It’s arrived. New airline to charge by pound

by Grant Martin on

Both The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News ran ads today advertising the purported new airline Derrie-Air, the new airline concept that charges for both the weight of the passenger and his or her luggage..

At flyderrie-air.com you can check out some of the airline’s deals per per pound, from $1.40/pp from Philadelphia to Chicago to $2.25/lb from Philly to Los Angeles. Weigh a lot and packing several suitcases? Tough cookies, you’re paying $700 to fly across the country. Small sized and only taking a carry on? You might get away with $300.

So for all of you who voiced your outrage at Robert Mann’s idea that passengers should pay by the pound, the jig is up; we’ve entered a new era of airline operation.

Or not. It turns out that the whole thing was a prank by Philadelphia Media Holdings “to test the results of advertising in our print and online products and to stimulate discussion on a timely environmental topic of interest to all citizens”.

No better way to generate buzz and fire up the passenger base than to start claiming airline fee strategies, right? I do have to give them credit though, their website is a pretty big kick. They advertise their airline as a “carbon neutral” entity because they’re planting zillions of trees in the Derrie Forrest as well as porcelain fixtures and gilded faucets in their aircraft.

You almost believe them until you read the fine print at the end of the page.

Politico: Delta pilots = Class, Northwest pilots = Trash

by Grant Martin on

Ah, there’s nothing like a little classist profiling to get rival unions a little fired up.

Remember that Northwest – Delta merger that was announced earlier this year? Wondering why you haven’t heard much news from it lately? Well, the brass has got their noses to the grindstone working hard to get congress to approve of the merger before the new administration moves in. And the pilots, well, they’re still arguing too.

You might recall that the two carriers earlier put the merger on hold because the pilots couldn’t agree on seniority issues. In the end, they decided to merge anyway and let the pilots figure it out during the process.

As Politico most-gently points out though, there are deep rooted difference between the pilots and the unions. Pete Janhunen of the Air Line Pilots Association put it like this: “When you work with Delta guys, you tend to think of a Fortune 500 company… Northwest is a little more upper-Midwest, a little more working-class and less formal.”

Mind you, this isn’t the only thing that sets the unions apart. But it’s one more barrier that the unions have to overcome before they can handshake on their integration.

I for one, work with a Northwest pilot right now who is the most pleasant, friendly person I have ever met. Perhaps Politico was painting with a bit of a wide brush.

[Interesting sidenote: check out the comment on the Flickr photo from one of our favorite regular Gadling contributors. Thanks for the photo!]

Air India: No overweight crew on our planes

by Grant Martin on

The discussion on whether overweight people should be treated differently on aircraft continues. Earlier this week, an airline consultant queried by Bloomberg suggested that airlines charging their passengers by their weight may be the next logical step in cost cutting in the industry.

Many including myself believe that idea to be rather far fetched (especially in the United States) and a surprisingly healthy discussion has blossomed in the comments section of my earlier post.

Perhaps I underestimated the tenacity of the airlines. Courts in New Delhi, India, just upheld a ruling allowing Air India, the nation’s flagship carrier to ground flight crew who were overweight. They actually implemented the rule two years ago, telling employees that they had to trim up or be moved to ground duty, but the decision has been wading through court ever since. As of Wednesday, however, the rule is official. Unlike the US, apparently India doesn’t have any laws against discriminating against weight.

Despite the recent ruckus about weight and cost savings in the industry, the roots of Air India’s decision seem to lie not in fuel savings but rather in making their flight attendants easier on the eyes. According to the Canadian Press, “Air India has tried in the past few years to change a public perception of its cabin staff as tired, unfriendly and inefficient”. Luckily, we don’t have that problem in the States.

Virgin Atlantic and their crafty marketing schemes

by Grant Martin on

Fine, Virgin Atlantic. We’ll bite. But we’re not happy about it. We’ve been digesting small buzzletts about your shenanigans coming up next week on June 12, but we’ve been holding off because it always gives us the willys when we propagate shameless marketing tactics.

It all started with some emails you sent to your loyal flying club members, saying “Have we got something for you, Juliana! It’s brand new. It’s coming soon. And it’s extraordinarily unordinary“, but only promising to reveal the goods on June 12. We also hear that you put up fliers in the office and spread the buzz around your flight crew as well — and now we’re all equally mystified.

While we all stare at each other stupidly, I think it’s time for some rampant speculation.

  • Branson is shutting down Virgin Atlantic and is using the airplanes as personal skis in his new world record: skiing down Mt. Everest on airplanes. He’ll have one 747 strapped to each leg and one to his ego.
  • Half of coach will be torn out and converted to a hot tub and day spa lounge for “elite” first class members. Economy tickets will thus cost twice as much.
  • Due to the rising price of oil, all passengers are required to bring their own 55 gallon drum of unsweetened crude oil. And you have to pay baggage fees to check it.
  • For every 100lbs of overweight luggage (or passengers) onboard, the crew get to toss one passenger out over the Pacific Ocean.
  • To save costs, London bound flights land on an airstrip in the English Channel and they have to find their way to land.

Regardless of the outcome, VA is hosting a press conference in the City to announce the tomfoolery on June 12. Our own blogger Yaromee Kressmann will be there to get the scoop. Stay tuned for the details.

[via Jaunted]

Look out! Your airline is cutting capacity

by Grant Martin on

You may have noticed that your favorite airline just announced that it’s cutting capacity. American Airlines parent company AMR and Spirit Airlines announced it last week. Continental and United did the same this week. They’re all doing it. In times of increased stress on the airline, lower demand and higher costs, they have to do it to save the bottom line.

But what does this mean for the lay traveler?

Well, several things. While the airline of your choice will be cutting routes, they’re most often going to be cutting routes that are in low demand. The moneymakers — routes that most of us take the most often will stick around because they’re actually generating cash. So if you fly from New York to Detroit every third Friday to see your boyfriend on the 7PM flight, that will probably stick around because it’s a popular flight at a popular time on a popular day.

The 2PM Saturday flight from New Orleans to Springfield, MO, however may not.

If you’re in the minority that do take that Orleans-Springfield flight, fear not. You’ll still be able to connect through one of the hubs. Also make sure that another carrier hasn’t swooped into replace your former favorite route. Often times, multiple carriers have competing prices on routes (resulting in lower demand across them). Two of AA’s routes that they canceled July 02, for example, Dallas – Austin and Dallas – Kansas City, are also covered by Southwest.

Particularly on the few routes that are heavy hitters (ie, Boston – San Diego, AA cuts Sep 03), expect a modest increase in prices as demand evens out across the other flights over the course of the day.

These cuts and increases in prices are part of the natural evolution in a tight market — cut out the poorly performing routes, trim back staff and tighten the belt while money is scarce. While it’s unfortunate for passengers and terribly unfortunate for employees, it’s a necessary step to ensuring that America has strong airlines in the future. Buckle down for a tough summer and I promise things will be better in the fall.