World Airport News

Hurricanes affects flight schedules

2008-08-31T20:53:36Z

Seems like all the airlines have advisories in affect because of the gulf coast hurricane. Here’s the Southwest press release:

Southwest Airlines said today that it will cease operations to and from New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport after 5:30 p.m. Central Time today as a result of expected severe weather from Hurricane Gustav. The airline does not expect to operate on Monday, Sept. 1, or Tuesday, Sept. 2. Southwest plans to resume service to and from New Orleans on Wednesday, Sept. 3, but that will depend upon the availability of airport security personnel, facilities, and services.
Southwest strongly encourages travelers to contact Southwest Reservations at (800) 435-9792 or look for updated travel advisories at: http://www.southwest.com/content/travel_center/travel_advisory_0038.html?ref=wthr before checking in or proceeding to the airport.
Southwest Airlines Customers holding reservations for travel to and from New Orleans from Noon Central Time on Friday, Aug. 29, through the close of business Wednesday, Sept. 3, may choose to alter their travel plans and rebook in the original class of service or travel standby (within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city-pairs and in accordance with our accommodation procedures) without paying any additional charge.

Delta and Alaska Marketing Deal

2008-11-20T22:13:16Z

Delta and Alaska announced further details of their codeshare agreement. The airlines will extend reciprocity of frequent flier miles and airport lounges by the end of 2009; launch new Delta longhaul trans-Pacific and Latin American routes from the West Coast; and expand connecting opportunities to and from Alaska and Horizon hubs.

weather, winter is here

2008-12-17T19:46:10Z

knew it was going to be a bad day at work today when I read the dispatch bulletin. It said “snow event for the next 12 hours in Vegas” yikes!!!!I don’t think there was a city in the US today that didn’t have bad weather and another storm hitting the New England States this weekend and they just got out of one. Never fails, holiday=storms. Hearing from folks that in sunny southern california Highway passes closed for the next 2 days due to the snow. Southwest is gonna offer folks traveling to some of the New England states friday and saturday a chance to change the reservations before the next storm hits without charge. Gearing up for another fun day tomorrow!

Southwest to LaGuardia?

2009-02-03T08:36:25Z

Looks like Southwest offered to buy 14 landing slots at LaGuardia from the leftovers of the ATA bankruptcy sale. The Bankruptcy court has to approve, but that is a market that doesn’t seem very Southwest-like!

US Airways and Lumexis Corporation

2009-03-10T10:23:51Z

Lumexis Fiber-To-The-Screen - the new in-flight entertainment system being tested by US Airways. Looks like passengers will have the chance to choose from movies to watch, music, games and even shopping.

...did they not already take off present in-flight entertainment systems? Making passengers unable to watch movies or listen to music that was once offered? (apparently due to the weight the systems were adding to the plane).

Please, make up your mind.

Southwest going Green

2009-03-17T08:45:33Z

Southwest Airlines put out a press release stating that it recently flew RNP (Required Navigation Performance) procedures roundtrip between Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby - achieving a major milestone in the airline’s quest to revolutionize the skies and become the first airline to fly RNP procedures at every airport it serves. The demo flight by Southwest is the result of two years of work and a partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and industry partners. RNP is satellite-based navigation and is one of the cornerstones for the FAA’s Next Generation Air Traffic Control system (NextGen), bringing together the accuracy of GPS (Global Positioning System), the capabilities of advanced aircraft avionics, and new flight procedures.

In support of the FAA’s Roadmap for Performance-Based Navigation, Southwest is investing $175 million during this six-year project to implement RNP procedures, retrofit aircraft, and train its Pilots. The initial investment will provide long-term benefits to reduce industry air traffic congestion and increase aircraft efficiencies. The recent roundtrip RNP demo flight between Dallas Love Field and Houston
Hobby yielded the following preliminary data:
— Estimated carbon reduction of 904 pounds of CO2 per roundtrip flight between Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby.
— Estimated carbon reduction in one year of flying RNP procedures between Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby could equal a reduction of approximately 8.42 million pounds of CO2. This is equivalent to removing 699 passenger cars from the road for one year.*
— Fuel savings of eight percent, which translates to approximately 43 gallons of fuel per roundtrip flight between Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby.
— Fuel savings in one year of flying RNP procedures between Dallas Love Field and Houston Hobby could equal approximately 400,000 gallons of fuel savings.

