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UPDATE Tuesday, August 15, 2006
BROAD STROKES:
Here are some
up-to-date nuggets of advice for travelers relating to
the recent changes in airport security screening:
1) Despite all the
media hype and noise (this is August, folks, a VERY slow
time for news, hence the magnification of recent events
...) Things have not changed that much out there;
travelers are reporting that airport crowds, check-in
and security lines are back to normal for August.
2) Anecdotally,
several readers have said that they are
experiencing longer than usual waits for bags at luggage
carousels.
3) Here's a bright
side: With fewer carry-ons to slow up the boarding
process, airline boarding times have improved. AirTran
says it's boarding aircraft four minutes faster, on
average, than before the recent changes.
4) The TSA is already
starting to water down its initially stringent ban on
all liquids and gels. Now it says that
you can carry on
non-prescription medicines like contact lens solution,
eye drops, cough syrup, etc if the container holds less
than four ounces. Solid lipstick, Chapstick and
deodorant are now okay to carry on. Toothpaste, shampoo,
shaving cream/lotion and perfume are still verboten.
There has not been and currently there is no ban on
bringing laptops or other electronics onboard U.S.
flights.
4) Tight rules for
flights from the UK have loosened, and authorities there
are now allowing one small carry-on per person, and also
allowing electronics like laptops or iPods.
UPDATE: August 14, 2006
IMPORTANT CHECKED
BAGGAGE NOTE: Before you rush to place nearly
everything in your checked baggage, be aware that
airlines SPECIFICALLY STATE that they assume NO
RESPONSIBILITY for high value items like electronics,
computers, cameras, jewelry and many other items in
checked bags. If these items are checked in your bags
and then lost, stolen or damaged in transit, you cannot
claim a cent from the airline. (For details, see
airline contracts of carriage.)
DELTA RAMPS UP LOS ANGELES AS MINI-HUB.
Delta
this winter will add
16 new routes from its West Coast gateway at Los
Angeles International Airport to accommodate soaring
demand. (Drawing mostly from its large fleet of 50-seat
Barbie-jets, or RJ's, and a few 737's.) The expansion
will include new nonstop flights to nine Mexican
destinations, two Central American destinations and
corresponding connecting service to five destinations in
the United States. TIP: Consider these new
destinations when redeeming your SkyMiles.
UPDATE: August 13, 2006
THE FIRST OF SEVERAL MODIFICATIONS. The
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today
announced it will permit small doses of liquid
medications through the security checkpoint and onboard
airplanes, a refinement from the original ban, which was
implemented on August 10. (Now permitted: up to 4
ounces of liquid non-prescription medicine — including
such previously prohibited items as cough syrup, eye
drops, contact lens solution and nasal spray. (Four
ounces of liquid is about the size of a bar of soap, or
your fist.) Also
permitted: insulin and low-blood-sugar treatments,
including glucose gel for diabetics. NEW: TSA will also
now require all passengers to remove their shoes
so they may be x- rayed with their carry-on bags to
enhance efficiency in the screening process and
eliminate confusion for travelers.
POLL: Are you more likely to 1) check your
bag with toiletries in it, or 2) carry on a bag without
toiletries and buy them at your destination? Or do you
have another plan in mind??
LET US KNOW
UPDATE: August 11, 2006
The
recently foiled attempt by terrorists to detonate liquid
explosives on aircraft flying to the US has resulted in
confusion and anxiety among the millions of Americans
preparing for vacations or business trips.
To
help clear the air, TICKET editor Chris McGinnis offers
the following tips and advice:
DON’T
STOP TRAVELING.
The system is working, so don’t cancel travel plans
because of this latest incident. Despite the hype, most
flights are departing on time and security wait times at
airports have quickly returned to normal levels for peak
summer travel season. Rules are in flux, so check
airline and TSA websites frequently. (www.tsa.gov/travelers
, good updates here, too:
http://monitor.airsecurity.com/ .
Traveling to/from Britain?)
CHECK
YOUR BAGGAGE.
This goes against the grain of most frequent travelers
who are used to bypassing luggage check in counters and
carousels. But with the ban on essential toiletry items
like toothpaste, contact lens fluid, lotions, shampoo,
etc from carry on bags, you really don’t have a choice.
