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Passageways Travel eNewsletter

JANUARY 2009

DELTA/NORTHWEST IN THE NEWS

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines today announced they will offer nonstop service between Calgary International Airport and Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport beginning May 2009. The flight, which will be operated by KLM, will connect travelers to one of the world's most vibrant business and leisure destinations and offer connections to more than 65 destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Passengers will travel on an Airbus 330-200, offering 30 seats in World Business Class and 221 seats in Economy Class.

Hartford's Bradley International Airport also announced Delta Air Lines' subsidiary, Northwest Airlines, will resume nonstop service between Hartford and Amsterdam, effective June 2, 2009. Northwest Airlines will operate the flight five times weekly using 160-passenger Boeing 757-200 aircraft.

Delta to link Detroit and Rome
Delta will launch Detroit-Rome service on June 4.

The daily flight will be operated by Delta subsidiary Northwest Airlines in cooperation with KLM, Northwest's joint-venture partner on overseas flights.

Delta will use Airbus 330 aircraft with 298 seats (34 in business and 264 in economy) on the route.

Northwest Looks to Postpone Seattle-Beijing Service
Northwest Airlines intends to delay the launch of Seattle-Beijing service.

Northwest, scheduled to launch the route on March 1, wants to push back the start date one year, to March 25, 2010.

The airline asked the Department of Transportation for a dormancy waiver, meaning that Northwest wants the DOT to preserve the route award and not re-award the rights to another interested airline.

a The DOT awarded Seattle-Beijing route rights to Northwest earlier this year in the most recent expansion of U.S.-China air service.

Also, Northwest plans to defer the start-up of Detroit-Shanghai service from March 25 to June 3, and reduce it to four times per week instead of the originally planned daily service. Northwest has asked the DOT to protect the three unused frequencies via a dormancy waiver through March 25, 2010.

In its DOT filing, Northwest said it needed relief because U.S.-China bookings "declined dramatically" after the Beijing Summer Olympics in August, and because advance bookings for March 2009 are down 30%.

Northwest argued that it should get a dormancy waiver on postponed China service because American (Chicago-Beijing), US Airways (Philadelphia-Beijing) and United (San Francisco-Guangzhou) have received one.

Delta Announces 2009 SkyMiles® and WorldPerks® Benefits
Delta Air Lines has announced elite and reward changes to both the Delta SkyMiles and Northwest WorldPerks programs to better align member benefits.

Beginning in 2009, the programs will offer segment qualification, currently a WorldPerks benefit, to allow members to reach elite status by flying a designated number of flight segments on either Delta or Northwest operated flights.

Additionally, SkyMiles and WorldPerks members will continue to earn a minimum of 500 Elite Qualifying Miles and base miles per flight, making Delta the only major airline to maintain this minimum for all customers.

Qualification requirements for Elite status in 2009 will be as follows:

Level 2009 Qualification Requirements
Silver 25,000 Elite Qualifying Miles or 30 Qualification Segments
Gold 50,000 Elite Qualifying Miles or 60 Qualification Segments
Platinum 75,000 Elite Qualifying Miles or 100 Qualification Segments

Elite status enables members to receive additional program benefits, including complimentary upgrades, mileage bonuses, priority boarding and preferred seating.

SkyMiles and WorldPerks elite members now have the ability to receive complimentary upgrades on both airlines. Complimentary upgrades are subject to availability and offered on most Delta and Northwest flights within or between the 48 contiguous United States, Alaska, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and northern South America.

SkyMiles members will qualify for Medallion® Threshold Rewards when they surpass Platinum Medallion status. As members reach designated thresholds (to be published in early 2009), they will earn additional bonus miles and/or other exclusive benefits or gifts. Northwest WorldPerks members will continue to enjoy similar Elite Extra Perks program benefits when they surpass the Platinum qualification requirements.

