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TRACKING TARDY FLIGHTS
(source: New York Times, featuring Michael Steiner, Executive Vice President of Ovation Corporate Travel)
Do passengers care about a flight’s on-time record when they buy an airline ticket?
The Transportation Department thinks they do, and it now requires carriers to disclose the information when customers search for fares online.
But in complying with the rule, the airlines have chosen very different ways of presenting the information, suggesting mixed feelings about revealing before the ticket is purchased that some flights consistently arrive late.
Whether passengers care if a flight has an 87 percent or a 62 percent on-time record is a continuing debate. When the Transportation Department first proposed the rule, the Air Transport Association, the airline trade group, argued that travelers were not interested in the data, even calculating that it would take 10 extra seconds to look at it.
The department uses the data to track the industry’s overall on-time record, which was 84 percent in October — the latest results announced last week. But that number includes data from only 18 airlines, and does not include flights operated by many regional carriers, which are more prone to delays.
By requiring the airlines to publish the on-time record for each flight they sell, including flights operated by their regional partners, the government aimed to give travelers information about a specific flight before they booked a ticket. The government also requires the airlines to publish the percentage of arrivals that were more than 30 minutes late and how often the flight was canceled (if it was canceled at least 5 percent of the time). The new rules, which took effect last summer, were included in federal passenger protections adopted by the Transportation Department last spring.
Since the numbers are based on data collected two months earlier, the airlines have argued that the information is not necessarily an accurate predictor of whether that same flight will have a poor on-time record several months later.
“It’s difficult to understand how looking at historical data helps you make a decision going forward,” said David A. Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association. “The variables that affect flight performance change on a daily basis.”
And it may well be that having this on-time data does not affect booking decisions — although until more passengers know it exists, it is tough to gauge how travelers are using this information.
Michael Steiner, an executive vice president with Ovation Corporate Travel in Manhattan, said the agency provided on-time data for the flight options it offered to clients, but had found that most of its customers prioritized price and schedule instead.
“Do people want to know about on-time performance? Yes,” Mr. Steiner said. “Is it a factor when people are making connections? Absolutely. But I don’t know that it’s really changing behavior in a significant way.”
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TSA EMBRACES NEW MEDICAL NOTIFICATION CARDS
(source: MSNBC.com)
Following a highly publicized incident in which an air passenger with a medical condition was put through a pat-down, the Transportation Security Administration has embraced a new medical notification card that fliers can present to airport security screeners.
The new cards do not exempt a passenger from screening, but they do provide a way to discreetly inform and alert a security officer about a health issue, disability or medical device that may affect screening.
“Travelers can write their disability information on the wallet-sized card and hand it to the security officer,” said TSA spokesperson Greg Soule. He said the agency worked with a coalition of about 70 representatives from disability and health organizations to develop the cards.
The TSA distributed some of the cards in October but has now fully embraced them following complaints from travelers with medical conditions over the new enhanced security rules.
The wording on the front of the new TSA notification card says: “I have the following health condition, disability or medical device that may affect my screening” with a box marked “optional” for travelers to write in. Below that, the card reads, “I understand that presenting this card does not exempt me from screening.”
The reverse side of the card reiterates screening may still be necessary and says the “TSA respects the privacy concerns of all members of the traveling public” and that “alternate procedures which provide an equivalent level of security screening are available and can be done in private.”
Travelers can find more information about the cards on a link on the TSA's website under "Travelers with Disabilities & Medical Conditions."
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AIRLINE BAGGAGE FEES TOP $2.5 BILLION
(source: CNN.com)
Airlines have raked in more than $2.5 billion so far this year on baggage fees alone, a number up 22.5 percent since this time last year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
And fees will continue to climb as long as the market will bear it, said Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group International, an aviation consulting firm.
At the top of the baggage fee revenue list is Delta Air Lines, followed by American Airlines and US Airways.
In three quarters, Delta already has surpassed its total baggage fee revenue from 2009. Delta has made $733 million so far this year. In all of 2009, it made $481 million.
Revenue from baggage fees has been skyrocketing since 2007, when the total revenue was $464 million, one-fifth of what's been made in three quarters in 2010.
Similarly, revenue from cancellation and change fees has nearly doubled since 2007, adding up to about $1.7 billion in three quarters this year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
In 2007, fees totaled $915 million, though 2010's numbers actually fell 3.8 percent in the third quarter from the same time last year.
Boyd estimates that between 9 percent and 12 percent of a major airline's revenue comes from ancillary fees, including baggage and cancellation fees, among others.
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U.S., EUROPEAN AIRLINES NO LONGER WORLD'S BIGGEST, IATA SAYS
(Source: USA Today)
Looking for one of the world's five biggest airlines? You'll have to look outside of North America and Europe to find them.
That's according to the industry trade group International Air Transport Association, which today revealed that the world's five biggest carriers -- as measured by market capitalization values -- are based in Asia and Latin America.
That change highlights "the industry's shift away from the U.S. and Europe to higher-growth countries," The Associated Press writes.
"The world is changing in aviation, and it's changing very, very quickly," IATA CEO Giovanni Bisignani is quoted as saying today at a Geneva news conference. "Rapidly developing markets are shifting the industry's center of gravity to the East."
Citing the airlines' market capitalization values, IATA says the world's five biggest carriers are Air China ($20 billion), Singapore Airlines ($14 billion), Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific ($12 billion), China Southern ($11 billion) and LATAM ($11 billion). LATAM is the holding group for the recently announced merger that would combine Chile's LAN and Brazil's TAM airlines.
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1001 16th Street, NW
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World-Class Shopping, Theatre and Dining
The historic Capital Hilton hotel proudly features an on-site restaurant featuring contemporary American cuisine, and the Statler Lounge lobby bar. The Capital City Club & Spa, DC's premiere health club and day spa, offers a full array of exercise equipment and group exercise classes, and the accompanying full-service day spa features five treatment rooms for rejuvenating treatments.
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LOEWS REGENCY HOTEL
540 Park Avenue
New York City
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The Lawyers' Travel Service Preferred Hotel Partners Program rate at the Loews Regency Hotel is $395 (compared to a corporate rate of $495).*
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THE LAWYERS' TRAVEL SERVICE PREFERRED HOTEL PARTNERS PROGRAM
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One Market Place
San Diego
Experience one of the best of the city at Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. The luxury waterfront hotel in downtown San Diego is ideally placed to let one explore all this area has to offer. Take in stunning views from the inviting pool area, play tennis, or be pampered in the serene Kin Spa. Step outside the doors to Seaport Village and cruises on the Bay, walk to the Gaslamp Quarter, visit the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld then browse museums in Balboa Park. Discover the advantages of this San Diego resort, distinctively heralded among downtown San Diego hotels.
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* All rates are subject to availability.
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