Wall Street Stands In Way of Airline Capacity Increase

When Southwest Airlines announced last week plans for increasing seat capacity starting November, Wall Street analysts and investors were very quick in taking the entire airline sector to the shed.  All airline stocks lost 2-3% when the announcement was made, as analysts were "concerned" about empty seats.
This misguided notion disregards the reality that airlines have been cutting capacity across the board for the past four years and a mere increase of 7% by one airline does not spell the doom of an entire industry.

There are many under-served airports and regions in the country that have seen high growth rates since the 2008 recession.  Airports like Austin and Dallas, along with many west coast cities have experienced double-digit growth on an annual basis.  Yet, airline service has decreased over the past few years.  The capacity increase announced by Southwest should be viewed as a healthy sign of demand not dilution by Wall Street, the investors and the "expert analysts".

www.premieretravel.com

TSA Failure Rate: 95%

Investigators were able to smuggle  banned (fake) weapons showing a high rate of failure in TSA screening at the nation's busiest airports.

The breaches and lapses from the investigation resulted in the "reassignment" of Melvin Carraway, the acting administrator.

The silver lining and  one thing perhaps worth noting was that TSA agents were good at barking orders better than 95% of the time.www.premieretravel.com

Flying Somewhere? Your Checked Baggage May Not Be On Your Flight

The first text notification you might receive upon  arrival at your destination may be from your carrier advising you that your bag may have been put on an earlier flight or a later flight.

This is one of many examples of airlines' notifications to passengers, which include among other things flight delays, change of gates, missed connections and protection.
It is highly recommended that passengers provide airlines and/or their travel management companies their mobile phone numbers for better service. www.premieretravel.com

Airline "Misery Index" Hits an All-Time High

Airlines promised better service and cheaper fares to get their mergers approved.  After USAirways and American were the latest pair to tie the knot, passengers' frustration with airlines and the travel experience hit another high.  In every category, airlines fared worse than years before:

• On-time arrivals dropped 2 percent;
• A slight increase in the percentage of passengers bumped from flights;
• Mishandled baggage climbed 11 percent.

The good news? Airlines like United climbed from #12 (last year) to #9 overall.  Part of the reason is there are less airlines to rate because of mergers. www.premieretravel.com

Searching for Answers....

Airlines' Waivers and Flexibility Not So Flexible

The 2015 winter has been brutal for the Northeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and even the south.  When flights are cancelled or delayed, the effect cascades throughout the system and airlines have to react.
While we all know this is not easy for anyone, the tight capacity and limited options can wreak havoc for days even when the weather improves.  Airlines have very limited slack and changes cannot easily be made.  So who loses? The traveler is always the number 1 loser in these events.  Airlines grant "waivers" and "flexibility", but when you are going to a specific event on a certain day and you hold a non-refundable ticket, this flexibility does not mean much.

Here's an excerpt of one airline's policy:
Due to weather in the Eastern U.S., XYZ Airlines offers the following flexibility options to ticketed customers whose travel may be impacted by this event. Customers ticketed to travel , departing from the affected airports  may change flights
On the following dates: February 16, 2015 - February 17, 2015
And your ticket was issued no later than: February 15, 2015
You may travel: February 16, 2015 - February 20, 2015
Original inventory required? No
Origin/Destination/Stopover Changes allowed? No
The ticket reissue charge will be waived for one ticket change.
To change travel dates, contact our Reservations personnel at 1-800-XXX-XXXX within the United States or Canada.

As you see from above, the flexibility offers the same dates that flights are cancelled (February 16 and 17), and only allows 3 additional days to make the trip.  Problem #1, you may no longer have the need to travel.  Problem #2, if you do travel, you have to compete with other passengers on what looks like already oversold flights in a very tight window.  Problem #3, if you choose not to travel or cannot find seats, you will have to pay a penalty for using your ticket on a future flight.

U.S. Legacy Carriers Launch Offensive Against Gulf Carriers

A multi-pronged attack was launched by United, Delta and American on Qatar, Emirates and Etihad claiming that Gulf carriers compete unfairly as they receive direct and indirect subsidies from their governments.  The offensive includes robust lobbying and an attack on the "Open Skies" treaties that the three U.S. carriers championed for the longest time.  Now that the three U.S. carriers have already received approvals for anti-trust immunity by joint venturing with their foreign carrier partners, competition, which was the unintended result, is no longer convenient.  U.S. Carriers want the U.S. to impose restrictions and modify treaties to "level the playing field". www.premieretravel.com