Archive for the ‘Airline News’ Category

Fall is the time when you just might find a few empty seats on planes.

SIGH OF RELIEF. Ah, fall! If the madding crowds of tourists have knocked you around this summer, relief is on the way. Over the next few weeks, packed planes, sold out hotels, lines at the breakfast bar and shrieks and squeals in the hotel pool area should subside. Airlines and hotels are already rolling out the fall deals and discounts, which is a signal to me that they’re a little skittish about declining demand. That means lower prices, more deals and some welcome breathing room for travelers.

Delta's new 747 BizElite seat

NEW BIZ ELITE SEATS AT DELTA. Delta announced that it will introduce yet another version of BusinessElite when it re-vamps interiors on it’s fleet of Boeing 747 starting next year. (I don’t know about you, but I get excited every time I see a big ole Delta 747. There’s just something about that plane that makes me feel great about flying!) Anyway, the new seat appears to be a cross between Delta’s herringbone BizElite pattern on its 777’s and the boxier 1-2-1 configuration on its 767’s and 757’s. Can’t wait to hear what TICKET readers think once the seat’s installed— but it won’t be here until next summer. In the meantime, if you ride on a Delta 747, you’ll get an old Northwest recliner in business class. (More photos here)

TRIPLE A+ CREDITS ON AIRTRAN. Buy a round trip between now and September 6 and you’ll earn triple A+ Rewards credits on AirTran. This means you’ll earn six A+ Rewards credits for every nonstop round trip originating in Atlanta and flown by November 17, 2010, instead of the standard two A+ credits. (PLEASE buy your ticket via links from here on The TICKET! Look down or to the right!>>)

$800+ ATL-NEWARK? Guess what’s happened since AirTran left the ATL-Newark market in the hands of Delta and Continental? Midweek trips ATL to EWR are now $800+! Stay over a weekend, or fly to La Guardia (where they compete with AirTran and American) and you’ll pay only $200-$300. Amazing! Check for yourself. (Below is a screenshot from a mid-October, Monday-Wednesday itinerary.) Make us wonder what will happen to ATL-Miami nonstop fares when AirTran exits that market on Oct 7. We’ll see….

COMP UPGRADES FOR SOME. SkyMiles Gold, Platinum and Diamond Medallion members (sorry, Silvers!) are now eligible for complimentary upgrades when traveling on frequent flyer award tickets. (Keep in mind that those who’ve actually paid for tickets get first priority, so it’s probably going to be tough to get at upgrade to/from ATL…but you never know…)

NEW WAY TO PAY AT ATL. The West economy lot has always been my favorite place to park at ATL. For a while there, it was almost a secret. But that cat got out of the bag long ago. Anyway…the airport is experimenting with a new credit card in/out payment system at the West lot. It’s a fully automated system where you enter the same credit card when you arrive and when you exit the lot—no need to collect and keep track of a paper ticket anymore. Expect to see the new system roll out airport wide sometime next year.

Delta's iconic, but dilapidated Worldport at JFK will soon disappear

DELTA TO DEMOLISH JFK WORLDPORT. Most ATL-based fliers only use JFK as a last resort— and for good reason. Delta’s dilapidated, ex-Pan Am Worldport facility there is a disgrace.  Good news: it will soon be demolished and Delta will move international flights to an updated Terminal 4. Not so good news: Delta’s holding on to its mediocre Terminal 2 for domestic flights. The two terminals will be connected by a very long enclosed walkway. (Note: Your TICKET editor arrived at JFK at Terminal 4 last week and found the immigration and customs process and facilities outstanding—truly set to international standards.)

FREE WI-FI ACROSS THE BAY. San Francisco International has finally joined Oakland and San Jose airports offering FREE Wi-Fi throughout the airport. Log on and look for the “sfo free wifi” network.

(Many of these items come from my Twitter feed. You’ll get more frequent updates by following me on Twitter.)

ICELAND ANYONE? Delta adds new 757 nonstops JFK-Reykjavik Iceland starting June 1, 2011. This is a great SkyMiles redemption idea! I’ve always wanted to go there…and hope that they can keep the volcanoes at bay until I do!

AIRTRAN EXITS QUAD CITIES. AirTran will eliminate nonstops between ATL and Quad Cities/Moline on November 30.

BUY ELITE SEATS. No longer an elite level on American Airlines? Now you can buy many elite privileges per flight with its new “Express Seats” plan. Example: Pay $29 extra when you check in for ATL-DFW and you’ll get a coach seat near the front and early boarding. Details. Worth it?

AIRTRAN UPS BAG FEE. Starting this month, AirTran will now charge $20 for the first checked bag, up from $15. Not such great news for travelers, but it’s good news for AirTran— the higher fee is expected to net the carrier an additional $63 million per year!

(photo: Riptheskull / Flickr)

HOLIDAYS ALREADY? Yep. Time to pull out the calendar and make those reservations. Based on previous peak seasons, we expect the lowest Thanksgiving fares on Monday, Nov 22 and Friday, Nov 26. You’ll get the lowest Christmas fares on Tuesday, Dec 21 and Tuesday, Dec 28. Other days around the holidays are going to be expensive this year, so don’t lolly-gag– when you see a fare that seems fair, book it!

GETTING TOUCH-FEELY. Most travelers know by now that they can opt for a pat down instead of going through those new full-body scanners. Now the TSA says that it’s “enhancing” the procedure to allow screeners to use their hands where they previously used just the backs of their hands. Sounds fun! Details

DELTA IS HIRING. Delta recently said that it’s hiring up to 1000 new workers to help cope with near record loads and it’s rapid expansion.

GOOD GRUB HUB. Sometimes I get tired of all the fancy meals on the road and long for a good, simple, cheap meal. The new Taxi Gourmet blog helps me do just that: the blogger interviews taxi drivers in NYC and elsewhere to get the skinny on good local eats.

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Last week I attended the National Business Travel Association convention and exposition in Houston, Texas. This is an annual gathering of about 6000 corporate travel buyers and sellers.

I attended the same conference last summer in San Diego, where the mood was a lot different. Last year, attendees were searching for ways to deal with “the new normal,” pondering which airline or hotel chain would file for bankruptcy next, and wondering if they’d still have their jobs and be back again for this year’s conference.

Check out my two-minute video from the trade show floor in Houston last week to learn how eight business insiders responded when I asked if business travel was back. Their answer was crystal clear.

