The Cranky Flier » American

This Week on BNET (August 18 - 22)

CF — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:41:15 +0000

Southwest Filing Fares in ATPCO Once Again
You may not know ATPCO, but I’m guessing that airlines all over the US are happy to see Southwest back in the system again. Why does it matter?

Jake Brace Leaves United
The oft-vilified United CFO Jake Brace has announced his retirement, but is it too late? Should this have happened sooner?

PETA’s Unique Advertising Proposal for Dallas/Ft Worth
DFW received an interesting request from PETA to put some offensive advertising on bathroom stalls. Are airports so short on money that this might become reality?

AirTran Announces New Routes
AirTran will serve Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) and Columbus (Ohio) this fall. Why am I bothering to write about this? New city announcements are rare these days.

TSA Damages Airplanes, Blames American Eagle?!
A TSA agent stepped on sensors on 9 different planes during safety checks. Instead of owning up to it, they’re turning it around on American Eagle. Yikes.

This Week on BNET (August 11 - 15)

CF — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:17:33 +0000

How Important is Aircraft Type?
Do people really care what type of plane they’re flying on? A report from Boeing says that they do, but I’m not entirely convinced on this one.

Air Canada’s Olympic Ads Work, United’s Don’t
United and Air Canada have both put out ads as official Olympic sponsors. While Air Canada’s work for me, United’s do not.

Northwest’s Smart WorldPerks Marketing
There are plenty of reasons not to like airline marketing, but I received an email from Northwest after my latest booking that was very smart on their part.

United and American Make Opposite Fleet Moves
United is likely to cancel its narrowbody commitments while American is ramping up. Why are the two airlines taking such different tacts?

American and British Airways Apply for Antitrust Immunity
Now that open skies between the US and Europe has opened up Heathrow, American and British Airways and looking to catch up to the other alliances.

American Pins Kayak In the Corner

CF — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:13:29 +0000

This fight between Kayak and American has become downright ugly. Now we have allegations and lawsuits flying back and forth as both sides stick firmly to their stances. Kayak isn’t exactly in an enviable place, and the user experience is suffering greatly. What exactly is going on here, and will it ever get resolved?

American has decided to step this up in a big way by suing Kayak. You can find the link to the suit here, but it’s basically saying that Kayak needs to stop using American’s fare and availability info immediately, regardless of where it’s coming from. Since Kayak signed an agreement with American originally, American says that once it was terminated they forfeited the right to use their information, even if Orbitz is the one providing it.

Apparently, Kayak seems to think there may be a case here because they have, in fact, stopped showing AA’s flights altogether. Now if you go to Kayak, you’ll see that no American results are returned. Instead, there’s a link in the filters on the side that you can click for “info.” This leads you to a message that says:

We’re sorry, but we are not currently displaying American Airlines’ fares. We hope to resolve this issue soon. In the meantime, if you are interested in comparing their fares or booking a flight on American Airlines, you can do so by clicking on any of the links below for other travel websites

I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know that the “links below” are to Orbitz and CheapTickets. And yes, it does say they’re “sponsored” links.

I have to say, this is a pretty crappy experience. Without availability info from one of the largest airlines, this isn’t exactly a helpful site. So now Kayak is stuck with the very difficult position of deciding which is better for their customers - no online travel agents displaying American’s flights or no American flights at all?

Of course, if the decision were that basic, it would be a no-brainer. But it’s not that easy. The second American is successful in getting Kayak to stop showing online travel agents on their flights, every other airline will line up and make them do the same thing. Kayak has said that they “are dedicated to providing a comprehensive and objective display to our users. We’re unwilling to amend this pro-consumer philosophy that is the core of our business by suppressing results based on a partner’s request.”

Really? Are they actually unwilling to amend this philosophy? I’d say that’s clearly not true, from past behavior. For domestic flights, Orbitz and CheapTickets (owned by the same company) are the exclusive providers of online travel agent fares. Sounds against their pro-consumer philosophy, right? Well, I contacted Kayak and received this quote from CEO Steve Hafner:

We did the [Orbitz/CheapTickets] deal at a different time in our business, when we had no traffic and no leverage. At that time, OTAs were not interested in participating in meta-search. Times have changed and we would not do the same deal again. In fact, in Europe we preserved flexibility and have multiple agencies coming on board.

