American Airlines decides to charge for second checked bag

by Anna Brones on

In February it was United Airlines, in March it was Delta Airlines, and now this week it’s American Airlines: starting May 12, checking a second bag on a domestic flight will now cost you an extra $25. That is unless you are an American Airlines frequent flier member with a certain status or you purchased a full-fare ticket. Bag number 3, 4 and 5 will all cost you $100 a piece, and if you are a real heavy packer, number 6 will tack on an additional $200.

The change in policy comes amidst rising fuel prices and first quarter losses for many of the major airlines. If the trend continues, passengers could be waving goodbye to many services that were once complimentary like curbside check-in and advance seat assignments. Most travelers — at least those that aren’t traveling in Business class – are already used to paying for meals, and in the case of Air Canada, even customer service. I’d say the days of the friendly skies are coming to a close.

Continental Airlines and United won’t be bed fellows after all

by Jamie Rhein on

Continental Airlines has decided to stay single after all–sort of. United Airlines’ parent company UAL had been wooing Continental looking for a merger hook up, but since United hasn’t had great luck financially as of late, (see Grant’s post), Continental has said, “See ya later, toots,” to the merger deal.

According to this article in today’s New York Time’s, Continental Airlines is still casting its gaze towards American Airlines and British Airways for some sort of alliance deal. In the meantime, United is looking for another bed pal.

U.S. Airways may be it, but that’s not clear either. With all the trying out the beds, it’s hard to keep up. What is clear is that ticket prices are going to keep rising. The economy is not being particularly kind to the airline business, although, since the New York Times article was written, the shares of Continental have gone up. The article said at the end of the week, shares were $15.21. Now a share is at $17.25.

As the airlines are looking to swing deals, I’m hoping someone will look at those old Skybus routes. I’m still recovering from that airline’s shutdown.

National Transportation Safety Board: Runway collisions the biggest danger out there

by Jeffrey White on

Forget all this talk about airplane safety inspections. What we should really be worried about, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board tells the New York Times today, are runway collisions.

“Where we are most vulnerable at this moment is on the ground,” Mark Rosenker tells the Times. “To me this is the most dangerous aspect of flying.”

The article details efforts to drastically cut down, if not eliminate, runway collisions, known rather vaguely in airline-speak as “incursions.” Basically a runway incursion is when something that shouldn’t be on a runway is, like a vehicle or an unauthorized plane. Earlier this month, for example, a tug towing an American Airlines MD-80 at Dallas-Fort Worth failed to hold in front of a runway on which another AA plane had landed. Seeing the tug-and-plane fast approaching the runway from the left, the pilot directed his plane to the right edge of the runway, avoiding a collision by some 25 feet, according to reports.

There were 15 incursions nationwide during the past six months, compared to eight for the same period last year, the Times reports.

At issue is the utter lack of technology on the ground — like surface GPS, for instance, or other electronic warning systems — that can give planes an idea of what is around them when they are on land. The FAA has stepped up efforts to improve signage and runway lighting, but it hasn’t been enough. One pilot dryly points out that if you have a navigation system in your car, you know more about where your car is on the ground than a plane does on a runway.

The technology is out there, but it’s expensive. The FAA is weighing one system that allows planes to broadcast their position automatically via GPS to both the ground and other planes.

The NTSB chides the FAA for pretty much ignoring the problem of runway incursions. Still, there is evidence that the FAA knows this is serious: The Times reports that during the big AA fiasco a few weeks ago with its MD-80 fleet, a senior FAA official was testifying before the Senate. The problem he addressed the most was not faulty wiring and plane safety inspections, but runway safety.

American Airlines passengers — get double elite miles through June 15!

by Grant Martin on

Perhaps in the wake of Delta Airlines offering double Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) to their passengers a couple of weeks back, American Airlines just launched their own double miles promotion.

Passengers who register for the promotion have between April 16th and June 15th to qualify for their extra miles, which don’t count for award travel, but do count for elite status. That means you only have to fly 12.5k, 25k and 50k miles to earn AAdvantage Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum status — a fantastic deal.

What’s the big deal with miles if you can’t use them for awards? There are myriad benefits to achieving elite status on any airline, from first class upgrades to priority check in and boarding to special customer service lines. If you invest any time in the skies, elite status is definitely worth the investment.

Check out American Airline’s guides to elite benefits here for further details on their programs.

To register for the promotion, go to American Airline’s promo page and use code AADER.

And my condolences to those of you elite AA members out there who already have status and who’s ranks are soon to be diluted with thousands of causal travelers. Now you know what life is like in the Delta/Northwest world.

Irate customer to American Airlines: I may give up traveling altogether

by Jeffrey White on

Antonia Bell from San Antonio wrote me recently, upset that she could not send a letter of complaint directly to American Airlines through its Web site — something wasn’t working.

Bell is one of the thousands who were left high and dry during the airline’s massive round of flight cancellations a few weeks ago. Bell was responding to a post I wrote reporting that a group of AA pilots have just launched a Web site of their own and are looking for irate customers to post their AA horror stories for the world to read. AA recently launched its own blog that I can only imagine might work in part to offset criticism it receives in other forums.

Anyway, Bell was kind enough to send me the letter that she has faxed to American. Nothing earth-shattering here, but I wanted to share it with you:

April 9 2008

American Airlines Customer Relations
Mail Drop 2400
P.O. Box 619612
Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport, TX 75261-9612

I couldn’t even get this complaint to go through from your website—-why am I not surprised? I know I’m probably just one of the thousands of complaints you’re receiving as a result of your flight cancellations, but if there’s anybody who cares up there, this is why I’m done with American, after 30 years of being a customer:

  1. Your e-mail notification system didn’t work…I only found out about the cancellation because of news stories.
  2. Miraculously, I got thru on your 800-number yesterday about 5:30-6PM CDT. The young lady I dealt with said she was reticketing me on CO 1505/1629 and putting notes to that effect on my record (Record Locator: PCHGPR). When I got to the airport this morning, she had done neither, and the CO flights had sold out several hours earlier (middle of the night, I’m guessing).
  3. Your Automated Response telephone system consistently misrepresents how long the wait is, and in some cases is contradicted by a later recording. At 4AM this morning, it said the wait was 58 minutes…..1.5 hours later, I was still on hold.

Your systems are broken, and nobody seems to care. I cancelled my trip, since there was no point in going at a later time. When I rebook, it will be with another carrier—-or I may give up traveling altogether.
For business, travel isn’t really necessary with the technology that’s available. That will probably be the death of the airline industry.

Antonia Bell
San Antonio, TX