At the conference, American Express released some statistics that back up the optimism you’ll see in my video. It reports that global business travel spending contracted 9 percent last year. But this year, it’s expected to grow 6 percent (for a total of $895 billion!); next year it will increase 8 percent, and then 9 percent in 2013.

How would YOU respond if I asked you the same question? Have you noticed much change from last year when it comes to your inclination to hit the roads and skies this year? Please leave your comments below.

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AIRTRAN AND DELTA REPORT PROFITS. The two largest carriers at ATL reported second quarter profits, which is great news for the ailing airline business. But it’s not such great news for travelers who are paying substantially more than they were this time last year. For example, AirTran says that its average one-way fare in the second quarter increased 10 percent to $97. Overall, summer airfares are 24 percent higher than last summer according to Bing Travel.

FEES HERE TO STAY. Airline revenue from ancillary fees totaled $7.8 billion in 2009, a 42 percent increase from 2008. That fat number includes $2.7 billion in checked bag fees, $2.4 billion from reservation change fees and $2.7 billion from miscellaneous fees. Delta alone raked in  $1.6 billion from ancillary charges in 2009.

MORE AIRPORT PERKS FOR AMEX PLATS. If you fork over $450 per year for your American Express Platinum card, your benefits just got better– cardholders now get access to US Airways airport clubs, as well as those from American, Delta and Continental airlines.

DELTA BEEFS UP IN NYC & DC. Stung by the feds disapproval of its slot-swap scheme with US Airways, Delta is nonetheless charging forward toward its goal of “dominating the New York market.” Beginning Sept. 7 it planes to add flights from New York (either LaGuardia or JFK) to  Nashville, St. Louis, Norfolk, Richmond,  Kansas City, San Antonio, Cleveland, Charlotte, Orange County, Baltimore, Montreal and Toronto. More details. And don’t forget that Delta recently expanded its Delta Shuttle operation with 11 new daily flights (and fat mileage bonuses) between New York-LaGuardia and Chicago O’Hare. Delta’s also expanding at Washington Reagan National airport with a total of 22 destinations served, up from the current 16.

GET DELTA HELP VIA TWITTER. If you are one of those whose eyes glaze over at the mention of Twitter, consider this: Delta has wrangled a team of social media and customer service reps to try and solve problems via Twitter. Delta asks that users to “tweet your questions, comments, concerns, praise – we love praise ; ) – etc. to @DeltaAssist.” And as long as you are on Twitter, be sure to follow my updates! @cjmcginnis

TIRED OF BAD COFFEE IN THE SKY OR ON THE ROAD? Our new sponsor Starbucks VIA plans to help out good-coffee-starved TICKET readers with an exclusive giveaway in a coming issue. Stay tuned!

Virgin America A320 Interior (Photo: Crucially / Flickr)

VIRGIN AMERICA TO ATLANTA? Don’t get your hopes up yet, but sassy California startup Virgin America just picked up 40 new Airbus jets at the Farnborough Air Show and is looking to expand to several major business travel markets over the next year. For example, it just announced new flights between SFO, LAX and Orlando. “Atlanta is definitely on our prospective cities list,” said Virgin spokesperson Abby Lunardini when contacted by The TICKET. If Virgin jumped into the Atlanta market, it would likely add flights to both San Francisco AND Los Angeles (LAX) where it operates nearly as many flights as it does at its home base at SFO. Would YOU fly Virgin America if it came to Atlanta, or would you stick with Delta and/or AirTran? LET US KNOW! Leave your comments below.

APPLE TO THE RESCUE. There’s a very helpful new iPhone application from the TSA that allows users to check airport security wait times and flight delays in real time.

FREAKISH FEES? While Congress and the airlines battle it out on Capitol Hill over new fees and transparency, the smart folks over at TripAdvisor have fashioned a very helpful “fees estimator” to its search engine– allowing users to enter the number of bags they plan to check as well as their frequent flyer program affiliation and status. Then the site calculates the TOTAL fee you’d pay and presents it for comparison on a matrix. Nice! See www.tripadvisor.com/flights and try it yourself.

AMERICAN BACK ON ATL-LGA. Earlier this month, American Airlines launched five daily roundtrips between ATL’s Concourse T and New York’s close-in La Guardia airport. It’s using smaller CRJ-700 “Barbie jets” on the route, but they all have first class sections, which helps. From now through September 30, AAdvantage members earn double miles. Register at www.aa.com/offers

HEATHROW EXPRESS DISCOUNTS. The fast and easy rail link between London’s Heathrow airport and Paddington station is half price (9 pounds instead of the normal 18) for groups of two or more through Sept 5. Details here.

EASIER SEAT SEARCHES. We love us some Seatguru.com when trying to pick the perfect seat for a long international or transcon flight. In the past it was tough because there are so many different configurations flying around out there. Seatguru’s solved that by letting you enter your airline flight NUMBER first, which means you’ll always see the exact layout of your flight.

THE TICKET GOES TO NBTA. Your TICKET editor will be hitting the tradeshow floor and checking out all the latest news and trends at the annual National Business Travel Association convention in Houston this August. Stay tuned for reports and videos! Interesting: I booked a standard car from Enterprise for three days in Houston via Hotwire for just $104 all in. Not bad, considering Hertz wanted a whopping $375 for the same car class!

RADICAL DESIGNS ON COACH CLASS. Check out this well done CNN video report on Air New Zealand’s radical designs on coach class seating for long haul flights.

WATCH THOSE VALUABLES. A 47-year-old Air France flight attendant is facing 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to stealing from business class passengers sleeping on long haul flights. She targeted passengers who would fall asleep after a big meal with lots of alcohol.

AIRTRAN TO THE D.R. AirTran will fly to another warm-weather destination, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, starting February 16. Punta Cana is closer to the D.R.’s increasingly popular all-inclusive resorts and is easier to navigate than Santo Domingo, the capital. And in case you are geographically challenged, the D.R. shares the island if Hispaniola with Haiti. It’s located between Cuba (to the west) and Puerto Rico (to the east). It’s AirTran’s fifth Caribbean destination. No word yet on fares.

NEW AIRPORT IN INDIA. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport just opened Terminal 3, a much needed 6.4 million square foot addition that includes 78 gates and 168 check in counters.