RNP is just one facet of Southwest Airlines’ commitment to efficiency and environmental stewardship. In addition to RNP, Southwest completes each point on its “four-leaf clover” by implementing additional “green” initiatives--reducing fuel and providing enormous environmental savings by avoiding greenhouse gas emissions. Among them:
— Efficient Flight: Southwest adjusted flight profile speeds in March 2008 in order to create additional efficiencies and to conserve fuel. From March 2008 through December 2008, the flight profile adjustments saved approximately 13.1 million gallons of fuel without affecting ontime performance, which equates to 125,348 metric tons of CO2.
— Aircraft Specific Performance Monitoring (APM): By establishing a specific fuel burn factor for each aircraft through APM, Southwest was able to more accurately gauge fuel needs for each flight. The result of APM is a small but measurable reduction in takeoff weight, which saved 4.4 million gallons of fuel in 2008, which equals 42,102 metric tons of CO2.
— Engine Washing: Using Pratt & Whitney’s EcoPower(R) Engine Wash, Southwest washes eight of its Boeing 737-700 engines each night. This has increased engine efficiency, and, from April to December 2008, saved 1.6 million gallons of fuel and reduced carbon emission by 15,310 metric tons. To view a video of Southwest’s engine washing, go to http://www.blogsouthwest.com/video/southwest-airlines-engine-washing.

US airways still charging for checked baggage

2009-04-23T18:47:33Z

US airways is keeping at it. They are one airline that currently charge for checked baggage. However, in order to make things easier for passengers, they are going to start allowing them to pay for it online...apparently at a higher price though.

Delta and United get fined by FAA

2009-07-10T18:42:45Z

From the Phoenix Business Journal:

The federal government fined Delta Air Lines $375,000 for improperly bumping passengers from oversold flights, and United Airlines $80,000 for not telling consumers which other airlines it has code-share agreements with. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the fines Friday.

USDOT said Delta did not tell passengers being bumped from oversold flights about the process, their rights and that passengers involuntarily bumped from oversold flights are entitled to compensation of up to $800. The fine includes a stipulation that Delta can put $200,000 of it toward extra consumer protections above and beyond federal disclosure rules related to oversales.

The USDOT also said Friday it was fining Chicago-based United Airlines $80,000 for not telling customers which airlines it has code-share agreements with. Code-shares allow airlines to mesh their ticketing and reservation systems, as well as schedules. Federal rules require carriers to inform passengers of the code-shares and alliances they have with other carriers.

United is part of the Star Alliance, which partners international carriers. Other members include US Airways Group Inc., Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Air Canada. United also has code-shares with Virgin Blue, Aer Lingus and Hawaiian Airlines

Volaris Takes First International Flight

2009-07-14T17:20:48Z

Volaris previously announced plans to begin its first international service with flights to two U.S. cities, Los Angeles and Oakland, this month. Recently, Volaris celebrated a milestone with its first international flight—from Toluca, Mexico to LAX. Volaris started flying into LAX from Toluca with one daily fight and from Guadalajara with two daily flights. These flights also connect to Hermosillo and Cancun. The airline plans to begin service to Oakland on July 16.

As you know, we previously announced our plans to eventually enter into a codeshare agreement with Volaris that will allow us to offer Customers a seamless travel experience to a wide array of destinations. However, in response to the current economic environment, Southwest decided in May to redirect a portion of our resources previously dedicated to codeshare projects toward other nearterm revenue opportunities. We have not made any decisions or announcements regarding Volaris timing, but we are evaluating both codeshares (WestJet and Volaris) in relation to resources available.

During this time before codeshare, Southwest offers Customers the ability to book flights to Mexico on Volaris via a convenient online link to Volaris’ booking portal on southwest.com. We will announce the details, including the cities, of our eventual codeshare service at a later date.

Travel Agents from India

2008-03-05T22:33:19Z

Did you know that American Express Travel uses agents from India to book their Business passengers. I have noticed working a later shift in Reservations that I get calls 8:00pm Arizona time and it is 8:00am the next day in India.
It really Grins my Gears that when you ask them to repeat themselves they get irritated. Hey I know how to speak english clearly they do not! And when they ask me what city I am in I reply “Phoenix, Arizona, United States.