They wouldn’t tell me when it was signed or when it expires, but I can use some of my own experience to put this in perspective. We never had any leverage at PriceGrabber Travel, and we did have Orbitz on the site. If you used the site, you likely saw other online travel agents like OneTravel and Airfare.com popping up with fares that were often better than Orbitz, especially in the international arena. So clearly there wasn’t an exclusive deal in place. We closed up shop in the spring of 2007 and Kayak had plenty of leverage long before that point. So if they signed this deal when they had no traffic, this happened a long, long time ago. That seems unlikely since we never had that issue. Something’s fishy here.

The bottom line is that Kayak has a pretty poor user experience right now. We see them not actually showing all the online travel agent options out there because they have exclusivity with Orbitz/CheapTickets, but they aren’t willing to budge on the American deal in the name of the consumer. So now, the consumer has a relatively poor experience since they can’t display American’s fares.

I’d say Kayak is in a tough spot, and something is going to have to give. Kayak tells me that discussions with American to fix this problem are continuing. I’m just not sure how they can get out of this predicament without having to make some changes they aren’t going to like.

Surprised? US Airways Is Doing Things Right

CF — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:43:15 +0000

Something tells me I’m going to get a lot of flack for this post. I know there are plenty of people out there who think that US Airways is more evil than just about anything else on Earth, but I really think they’re doing a great job. You still with me? Before you faint or throw your keyboard into your monitor in anger, let me explain.

I know I’ve talked about this many times before. This isn’t your father’s US Airways (or USAir, or Allegheny, or . . . .) This is America West with a much bigger route structure and a strategy that they’re executing on quite well. As a refresher, here is the airline’s strategy as explained to us at this year’s Media Day.

First, let’s remember that I’m primarily talking about domestic flying here. So, schedule and price matter most as long as they are reliable, convenient, and have a respectable appearance. It sounds good to me, but then again, I’m not an old-school US Airways loyalist. If you go over to the US Airways board on FlyerTalk, you’d think that every reduction in benefits from previous levels is like a dagger being stuck in every frequent flier’s heart. But it’s not. It’s just different from what they’re used to. And yes, that’s going to alienate some people, but that’s the decision they’ve consciously made for the good of their business. (I mean come on; when was the old US Airways considered a model airline?!?)

What’s most important here is whether or not they can actually deliver on their simple strategy. So can they? Let’s start with reliability since that’s probably most important. On that front, they’re performing quite well, actually. Kudos are due to COO Robert Isom for bringing the airline back from the operational brink. Now that June DOT numbers are out, we know that the airline has been at the top of the charts for on-time performance for all of this year. Check out June in Philly. A chronically-delayed airport during the summer? Yeah, but US Airways still walked away with a 76.5% on time rate.

How about baggage? That was always the downfall of Philly in the past, but now they’re finishing in the middle of the pack throughout the system. June saw a rate of 4.65 bags lost per thousand passengers. That was good enough for 9th place (out of 19) but more importantly it was less than half last year’s abysmal 10.59. By the way, they’re also in 9th place for the full first half of the year, so this isn’t a one month anomaly.

So reliability is good. As for convenience, well, I don’t see them as being any better or worse than other airlines except that they do have a functional mobile site, something some airlines have yet to figure out. If they really want to become more convenient, they need to let me pay for these fees on the website at the time of booking. Then I’d be much happier. And appearance? Well, my understanding is that they’re sprucing up interiors on most of their planes. (They need it on some of those.)

Looking at this independently, you’d think US Airways would actually be a pretty good airline to fly, right? Then why does everyone seem to pile on the airline so much? Like I said, it’s because things are different now, and people don’t like change. This is why they never should have kept that name. That airline died during its second consecutive bankruptcy a couple years back.

Let’s look at this whole “charging for drinks” thing that has the nation in an uproar. Yes, they charge for drinks, but who says drinks should be included in your base fare? It’s just what you’re used to, and there’s nothing that says every airline should include drinks in your fare. US Airways is being up front about these things (except for that horribly shady booking fee on USAirways.com which still bothers me, if it’s still around). In general, they aren’t promising much and they’re delivering.

Let’s look at it another way. United and American like to act like they’re full service airlines, but they charge most of the same fees as US Airways does. On top of that, neither of those airlines got their planes to land on time more than 60% of the time in June. That’s a far bigger problem.