Delhi's new Terminal 3 welcomes travelers this week. (Photo: AP)

DELTA + GOL. Delta and Brazil’s GOL Airlines have linked the SkyMiles and SMILES programs allowing members to earn miles on both carriers. Redemptions are expected later this year.

SADNESS OF THE SILVERS. We received quite a lot of responses to our post about Silver status with SkyMiles. Check them out here—by far the longest list of comments we’ve EVER seen on The TICKET.

DOUBLES AT HILTON. HHonors members earn double points OR double airline miles for each stay between now and September 30, but you must register first.  (As always with Hilton, you earn both airline miles and HHonors points at qualifying rates, but in the case of this promo, you must choose which one you want to earn the bonus.)

VACATION BARGAINS? If you are still wondering where you’d like to go for a summer break, consider Florida where hotel prices have crashed due to the oil spill, even though most beaches remain unaffected. Expedia reports that average daily rates crashed nearly 30 percent in popular summer destinations such as Miami, the Florida Keys, Ft Lauderdale and New Orleans. On the other hand, don’t expect the place to be deserted. Smith Travel Research reports that hotel occupancy in the region was up 7 percent in June year-over-year and will be up around 4 percent in July.

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Singapore Air's business class "seat" looks more like a sofa!

Remember last year when everyone thought that no one would fly in the front of the plane again…forever? Times they are a changin’! And for the better if you are a frequent international business traveler.

Check out what American Express found when looking at its first quarter data:

Historically there has been close to an even split of passengers flying businesses class versus economy for International travel.  However during the heart of the recession last year – particularly in the second quarter of 2009 – the percentage of tickets booked in business class hit its lowest rate at 36%.  As the trending now shows, percentage rates are on the rise, indicating travelers are moving back to the front of the plane.

>  Q1 2010 International Business Class – 41%

>  Q1 2009 International Business Class – 39%

>  Q1 2008 International Business Class – 51%

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Photo: Stenz / Flickr

Ever since Delta announced its new “Sky Priority” recognition program (for gold, platinum and diamond members of SkyMiles), I’ve been hearing from long-time silver medallion status members complaining about their rank at the bottom of the medallion totem poll.

But really now, has something changed? Or is it perception and a nagging inferiority complex on the part of silvers? We’ve got both sides of the story (a reader letter and a response from a Delta exec) so let’s take a look:

Speaking for many, TICKET reader “Nancy” submitted the following, which we forwarded to the head of Delta’s SkyMiles program, Jeff Robertson, requesting a response:

Dear Chris:

Last year, my company cut back travel substantially (and is doing so again this year).  I missed Gold by about a thousand miles — silly me, I should have flown somewhere on my own to have gotten to Gold.  So I’m Silver Medallion now and feeling the pain.  I’m a Million Miler with Delta and purchased the Sky Club membership for 3 years, but now due to Sky Priority and the new signage, I can’t go through the dedicated security lines (they removed club membership as a qualifier).

Photo: M. Fullmer

I’ve never felt so under-appreciated until I read the CEO’s article in Sky Magazine this month.  He states, “Delta continues to take steps to offer our MOST VALUABLE customers added travel conveniences.  To this end, we recently launched Sky Priority, …” (emphasis mine) So as a Million Miler, I’m not considered one of the “most valuable” customers — though my loyalty is indicated by how I’ve consistently flown Delta for years and I’ve been Platinum for many of those years.

I understand Delta needs to influence their customer base to fly more now and the past is the past, but I think there is some recognition due to those who’ve reached milestones with Delta that demonstrate strong customer loyalty.  For example, simply indicating the MM [Million Miler] status on the ticket and providing a few free drink coupons now and then would be a nice gesture.

Thankfully, due to the Rollover Miles feature, I’m close to achieving Gold status.  That was a nice addition to the program.

Thanks for giving a forum to share our thoughts.

Delta's Jeff Robertson

Here’s what we heard back from Jeff Robertson:

Thanks for the note.  Are these customers being specific as to what benefit has been taken away?  I’m confused.  We did add incremental benefits referred to as SkyPriority for our highest tiers (Diamond, Platinum and Gold) that includes the highest boarding priority, priority baggage, security access and a better phone line, but Silvers had no takeaways or changes to their existing benefits and never had access to priority baggage, these new phone lines or preferred security access.

I want to answer, but I guess I’m not sure what the takeaway is?  When a customer hits a Million Mile threshold, they are awarded with lifetime elite status at various levels and generally a set of Hartmann luggage.  That hasn’t changed, nor has the gifting of Silver elite status to these 1M miler levels.

–Jeff

So Silvers, to warp a phrase from Janet Jackson: What has Delta NOT done for you lately? Is there a specific take-away you can point to as a reason for all the scorn? Please leave your comments by clicking on the COMMENTS tab below.

Here are a few snippets from other slighted silvers:

• I actually saw this Sky Priority “thing” in action this past Wednesday in Boston, when all Gold, Platinum, Diamond, SkyTeam Elite Plus, and Business/First Class passengers formed a long line to pre-board.  The Silver Medallion members, of course, waited until all these important people boarded and then were allowed to board. –JL
• I have been Gold/Silver for over 15 years. Last year, I only flew 23k miles. I thought that the carryover would get me back into at least Silver, but after re-reading the rules, the carryover is only after you reach a medallion level. So now it’s to the back of the bus. Now that I’m starting to travel again, it sucks. —WL
• Silver level is now practically worthless since Diamond and partners were added to priority boarding, one does not board with other Medallions and is lucky to be in Zone 2. Sometimes SILVER status isn’t even mentioned… –DC
• Yes, it would suck to be a Silver Medallion, Especially in Atlanta.  You have to put up with all of the uppity Diamonds, like me! –PB
• Due to travel cutbacks related to the economy, I went from Gold to Silver to No Medallion status at Delta. Apparently, having maintained either Gold or Silver for the past 15 years means nothing to Delta.  Compare that to Marriott.  I went from Gold to Silver.  Their response:  An upgrade back to Gold!   My response:  All of my hotel stays this year have been at Marriott properties. — EH
• Last year, as a Silver Medallion, you called 800 325 6330. You put in your Medallion number. Within 2 to 3 minutes, you got “Special Member Services”. I’ve booked/called 5x times this year. I’ve waited MORE THAN 30 MINUTES on the weekend. And then when I ask is this the “silver medallion’ line, they say ‘no’. –JT
• Not only am I silver medallion for over 14 years running, with some years making gold o platinum I’m a million miler as well. What does this get me? Nada. I have to board with everybody else. Hmmm, silver translates to so what suckers.—Ivan
• I’m a million miler and silver medallion for life…A few weeks ago I entered the premium security line with my Platinum AMEX card (not platinum Skymiles). This card allows you free entry into the Crown Rooms, Continental’s clubs and American’s clubs and usually was good enough for entry into the premium security line given that club room members can use this line as well. Delta’s agent very nastily informed me it was no good to them any longer. RJS
• Delta makes those of us who start at Silver Medallion earn it all over again (yes 25k) every year before they will use our miles to advance to Gold status. They also do not carry over these miles to the next year for us to use to advance our status. –RJC

Please add your comments by clicking on the COMMENTS tab below.

