Hot coffee hijacks United Airlines plane?!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Drinking and driving is a problem … and drinking and flying is no different. A United Airlines pilot found this out the hard way: he spilled his coffee, which triggered a hijacking alert. So, United Flight 940, which was set to go from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, had to dash across the border to Canada for an unscheduled stop.

A hijacking alert can have that effect, you know.

The plane landed safely in Toronto, an emergency was declared and the defense department in Canada was notified. In the end, everything was sorted out

Hey, buddy: ever heard of a travel mug?

[photo by dimnikolov via Flickr]

Sabre pushes American Airlines down, “all out war” [BREAKING]

by Tom Johansmeyer on

And, the developments just keep coming. The latest in the airline booking battle is that global distribution service Sabre has given American Airlines a bit of a shove nudge. According to a statement from the Business Travel Coalition, “Sabre took steps to protect the interests of an independent travel distribution system from American Airlines’ (AA) attempt to impose a new model that heaps huge new costs on the travel industry and diminishes comparison shopping for consumers.”

Specifically, Sabre has downgraded offerings from American Airlines and elimited booking fee discounts. Also, according to the Business Travel Coalition statement, Sabre has “delivered notice of termination of its agreement with AA.”

With this move, which the BTC says “began with AA’s unprovoked assault on Orbitz late last year,” the situation is not a skirmish “but rather an all out war for the future of both airline and all travel distribution in the U.S. and around the world.”

This is the latest move in a battle over brand and customer ownership, which you read first on Gadling a month ago.”The stakes in this conflict are clear: either an improved airline industry and distribution marketplace centered around the consumer, or one that subordinates consumer interests to the self-serving motivations of individual airlines endeavoring to shift costs and impose their wills on consumers and the other participants in the travel industry,” said BTC Chairman Kevin Mitchell.

He added, “Single-supplier direct connect proposals, like the one advanced by American Airlines, can significantly increase costs for all distribution participants and cause massive fragmentation of airfares and ancillary fees depriving consumers of the ability to compare the total cost of air travel options across all airlines.”

According to a BTC survey of corporate travel managers, 98 percent do not support the American Airlines Direct Connect strategy.

“Since the U.S. global distribution system industry segment was deregulated in late 2003, the strategic interests among GDSs, travel agencies, travel management companies, corporate travel managers and consumers have evolved into near-perfect alignment,” Mitchell explained. “Because the airline industry is one where competitors often follow one another, it is of paramount importance that corporate travel managers, individual supply chain participants, including the associations that represent them, stand up and very clearly communicate to the airlines what their distribution system requirements are.”

American Airlines is talking to Expedia and Orbitz (about the WRONG stuff)

by Tom Johansmeyer on

American Airlines isn’t giving up. Despite having pulled out of Orbitz and been booted by Expedia, the company says it’s still talking to the two online travel agencies and is hopeful for a resolution. According to Dow Jones, these are “active discussions” and that American Airlines is “comfortable” with booking results.

Nonetheless, American is still betting on Direct Connect as its preferred way to distribute inventory. Dow Jones explains:

“Ultimately we will see all travel agency volume going through Direct Connect,” Garner said, referring to the American distribution system at the heart of its dispute with parts of the industry. That would include the GDS providers, whose contracts with American are due to expire later this year.

What makes this interesting is the fact that American isn’t backing away from its primary reason for pulling out of Orbitz … which triggered the defensive move by Expedia. So, the words strike me as vapid, since the major issue isn’t being addressed (at least not in public).

There is a rumor that Priceline has signed on for Direct Connect, but all involved are keeping their lips sealed.

Airlines celebrate record profits with new fees

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you were running a business that just pulled in record profits after two years of business hell, what would you do? Some companies would show their customers some appreciation. Others would find new lines of business or products in which to invest. The airlines, however, seem poised to jack up their fees.

Let’s face it: ancillary fees have been good to the airlines. Paying extra for food, checked bags and premium coach seating – not to mention cancellations – is the principal reason for the extra cash the industry pulled in last year. And having tasted success, the airlines want more.

According to a report in the Tampa Tribune, the prospect of increasing fuel costs is causing experts and analysts to forecast additional charges for passengers this year. Possibilities include a fee for paying with a credit card (a real gem since cash transactions are highly unlikely, especially online), using the web to make reservations and for talking to a human being to get a seat assignment. The first two are brutal, because passengers would be charged for behavior (a) encouraged by the airlines and (b) that lowers their operating costs.

George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com, tells the Tampa Tribune, effectively, that it’s a defensive move, since “[a]irlines don’t want to go back in the red.”

It’s also consistent with the emerging strategy of finding new ways to charge customers without having to raise ticket prices.

According to Hobica, as many as 10 new fees could gain traction in 2011, some of which are in use already.

So, is it gouging or prudent business? That’s hard to say. Airlines are in the business of generating profits – they can’t be faulted for that. Customers have little negotiating power, so the whole line of desperate thinking that we can somehow prevail seems moot.

[photo by Lindsay_Silveira via Flickr]

Mystery bag gets passenger yanked from Boston flight

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Was Ognjen Milatovic a nutty professor? Only time – and the legal process – will tell. The University of North Florida professor of mathematics and statistics put a carry-on in the overhead bin … and his fellow passengers said it was making strange noises. Then, he wouldn’t get off his phone and take his seat when told to do so by the crew.

So, he was turned over to the Massachusetts State Police.

Milatovic was arrested in Boston and then released on his own recognizance after being pulled from the US Airways flight on Monday. The mystery luggage was inspected, and according to the Associated Press, “no threat was found.”

[photo by purpleslog via Flickr]