This doesn’t mean flying a fee-filled US Airways is for everyone. If you don’t like the fees, you can fly Southwest and, um, well, that’s about it these days. But if you don’t like paying for drinks, there are plenty of options. But for a lot of people, the lowest fare is what matters, and if US Airways has it, they’ll probably fly them. It’s not a strategy for every airline, and I’d certainly agree that this race to the fee-world opens up more opportunities for an all-inclusive experience at the other end, but it’s definitely a valid strategy that can work for the airline.

The bottom line is that as long as they keep running a solid operation, they’re going to remain a viable option for most domestic travelers. And if they keep beating the likes of United and American in on-time performance by 15 points, they’re going to become a preferred option, regardless of what fees they charge.

Edited 8/12 @ 1129a: For those who are new to the blog, I want to disclose that I worked at America West from 1997-2002 under the same management team that runs US Airways today. Robert Isom was my VP briefly at one point. I don’t believe this colors my view (I mean, I haven’t worked there in 6 years), but I wanted to make sure it was disclosed. If you’d like to see everywhere I’ve worked, you can always look at the about page.

This Week on BNET (August 4 - 8)

CF — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:47:39 +0000

American’s Pilot Fighting for Compensation Restoration Once Again
Once again, American’s pilots are fighting for “compensation restoration,” but take a look and you’ll see a very flimsy and inaccurate argument.

Frontier Gets Another DIP Option
A couple weeks ago, it was questionable whether Frontier would find any financing. Now they have a second offer to help.

Delta Adds Wi-Fi, Cancels Freedom Air Flying
Yesterday, Delta said it would add wi-fi to its entire fleet, but also announced that it would be ending its regional agreement with Freedom Air.

Southwest’s Fee-Fighting Marketing Efforts
Southwest has really gone all out to promote its “no-fee” strategy. They’ve even brought in the Super Heroes. But will it work?

Northwest Writes Off Midwest Investment
Northwest has decided to write off its investment in Midwest. Is this an ominous sign for the little airline or is it just a clean-up exercise before Delta comes in?

American Ditches Kayak, But Let’s Clear Some Things Up

CF — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:21:47 +0000

I first saw the news on TechCrunch a couple days ago. Once I noticed Kayak’s Keith Melnick and Steve Hafner confirm it in the comments section, I figured it was true. American has decided to stop participation in Kayak. After reading the blog post and many of the misinformed comments that followed, I figured I’d give a little primer on how Kayak works and why this move shouldn’t change your opinion of whether to use it or not.

Kayak, Sidestep, Mobissimo, and PriceGrabber Travel, the site I ran until we shut it down last year, are (were) all metasearch sites, or aggregators. (Yes, there are more out there as well.) The basic idea is like that of any shopping comparison site. Kayak (and the others, but I’ll stick with Kayak from now on) doesn’t sell anything itself. It aggregates fares from a variety of sources. Here’s an example of a result I just pulled up on Kayak (the AA relationship doesn’t end until August 1).

When the user finds the flights that he wants, he picks the “seller” he wants to buy from and Kayak sends him over to that seller. In this case, it’s either AA.com or Orbitz, but Kayak works with a bunch of them. (I believe Orbitz/CheapTickets are the only big air providers other than airlines, but that’s a story for another day.)

Anyway, in this case AA.com looks cheaper because the fee includes all booking fees, and the airline site almost always has none (excluding US Airways). Of course, the online travel agent (OTA) usually has one (except for Priceline).

How does Kayak make money? They get paid a little bit when they send you over to the seller or they get paid more when the purchase is actually completed (like a traditional commission). They also make money off advertising, but that’s not relevant to this discussion. (I’ve really got to stop using so many parentheses.)

Now, according to American (via BudgetTravel):

Kayak/Sidestep has advised American Airlines that they will no longer display our content.

We are disappointed and hopeful that this issue can be resolved in the near future so that American Airlines will again display on the Kayak/Sidestep sites.

Hmm, this doesn’t sound right. But then I noticed Kayak chief Steve Hafner’s comment on TechCrunch and it makes sense of what’s going on. He said:

American asked us to suppress search results from competing websites as a condition to displaying their fares. This is simply not something that Kayak will do. Imagine Sony telling Best Buy that they couldn’t sell Panasonic?