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A Delta Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ700) Photo: Kevin Boydston / Flickr

Delta Air Lines plans to make First Class service available on all domestic flights longer than 750 miles, or about two and one-half hours of flight time, beginning this fall.

Delta says, “The enhancement means Delta customers can enjoy the benefits of First Class service on more domestic flights, and SkyMiles members will have more opportunities for upgrades to First Class seating. With its June schedule, Delta already leads the industry in availability of first-class seating, with 11 percent of the carrier’s domestic seats in First or Business class.”

This will add two-class service to 50 more of these longer routes where Delta only offers coach class service on these so-called Barbie Jets (its fleet of smaller, thinner Delta Connection CRJ700s).

The following routes from ATL are scheduled for the upgrade:

Here’s the full release from Delta.

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NOTE: In the June issue, we’ve got SEVEN different posts– please be sure to scroll through all of them! And click on the “COMMENTS” link at the bottom of each post to let us know what you are thinking.

• Airline News
• Delta News
• AirTran News
• ATL Airport News
• The TASTE of the TICKET
• Summer Travel Tips
• Special post about winners of of 4 business class tickets

Happy Reading!

–Chris McGinnis

FARE SALES. FARE SCHMALES. Don’t be fooled by fancy marketing techniques…while airlines continue to churn out and promote summer fare “sales,” have you actually checked out the fares? For summer travel at convenient times, fares are getting much higher than we’ve paid in recent years—especially if you are trying to fly from ATL non-stop on a route not served by AirTran or another low-fare carrier. The only other way to save money during peak summer travel season (roughly June 20-Aug-20) is to take one-stop flights, or early morning or late night flights. Many of the decent fares are gone for convenient morning and afternoon flights favored by business travelers. Advice: If you see a fare that feels right, go ahead and buy it because fares are not coming down any time soon. Silver lining? Hotel rates are at about the same very low level they were last summer. Car rental rates have come down, too. And gas is expected to remain at about $3 per gallon on average all summer.

FARE EXAMPLES: Roundtrip fares between ATL and Europe during July and August are already well over $1200 and moving higher, fast. The cheapest nonstops to Portland, OR are now $600 roundtrip. Nashville nonstops are now over $400. El Paso, TX, $500 round trip. Jackson, WY, $420. More competitive business travel routes are still reasonable for July flights, but the lowest fares are found on slow days or inconvenient times: for example, you can still fly to Boston or Denver for about $250 round trip. July roundtrip flights to San Francisco and LAX are in the $300 range. New York (LGA) and Chicago (ORD) are still relative bargains with fares dipping below $200 in some cases. Do you have any examples of freakishly high summer airfares? If so, click on the COMMENTS link below and LET US KNOW.

BIG GOVERNMENT ON YOUR SIDE? Even those frequent flyers who think we’ve got a socialist in the White House might appreciate the strong pro-consumer stance the administration has taken when it comes to airline abuses. Over the last week, it’s proposed more fair and sensible new rules for airlines to follow:

• Higher penalties paid to flyers who are involuntarily bumped from flights.
• A 24-hour grace period after purchasing a ticket in which you can get a full refund.
• Inclusion of all taxes and fees in airfare advertising.
• Refunding of checked baggage fees if bags are lost or late.

Earlier this year, the administration took a very tough stance on tarmac delays, imposing a new three-hour limit, which is forcing airlines to adopt new ground-handling procedures to avoid unusually stiff fines. Despite loud protests from the airline industry, the administration has not backed down. According to this ABCnews.com article by emerging travel-writing star Scott Mayerowitz, this new “get-tough” stance is in marked contrast to previous administrations that preferred to let airlines police themselves— something that clearly did not work. What do you think? Please click on the COMMENTS link below and LET US KNOW.

ITA SOFTWARE SEARCH. When it comes to searching for airfares, I’m a big fan of the meta-search sites like Kayak.com and Fly.com. But there’s another one that flies under the radar that’s even better called ITA Software. (It’s not heavily marketed and PR’d because it’s mostly a development site that provides the backbone for other search engines.) Anyway, it’s always been a little bit unwieldy, but they’ve come out with a much cleaner, easier matrix display interface that you should check out and use when you can. Overall, it seems to provide the most comprehensive list of available fares, and now has easy-to-use filters and charts to help you make a good decision. http://matrix2.itasoftware.com

BUH-BYE TO LIQUIDS BAN? In his recent MSNBC post colleague Chris Elliott surmised that the TSA has quietly stopped enforcing the ban on liquids and gels in carry-on bags. Based on a lot of frequent flying over the last six months, I’ve noticed the same thing…I never take my toilet kit out of my bag any more. I don’t separate 3-oz. toiletries and place them in the one liter plastic bag. And the TSA does not stop me. I was even in London last week and packed two 5 oz tubs of shaving cream in my carry on…and just carried on. What’s been your experience? Please click on the COMMENTS link below and LET US KNOW!

WATCH YOUR TICKET EDITOR CHRIS MCGINNIS on GOOD MORNING AMERICA talking about summer airfares. (Short but sweet!)

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ONE FEE DOWN. Many more to go… Finally, a little bit of good news when it comes to airline fees. Matching a recent move by United, Delta recently eliminated its irritating $75-$150 fee for award trips booked within 21 days of departure. It was one of those fees that you paid and thought, “Now wait a minute here…how can it possibly cost Delta more for me to book a trip inside that window?”  (In typical fashion the email from Delta said that it did this “based on customer feedback”…but to me it was clearly a competitive move as Delta sees the combined United/Continental breathing down its neck…)

ANOTHER FEE UP. At the same time that Delta nipped those fees for close-in award bookings, it RAISED its fee for changes to frequent flyer award itineraries—  to $150 from $100. Grrr.

