454. And remember, MD-88s are what Delta uses on its shuttle.

Delta's statement was issued late yesterday after the news agency Reuters reported the story. Note that the word "cancellations" is weirdly missing from the PR language, as if not saying it means customers won't notice the schedule disruptions.

Yesterday, American Airlines said it was inspecting 200 of its MD-80s. American canceled 325 flights yesterday, according to FlightStats.com data. America has about 2,200 mainline and about 4,000 total system (including regional feeds) flights daily.

[Update: As of 6 p.m. EDT today, Delta has canceled 237 of its 1,639 scheduled mainline flights, with operations at Atlanta being hardest hit, according to FlightStats.com. So be sure to check your flight status if you're on Delta tonight or tomorrow.

Here's Delta's statement:

"ATLANTA, March 26, 2008 – Delta Air Lines today issued the following statement regarding its proactive, voluntary review of MD-88 aircraft:

Safety is Delta's No. 1 priority and we take [the FAA] Airworthiness Directives very seriously. Delta is working in full partnership with the FAA and has begun pro-actively and voluntarily revalidating the full compliance of a prior Airworthiness Directive that was completed earlier this year. We expect this voluntary review, which will take place on Delta's 117 MD-88 aircraft, to have some impact to the operation. Delta apologizes in advance for any inconvenience this may cause and will work to pro-actively contact and reaccommodate any affected customers. The review will be completed by the end of the week."

###

The Morning News ...

---American Airlines canceled 200 flights today, citing maintenance issues. During a routine audit, American said, "a joint team of AA and FAA inspectors raised questions regarding an already accomplished directive concerning how a certain bundle of wires is secured to the MD80 aircraft. We are re-inspecting the MD80s to make sure the wiring is installed and secured exactly according to the directive." The MD80s will return to service throughout the day, said American, which has a total of about 4,000 flights a day. American is the major operator of MD80s, which are considered to be fuel-inefficient. America flies 300 MD80s in its mainline fleet of a total of 655 aircraft.

---Excited Drudge Headline of the Day: "EARTH DIVIDED ON OBAMA/CLINTON ... Oh, I dunno, some earthlings probably have more pressing matters to fret about in Darfur, Tibet -- oh hell, even Scotland and Greece.

###

Renewed Call for Federal Passengers' Rights Law

Today's federal appeals court ruling overturning a New York state law requiring airlines to ensure basic health and sanitation standards for stranded passengers (see my previous post) brought renewed calls in the Senate to get the stalled federal passengers' rights bill moving.

Here's a joint statement today from Sens. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, and Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican. [The boldface is theirs.]

"SENATORS BOXER AND SNOWE RENEW CALL FOR FEDERAL PASSENGERS BILL OF RIGHTS FOLLOWING COURT RULING

"Washington, DC—Following a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals today to strike down a New York State law designed to protect air travelers, U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said it was more important than ever to move forward at the federal level with their Airline Passengers Bill of Rights.

Senator Boxer said, “The Court’s decision today reinforces the need to move forward at the federal level to protect the flying public. Those of us who travel frequently know that sometimes delays cannot be helped. But there is no reason that passengers should ever be trapped on airplanes for hours without food, safe drinking water or functioning restrooms. It has been almost a year since the Commerce Committee recognized the need take action and passed the Boxer-Snowe Passengers Bill of Rights as part of the FAA Bill. It is long past time to get this bill to the Senate floor.”

“Today’s decision places the onus on the federal government to take immediate action to pass our Passenger Bill of Rights bill,” Senator Snowe said. “With the summer travel season approaching, Americans nationwide will face the prospect of endless delays and no guarantee of service – the airline industry has proven its inability to protect passenger rights. Congress must put into place some sort of minimum standard. I would urge the leadership in to Senate to bring to the floor the Passenger Bill of Rights.”

The Senate Commerce Committee passed the Boxer-Snowe Airline Passengers Bill of Rights as part of the FAA Reauthorization Bill in May 2007. The legislation ensures that travelers are not unnecessarily trapped on airplanes or deprived of food, potable water or adequate restroom facilities.

The language included by the Committee also requires air carriers to develop and submit to the Secretary of Transportation their own plan, incorporating medical considerations, to ensure that passengers are provided a clear time frame under which they will be permitted to deplane a delayed aircraft. The Secretary would be required to make the plans available to the public. In the absence of such a plan, passengers would have the option of safely deplaning a grounded aircraft three hours after the plane door has closed. This option would be provided every three hours that the plane continues to sit on the ground.

The Senate cannot move forward on the legislation until the Finance and Commerce Committees resolve the funding issues in the FAA Reauthorization. Senators Boxer and Snowe today wrote to the Chairs of the Senate Finance and Senate Commerce Committees, urging them to act promptly to get the FAA bill to the Senate floor."

###

Appeals Court Overturns N.Y. Passengers' Rights Law

The New York State passengers' bill of rights law was stuck down today by a federal appeals court which found that "requiring airlines to provide food, water, electricity and restrooms to passengers during lengthy ground delays" violates the landmark 1978 Airline Deregulation Act.