WorldPerks® Program Changes
As part of our merger with Delta®, we are continuing to align the WorldPerks® and SkyMiles® programs with several changes:

Effective January 1, 2009, WorldPerks members will have even more ways to reach WorldPerks Elite status with the ability to earn Elite Qualifying Segments on all Delta-operated flights.
Effective January 15, 2009, WorldPerks members will have more flexibility as we are removing the Saturday-night stay restrictions from award tickets.
Also effective January 15, 2009, Northwest will introduce a new award ticket redemption fee and will increase our award reissue and redeposit fees from $50 to $100.
Award Ticket Redemption Timeframes
(WorldPerks Platinum Elites are exempt from this fee) Award Ticket Fees
- 3 days or less prior to departure date $150 per ticket
- 4 - 7 days prior to departure date $100 per ticket
- 8 - 20 days prior to departure date $75 per ticket
- 21 days or more prior to departure date No Charge
Also effective January 15, 2009, WorldPerks members will have even more award flexibility as we introduce a third mileage award level and synchronized award mileage requirements with Delta. The new mileage award level will have increased availability over PerkSaverSM Awards, but at lower mileage amounts than PerkPassSM Awards. The new award level will be quoted as a PerkPassSM award and will automatically be presented to WorldPerks members during the booking process.
In February 2009, WorldPerks members who also have a SkyMiles account will be able to transfer miles between these two accounts. Elite Qualifying Miles cannot be pooled at this time but will be automatically combined at program integration in late 2009.

Delta to offer in-flight Internet on East Coast shuttle flights
Source: usatoday.com
Delta Air Lines will be the latest domestic airline to offer in-flight Internet for passengers, launching paid Wi-Fi service on Tuesday on its East Coast shuttle flights.

The Atlanta-based airline will initially introduce GoGo, an Internet service operated by Aircell, on five MD-88s flying the New York LaGuardia-Boston Logan and New York LaGuardia-Washington Reagan routes (however in January, Delta will begin flying the New York-Washington, D.C. route with planes operated by contract carrier Shuttle America, who's Embraer 175s won't be equipped with WiFi). A Boeing 757-200 is also equipped with GoGo.

Passengers on the shuttle flights can expect about 40 minutes of Internet surfing time, says Chris Babb, a Delta product manager.

The carrier plans to add "a plane every two or three days" with the goal of equipping its entire mainline domestic fleet by the end of next year, Babb says.

The service will cost $9.95 for flights less than three hours and $12.95 for longer flights. As a promotion, Delta's new service will be free for the first two weeks.

UNITED SELLING ACCESS TO PRIORITY LINES

Source: copyright 2009, Travel Weekly

United Airlines is giving coach passengers access to fast lanes at some U.S. airports, for a $25 fee each way.

The new product, called Premier Line, lets travelers skip to priority lines at check-in, security and boarding (including boarding for connecting flights).

Premier Line is available at the following airports: Boston Logan, Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York LaGuardia, Newark, Orange County (Calif.), Portland (Ore.), San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, Washington Dulles and Washington Reagan National.

The service can be purchased at United.com when booking a ticket or while checking in online. United said the option would be available at airport kiosks in the coming weeks.

Premier Line is offered to a limited number of customers each hour based on time of departure, United said. Elite members of United's loyalty program will continue to get complimentary access to priority lines.

Premier Line is just one of United's new optional services. The airline recently launched Award Accelerator, a product that enables customers who check in online to accumulate more frequent-flyer miles.

Award Accelerator costs $9 per flight. The Accelerator miles can be redeemed for awards but they cannot be counted toward elite status.

SOUTHWEST MULLS MOVE TO THIRD MAJOR U.S. AIRPORT

Source: usatoday.com

Southwest Airlines may add flights to a third new major U.S. airport as early as next fall, as the low-cost carrier shifts its traditional focus on less-trafficked, secondary airports.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Chief Executive Gary Kelly said there are "decent odds" the Dallas-based carrier will look to add flights to a new major U.S. airport next year, following the addition of Minneapolis-St. Paul and New York's LaGuardia Airport. Previously, the airline's business plan has mostly focused on secondary airports, such as Chicago's Midway.

Kelly said there is a misconception among some observers who consider Southwest a small-market player because of it flies mainly to those airports. "We serve big markets and we will continue to look for that," Kelly said.

The carrier expects to begin service at Minneapolis in March, and is currently negotiating for gate locations at New York's LaGuardia, Kelly said. The carrier expects to begin flights out of LaGuardia this summer. Southwest obtained 14 takeoff and landing slots from bankrupt ATA Airlines earlier this month. Southwest will look for efficiency as a top priority in researching new airports, Kelly said, as the carrier underlines the focus on on-time performance and cost management.

ADVANTAGE FILES CHAPTER 11, CLOSES LOCATIONS

Advantage Rent A Car has filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Minnesota, and is now looking to sell the business or merge with another company.