SEATTLE: DELTA’S NEW PACIFIC HUB. Remember when you had to fly to Portland to get across the Pacific on Delta? That changed a while back, but the idea of a trans-Pac hub is back in vogue. Delta recently inaugurated new 767 nonstops between SEA and both Osaka and Beijing and plans on adding more destinations.

Express Tram, Detroit-DTW's McNamara Terminal (Photo: Afagen / Flickr)

DETROIT: ONE STOP TO ASIA. If you are trying to get to Asia from Atlanta on Delta (and you can’t get routed via Tokyo on that nice new 777 with lie-flat biz class seats), it’s increasingly likely you’ll be routed through Detroit where the carrier now offers nonstops to Seoul, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Good news: The international terminal the Delta inherited from Northwest at DTW is state-of-the-art and not a bad place to change planes at all. Plus, it’s got a really nice on-terminal Westin in case you get stuck there during a bad storm like your TICKET editor did last year.

DELTA/AMEX MEMBERSHIP REWARDS BONUS. Don’t forget that through June 30, American Express Membership Rewards members get a 25% bonus when converting their rewards points to Delta SkyMiles. Registration is required. (Note that Delta and Amex periodically offer this promo….offering anywhere from 15% to 40% bonuses. So no biggie if you miss it this time. It will be back.)

BAG FEE WAIVED. Delta recently announced that it’s waiving the first bag fee for those who charge tickets on Amex/SkyMiles Gold or Platinum credit cards. That’s a nice bone to throw to the masses angry about the new fees, and is especially appealing to families traveling together when those per bag fees really add up. A family of four checking four bags saves $200 round trip…more than enough to cover the annual fee for the card. Don’t think that Delta’s doing this out of generosity, though…insiders tell us that American Express is paying Delta the bag fees and charging it off as a marketing expense for obtaining new cardmembers. So I guess everyone wins!

MQM MILEAGE RUN ALERT:  DELTA SHUTTLE 3X. Delta’s pulling out the big marketing guns in its battle to win over flyers on the high-volume business route between New York and Chicago.  Here’s what I mean by big guns: It’s offering TRIPLE bonus miles AND triple Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM) on its hourly shuttle flights between La Guardia and O’Hare from June 14-August 31. Let’s see, that’s 733 miles times 3, round trip …a whopping 4398 MQM’s. Not bad! (These Embraer 175 flights operate from Delta’s Marine Air Terminal at LGA.) It’s also offering the triple miles on shuttle flights between BOS, LGA and Washington National. Registration required.

REDEEMING ON DELTA. Delta’s taken a lot of flack recently for placing dead last among major carriers when it comes to success when redeeming frequent flyer miles. (To be fair, the much-discussed study by ezRez/IdeaWorks took only a small snapshot, June-October 2010.) Since Delta, like other airlines, won’t come out and say how easy or difficult it is to redeem its miles, it’s interesting that Delta inserted the following paragraph into a recent press release: “Last year, frequent flyers redeemed more than 230 billion miles in the SkyMiles program for more than 11 million award redemptions.  In 2009, 8.5 percent of revenue miles flown on Delta were for award travel, among the best of U.S. network airlines according to data filed in airlines’ 10-K annual reports.  Delta offers more ways to redeem frequent flyer miles than any other airline – including airline tickets, mileage upgrades, car rentals, hotel stays, Delta Sky Club memberships, merchandise and more than 30 types of gift cards.” Agree or disagree? Is Delta really the worst when it comes to redeeming miles? What’s your experience? Do you have any comparisons? Please leave your comments below!

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BIG LINE AT THE MAIN AIRTRAN COUNTER? Then head over its recently remodeled and expanded secondary counter on the near north side of the MARTA station. The airport moved the WWII artifacts and history exhibits so AirTran has more room to operate its expanded ticket counter and kiosk operation.  And, celebrating its partnership with the Atlanta Falcons, the backwall is now a photo of its specially painted “Falcons 1″ in air.

EARLIER IS BETTER. AirTran’s made it a lot easier for business travelers to make day trips—out early in the morning and home in time for supper. Okay…home in time for the 11 o’clock news.. Anyway, flights to the following cities now depart in the 7 am hour – Boston, New York-LGA, Baltimore/Washington, Washington National, Orlando, Tampa, Dallas, Chicago-Midway and Fort Lauderdale.

SAVE 5 PERCENT ON ALL AIRTRAN FLIGHTS. Did you know that AirTran is now the only airline partner in the American Express OPEN Savings program? This means you get an automatic 5 percent discount on all AirTran flights purchased with the card. 5 percent is not huge, but it adds up over time if you’re flying a lot. Details:  http://www.airtran.com/opensavings/

AIRTRAN AND FRONTIER PART WAYS. On July 16, AirTran and Frontier will terminate their four-year old frequent flyer program partnership. That’s too bad for AirTran A+ members who redeem their miles for Frontier flights to western cities like Portland, OR where Frontier flies but AirTran does not. But AirTran officials tell The TICKET that this is a much bigger deal for Frontier’s EarlyReturns members because they were booking eight times as many AirTran flights as A+ members were booking on Frontier.

DRINK YOUR MILK. AirTran now serves milk – it offers NesQuik chocolate and regular milk for $2 onboard in coach (free in business class). AirTran tells The TICKET that good old milk’s been a much bigger hit than expected.

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As you may remember, The TICKET had a new reader promotion several months ago where we asked readers to introduce us to their social networks. With your help, the promotion brought us about 200 new readers! Those who participated were signed up for a sweepstakes drawing.

Do you remember the prize? We gave away FOUR free round trip business class tickets compliments of AirTran.

So without further ado, allow us to introduce the lucky winners! (I asked each to send us a little info about themselves to share with other TICKET readers.)

Clare Millians: Oh my gosh!  I am thrilled to win the contest.  I can’t believe I won.  You have made my day.  I am retired.  I was a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines and then worked as a corporate sales manager for The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead.  My husband and I decided it was time to travel, so off we went for 7 years.  We still travel, but mostly in the U.S. these days.   We are sneaking over to Vancouver later this month though.  I plan to use the prize to fly to SEA to see my niece and her family.    We love AirTran because of their prices, keeping the fares from ATL competitive and they don’t fly regional jets.  The service is very good and they are flexible with changing dates of travel.  I only wish they went to more places out of ATL.  We have only flown AirTran’s business class once from ATL to SEA and back and it was great.  I enjoy reading your column on a regular basis. (The photo was taken in Alesund, Norway last summer.  It is called, “the prettiest town in Norway”, and I have to agree.)