Pack your toilet kit in your bag and check it. Good
news: Some airlines are temporarily relaxing rules or
penalties for over-size or over weight checked baggage.
EXPECT GATE SEARCHES. You might encounter a
random pat down or luggage search at your airline gate,
which means that any liquids bought in airport
concourses must be disposed of prior to boarding.
EXPECT DELAYS AT THE COUNTER.
Since nearly every passenger is going to be checking
bags now, you can expect much longer lines at airport
check in counters. It could take a few days for airlines
to adjust to the higher staffing levels needed at this
time.
EXPECT DELAYS AT THE CAROUSELS.
When you arrive at your destination airport, expect long
waits for checked luggage at the carousel. Ailing
airlines have been working with skeleton crews on ramps,
and it could take several days or weeks until staffing
levels have increased enough to handle the extra load.
DE-CLUTTER.
Clothing: no metal belt buckles, barrettes, bangly
jewelry, clunky metal watches, studded jeans/leather.
You will be asked to remove your shoes, so wear slip-on
shoes to make this easier. Declutter your carry-on, too.
Pack all liquids in your checked bag, and make your
carry on easy to search—place all loose items in plastic
bags. Only bring electronics if you truly need them.
Vacationers should forget about bringing home souvenir
gifts like wine, alcohol, jams, jellies, hot sauce, etc,
or consider mailing them prior to going to the airport.
DON’T
DRINK THE WATER.
If you are used to having a trusty bottle of water with
you at all times, be prepared to be separated from it
when you travel. If you must drink something on the
plane, be sure it is from a can or bottle. Be wary of
aircraft water—don’t drink from the lavatory taps or
from the airplane water dispensers as the cleanliness
and quality of that water frequently comes into
question. Always ask flight attendants if water served
came from bottles or from aircraft tanks.
HOW'S IT GOING OUT THERE?
Let us know
UPDATE: August 10, 2006
ADVICE: Business travelers rarely if ever check
baggage, but that might have to change if the ban on
liquids and gels in carry-ons remains in place for the
long haul. The problem is with the toilet kit. Most if
its contents are now banned from carry-on bags, so
the only solution, other than buying these essentials at
your destination, will be to check the bag you normally
carry on with the toilet kit in it. This means two
things: increased likelihood of delays waiting for bags
at your destination, and the possibility that your bag
could be misplaced or lost by the airlines. None of this
is good news.
5 PM: ATL SECURITY LINES BACK TO NORMAL. See
Airport Trak-A-Line for updates.
9 AM: TERROR PLOT FOILED. US-UK FLIGHTS CANCELLED. EXTREME
WAITS AT SECURITY. NO GELS OR LIQUIDS ALLOWED ON BOARD.
BRITISH AIRPORTS IN CHAOS. NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS
DISPATCHED TO MANY U.S. AIRPORTS. The Department of
Homeland Security is taking immediate steps to increase
security measures in the aviation sector in coordination
with heightened security precautions in the United
Kingdom. Over the last few hours, British authorities
have arrested a significant number of extremists engaged
in a substantial plot to destroy multiple passenger
aircraft flying from the United Kingdom to the United
States. Currently, there is no indication, however, of
plotting within the United States. We believe that these
arrests have significantly disrupted the threat, but we
cannot be sure that the threat has been entirely
eliminated or the plot completely thwarted.
FULL RELEASE,
DELTA WARNING,
AIRTRAN WARNING.
DEVELOPING STORY
ADVICE:
Leave your toilet kit at home and plan on
buying essentials like toothpaste, contact lens
solution, shampoo and lotions at
 your
destination. No booze/wine. (ALSO, leave electronics,
laptops, ipods, etc at home. You will face increased
scrutiny and may have to check them.) Postpone plans to
travel to/from the UK for 2-3 days. (airlines should
relax change/cancellation penalties, but due to heavy
loads, it will be difficult to find alternate flights.)
Expect increased security at airports. Traffic
approaching airports will be affected, to take public
transport if you can.
AIRLINES ALLOWING US/UK FLIGHT CHANGES WITHOUT
PENALTY.