In the meantime, Advantage has closed two-thirds of its airport locations. The following airport locations remain open only for the return of vehicles: Albuquerque, N.M.; Aspen, Colo.; Burbank, Calif.; Chicago O’Hare; Dallas/Fort Worth; Grand Junction, Colo.; Hayden, Colo.; Honolulu; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Maui; Palm Springs, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Rifle, Colo.; San Antonio; San Diego, Seattle; and Tucson, Ariz.

The rental outlets remaining open are Advantage’s most profitable, highest volume locations, said the company. The airport locations still in business are Austin, Texas; Chicago Midway; Colorado Springs; Denver; El Paso, Texas; Houston Bush Intercontinental; Orlando; Phoenix and Salt Lake City

RAY OF SUNSHINE FOR U.S. AIRLINES IN BLEAK IATA FORECAST

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts that the airline industry will lose $2.5 billion in 2009, but that North American carriers will turn a profit.

IATA predicts that American carriers will make $300 million next year. It explained that the 10% capacity reduction implemented this year by North American airlines in response to high fuel prices gave them a head start in tackling an expected fall in demand in ’09.

Further, the lack of fuel hedging in this region will enable North American carriers to take advantage of the precipitous fall in fuel prices, added IATA.

However, North America will be the only region in the black, forecasted IATA, as a worldwide economic recession depresses demand in 2009.

IATA forecasts that passenger traffic and revenue are expected to decline 3% and 6.5%, respectively. An 18% lower fuel bill for the industry won’t be enough to overcome those declines.

A drop in passenger traffic would be the industry’s first decline for this metric since 2001, IATA said.

FAA MAKES SPECIAL D.C. FLIGHT RULES PERMANENT

Source: usatoday.com

Airspace restrictions and procedures implemented around Washington after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are now permanent.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced in December that a final rule issued by the agency makes the special flight rules permanent. The secure airspace is made up of a pair of concentric rings consisting of a 15-nautical mile radius and 30-nautical radius around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Within the outer ring, pilots must file a flight plan, establish two-way radio communications with air traffic control and operate the aircraft transponder on an assigned code. But the inner ring is restricted to flights authorized by the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration.

The area is smaller than the Air Defense Identification Zone that went into effect in February 2003.

BRITISH AIRWAYS, QANTAS TALKS FAIL ON OWNERSHIP SPLIT

Source: bloomberg.com

British Airways said merger talks with Qantas Airways were called off after the carriers failed to agree on who would control the new company.

The negotiations were halted after British Airways Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh and his Qantas counterpart Alan Joyce couldn’t reach agreement on the ownership split.

The companies said Dec. 2 they were in talks to create a carrier with $24 billion in sales and almost 500 planes as they sought to cut costs and limit the impact of a global recession. Negotiations were tricky because British Airways has more revenue than Qantas and the Sydney-based carrier has a higher market value. BA’s pension deficit further complicated talks and the U.K. carrier was also under pressure from Spanish ally Iberia Lineas Aereas to complete a tie-up.

THE FIVE MOST SIGNIFICANT AIRLINE STORIES OF 2008

Source: usatoday/smartertravel.com/

In reviewing the past year in the travel world, the challenge isn't so much finding stories that deserve a moment's recollection and reflection. Rather, it's culling a few representative events or developments from the torrent of news bits and bites we've been inundated with over the past 12 months.

Following are five items that strike me as particularly indicative of the year itself, or especially suggestive of what might lie ahead.

Southwest abandoned its roots
Southwest was in the spotlight for much of this year, applauded as the company with the prescience to buy jet fuel at pre-negotiated prices, leaving it with low fuel costs when the price of a barrel of crude soared to $147 over the summer. As most airlines struggled to keep their unhedged fuel costs from dragging them into bankruptcy, Southwest flew above the financial turbulence. (When fuel prices plunged, the hedging had the opposite effect, pushing Southwest into its first quarterly loss in 17 years.)

More significant, both for the traveling public and for the industry, has been Southwest's move to extend beyond its traditional base of leisure travelers. The lure of the business-traveler market—small but highly profitable—finally proved irresistible..

But with mainline carriers offering business travelers upgrades to first class, access to airport lounges, and heaps of bonus miles, Southwest's longstanding focus on low prices and cheerfully bare-bones service wasn't winning over road warriors. Southwest had neither first-class seats nor airport lounges to attract pampered fliers accustomed to such perks..