The ruling, which is expected to be challenged in the Supreme Court, reversed a decision by a U.S. District Court that upheld the New York law, which took effect Jan. 1.

The New York law was the first state legislation addressing airlines' responsibilities toward passengers stranded on idled airplanes for three hours or more. It basically said that airlines must provide adequate food and water and working toilets to passengers stranded on parked planes, unable to get to a gate. The law provided for penalties of up to $1,000 per passenger for violations.

At least a dozen other state legislatures are considering their own versions of passengers' rights laws. A federal version of a passengers rights law is currently stalled in Congress.

The key argument made by the airline industry, which vehemently opposes the legislation, is that the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act (ADA) specifically prohibits states from interfering in airline "service."

Proponents of passengers' rights laws like the one in New York argued that the ADA prohibitions against state interference in airline "service" do not preclude states from ensuring that airlines provide basic passenger health and comfort provisions, including adequately working toilets, for stranded passengers.

However, today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit states that "requiring airlines to provide food, water, electricity and restrooms to passengers during lengthy ground delays does relate to the service of an air carrier and therefore falls within the express terms of the ADA's preemption provision."

The Air Transport Association (ATA), the airline-industry trade group that had filed suit to challenge the New York law, hailed today's appeals court ruling. In a statement, the trade group said:

"The court's decision vindicates the position of ATA and the airlines -- that airline services are regulated by the federal government and that a patchwork of laws by states and localities would be impractical and harmful to consumer interests. This clear and decisive ruling sends a strong message to other states that are considering similar legislation."

A blog (published by a New York law firm) that tracks civil-rights opinions of the Second Circuit appeals court stated that "this case may be on a rocket ship to the Supreme Court" because other federal appeals courts in different cases have had different interpretations of what constitutes airline "service."

That blog (http://secondcircuitcivilrights.blogspot.com) says: "When the Courts of Appeals around the country disagree on the interpretation of a federal statute, the Supreme Court usually intervenes to iron out those differences. This case is a perfect candidate for Supreme Court review."

[Michael N. Gianaris, the New York state assemblyman who drafted the law, told the New York Times "City Room" blog today that the appeals court ruling was predictably pro-corporation. He said:

“One would struggle to find examples as outrageous as those faced by passengers on these planes. Even with the most minimal of requirements, the court has sided with the company.”

To get a feel for how people think about this, check out the comments following the City Room item.]

###

The Morning News: Hey, Andy, Can I Ride Shotgun?

---The trouble with guns on an airplane is they sometimes go off when you least expect it. Here is the TSA's statement on the incident:

"March 23 -- A US Airways pilot, who is a member of the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program, accidentally discharged his firearm while airborne today (US Airways #1536, Airbus A319, Denver – Charlotte). The flight landed safely in Charlotte and was never in danger.

TSA and the Federal Air Marshals Service take this matter seriously and an investigation is underway. The pilot was authorized to be in possession of the weapon and he completed the appropriate training.

This pilot last requalified on Nov. 7, 2007."

###

'As a Service to Our Valued Customers, We're Simply Not Flying the Plane'

Airline delays and meltdowns could be getting to the point where they don't qualify as news. Still, the business and personal lives of an awful lot of people are being routinely messed up.

It's snowy and icy in Chicago today. Already, cancellations are piling up at O'Hare, where 767 departures and arrivals had been canceled by 4.30 p.m. CDT, according to FlightStats.com

Says the Chicago Tribune, quoting the Chicago Department of Aviation, airlines "'proactively canceled flights to minimize impact on their customers."

Try reading that sentence again. I suppose it makes sense -- but this is how we "minimize impact" these days, by not flying the airplane?

###

Super Jumbo Jam?

[Above: The A380, configured at 555 seats. Now add about 400 seats.]

Several years ago, I heard from aviation sources that the then-still-unveiled Airbus A380 super-jumbo jet was in fact designed to carry nearly 1,000 people in an all-coach configuration. That was back when the media were all dutifully referring to the double-decker behemoth as a "550-seat" plane, which in fact is roughly in the seat-range that most of its buyers have configured their A380s at. (In fact, usually fewer).

But it was obvious to me that while most would fly in three-class configurations, some of these planes would ultimately be used at full capacity, sans frills. And so, it is suggested in this speculative report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, it may well soon do so. Emirates announced today that it is starting a new low-cost carrier.

Emirates has 58 A380s on order. Ergo ...

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Dallas Delays and Cancellations Mount; Trouble Spreads Thorough System

Delays and cancellations snarled Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston Intercontinental airports today.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport was virtually shut down by storms.

By late afternoon, other major hubs such as Chicago O'Hare were reporting excessive delays, the result of both bad weather and the effect from the massive congestion around Dallas and, to a lesser extent, Houston.

It should be anticipated that the ripple-effect will slow down flight operations at Kennedy, Newark and other major East Coast hubs starting early tonight.

