4:55 pm
The angry ones over at Travel Rants have advocated fining airlines for overbooking flights, citing greed and money as the main motivation for the practice. I’ve been bumped from flights before, and it certainly is frustrating, so I’d have to say I agree with them to some extent…
Overbooking is a fact of life for airlines. Thin margins and increasing costs force them to squeeze every last dollar out of a flight that they can. For a long time this created what really seemed like an abusive system that clearly valued full planes over goodwill towards the customers filling them. This practice has been on the decline however. In the first 9 months of 2008, the rate of seat bumps was nearly half what it was for the same period in 2000. The reason for this is obviously – we all know we get rocked with charges if we miss our flight and have to reschedule, so of course we’re doing everything we can to make the flights we’re booked on.
Unfortunately, overbooking still happens, and it always will as long as it’s legal and there is a non-trivial passenger no-show rate. It seems as though the airlines aren’t doing enough to recognize when and where these issues occur, since they always seem to happen at the same time and place. There’s plenty of data out there, and plenty of smart people to analyze it. A 2002 study at Duke, sponsored by American Airlines, advocated a significant reduction in the rate of overbooking. Airlines have to get smart and apply these types of evaluations to specific schedule and traffic patterns. And cost considerations should go beyond the airline’s operating numbers. To a business traveler with a tight schedule, the value of a timely and reliable arrival is far greater than the sum of fuel and labor.
Smarter algorithms with lower overbooking rates and a greater vlauation of a bumped passenger would go a long way to improving goodwill while maintaining maximized profits. Sweetening the deals for voluntary bumping would go a long way towards cushioning the issue as well.
By the way, know your rights when you do unfortunately get into one of these situations, and take heed, we’re almost out of the holiday travel season…
Category: Good Guys, Industry News, Rants Tags: flying, overbooking
4:03 pm
As of today, passengers are no longer permitted to pack loose nonrechargeable lithium batteries in their checked baggage due to concerns over fires that the automated supression systems cannot handle.
Passengers can still check baggage with lithium batteries if they are installed in electronic devices, such as cameras, cell phones and laptop computers. If they are packed in plastic bags, batteries may be in carry-on baggage, but there is a limit is two batteries per passenger.
I tend to carry a lot of batteries for equipment I have to travel with. It will be interesting to see how stringently this rule is enforced…
Category: Industry News Tags: checked baggage, flying, power supplies
3:50 pm
Click for airport site
A free shuttle service has been added at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), connecting all terminals with the city’s light rail system. The shuttle will have a daily schedule from 4am to 1am, and will be scheduled to coincide with the trains to which it’s connecting. Those trains connect to downtown Phoenix at a cost of $2.50, making it far less expensive than a taxi ride. Officials hope to eventually replace the shuttle with an automated train, connected directly to each terminal, but for the time being this is a welcomed option.
Category: City Guides, Industry News Tags: flying, mass transit, PHX
3:51 pm
Chicago seems to be the biggest problem today, with Midway churning out 2 hour delays all afternoon. Remember that lag after the Thanksgiving rush when the airports were empty and the livin’ was easy?…
Category: News, Travel Updates Tags: flying, Midway, News, travel update
9:08 am
If you’re traveling for the grind today you should reexamine your career choices at this point, but in the very least, pray you’re not going through O’Hare. Delays approaching 3 hours.
And no direct confirmation of this one, but rumored 2 hour delays in Philadelphia this morning. Surprise, surprise…
Category: News, Travel Updates Tags: flying, O'Hare, PHL, travel update
9:00 am
This January Energizer will introduce a new Solar battery charger complete with a USB port and space for two AA or AAA batteries. Anyone who’s ever wandered aimlessly through an airport looking for an open outlet knows they’re often in short supply. I’ve imagined before being able to just sit by the window charging away, but have yet to see a product that could make this practical.
Judging by the size of the panel on this guy, there’s no way it would provide enough juice to power a laptop, but maybe it could keep a cellphone up and running or make sure your iPod will survive that 5 hour flight. Keep an eye out for a review when this debuts next year…
Category: News, Potential Essentials Tags: News, power supplies, solar
6:45 pm
LaGuardia has been the biggest issue today it appears. Delays over 2 hours at this point…
Category: News, Travel Updates Tags: flying, LaGuardia
10:20 am
Hopefully there aren’t too many having to travel for the grind this week. But if you’re one of those unfortunate slups, you’re picking up this week where you left off last. Hour-plus delays at Laguardia. Merry freakin’ Christmas…
Category: News, Travel Updates Tags: flying, LaGuardia
8:29 am
Officials at Neward Airport annouced they will be the first to install a new navigation technology that promisses to reduce delays by allowing planes to fly closer together without reducing satefy. Honeywell has been talking about their Ground Based Augmentation System for a while now, so it’s encouraging to see it going into operation at one of the worst bottlenecks on the East Coast.
Category: Industry News, News Tags: flying, Newark
6:45 pm
Looks like the fiasco is continuing. The worst I’ve heard is 5 hour arrival delays at Newark. Good luck to all…
Category: News, Travel Updates Tags: flying, weather