Ann Larson: This is awesome and I am delighted!! I am an Atlanta-based tour operator and am still jet lagging from dodging volcano ash- having returned yesterday from a fabulous AMA Waterways riverboat cruise/tour with 26 of my “Happy Campers” (travelers) doing the Danube River from Budapest to Prague and everything in between! What a great treat to win this. I will use my AirTran ticket to do a site inspection in the West for something special to put into my 2011 agenda of great tours!! I love and appreciate Air Tran– the best thing that has happened to Atlanta. I travel about 50,000 to 60,000 miles a year- much more in the past. (Photo  is from Mykonos, Greece.)

John Penninger: AWESOME!  You’re serious, right?  Where is Ed McMahon? That is so cool…Thank you so much…I feel like I need to make an acceptance speech. As far as the number of miles I travel per year, it’s definitely down for this Million Miler.  I haven’t flown business class on AirTran before, but I just flew Business Elite on Delta for the first time and it rocked! Thanks again for the AirTran ticket — it will definitely come in handy– working in the nonprofit world has its rewards, but big money certainly isn’t one of them.  :)

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Chris the Talking Head

I’ve spent most of this week doing radio and TV interviews about summer travel trends. (Check ‘em out! Good Morning America. KCBS. Bloomberg/BusinessWeek.)

As usual, the stations want me to peel off a list of all the great travel deals out there.

But the reality is that nearly all the good airfare deals are gone. That’s right. If you want to travel during peak summer travel season, those dirt-cheap deals you might be hoping for are, well, dust in the wind.

Here are a few sound bites I’ve been tossing around:

>Over the course of this week, most major airlines raised fares $20 to $60 dollars round trip during the peak summer travel season, which runs from mid-June to mid-August. These are some of the most aggressive fare increases for peak summer travel season that I’ve ever seen.

>When airlines are aggressive like they’ve been this week, it means that it’s very clear to them that people are willing to pay higher fares. They would not raise fares if they were not confident we’d buy them.

>Airlines are calling these fare increases “surcharges” for technical reasons. However, when you are fare shopping online, those surcharges are already added into the fares you see and compare. Don’t get tripped up by semantics. Surcharges = fare increases.

>If you’ve been waiting around hoping you might luck into a great fare, I’m afraid your luck has run out. If you find a summer peak season fare that seems somewhat reasonable, book it now, because I’m afraid it’s only going to go up from here.

>People who last week may have found a pretty good fare but thought they would wait a week were greeted with surcharges this week. A fare that was $400 last week is $460 this week.

>Travelers have had a lot of cabin fever now because they’ve shunned vacations due to recent financial worries. If they did go out, they took shorter trips or they maybe stayed at less expensive hotels or they stayed with friends. But now the summer is here. They haven’t taken a vacation in a while and they’re ready to go. And they seem ready to pay more.

>Some lower prices: While airfares are up, hotel rates are on par with last summer (which means historic lows.) Also, after a year of sharp increases, rental car rates could be down as much as 15 percent compared to last summer. In addition, travelers headed to Europe will find that a stronger dollar will lead to lower prices.

>There are two windows of opportunity for good deals this summer. The first two weeks of June and the last two weeks of August. If you have the flexibility to travel during these windows, you’ll pay less than during the peak (roughly June 15-August 15).

>Other strategies for lower fares (but higher potential for hassles): Take a one-stop flight instead of a nonstop. Take an overnight flight or a very early or very late night flight or fly on an off-peak day. Monday and Tuesday are going to be the slowest days this summer– that’s when you are going to find those surcharges the smallest.

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FUEL SURCHARGE ATTEMPT IS A HARBINGER. In late April, Delta attempted a $20 roundtrip fuel surcharge—the first of which we’ve seen since November of 2008 when fuel prices were through the roof at about $150 per barrel. Oil crashed to about $50 per barrel a year ago. Now it’s approaching $85 and here come the surcharges. It’s not clear yet if Delta’s competitors will match the move. But even if they don’t and the price hike fails, you can expect Delta or another carrier to try again, and eventually succeed. Airfares are headed up and we expect a pricey peak summer season. If you plan to travel during the peak of the peak…roughly July 1-Aug 15, expect to pay significantly more than you did last year. About the only price break you can expect is if you have the flexibility to travel on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday, or take early morning or late night flights.

DELTA’S SKY PRIORITY: WHERE’S THE BEEF? So did you get the “introducing Delta Sky Priority” email from Delta telling you a bunch of stuff you already knew about your gold, platinum or diamond SkyMiles status? The email says that starting April 15, members get access to dedicated check in lines, expedited security lanes, priority boarding, faster bags and an exclusive reservations line. Ummm. So, didn’t you already get that stuff before April 15? Yes, you did. Delta’s just wrapped it all up in a new branding and airport signage message. They’ve even created a web site to tell you about it. Hey there Silver Medallions! Are you feeling a little left out? What do you get (or NOT get) for your 25,000 miles of loyalty? Compare here. Have you suffered the indignity of lower status on Delta due to travel cutbacks at your company? If so, please email us with your thoughts and experiences…we will include them in a future post in The TICKET. Send them to ticketatl@travelskills.com

BAG FEE FLAP. By now, everyone has heard about Spirit Airlines new $45 fee for carry-on bags that don’t fit under the seat in front of you. Our take: If the rule irks you, take your business elsewhere! However, there’s more to this story. When Spirit announced the new fee, it also cut its fares accordingly. As a result of the new low fares, CEO Ben Baldanza tells TheStreet.com its bookings have increased 50 percent. From Atlanta, Spirit flies to Ft Lauderdale and starting May 1, it will fly to Myrtle Beach.

AMERICAN BACK ON ATL-LGA. Starting this summer, American Airlines will re-enter the ATL-New York La Guardia market with 7x flights per day using Barbie Jets (CRJ-700) outfitted with both first class and coach seats. Big plus for AA: Flights depart from the quick and easy Concourse T at ATL.

