Congress urged to review airlines
The last time Congress convened a panel to look into competition and antitrust issues in the airline industry, carriers TWA, Northwest Airlines and America West were still operating.
That was more than 20 years ago, and a coalition of travel organizations thinks it’s about time for another review, especially because mergers and bankruptcies have put control of more than 70% of domestic travel in the U. S. in the hands of four major carriers.
“The time has come to reexamine the state of competition in the U. S. domestic and international air travel marketplace,” says a letter to four key members of Congress from a coalition that represents online travel agents, hotel operators and airport managers, among others.
The group complains that f liers have fewer choices at some hub airports and service has been cut to many smaller airports.
Delta Air Lines, for example, carries about 74% of all passengers out of Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Southwest Airlines f lies 95% of passengers out of Chicago Midway International Airport, federal data show.
At Memphis International Airport, the number of f light departures has dropped by almost half in the last eight years, according to federal statistics.
Airlines say there is no need for a congressional study because fares are low and airlines are investing heavily in new planes and remodeled terminals, primarily because of cheap fuel costs and high demand for f lights.
“The fact that demand is strong shows that passengers are making the connection between a healthy airline industry and a better f lying experience,” said Vaughn Jennings, a spokesman for Airlines for America, the trade group for the nation’s airlines.
United is revising its early- boarding policy
Four years ago, United Airlines told families with small children that they had to wait to board like everyone else.
But the Chicago- based carrier is reversing that boarding policy. Starting Feb. 15, families with chil- dren age 2 or younger can board before other passengers, except for those with disabilities and activeduty members of the military in uniform.
The change brings United in line with most major airlines that have already adopted a family- boar-dearly policy.
The airline says it made the change because letting families pre- board was a top recommendation that came out of an October survey of employees and passengers.
But Seth Kaplan, managing partner at the trade publication Airline Weekly, noted that airlines often test new boarding policies to try to find the fastest way to load a cabin without upsetting too many f liers.
“They are constantly coming to different conclusions when trying to balance between being efficient and making people happy,” he said.
Delta apologizes for f light attendants’ f ight
Delta Air Lines has issued an apology over a fracas that broke out on a f light between Los Angeles and Minneapolis last month.
The apology was appropriate because the two combatants were f light attendants and the scrum forced the pilot to land in Salt Lake City to quell the tussle.
“Some of our team members did not display their best behavior,” Delta said in a statement after the incident. “We expect our f light crew to be nothing but courteous and professional at all times and what you experienced was far from that.”
To make it up to passengers on the diverted f light, Delta gave loyalty reward members extra miles and handed out travel vouchers to everyone else. The airline wouldn’t say if the employees were disciplined.
This was not the f irst clash between f light attendants.
Back in 2010, a regional carrier for Delta canceled a f light from Rochester, N. Y., to Atlanta when two f light attendants began to brawl. A Rochester television station quoted a passenger who said the f light attendants “got into a fistfight on the plane. The pilot decided to kick everyone off the plane.”