The discounter's solution was to add an elite tier (A-List) to its Rapid Rewards program, and reward elite fliers with expedited security clearance and priority boarding.

Security clearance and flight boarding are both zero-sum games: Giving precedence to one customer necessarily means delaying someone else. And that flies in the face of Southwest's egalitarian, one-size-fits-all approach. .

Virgin America almost got it right
.

Upstart Virgin America made a brash entrance onto the U.S. airline scene in 2007 with an approach that seemed to take the best features of JetBlue and amplify them. It had attitude and style. And low prices.

In particular, there was keen interest in Virgin's loyalty program, Elevate, which the airline claimed was being designed from scratch, with a single-minded focus on the airline's customers.

When the program was finally completed, in October of this year, it received mixed reviews. On the one hand, its "no blackout dates" policy and streamlined award booking application are praise-worthy. On the other hand, the program is hobbled by a lack of earning opportunities and points that expire after just 18 months.

While Elevate hasn't been the breakthrough that some were anticipating, it does boast one characteristic that should be adopted industry wide: transparency.

Program members earn points according to the amount they spend on tickets. And on the redemption side of the program, any seat on any flight can be purchased with points, albeit at prices that vary directly with tickets' dollar prices, which in turn vary according to supply and demand for particular flights.

Travelers have no trouble with the concept of getting what they pay for. While the Virgin program may not be the most generous, it at least establishes a clear relationship between a customer's loyalty, as measured in dollars contributed to the airline, and his rewards, as measured by the dollar value of an award ticket.

Airlines contract fee fever

Since the advent of commercial aviation, there has never before been a year during which so many airlines imposed so many fees—potentially 165 different fees.

As many fees as we've already seen, there are more to come. American has announced its intention to introduce a thorough going makeover of its pricing in 2009, based on the a-la-carte model of charging separately for each and every aspect of the travel service. Frontier has done the same. And other carriers are doing so incrementally, adding one fee at a time..

Flip-flops and push-backs

There's no official scorekeeper for such things, but 2008 will rate a prominent mention in my record book as a year of airline policy reversal: the Year of the Flip-Flop.

So furious was the policymaking and unmaking that in several cases, new policies were announced and then rescinded before they'd even gone into effect.

Continental, for example, announced in September that, effective next year, they would no longer award a minimum of 500 frequent flier miles for short-haul flights. But they have since reconsidered and modified the modification, reinstating minimum miles for its elite members.

It's been a year during which the airlines pushed consumers hard. In some cases consumers pushed back. And in a few cases, that pushback had the desired effect.

There's a new sheriff in town

As the year comes to a close, I still find myself thinking of American as the world's largest airline. Not so, I have to remind myself. With the Northwest merger finally consummated, the 'largest' title now belongs to Atlanta-based Delta.

An airline's size wouldn't normally bear mention—size has proven to correlate with neither quality nor innovation. Delta, however, at least in its loyalty marketing, has signaled that it intends to use the merger as an opportunity to reassess its mileage program, with the stated goal of refashioning it as "the world's premier loyalty program." And they appear to be acting on that promise.

We have now entered the Delta Decade. By the end of next year, we should have a better sense of what kind of a decade that will be.

SUNNY. 85 DEGREES

That's what you're going to be looking for in January, February, or March...and Passageways can help! Would you believe an all-inclusive in Cancun for under $1000 for a full week...including air from Detroit?!
If that sounds good to you...get ready...because Passageways in negotiating to exclusively have it in January...

Call today and get your name on the list to be contacted as this becomes available.
Sunny. 85 degrees... And you are there!

ESCORTED 12 NIGHT ALASKAN CRUISE / TOUR

Join Passageways' Travel expert Bonnie Pintozzi to the Great White North "ALASKA".

Join Bonnie on her annual cruise/tour trip to our 50th State!
2009 is the year to travel to Alaska as they will be celebrating their 50th anniversary of statehood, when its star was added to the U.S. flag. You have always wanted to go to Alaska now is the time to go.

Highlights include: Anchorage, Talkeetna, Denali, Fairbanks, Seward, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan and the Inside Passage.
June 7-19, 2009
Prices start at $2267.86.
Booked today this will fill up fast!