As part of Delta's merger with Northwest, they are combining networks and fleets. Part of this effort includes utilizing Delta aircraft on a few select Northwest routes, and vice versa. This "cross fleeting" will give Delta the flexibility to optimize routes and offer their customers the most convenient connections to the most destinations around the globe.

Helpful Hints for Passengers:
CHECK-IN

Note: the check-in procedures for cross-fleeted flights are different than the standard procedures for codeshare flights. For cross-fleeted flights, travelers should check in with the marketing carrier, while for codeshare flights, travelers check in with the operating carrier.

Online
Travelers should check in for a cross-fleeted flight with the marketing carrier. If a traveler checks in on either delta.com or nwa.com, he or she will always be directed to the correct carrier's website for check-in.

At the airport
As Delta and Northwest consolidate facilities at airports, prominent signage will direct travelers to the correct area for ticketing and check-in. If travelers need assistance, they should see an agent. Eventually the branding for all airport facilities will be Delta only and indicate that Delta now serves Northwest. All U.S. airports are expected to be completed by December and all airports worldwide in 2010.

In addition, customer-facing airport staff from Northwest will begin wearing Delta uniforms in April.

IMPORTANT:
For the most up-to-date information regarding your travelers' flight and gate status, encourage them to check in at delta.com or nwa.com up to 24 hours prior to departure. Customers may print boarding passes, change seat assignments, and check their gate and departure status online.

• Kiosk
  Airport kiosks have both Delta and Northwest systems loaded. Travelers are asked to select one to proceed with check-in. Travelers should check in and check bags for a cross-fleeted flight with the marketing carrier. If a traveler selects the incorrect carrier, he or she will be directed back to the correct carrier's system to proceed with the check-in process.
• Ticket Counter
  For airports where ticket counters have not been integrated, customers should check in and check bags for a cross-fleeted flight with the marketing carrier.

At the Gate
On cross fleeted flights, the marketing carrier's policies and procedures apply. All Delta and Northwest airport employees are trained to work these flights. Below are two examples of gate procedures for a cross-fleeted flight.

• DL812 ATLLGW - DL MARKETED - NW OPERATED
  When this flight departs ATL, it will depart ATL from a Delta gate with a NW gate agent who will board the passengers onto the NW 330.
• NW 762 MSPCDG - NW MARKETED - DL OPERATED
  When this flight departs MSP, it will depart MSP from a NW gate with a DL gate agent who will board the passengers onto the DL 767.

The crew and all inflight service on cross- fleeted flights will be that of the operating carrier. Please note: Northwest flight attendants will begin wearing Delta uniforms in April. In addition, onboard service options are in the process of being aligned, so you may see Delta food and beverage options (e.g. the "EATS" program) onboard Northwest-operated flights.

ARRIVAL AT DESTINATION

Although the flight will arrive at the marketing carrier's gate, the operating carrier's staff will open the aircraft door. All other assistance will be handled by the marketing carrier's personnel.

This is an exciting time for Delta. Your support is pivotal to our success. Please feel free to contact your Delta representative with any questions or comments.

Delta consolidates and rebrands Northwest airport facilities

As you know, Delta and Northwest merged in October, forming the world's largest airline and opening up additional opportunities for customers to easily connect to more worldwide destinations. As the two airlines come together, the airlines are working hard to make it a seamless transition for the traveler.

In the coming weeks, Delta and Northwest will complete consolidation efforts in hub airports, including Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul. They're removing Northwest branding in customer-facing areas at these airports and have been hard at work preparing for the conversion to the Delta branding.

On the night of March 30, they installed Delta signage and branding at Northwest curbside, check-in, gates, jetways, baggage claim and baggage service locations at our Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis hubs. They're also working with the appropriate airport authorities to ensure that roadway and other signage is updated to reflect these changes. Signage and airport customer service agents will continue to provide travelers with clear direction and assistance as changes are made.

