Wichita’s subsidies to AirTran Airways for service in Wichita was featured in an article in the New York Times about cities that pay for air service to their communities. Read about it here.
Category Archives: airlines
TSA now requires more information when making air travel reservations
Aug. 17, 200911:08 a.m.
Be prepared to give your date of birth and gender when making your next air travel arrangements.
The Transportation Security Administration made the change under its Secure Flight requirement as a way to help streamline the matching of names against a terrorist watch list and avoid misidentifications. That will especially help the travelers who’ve been misidentified in the past.
The airlines will be phasing in the changes over the next few months.
If the airline didn’t request the information when you reserved a flight, don’t worry. The TSA said it shouldn’t impact your travel.
ATA: Number of passengers flying over Labor Day expected to decline
Aug. 17, 200910:48 a.m.
If you’re flying over the Labor Day holiday, expect the airports to be a little less crowded. And because there are fewer domestic flights, the planes should be at or near capacity.
The number of people flying over the Labor Day holiday this year is expected to be lower than last year’s number.
The Air Transport Association of America, an airline industry trade group, forecasts that 16 million passengers will travel globally on U.S. airlines during the eight-day Labor Day holiday period, that spans Wednesday, Sept. 2 through Wednesday, Sept. 9.
That’s a 3.5 percent decline from the 17 million passengers who traveled on U.S. airlines a year ago.
Economic uncertainty is taking its toll, the ATA said. During October, In the past two years, all 67 airports defined by the Federal Aviation Administration as “large” or “medium” hubs show a reduction in the number of scheduled flights.
“Now is a great time to fly,” said ATA president and CEO James May. “Low fares are making travel to all corners of the world very affordable.”
Rest and reprieve inside Atlanta’s airport
Aug. 10, 200911:39 a.m.
Last week, I had a three-hour layover at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on my way to Key West. With three books in tow, I wasn’t going to be bored. But a new discovery in Terminal C changed those plans.
I stumbled upon XpresSpa, which opened in April at two locations inside the airport. At Gate C-36, I stopped in to look at their services. The staff asked how long before my flight left when I walked in. Services are tailored to meet your schedule.
I signed up for an express manicure — a quicker version of a full manicure. In the meantime, I leaned back in one of their amazing yellow massage loungers and relaxed. Soft music played in the background.
The spa also offer pedicures, massages, waxing, skin care and facials.
One woman who was getting a pedicure was flying home from South Korea, where she was stationed. She hadn’t seen her three children in 10 months. Another woman had been stranded overnight at the airport after her flight was cancelled due to bad weather and hotel rooms were booked. A man stopped in for a massage.
According to the brochure, XpresSpa operates at 28 gates in 16 airports.
Ahhhhhhh…..
AirTran publishes internetiquette tips on video
July 20, 200911:12 a.m.
AirTran Airways just completed installation of Wi-Fi aboard all their Boeing aircraft. The carrier, which operates three daily flights to Atlanta from Wichita, has produced a witty series of videos starring Peter Graves, who played Captain Oveur in the Airplane! movies.
The videos advise flyers not to use lavatories as conference rooms or take things from other passengers to post on ebay for in-flight auctions. Too funny.
Which airlines are more likely to let you off the plane when a flight’s diverted?
July 13, 200910:57 a.m.
If you’re worried that you won’t be able to get off the airplane when a flight is diverted, a new analysis of Department of Transportation data showed which airlines have the best record.
FlyersRights.org, a passenger rights coalition, analyzed DOT data on diverted airline flights — flights that make unscheduled stops before they reach their final destinations. Typically they’re diverted because of weather, an in-flight emergency or to refuel.
According to the organization, American Airlines, American Eagle, United Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines collectively allowed passengers to deplane at the diverted airport 66 percent of the time. By contrast, the other 15 U.S. airlines gave passengers the option to deplane 99 percent of the time.
American, American Eagle, United and Delta were responsible for 1,150 of the 1,181 instances in which passengers weren’t allowed to get off the plane at a diverted airport, the group said.
Singer/passenger complains with music video after United breaks his guitar
July 10, 200911:06 a.m.
A word to the airlines and other businesses for that matter: Be careful who you upset with poor service.
A music video called “United Breaks Guitars” is musician Dave Carroll’s satirical response to lack of satisfaction by United Airlines after his $3,500 Taylor guitar was broken on a flight he took with United Airlines.
Carroll wrote the song after what he outlines as an unsuccessful nine-month attempt to get reimbursed for damages — or at least free flight vouchers for the $1,500 it took to repair the instrument.
The video, posted three days ago on YouTube, has gained more than 1.35 million hits so far.
Here it is:
Airline crew paints the naked truth about safety
July 2, 200911:21 a.m.
If you’re like me when you fly, you don’t pay much attention to the safety instructions given at the beginning of the flight. After all, we’ve heard it over and over again.
But Air New Zealand has come up with a surefire way to change that.
In a new safety video posted on YouTube, flight attendants and pilots — wearing nothing but full body paint — demonstrate how to fasten your seatbelt and what to do in case of an in-flight emergency.
The body paint is well done, and the camera shots are controlled carefully.
The safety video follows a marketing campaign by the airline using staff — including CEO Rob Fyfe – wearing only the body paint. “Our fares have nothing to hide,” it says.
Frontier, Midwest Airlines form codeshare agreement
June 30, 200911:16 a.m.
Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines formed a ticketing agreement that will allow Frontier to travel to destinations currently served by Midwest, the airline said this week.
But whether the marketing alliance will help Wichita fliers is too soon to say.
“It’s too early to know what’s going to happen,” Valerie Wise with the Wichita Airport Authority said. Frontier already serves Milwaukee, which is Midwest’s hub.
Both airlines were acquired by Republic Airways Holdings of Indianapolis last week. Frontier was bought out of bankruptcy. Republic, through its subsidiaries Chautauqua, Shuttle America and Republic, operate flights for other mainline airlines. Therefore, Republic does not have a hub or network of its own.
The marketing agreement between Frontier and Midwest will begin late this summer.
Frontier operates two daily flights from Wichita to its hub in Denver.
Baggage performance is key to a good customer experience
June 29, 200911:01 a.m.
WICHITA: It’s not a good feeling when you step off an airplane and realize your bag didn’t make it with you.
AirTran Airways CEO Bob Fornaro talked about lost bags last week while in Wichita for the Wichita Aero Club luncheon. Fornaro said that he considers an airline’s most important metric is its baggage performance.
“We want customers to make it with their bag,” Fornaro said. The airline got high marks on baggage handling in the Airlinperofe Quality Rating study co-authored by Wichita State University’s Dean Headley.
In my own experience, one case sticks out the most. A photographer and I arrived in Naples, Italy, to spend a week working on a reporting project for the Eagle. My bag arrived the day before I left. Thankfully, I had stuffed a pair of pants in a backpack. I wore khaki pants every day for work and jeans every night. The photographer wasn’t so lucky. Her bag never did arrive.
Fornaro said it best last week.
“Nothing good happens when you don’t have a bag.”