American's CRJ 700 Jet (Photo: Caribb / Flickr)

DELTA ROUTE CHANGES. Delta has added summer season flights between NYC and Spain’s third largest city, Valencia, from May 28 through Oct 30. Might be an easier way to get to Europe using miles this summer… Also, Delta will terminate its new San Diego – Honolulu flights as well as Portland – Honolulu on August 10.  Delta’s also asked the DOT to allow it to wait until at least September 1 to resume nonstops from ATL to Shanghai, a route it opened with much fanfare in 2008, but quickly shuttered when the economy went sour. For now, Delta’s ATL customers must connect in Detroit to get to Shanghai.

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DELTA WI-FI. We are huge fans of in-flight Wi-Fi and consistently make our airline choice based on whether or not the flight has it. Luckily, AirTran’s got it fleet wide, and it’s increasingly common on Delta, which now has over 400 planes outfitted and should have it on its entire mainline fleet by the end of this summer. (Not bad, considering Delta’s first plane got it just 18 months ago.) All Delta A319s, MD88s, MD90s, 737s and 767-300s have it now, as do nearly all 757’s. About half of its A320’s have it. Interesting stat: Since the launch of inflight Wi-Fi in December 2008, more than 1 million customers have used Wi-Fi on Delta planes.

HAND LUGGAGE RULES EASED. Travelers to the U.S. from both the UK and Canada can now carry on TWO pieces of hand luggage. Travelers from both countries had been restricted to a single carry on since the attempted bombing of the Delta jet in Detroit on Christmas

AIRTRAN UP, DELTA DOWN IN QUALITY SURVEY. We’re not usually huge fans of the Airline Quality Rating survey published by Wichita State University professors based on a weighted average derived from DOT statistics.  But it always seems to get a ton of media attention, so here’s at least one interesting angle. AirTran placed second in the latest ranking for performance in 2009. Delta, on the other hand, placed 15^th out of the 18 airlines ranked. Coming in at 16^th and 17^th place were Delta partners Comair and Atlantic Southeast. (Hawaiian was #1; American Eagle #18) Question to readers: Is Delta really that much worse than AirTran? Or is AirTran really that much better than Delta? What’s been your experience? LET US KNOW! Leave your comments below.

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First class seat on Delta Connection RJ

In markets where Delta competes with AirTran, it has always sold “A” class (discounted first class) tickets with the same fares rules as AirTran’s Business Class tickets. However, as of last month, Delta pulled the plug on one important feature of these fares: They are no longer REFUNDABLE.

Here’s what TICKET reader LP reports: “I believe it was Friday last week that Delta began this – they have made the previously refundable (I refer to them as ‘cheapie’ first) Air Tran-matched-first-class fares now NON-refundable…in fact, the cheapest refundable fares now are full Y in most cases. I work w/ a lot of lawyers who need to travel on refundable fares. I booked a client on Friday roundtrip to LGA for Monday at $903.40 not realizing this change had happened. When he had to change it on Monday I realized my error, voided it and the now refundable fare is $1859.40. It’s the same in all previously affordable markets. A roundtrip refundable fare to Ft Lauderdale is now $1701.40 and puts you in coach…previously it was about half that and in first (A class)… Hopefully there will be enough backlash to change this – it is truly highway robbery.”

NOTE: AirTran will still offer you a full refund if you need to change or cancel your “A” fare.

What are your thoughts on this? From our perspective, it looks like Delta is starting to show it’s pricing power and no longer feels the need to match everything AirTran does. Would you switch your business to AirTran to get a refundable seat up front? Or are you willing to take the chance with Delta in order to preserve your SkyMiles earning opportunities? LET US KNOW! Comments below, please.

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Good news for the travel industry is not always good news for bargain hunting frequent travelers.

Growing demand on the part of both leisure and business travelers means . . . you guessed it . . . higher prices. Those dirt-cheap deals the travel industry has used to keep us on the road and in the skies over the last couple years will get tougher to find in coming months.

Here’s why:

>FARES: In February, the average price to fly one mile in the U.S. increased 5 percent says the Air Transport Association. Fares are rising because airlines have been able to reduce their supply of seats by parking planes in the desert. Now that competition among travelers for the remaining seats is heating up, fares will rise accordingly.

>FEES: In addition to higher fares, airlines will continue to tack on extra fees to help firm up their mushy bottom lines. In January alone, airlines pulled in half a billion dollars in “ancillary revenue,” a term used to describe just about any airline charge other than fare [such as fees for baggage, ticket changes, upgrades, food, etc.],” said Kevin Chrissey, an airline analyst with UBS who was speaking at the Strategic Travel Symposium, a recent conference to which your TICKET editor was invited by the National Business Travel Association.

>AIRLINE GROWTH: Delta Air Lines, now the largest airline in the world, had to adjust its profit forecast for this quarter based on a 30+ percent jump in corporate travel volume and revenue in February. Also, Delta just announced that it’s jumping back into the hyper-competitive California Corridor with four daily round trips between SFO and LAX using both B737 and regional jets. It’s also adding a new shuttle service between New York and Chicago.

>SUMMER: It’s going to be a busy summer. Remember last summer nearly every flight was full and/or oversold? UBS’s Chrissey warned it could happen again this summer now that demand is rising along with the economic outlook. If you’ve got plans to fly on peak days (Memorial Day, July 4, most of August and Labor Day) you should start looking at fares now and go ahead and book.

>HOTEL GLUT: For hotels, it’s a bit of a different story. There’s been a huge boom in hotel construction over the last five years. For example, United’s Hemispheres magazine this month includes a colorful article about a handful of the 59 new hotels (yes, 59!) that have opened in NYC in the last 18 months. So, with a lot of extra supply out there, and only a slow return in demand, hotel rates should remain relatively flat over the next year.

>BOOKINGS UP: With all the great hotel deals out there, demand is starting to pop. For example, advance bookings at the Best Western chain were up 16.4 percent during the second week in March compared to the same time last year. (They were up over 6 percent for the month of February.) That’s significant considering Best Western’s the largest hotel chain in the world. Disclosure: I write a blog for Best Western.

>BUYER’S MARKET: The buyer’s market for hotel rooms should continue over the next year, said hotel analyst Bjorn Hanson at the symposium in New York. “For many years, I’ve advised consumers to call the hotel directly and ask for a lower rate, and they’d get one about 20 percent of the time. These days, they are getting a lower rate 50 percent of the time,” he said.

>RATES: To further illustrate his point, Hanson said that rates at luxury hotels in New York City were down a whopping 40 percent in 2009 compared to a high in 2006. And he referred to three different forecasts showing nationwide rate declines of 2-3 percent for 2010.