For customers traveling through Memphis, all Delta ticket counters will be moving to the "B" concourse. All Delta and Northwest passengers will now check in at the "B" concourse. All Delta and Northwest passengers departing Minneapolis/St. Paul and Detroit will now check in at the same check in terminal they currently use.

Beginning March 30, nearly 40,000 Northwest flight attendants, pilots, airport lounge representatives, ticket counter and gate agents will don Delta uniforms. Delta has already rebranded 119 airports worldwide. The airline expects to have all domestic airports transformed by year's end, with all international locations scheduled for completion in 2010.

By the end of next year, nearly 250 pre-merger Northwest mainline aircraft will be painted in Delta's red, white and blue flagship colors. To date, 33 Northwest-branded aircraft have already been repainted. Also by year's end, all Delta- and Northwest-operated mainline aircraft will feature similar interiors, including Delta's standard blue leather seats and carpet.

Preferred check in and WorldClubs access will remain as-is for the time being.

The airport rebranding process is just one step toward Delta and Northwest's consolidation, and will continue throughout this year. Delta expects the process to be complete at all domestic airports by the end of 2009 and at airports worldwide in 2010.

Delta to slash international capacity and more jobs
Source: copyright 2009, Travel Weekly

Delta will reduce international capacity by 10% in September because of falling demand, the airline said last month at the JP Morgan Aviation & Transportation Conference.

The reductions are in addition to Delta's December announcement to reduce systemwide capacity by 6-8%.

In a letter to employees, Delta CEO Richard Anderson and Northwest CEO Ed Bastian said, "The worsening global economy continues to place additional pressure on the airline industry. In just the few months since we last announced capacity reductions, revenues have weakened, particularly in international markets. Once again, we must move quickly to adjust our capacity and stay in front of demand changes."

With the capacity cuts, Delta said the airline must continue to eliminate jobs. "As in the past, voluntary programs are always our first consideration to adjust staffing needs," wrote Bastian and Anderson.

Delta just concluded a voluntary program that will result in 2,100 employees departing over the next several months.

"While these voluntary reductions met our overall target, there are certain positions and geographic locations where we fell short of achieving the goals of the voluntary programs," wrote the two CEOs.

Spirit Airlines once again is tacking on an extra fee for passengers who buy a ticket at any place other than the airline?s airport ticket counters.

It now costs those flyers an extra $4.90 each way for what the airline calls a "passenger usage fee," Spirit spokeswoman Misty Pinson said. The airline calls the charge a booking fee to cover distribution costs.

The airline started the fee in mid-2008, but quickly discontinued it after that charge and others like it came under Transportation Department scrutiny.

The DOT has started to review how such charges are being included (or not) in airlines? advertised fares, especially as carriers continue to unbundle fees from base airfares and charge passengers for each perk and service.

"The monitoring of airline online fare advertising has become one of DOT?s major priorities," said Sam Podberesky, head of the agency?s Aviation Enforcement office.

The DOT is concerned that carriers may be baiting and switching by offering what appear to be low fares but then tacking on extra fees. Spirit had been tacking on an assortment of extra fees:

• A $2.50 charge for "natural occurrence interruption" to help the airline cover refunds when severe weather forced flight cancellations.
• An $8.50 "international service recovery fee" to help reimburse the airline for fees it paid to fly over foreign countries.
• The $5 fee to purchase tickets online or anywhere other than the carrier?s ticket counter.

At the time, the DOT said the airline was "working on its website" to comply with the DOT?s display guidelines. The DOT says it reached an agreement with Spirit for the airline to reinstate the passenger usage fee.

The DOT told the airline that it can charge the fee for tickets purchased at any place other than one of its ticket counters only if the fee is included in the advertised ticket price, agency spokesman Bill Mosley said.

"They can?t say the ticket is $225 plus a $25 fee,?? Mosley said. "They have to say, ?The ticket is $250; this includes a $25 passenger usage fee.? ??

Allegiant also has been charging what it calls a "convenience fee" on all tickets except those purchased at one of the carrier?s ticket offices. The airline agreed to pay the DOT up to $50,000 last fall for assessing those fees without properly advertising them, according to a Sept. 15 consent decree between the carrier and the agency.