Now this quote is hardly using an apples-to-apples comparison. It would be like Sony telling Best Buy that they couldn’t sell Sony products provided by third party resellers. But the point I take from this is that American says it will participate in Kayak only if no results from OTAs are displayed for their flights. Kayak told them to take a hike.

Why does Kayak want results from Orbitz or other online travel agents in the first place? Backfill. It’s hard to develop a relationship with every airline, and some don’t ever want to participate, so Kayak would have an incomplete offering if it couldn’t fill in the blanks with an online travel agent. In some cases, this means that results from multiple sellers will be displayed. American doesn’t like that so they’re walking away.

TechCrunch inaccurately states that “American Airlines has a particular beef with Kayak because it tends to show AA flights through its partnership with Orbitz instead of directly from American. That means American has to pay a double tax, once to Kayak and once to Orbitz.”

It is possible that some flights are being shown through Orbitz and not AA.com, but my last search showed the opposite was true. The reality is that American and Orbitz have different connections with different data transfer speeds to Kayak, so different numbers of flights results get returned. So you will have some occasions when one seller shows up and not the other, but ideally they would both show up on each flight. This is good for you, because sometimes you can find one site happens to be cheaper than the rest.

If Kayak is, in fact, suppressing results from AA.com and only showing Orbitz because they can make more off Orbitz, then that is absolutely inexcusable. I would be surprised to see that happening.

One thing that seems certain is that American would never pay a double fee, unless Kayak has instituted some sort of listing fee and that would surprise me. Payment historically hasn’t been upon display but rather when the click occurs or when the purchase occurs. AA will either pay Kayak directly or Orbitz will pay Kayak and American will pay Orbitz its usual commission. Those are the only options. Maybe the Kayak guys will read this and can offer some clarification if that’s not true.

Whichever “CEO of a competing travel site” leaked this information to TechCrunch appears to have an axe to grind with Kayak. Just remember this. If you go to Kayak, you may not see AA.com, but you’ll still see those flights from Orbitz. Save $6 and go directly to AA.com to book, but don’t think that the Kayak results will now be incomplete. If you liked shopping there before (and I know there are mixed feelings on that one), this shouldn’t change your mind.

Boarding Pass Ads and Privacy Worries

CF — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:35:07 +0000

Am I the only one who thinks this whole boarding pass advertising thing is a little creepy? It’s not the concept that bothers me. You want to throw some ads on my boarding pass? Go ahead. It’s the fact that they’re using my demographics to target ads that makes me nervous.

The basic idea is that right now, when you print your boarding pass at home, it’s just a boarding pass. So, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, and US Airways have now all partnered with a new company called Sojern that will sell ad spots on your boarding pass and mask it by offering weather information. Of course, the spin is that this makes life easier for the traveler. Whatever. I’ve never had trouble clicking on Weather Underground to get my own weather, but if you want to put it on there . . . fine.

None of that bothers me. What bothers me is something that I haven’t really seen talked about. Yes, the company admits that it’s targeting based upon where you’re going, and others have mentioned that. Well duh, that makes sense, and I don’t mind them sharing that information. But, if you click on the sample boarding pass (PDF), it states “Sojern’s new media delivers tailored advertising messages based on travelers’ unique itineraries and demographics.”

Hold on here. How are you getting my demographic information? Is the airline sharing it with you if I’m logged in to an account when I check in? I don’t like that at all.

American Slashes Domestic, United Cuts International, and Southwest Shuffles

CF — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:19:41 +0000

Yesterday, American announced the details of its fall flight cuts and the big surprise to me is how deep New York/LaGuardia flying is going to be cut. Meanwhile, United announced it was pulling out of two fairly large cities, Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, as well as from several international routes. On the flip side, Southwest said it will drop a couple routes but add several as well, mostly in Denver and Florida. Let’s get to it.

American
Let’s start with American since that was much bigger in scope. It appears that Miami comes off unscathed while Dallas/Ft Worth will see 5% of flights go and Chicago/O’Hare will lose more than 12%. That looks good in comparison to St Louis (down 27%) and astoundingly, New York/LaGuardia which will be down 33% from 126 departures a day to only 84.

None of those shock me except for the LaGuardia pulldown. For the longest time, airlines have clamped down on congested airport fortresses like LaGuardia and Washington/National, and have not been willing to let slots and gates go. LaGuardia has always been one of those places that you just assumed wouldn’t see massive cuts from the incumbent carriers, because no matter how bad things got, the value of those slots would always be worth it when things got better . . . or at least that WAS conventional wisdom.