Delta's policy: "Customers
who are scheduled to travel Aug. 10 – Sept. 1, 2006, to,
from or through the U.K. on Delta, Delta Connection®, or
Delta-coded flights, may make a one-time ticket change
without penalty or additional fees if tickets are
changed by Aug. 13, 2006. Within these timeframes,
customers may fly on alternate dates without penalty,
and those whose flights are cancelled may request
refunds."
UPDATE: August 8, 2006
DELTA'S SIZE
CLAIMS DON'T ADD UP. A recent article in the
Wall Street Journal rips apart Delta's recent
advertising braggadocio, stating, "Delta Air Lines has
been doing a lot of bragging lately, claiming it has
become 'America's largest airline' and 'New York's
largest airline.' Yet by standard measures in the
airline industry, those claims and others don't hold up.
It all depends on how you measure size." The article
then goes on to refute several Delta claims, like "We
are proud to be America's largest airline." WSJ says:
Delta is basing this claim on its number of flights and
destinations served. But, airlines have always been
ranked by revenue passenger miles, not the number of
flights or destinations served. Based on RPM's, Delta
remains third largest, after American and United. "It
would be a bit like ranking retailers by the number of
stores rather than sales, or scoring baseball games by
the number of hits instead of runs," writes the WSJ.
Another claim that Delta makes is that it has more
flights to Europe from New York City than any other
airline. The WSJ points out that Delta conveniently
overlooks the fact that Continental Airlines, which
operates out of Newark, New Jersey, (physically closer
to Manhattan than Delta's JFK hub) offers twice as many
flights to Europe than Delta does. In fact, Continental
flies to 139 cities overall from Newark, compared to
Delta's 92. The article also debunks Delta's dubious
claims about "becoming" the second largest carrier to
Latin America, and its near flat out lie that it has more
departures from JFK than any other airline. (JetBlue has
more flights from JFK than any other carrier-- the
article reveals that Delta's claim stems from a
belief that it would have more flights than JetBlue
this summer, but it did not pan out.) What do YOU
think about Delta's claims?
LET US KNOW and we will publish select quotes in a
future entry.
UPDATE August 4, 2006
MORE
SPACE AT ATL.
Airport check-in areas are feeling less stuffy as
ATL’s new baggage screening system, which sends
checked baggage to new bunkers underneath airport
roadways for screening, is now operational at the North
Terminal. Next month a similar underground screening
center will begin functioning at the South Terminal,
where Delta's check-in gates are located. A third
underground center will open next spring for
international flights at the airport.
CHAOS AT NW THIS WEEKEND? From Friday,
August 4 through Monday, August 7, Northwest flight
attendants across the country will
gather to gear up for CHAOS. These informational
events will provide an opportunity for flight attendants
to ask questions about CHAOS and learn more about the
details involved in the campaign. They will also alert
the traveling public of what is to come.
FULL
FLIGHTS MEAN MORE BUMPS.
Here’s one side effect of fuller planes: More frequent
involuntary bumps.
USA Today reports, ”Airline passengers in the USA
are getting bumped off flights more frequently than at
any time in the last six years, the government reported
Thursday. Some 16,300 passengers were bumped against
their wishes in the April-June quarter, a rate of 1.12
passengers per 10,000. That rate is one-third higher
than a year earlier. The airlines' rate of what the
Department of Transportation calls involuntary denied
boardings was the highest since the same quarter in
2000. In all, the DOT said, airlines bumped about
185,000 passengers during the last quarter, also up from
the year-ago quarter. Most volunteered to give up their
seats.” NOTE: You are MOST likely to be bumped from ASA
flights, according to the article. In addition,
according to the latest DOT reports, ASA is carrier
most likely to be late and lose bags. You flies ASA, you
takes ya chances!
UPDATE August 1, 2006
STRIKE POSSIBILITY. Northwest is again facing the
threat of strikes by its flight attendants by
mid-August. While this might seem like it won't affect
ATL, you can bet it will if it comes to pass. All those
passengers booked on Northwest will flood onto other
airlines (like Delta and AirTran) if Northwest's
operations are affected. For the time being, avoid
booking August trips on NWA, and be aware that a
strike's impact could be felt at ATL.
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