Complications from the Dallas mess, which chiefly affects American Airlines, are expected to ripple through the national air-traffic control system for days as American and other airlines struggle to get canceled and diverted airplanes, and their crews, back into place in their schedules.

As of 5 p.m. CDT, an amazing 1,064 of the total 1,914 flights scheduled for the entire day and night at Dallas had been canceled, according to the updates on FlightStats.com. Additionally, American Airlines diverted at least 100 flights to other airports as thunderstorms disrupted air traffic.

At Houston, 556 of the total 1,606 departures and arrivals scheduled for today and tonight have already been canceled as of 5 p.m. CDT.

This sort of event is usually a recipe for stranded passengers sitting on tarmacs for long periods of time.

[Update 7:45 pm EDT: Kate Hanni's indefatigable Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights is already getting phone calls from affected passengers or their relatives. For example, at least three commercial planes diverted from Dallas to Sheppard Air Force Base, which is also the municipal airport in Wichita Falls, Texas. However, employees at the airport delivered pizza to passengers, some of those passengers reported.]


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Advisory: It’s going to take American and other airlines affected by this mess at least a day to get its planes and crews back into position. That means flights all over the country will be affected. Make sure to check on flight status before going to the airport.

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Summertime ...

Might it be too early to speculate on what domestic air travel may be like this summer? Perhaps not:

Summer air travel is gonna suck! It's gonna suck so bad!!

Sorry about the yelling. Channeling Sam Kinison there.

But really, it's going to be just awful. The only possible mitigating factor is that so many Americans will be utterly bummed out by the U.S. economy that they'll stay home in droves. Not likely, though.

Delta Air Lines today supplied some new hints of what's ahead. This comes just after major airlines sneaked in the fourth big across-the-board domestic fare hike this year (and by the way, I know they're not getting together in a big secret room and colluding on fixing fares. That would be wrong! But I swear, the recent fare increases do seem to have the reflect the same result.)

Delta said today it was cutting another 5 percent off domestic capacity this summer. By summer, 40 percent of Delta's seat capacity will be on international routes, where the profits are better.

And that's going to be a trend. At the end of last year, projections were that the major airlines would probably cut domestic seat capacity by an additional 3-4 percent this year (after a nearly 10 percent reduction last year). Now I am hearing estimates that domestic seat capacity on the major airlines might drop by as much as 10 percent this year.

Naturally, the news accounts are leading with Delta planning to cut 2,000 jobs, which is bad news -- but doesn't nearly have the effect on most of us that widening capacity reductions will have, even with fare hikes continuing.

Last year, domestic airlines racked up an average load factor of about 80 percent. That means 80 percent of available seats were sold, and it further means that on most flights, every single seat was full.

Last summer, load factors were close to 90 percent, incidentally. You saw the cascade of delays, cancellations, diverted flights and instances of passengers stuck for long hours on tarmacs.

That just gets worse this year. What little advice I can offer is: Book early if you have plans.

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The Morning News

---As a part-time resident of southern Arizona, I joke that I'm against that anti-immigration fence on the border because we might some day decide to flee to Mexico. In a depressing article in today's Slate on how American business incompetence has become a laughingstock worldwide, Daniel Gross reports: "Americans abroad are constantly taunted by perceived failings of American management. America's aviation system is now the butt of jokes because 9-year-olds have become accustomed to removing their Heelys before boarding a plane. As my family and I passed through the snaking security line in Cancún, Mexico's airport last month, we were harangued by a security guard who encouraged tourists to sing along with him: "Please. Do not. Remove. Your shoes."

---There will always be a Duffy: On St. Patrick's Day, the encouraging news that a Queens bar owner has banned the singing of "Danny Boy" for 48 hours is overshadowed this morning by the ravings of one Peter Duffy on the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal. In late 1846 and early 1847, says our man Duffy, Protestant clergymen and "the WASP establishment" including "the cream of New York society" were so stricken by reports of abject suffering and death from famine in far-off Ireland that they mounted a city-wide fund-raising campaign on behalf of th' poor, starvin' Emerald Isle.

The fact that the famine nevertheless "dragged on" for years "doesn't absolve New York's Irish from recognizing the generosity shown to them," insists this Duffy, who appears to be the type who used to stay for the recitation of the Rosary after all the other men had scooted out once the damn priest was seen approaching the scene of the wake.

News for ye, Duffy, me lad: The reason the "cream of New York society" was raisin' th' money was to try to keep th' poor starvin' Irish from actually comin' to New York, where a vicious nativist movement was gunning for them. Didn't raise enough dough, it would appear.

And a happy St. Patrick's Day to yez all.

---Except the McGreeveys, that is. To switch vernacular: Oy. (The story was broken yesterday by the Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey, which has a terribly designed Web site. As it its wont, the Post failed to credit its betters).

---And this just in: Glad to know these bozos have their eye on the ball and are spending their time concerned about what's really important, curse words.

---Excited Drudge headline of the day: "Paper: Why Does Hillary Wear Such Bad Clothes?" You have seen that boy Drudge's absolutely precious fedora, right?

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