This cut tells me that American has decided that nothing is sacred, and that’s a good thing. They can’t continue to lose money on bad flights in the short term just because they might be better in the long run. This is time to make some serious survival decisions and they’re doing it.

Of course, they’re not going to do it quietly. They’ve now petitioned the government to reduce slots at LaGuardia by 20% in the name of improving operations. Yeah, right. In other words, we want to pull down flights but we don’t want to allow anyone to take our place. Hmm, 42 daily flight openings would make a nice little operation for Southwest, huh?

A quick note about the rest of the cuts. Overall, American will mostly be cutting frequencies, but a few cities will see American disappear completely. We already knew about Oakland, Samana (Dominican Republic) and London/Stansted, but now Barranquilla (Colombia), Albany, Providence, Harrisburg, and San Luis Obispo go as well. San Luis Obispo also loses its maintenance base. I’m guessing that may have been where they maintained the now disappearing Saab 340 fleet, which would make sense.

United
Now let’s look at our other route cutter. First, United will pull out of Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. These aren’t small cities, and it’s really amazing that United’s presence has eroded to the point where the airline ends up dropping places like this. United gave up on Florida a few years ago when it became virtually all-Ted. All the decent money around these areas would have fled to other carriers, if it was even at United in the first place. Besides, United could get you to Dulles, but Florida is a New York kind of market. Oh well, I guess they’ll just have to codeshare with US Airways and Continental now.

The bigger cuts for the airline are coming internationally. The recently launched Denver - London/Heathrow and LAX - Frankfurt flights are gone, so is San Francisco to Taipei and Nagoya. There will be some other schedule shifts as well as United prepares to ditch 6 747-400s and to start Dulles - Moscow and Dubai flights. I think the international pain is just beginning.

Southwest
Lastly, (man this post is long), let’s look at Southwest’s announcement today about its fall schedule. Nothing too crazy or surprising here. I mean, they’re beefing up Florida, as any airline would do once summer is over (uh, except United I guess). Oh, and the Denver onslaught continues. Southwest moves into yet another Frontier market - Denver to Orange County - as well as one that isn’t competitive - Denver to Tulsa. Oh, and eleven of the existing Denver markets get increased frequency, including 3 new flights to Chicago/Midway alone. Wow. I guess they had to do something to replace a lot of the long haul frequencies from Midway that are being cut back. And two routes will go away entirely - Oakland to Tucson and Kansas City to Sacramento.

If you’d like to see more detail, here’s the PDF with all of Southwest’s fall schedule changes.

(Original LaGuardia Tower Image from 10cuidados on Flickr)

Tony France on the Decline of First Class

CF — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:53:19 +0000

I’m going to be nowhere near the internet today, and actually I’m probably sleeping right now. Why, you ask? Well this weekend is my bachelor party, and things kicked off last night. Of course, I didn’t want to leave you without anything today, so I’ve got a great guest post for you from Tony France, The Traveling Optimist.

I hope you enjoy the read, and I’ll approve any comments that need to be approved when I get back on Sunday.

In the earliest days of air travel the skies were the purview of the rich and the foolhardy. The train was the chic, convenient and classy way to travel, all in one. It stayed on the ground, traveled at speeds the human mind could understand and the Pullman services, since they had all week to reach New York, Chicago or Boston, were second to none. Crisp linens, sumptuous meals, porter service for every whim.

C. R. Smith in 1934 wanted some of that Pullman business for his fledgling American Airlines and called up Donald Douglas about an airplane that could convert to the first sleeper seats for overnight service. Thus with a phone call arose the DC-3. Needing an edge of its own, TWA made a phone call to Boeing about something larger and faster with the first pressurized cabin, the Stratoliner. After the Second World War the even larger Stratocruiser gave us private lounges reached by the first circular staircase to an alternate level on a double-deck airliner. These three silver birds would be combined in to one almighty aircraft, again, seemingly out of little more than a phone call between Juan Trippe at Pan Am and Bill Allen at Boeing:

“If I buy it will you build it?”

“If I build it will you buy it??”

All hail the 747, the first wide-body and featuring a First Class cabin (nose configuration) that arguably remains unsurpassed to this day.