So folks, I’m eager to hear about your observations and plans for travel this year. Have you noticed that prices are increasing? Are you planning to travel more this year than last year? When do you plan to firm up your summer travel plans?

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FREE WI-FI ON AIRTRAN MAR 13-27. To draw attention to its new partnership with AirTran (see below), American Express is sponsoring free Wi-Fi on all AirTran flights for two weeks: March 13-27. Sweet! That’s an immediate savings of $5 to $13 depending on flight length.

AIRTRAN MEANS BUSINESS. AirTran has recently teamed up with American Express to offer some really nice bennies and discounts to business travelers.  Thanks to TICKET reader NHK for tipping us off to this with the following email: “Have you seen the new promo from American Express? They are offering 5 percent cash back to cardholders on all AirTran ticket purchases using the OPEN Business Platinum card. Since Delta ceased to offer the rebate on its branded and platinum cards last May, this may change travelers’ loyalty. What do you think and what are you hearing from other travelers? P.S. Before Delta canceled the benefit last year, I received more than enough in cash savings to cover the card fees.”

We looked into this and NHK is right on. Those who charge their AirTran tickets on any American Express OPEN Business card now get an automatic 5 percent discount. What’s even better for travelers is that the card offers the same automatic 5 percent discount at several Marriott brands, and with Hertz. (With Hyatt, you get a 3% discount.)  The annual free for an Amex OPEN Business card is $125, but the fee is waived for the first year. No coupons, no special codes…just sign up for the card, use it,  and you get the discount. Not bad!

BIZ TRAVEL IS BACK? Delta raised its profit forecast for this quarter citing a 34 percent jump in corporate travel ticket volume and a 32 percent rise in corporate travel revenue in February versus a year earlier. What about YOU? Are you flying more than this time last year? LET US KNOW! Leave your comments in the box below.

AIRTRAN ADDING NEW FLIGHTS. But not in Atlanta. According to this article in the AJC, AirTran has scaled back its expansion in Atlanta and is instead focusing on smaller cities such as Des Moines, Tunica and Huntsville, AL. And instead of routing those flights through Atlanta, they are adopting the Southwest Airlines strategy of going point-to-point. Interesting stat: Two years ago, AirTran had 260 daily flights out of ATL. Now it’s got closer to 200.

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Exuma, Bahamas (Photo: Vixix/Flickr)

DELTA DOWN UNDER. In addition to its daily ATL-Sydney flight (via LAX) Delta will add a new JFK-LAX-SYD flight on June 1.

EXUMA ANYONE? Delta is launching new twice-weekly flights between ATL and Exuma in the Bahamas on June 13. Talk about a pretty place! Not a bad idea for SkyMiles redemptions. Intro fares are just $129 each way.

IN-FLIGHT WI-FI UPDATE. As you know by now, AirTran has in-flight Wi-Fi on 100 percent of its fleet. Delta’s scrambling to be able to say the same thing, and it’s getting close. As of now, Delta’s got it on 73 percent of its mainline fleet—nearly 400 of its 528 aircraft. It says it will be on 100 percent of mainline fleet by end of summer. Right now,  it is on ALL MD88, MD90 and B737 jets. It’s also on most (120) B757s and on 37 Airbuses. Nice!

IT HURTS TO BE DEMOTED. From TICKET reader TM: “My business travel severely declined last year and I lost my Medallion status as of 3/1. I purchased a ticket last night for travel ATL-DFW this Sunday in category ‘Y’ – full fare for the outrageous sum of $1,141! When I went to the Delta website and attempted to choose seats, the outbound flight showed four seats available – all on the exit row and they were marked ‘Preferred.’ I selected one and answered all of the questions and the page refreshed and I didn’t have a seat. I tried that a few times and gave up and called Delta. I was told that they couldn’t assign a seat at this time since the only seats available were Preferred seats. It didn’t matter to Delta that I paid for a full fare coach ticket – they told me that only their Elite members may choose those seats.”

FLAT BEDS TO TOKYO? We’ve heard rumors that the next Delta route to get those nice new “herringbone” style lie flat business class seats on a B777 will be ATL-Tokyo starting in June. We’ve tried unsuccessfully to get Delta to confirm. This is great news for travelers headed to Asia and then beyond from Delta’s hub at Narita. Starting in August, SkyMiles partner Korean Air will offer its brand new lie-flat “prestige” sleepers (click for video) on its nonstops to Seoul and beyond. (And we think a connection in the amazingly serene Seoul-Incheon airport is going to be a lot easier than in congested Narita.)

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IT’S GETTING CROWDED IN HERE. Business Travel News posted an enlightening nugget about something we’ve known all along. “Domestic airlines last year served the fewest passengers since 2004, but recorded the most crowded planes ever, according to data released this week by the DOT. Nearly 40 million fewer domestic and international passengers took to the skies on U.S. carriers last year than in 2008, marking the lowest annual total since 2004. However, thanks to dramatic year-over-year capacity cuts of 6.3 percent in 2009 for domestic and international services, the U.S. industry’s aggregate 81.1 percent annual load factor is the highest on record.”

Note the Hawaiian Lei on the Eskimo!

NORCAL: NEW GATEWAY TO HAWAII. If you’ve had trouble earning and burning SkyMiles on flights to Hawaii, a new gateway to the islands has opened up in the Bay Area. SkyMiles partner Alaska Air is aggressively expanding in California, and has recently added a slew of new 737-800 nonstops to Kona and Maui from Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento. Since these Alaska Air flights depart California cities in the early morning, you might have to fly in the night before and stay over. But hey…it might be worth it. (Delta’s got nonstops between ATL and Sacramento and San Jose; one stops to Oakland.)

GO ON AIRTRAN. Have you taken a look at Go, AirTran’s in-flight mag lately? It’s just won the big prize in the “best inflight magazine” category from the North American Travel Journalists Association. This year, the magazine celebrates its five-year anniversary. Interesting stat: Go snags TWO MILLION readers a month! Compare that to Fortune magazine, which gets about 850,000 readers per month. What do YOU think of GO? How does it compare to Delta’s SKY or other in-flight magazines you read? Please leave your comments below!

FLYING BRITISH AIRWAYS THIS SPRING? Then you need to see this video regarding the possible strike by flight attendants, starring BA CEO Willie Walsh.

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