In their quest for more advertising revenue, Expedia and other travel websites have begun selling customer data on consumers' buying habits gathered through their Internet cookies, enabling advertisers to send highly targeted ads to online consumers when they visit popular websites.

The practice is known as behavioral advertising. As practiced by Expedia, it involves the actual sale of data to the advertisers.

A Miami hotel looking for business, for example, would not get access to names, addresses or credit card numbers, but it would be able to ascertain that someone using a particular computer had searched for, or booked, a first-class flight to Miami.

Depending on how the deals are structured, the advertisers can "own" the data, according to Omar Tawakoi, CEO of BlueKai, a data provider in the behavioral advertising arena that does fulfillment for Expedia.

Expedia, which calls its program PassportAds, is the first online travel agency to go public with such a behavioral data-selling/advertising initiative, though Tawakoi said other top travel websites, including a major travel search engine, are also selling this type of anonymous consumer data to travel and nontravel advertisers.

The model is built on the tracking cookies that many websites routinely attach to visitors? browsers. On subsequent visits, the website reads the cookies to identify the consumers? previous online activities. These cookies have become increasingly sophisticated, enabling advertisers to analyze thousands of data points related to consumer behavior.

Behavioral advertising is a controversial practice, blasted by some privacy advocates but defended by the Interactive Travel Services Association (ITSA), which represents online travel companies and GDSs.

The Federal Trade Commission, which has been studying behavioral marketing issues for the past two years, last month released proposed principles to guide marketers? self-regulatory activities.

The FTC?s proposed guidelines urged websites "to obtain affirmative, express consent" from consumers before collecting data for behavioral advertising and suggested that any notice about behavioral practices appear in a prominent place, rather than buried in difficult-to-fathom privacy policies.

"PassagewaysTravel.com and Passageways Travel never sells or shares in any way client information. When you trust Passageways with handling your travel needs, we respect your privacy. "

Hertz Global Holdings has outbid Enterprise Rent-A-Car to acquire the assets of Advantage Rent-A-Car, which declared bankruptcy late last year.

Hertz on agreed to pay $30.3 million for assets including leases and airport concession agreements, and the court will consider approval of the sale on, Reuters reported. Enterprise last month had announced its intentions to purchase Advantage's assets, including its eight remaining U.S. rental locations, the right to lease its fleet and ownership of Advantage's customer lists and "certain Advantage corporate accounts".

You found a killer deal on a round-trip ticket for a one-week vacation: Thanks to light recessionary travel crowds, it cost half what you paid last summer, when oil prices peaked.

But after pulling up to the parking deck at Detroit Metropolitan Airport's McNamara Terminal garage, with its $20-a-day fee, the triumph of a good bargain quickly fades.

Such is life for travelers these days at Metro Airport.

Since 2002, when the Wayne County Airport Authority took over operations, parking fees have nearly quadrupled in some spots. The rates and fees paid by small businesses serving the airport -- such as off-site parking lots and hotels -- have soared as well.

It's all an effort to keep the airlines serving Southeast Michigan happy and flying here -- instead of elsewhere.

And here in Detroit, the pressure to keep airline costs low couldn't be more immense.

While the authority's creation in 2002 overhauled and streamlined the airport's bureaucracy, legislation mandating the changes also dictated a new business model for Michigan's largest passenger air facility. As a result, airport business costs have shifted away from the airlines.

In 2002, airlines -- mainly Northwest, which opened its largest hub facility at Metro that year -- paid 40.3 percent of the authority's costs. By last year, that share had dropped to 31.2 percent. During the same period, the amount of costs facing passengers and firms doing business at the airport -- retail shops as well as off-site parking lots and hotels -- increased from 30.6 percent of Metro's income to 43.4 percent, according to budget figures provided by the authority.

That means everything from the rents charged to businesses in the terminal to the fees paid by shuttle buses that ferry passengers to hotels and off-site parking lots have increased, and cut into the profit margins of those businesses that depend on the airport.