Right up to the mid- and late-eighties the seat in First Class was never more than a large Barcalounger, wide enough for fat-cat hips with a deep enough recline to attempt some sleep on a flight rarely more than 10 hours in length. It was the food as well as the human touch that made First Class what it was.

I joined American in 1986 as a “B-Scale” baggage handler for American Airlines in 1987, thankful to have a job. My first vacation as a nonrev traveler was to Paris the following April to visit a friend from college. I was lucky enough to get a seat in First Class on the redoubtable “AA-#48” and what happened over the next eight hours lingers blissfully on my mind to this very day.

Leather and lambs’ wool covered the seat, American’s signature upholstery at the time. After take-off, the 767-200 we flew was transformed in to a Michelin rated restaurant. Linen carts to set the table, each set piece hand presented as if setting the stage for a magnificent culinary performance. Drink orders were taken and returned with the ubiquitous warm mixed nut offering. An appetizer followed – salmon in dill with capers and hard breads. A crust scraper was deftly deployed after every course.

The full caviar service was a first for me and it came with gracious assistance and a knowing smile from the flight attendant on how to prepare the treat to my liking since I’d never done it before! She enjoyed sharing in my first experience as much as I was enjoying sampling a world far beyond my means and imagination at the time. The salad cart followed, generously tossed with flourish and cracked pepper while we were somewhere over Tennessee.

“Sorbet?” “Don’t you mean sherbert?” The flight attendant chuckled softly as I contemplated another first, sorbet, of the grapefruit variety. I just stared at this unheard of frozen concoction and tiny little spoon in a fluted glass. “Savor it, let it linger so it will cleanse the palate,” my flight attendant advised. Wow, all this just to prepare for the main course? Was this only because we were flying to Paris, a local market thing, or was this on every long haul international flight American operated? Heck, what were the other airlines doing compared to this?

The main course followed, an exquisite filet in Madeira wine, followed by coffee or tea. Next came a cheeseboard with at least six varieties of English, Dutch and French cheeses along with grapes and accompanying port wines but the meal was hardly finished. The dessert cart appeared, offering something fancy and something simple; I settled for the simple – vanilla and chocolate ice cream with hot fudge and whipped cream. Aperitifs appeared to finish it all off, all traces of an elaborate production removed and I was left in the dark with a single glass of water, fantasy over, back to reality. I looked out the window at Cape Cod drifting into the indigo night behind me, open ocean, about three hours of sleep and Paris ahead of me.

Two hours before landing and the onboard crew is at it again. Hand set trays of linens and silver, hot towels and orange juice, warm croissants to start. A yogurt service was followed by a choice of cold cereals or a “Dutch” breakfast of breads and cold meats with butter and select jams. I’m well tucked in to my Euro-food when my flight attendant stops by and asks how I would like my eggs cooked. A small dribble of milk runs down my bulging cheek as my bewilderment takes in the question put to me.

“Uh, scrambled, please?”

Fresh, scrambled eggs, breakfast meats and potatoes with onions and peppers are placed before me with another flight attendant right behind pouring out yet another cup of tea to wash it all down. Amazing! No sorbet this time, but fresh fruit to take the garlic edge off and then, the telltale droning from outside the window. The engines were idling down, announcing we are beginning our vectors to land. One last glass of ice water, the immigration landing card, all window shades up and my Michelin rated restaurant was for the second time merely a cabin in a plane as if nothing special at all had happened. Rather, something special had indeed just happened and to probably the most impressionable passenger on board that night.

Rumblings were beginning even then, however, that the glamour was going out of air travel as carriers struggled to re-invent themselves. Bitter labor fights over B-scale wages, seriously fuel hungry fleets of 707s, 727s, dying airlines and the rise of fortress hubs dominated the headlines. The bottom line was coming in to ever sharper focus as airline realities changed from high-end travel options to complex economic engines where costs and profits were measured in pennies per mile. The big picture visionaries with outsized personalities who kept one eye on the future and did business with a handshake were slowly, inevitably replaced with Ivy League micro-managers who knew only P&L and ROI. Atmosphere is not quantifiable ergo luxury inevitably loses out to utility and optimization. Glamour, even my first fleeting taste of it, wasn’t to remain on the scene for much longer.

The caviar went first, a victim of conservationist activities as well as the most obvious “waste” on board the plane. One by one, everything almost down to the steak itself was removed and cost cut. Fresh eggs died an omelette with red sauce death long ago. Today’s premium passengers are essentially left to feel lucky they receive a meal at all. The entrees have become “lighter, healthier” and cheaper. The carved roasts and Maine lobsters are all in your dreams if you’re old enough to remember them at all.

Today’s First Class is not about the food at all; Robert Crandall himself once said as much. It’s the seat. As flights have gotten longer and markets more competitive it is the onboard hardware, a combination of a Borg energy pod and a spa cubicle that allegedly drives the customer’s decision. Like both of these entities, however, regardless of all the push-button gadgetry, the seat is neutral, impersonal and designed for isolation (except the double bed on Virgin Atlantic). Comfy but cold.

After the AirMap some airlines boast 600 titles of films, shows, music and games via “on demand” entertainment technology. What a waste. I used to think my own personal library of 1800 CDs and 600 DVDs was impressive until some of my more savvy friends corrected me. The iPod and the laptop each obviate the need for massive onboard libraries. Savvy, techie, family and busy travelers alike will have all they need with them in their own unedited hard drives so long as they can access onboard power.

The cabin real estate and cost to the airlines for these contraptions explains retail fares surpassing $12,000 one way (Qantas.com, LA to Sydney, First Class). Whether or not anyone actually pays that much, I feel the airlines have missed the point of what true First Class was, should and could be - the seat, the atmosphere and the food, in balance, to create the world discerning passengers want and airlines need to truly distinguish themselves. For $800/hour, at least Qantas brought back the caviar!

So keep all the movies and shows, fellas, my laptop screen offers a larger and better picture. Better yet, send that huge library of stuff back to the masses in coach since they don’t have onboard power but for the most part have individual screens. Do something with the walls other than the usual mood-neutral blues and beiges. How about a world mural, like TWA used to have, or commemorative artwork like Pan Am once gave away? Could Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” as a bulkhead piece help turn Alitalia around? Italian art, Italian food and hospitality, Italian wines and leathers? How could they go wrong? But I digress - at least it would be something, anything, to evoke the old romance and glamour of flying, of discovering new destinations, even if the guy in Seat 1K is a million-miler who has seen it all before.

Bring back the food, plain and simple. It’s been 21 years and numerous premium cabin experiences since that first time on American, but give me the complete experience I had again on that first, First Class flight to Paris. Carpeted walls textured the cabin and each course was a sequence of events in a grand adventure expertly guided by an inflight crew that exuded pride in their role while being willing to initiate the neophyte through the finer points of their rarefied world.

With their reputation for engineering, I can well believe that, back in the day, Lufthansa had better seats but it was a no-brainer that Air France had better food! Thanks to mergers and acquisitions, economics and alliances, the unique touches once offered in the front cabins of the flag carriers of the world seem all to have sadly gone to ground with the great luminaries who created the great planes that introduced them all to begin with. Varig, I barely knew ye.

Shampag-knee, anyone?

What Is the Deal with American’s Blog?

CF — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:33:27 +0000

Hmm, that title sounds rather Seinfeld-y, doesn’t it? But seriously, what is the deal? Maybe I should back up. How many of you even knew that American had a blog? Take my quick poll below. (I haven’t done a poll in awhile, so I thought I’d break it out again.)

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Now, I’m going to guess that a ton of people know about Southwest’s blog, fewer know about Delta’s, and just about nobody knows about American’s. And really, why should they?

Since the blog was first rolled out on April 11, there have been a whopping 5 posts. The last one? On April 25 - more than a month ago. Last we heard:

It’s time for us to officially join the mighty blogosphere, and that’s just what we have done. We’re going to take this “starter” blog and beef it up. And make sure our readers know that this is real folks at American blogging …and not someone’s nephew.

But while we get things rolling, we want to keep the dialogue moving. So, we’ll make some changes to spruce up the look of this space. In the meantime, keep checking in as I work to develop my voice on this blog and find others within American that can give new insight to our company.

Hmm. Since that time, nothing has changed. They certainly haven’t kept the dialogue moving. It still has the generic look and feel and nothing has changed. So, I sent a note over to Billy S, the man behind the blog, asking what was happening. The response? “Yes, we have been a little too quite. [sic]” That’s it.

I’m sure someone at AA reads Cranky. So, what’s the story? Are you guys in or are you out?