For consumers, the big bump has been felt primarily in the rates paid to park at an on-site lot. Rates at the Big Blue Deck, for example, jumped from $10 a day to $16 in November. Rates at the McNamara Terminal went from $19 to $20 a day last month.

"When the authority was created, we were handed a mandate to generate as much revenue from non-airline sources as we can," said airport authority spokesman Scott Wintner.

The authority's mandate isn't the only force. Tough negotiators from Delta Air Lines Inc., the largest operator at the airport, each year put pressure on Metro to cut their costs.

That's helped to push up parking fees -- which are already saddled with a 27 percent tax -- and fees for shuttles operated by off-site businesses that need ready access to passengers. This month, the price to operate a shuttle between the airport and hotels and off-site parking lots jumped from $390 a month to $780.

The push to get more money from non-airline sources has, however, had one positive effect inside the terminal: Because Metro is under the gun to bring in as many concessionaires as possible, competition has sprouted among food and goods vendors, helping to keep down consumer prices.

Julie Allison, vice president of operations for a consortium of three off-site parking operators, said the increase in fees came at a bad time: Her business already had locked in reduced-rate contracts with corporate customers which assumed the $390 shuttle rate.

Experts say the shift of costs is what Detroiters pay for having the hub city convenience.

"Detroit has a strong flier base, but you wouldn't be seeing the amount of international and domestic service if Northwest and Delta weren't so prudent in keeping Metro's costs down," said Boyd, the industry expert.

"The fact is, if it gets too expensive, they can move flights elsewhere. Then travelers would be complaining about having to connect through another airport first."

President Obama?s first budget proposal boosts funding to offset security costs throughout the transportation system and includes more money to improve the national airspace.

But the proposal also has raised an outcry because the administration plans to fund later security measures by raising airline passenger fees and starting new, direct user fees to replace current aviation taxes.

The administration earned some nods from travel pundits by proposing a five-year, $5 billion grant program for high-speed rail development and requesting about $800 million to help modernize the country?s air traffic control system.

The plan also includes an unknown amount of NASA money for research to "increase airspace capacity and mobility, enhance aviation safety and improve aircraft performance while reducing noise, emissions and fuel consumption," budget documents say.

The budget proposal, for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, slates an additional $55 million for the Transportation Department?s small-community air service programs to "fulfill current program requirements."

Finally, the spending plan identifies $64 million "to modernize the infrastructure used to vet travelers and workers. These funds will strengthen screening in order to reduce the risk of potential terrorism or other unlawful activities that threaten the nation?s transportation system."

Two changes in tax strategy that would directly affect airline passengers are an increase in the security fee assessed for passengers, now about $5 per roundtrip, and the repeal of some existing airline ticket taxes with "direct user charges," which would be imposed directly on airlines and other aircraft operators.

House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) questioned the need to shift from excise taxes to user fees.

The spending plan provides scant additional details on what kind of increases or overall amounts the administration has in mind for either fee proposal. But the budget does note that the current security fee "only captures 36% of the cost of aviation security."

By increasing the security fee, the administration says it can raise enough money to "cover a majority of the estimated costs of passenger and baggage screening."

Kate Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org, said, "It?s going to be a tough pill to swallow for airline passengers to have to pay nearly three times more money to be treated as callously as they are by TSA."

The Air Transport Association said it would oppose any security fee increase, as it has done in previous administrations. The ATA said it is the government?s responsibility to fund and operate security procedures.

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives also opposed the security-fee increase.

"The Obama administration is attempting to fund the lion?s share of airport security through a user tax, primarily paid by corporations commissioning business travel or leisure travelers spending limited personal funds for a vacation," said ACTE Executive Director Susan Gurley.

"When terrorists or other criminals target an airliner or an airport, they are not attacking an industry nor a user group, but the nation," said Gurley. "The nation has an obligation to protect itself and this asset. Airport security should be paid for from the general tax fund."

If the government?s looking for a new funding font for security costs, Gurley suggested using the $400 million slated to build and $200 million to furnish the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security headquarters.

It?s a bit more complicated than that, said Vaughn Cordle of AirlineForecasts.

The way the Obama budget is structured ? in concert with the administration?s economic stimulus package ? the funding gap between the operational needs of the different departments, such as transportation and federal money sources, will widen and deepen as the next decade starts, Cordle said.

At the same time, he said, Obama will be looking for ways to reduce the deficit.

"The airline industry could look like a cash cow with higher taxes and fees," he said. At that point, he added, "Fares will have to go up and the industry will need to shrink even more."

His advice to fill in that financial gap: Downsize the air traffic control workforce, which would be one of the benefits of the system?s modernization.

A bipartisan group of senators predicted last week that Congress was ready to pass legislation to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba.

Removing the travel ban would produce a burst of tourism, create thousands of jobs and generate as much as $1.6 billion in business a year, an independent research group said.

Recent Senate news conferences reflect new attempts to lift the travel ban, a key part of the U.S. trade embargo imposed after Fidel Castro took power in Havana in 1959. The broader trade embargo would remain in place.

Sponsors said the bill would free Americans to travel to the one place in the world they can't go and encourage Cubans to push for democratic reforms by exposing them to new people and information.

"Punishing the American people in our effort to somehow deal a blow to the Castro government has not made any sense at all," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.). "At long last, this policy, which has been in place for 50 years and has not worked, will finally be removed."

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) strongly opposes the measure. He warned that flooding Cuba with tourists and dollars would only sustain the Castro regime.

"Having tourists on Cuban beaches is not going to change the equation of how to create the opportunity for democratic institutions in Cuba," Martinez said. "It's only going to enrich those who are oppressing the Cuban people and provide them with more economic means with which to do that."

Dorgan and fellow sponsors sense an opportunity to change U.S. policy now that President Obama has replaced George W. Bush in the White House and Castro has turned power over to his brother, Raul Castro.

Obama has ordered a review of U.S. policy on Cuba and last month loosened restrictions to let Cuban Americans visit relatives. Journalists can travel to Cuba, as can people on humanitarian missions. Rules recently expanded by the U.S. now permit Cuban-Americans to visit family members in Cuba once a year, to spend up to $170 a day while there and to send money to family members in Cuba.

On one side of the debate in Congress are liberal Democrats, Republican free-traders and farm-state members of both parties who seek a wider market for food sales.

Unfettered travel would make it easier to sell more products, they contend. They are backed by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Senate sponsors include Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.). House sponsors include Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).

On the other side are Cuban Americans and conservatives, who remain alarmed by a communist island 90 miles from the Florida Keys.

If travel limits were lifted, about 3 million Americans would visit Cuba each year, according to a 2002 study by the Brattle Group, economic consultants in Washington.

The increase in air travel, cruises and a ripple effect through the travel industry would produce $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion a year, the group estimated, creating as many as 23,000 jobs.

Martinez accused the Chamber of Commerce and business interests of seeking profits at the expense of freedom and democracy.

"They are not acting from a moral standpoint," he said. "They are simply acting from an economic advantage standpoint."

The number of travelers boarding U.S. airliners will plunge 7.8% in 2009, a drop matched only in the year following the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, according to a U.S. government forecast out Tuesday.

The short-term forecast is downbeat for virtually every segment of the aviation business, the Federal Aviation Administration predicted. Major airlines are expected to bear the brunt of the decline, with a projected 8.8% drop that would return them to passenger levels last seen in 1995.

Regional airlines will see business drop 4.5%, taking them back to volumes they had four or five years ago, while air cargo is expected to slide 2.8%.

Travelers might initially benefit from low prices, industry insiders say. But those hoping to find plenty of vacant seats, easy flight availability and long-term bargains will be disappointed, they say. Airlines fighting to survive are cutting low-revenue flights, filling planes to capacity and eventually will increase rates.

This year's FAA forecast reflects the broader economic downturn. It's a marked departure from previous forecasts, which bullishly predicted that airline growth would stay steady even in the face of then-increasing fuel prices and economic uncertainty.

In 2008, the FAA predicted the number of airline passengers would surpass the 1 billion-per-year mark in 2016. Now that landmark won't be reached until 2021, five years later, the FAA said.

"I think business travel is down," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "I think leisure travel is down, and I think people are just deciding if they don't need to fly... if they can drive, that will be the alternative. But it's all as a result of a very lousy economy that all of us are facing."

Industry analysts agree with FAA predictions of a terrible 2009 -- but differ with the agency's projection that a turnaround is only a year away, and that passenger levels will rise a steady 2% to 3% per year through 2025.

"I don't believe it for a minute," said airline consultant Darryl Jenkins. "Consumers are very, very worried right now. Everybody I know is pulling back on our purchases, and until we're really sure of what the future is, and that's not this year, I think most people are going to be very reticent about spending money."

And Paul Ruden, of the American Society of Travel Agents, said airlines "are going to be very conservative."

"You're going to see no growth this year," Ruden said. "You're going to see no growth next year whatsoever. It's going to be bad. There's no way around it. You're not going to see a lot of empty airplanes. The airlines have gotten smart about this."

Passengers will notice "fewer opportunities to get from A to B. In places where there were eight round trips, there might only be six," he said.

Secure Flight Program
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued its "Final Rule on Secure Flight" which shifts pre-departure watch list matching responsibilities from individual airlines to the (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Under the new Secure Flight Rule, the TSA mandates that air carriers request passengers to provide specific information and that it is added to their reservations. The required information is known as Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) and is listed below.

• Itinerary
• Full Name that matches a non-expired government issued identification document
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• Known Traveler Number
• Redress Number (if one exists)

• April 1, 2009 Air Carriers must have ability to collect Full Name data.
• May 15, 2009 Air Carriers must have ability to send the Full Name data and Passenger's itinerary to the DHS.
• August 15, 2009 Air Carriers must have ability to collect, store, gather and send to DHS complete SFPD elements for domestic flights.
• October 31, 2009 Air Carriers must have ability to collect, store, gather and send to DHS complete SFPD elements for international flights.

Airlines are failing to adequately compensate passengers for lost and missing bags, according to industry rights group the Air Transport Users Council (AUC).

The AUC says many passengers are left "out of pocket" because there's no financial or legal imperative for airlines to offer a decent payout. "It's easy for an airline to try to get rid of a passenger with a small settlement which is what we're finding they're doing," said James Fremantle, AUC Industry Affairs Manager.

The latest industry figures show 42 million bags went missing worldwide in 2007. Of those, 1.2 million were never returned.

Passengers whose bags have gone missing are entitled to maximum of 1,000 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), or around $1,500, to cover emergency expenses and any damage caused.

The limit is set by the Montreal Convention which governs airlines' liability for passengers and their baggage. The AUC says it has received more than 2,000 written complaints since the Convention was introduced in 2004.

"I don't think it needs to change," Fremantle told CNN. "I think what needs to change is the airlines' interpretation of it."

The AUC has named low-cost carriers as the worst offenders; Ireland's Ryanair offers passengers just $21 a day to cover emergency expenses.

Full-service carriers have a better record when it comes to payouts, but even then, the AUC believes they should do more.

"We think $28 to $42 a day is a fair amount to compensate passengers if their bag is delayed," Fremantle said.

Case studies presented by the AUC include one passenger who claimed $1,570 for a lost bag but didn't have the receipts to back up her claim. She received $111.10 compensation.

"It's impractical to expect everyone to have a receipt for all their belongings and it's something they've got from insurers," Fremantle said. "We think airlines and insurers are different because it's the airline that's actually lost the bag so they should take responsibility."

The AUC concedes neither it, nor any other body, has the power to force the airlines to change.

However, it's encouraging passengers who think they have a good case to pursue the relevant airline in the small claims court.

The AUC says while passengers can't prevent their bags from going missing, there are a few things they can do to be prepared.