Thursday, April 21, 2011

What happens to unclaimed luggage?

What happens to unclaimed luggage and suitcases that cannot be matched to its owners? Airlines and other transportation outlets send them to the Unclaimed Baggage Center, a warehouse-sized facility in Scottsboro, Ala. The 40,000-square-foot store is filled with the luggage contents, available for 20 to 80 percent off.
Of approximately 700 million checked bags last year, around 2 million did not arrive at the scheduled destination with its owners; of those bags, 68,000 were never returned - or claimed. After 90 days, airlines sell the bags to the Unclaimed Baggage Center warehouse. http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/aboutus.html

The Unclaimed Baggage Center displays 7,000 new items daily. Among the merchandise are pieces of clothing, golf clubs, books and other technology products, many found in seat-back pockets. Over the years some surprising items have been found. According to an ABC News report, those items include moose antlers, a parachute, a medieval set of armor and a shrunken head.

In other luggage news, the Department of Transportation wants to introduce legislation that requires airlines to reimburse checked baggage fees to passengers with luggage that is irretrievably lost or damaged. With a collective sum of approximately $3 billion a year in baggage fees, many airlines are opposed to the DOT proposal.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

TSA replaced color-coded terror-alert system

Considering we have been at "orange" since the color code system was put in place, thus passengers complacency, I cant help but think we are just going to always be at "elevated" now. Elevated is probably defined as nudity & aggressive groping required to travel.
____________________________________________________

The Department of Homeland Security has replaced the color-coded terrorism-advisory system with concise summaries of potential threats.

The summaries include geographic region; mode of transportation or infrastructure potentially affected by the threat; actions being taken to ensure public safety; and recommended steps that individuals, communities, businesses and governments can take to help prevent, mitigate or respond to a threat.

The DHS said alerts will include a "clear statement on the nature of the threat." Threats will be defined as "elevated" (warns of a credible terrorist threat against the U.S.) or "imminent" (warns of a credible, specific and impending terrorist threat against the U.S.).

Depending on the nature of the threat, alerts may be sent to law enforcement, distributed to affected areas of the private sector or issued more broadly to the public via Facebook and Twitter. Alerts will also be displayed in transit hubs, airports and government buildings, the DHS said.

Threat alerts will be issued for a specific time period and will automatically expire.

American Airlines vs. the world

The neighborhood bullies are at it again.
Just as earnings reports come out and American Airlines, doing the worst of all domestic airlines, tries to blame everyone else; GDS costs, fuel, labor, old jets, etc etc etc...... and travel agents are somehow reducing their income as well. That is a first I heard of a sales force reducing revenue. Interesting theory.
They have threatened other on line travel booking engines & GDS's (travel agencies) with a myriad of anti competitive tactics.
In a recent lawsuit against Orbitz, (AA seems to have an active legal division)........

The following statement by Orbitz Worldwide is in response to a lawsuit filed in Texas by American Airlines against Travelport and Orbitz:

“American Airlines’ baseless claims against Orbitz are the latest in a series of tactics to force Orbitz to adopt an airline ticket distribution model that limits consumer choice and inhibits competition.

It is important to keep the facts straight. American Airlines made the decision to play the role of the marketplace bully and pull its fares from Orbitz. Having failed to force Orbitz to adopt unproven technology that does not meet the needs of our customers, American Airlines is now resorting to groundless litigation in a desperate attempt to revive an unsuccessful strategy.

The unfortunate truth is that American Airlines is attempting to deprive consumers of the ability to compare prices across competing airlines.

When you fly you have a choice. Exercise it! Look at the providers and please do business with the ones that are not an evil empire (or at least a lesser evil than others)

Georgia Passes Controversial Immigration Bill

All I have to say about this is BRAVO!!!!!!
Here's hoping Gov Deal has the same guts to do the right thing as Gov Brewer in AZ


reported by; Michael C. Lowe & Sarah J.F. Braley
April 20, 2011

At the 11th hour in its session, the Georgia Legislature approved a bill similar to that in effect in Arizona. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has 45 days from April 14 to sign or veto the bill and has indicated he will sign it. The law gives police throughout the state the authority to question criminal suspects about their immigration status and requires some private employers to check the immigration status of newly hired workers using a federal database called E-Verify. “We are meeting with our customers and prospects to communicate the specifics of the bill and assure them that the legislation should have little impact on their attendees during their stay in Atlanta," said William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau in a statement.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Frontier cuts change fee in half

FINALLY, some good news!

Frontier Airlines reduced several fees charged to passengers, effective for tickets purchased on or after April 13.

Passengers who fly economy and want to make itinerary changes now are charged $50, down from $100, provided the changes are made before the day of travel.

Economy passengers get a $5 discount for checking bags online, bringing the fee to $15 per checked bag.

Two bags will continue to be included in the fare for passengers who buy Frontier’s Classic and Classic Plus fares.

The carrier also dumped the flat fee for checked bicycles and will treat bikes as standard baggage.

Name changes, which let another traveler use a ticket, now are allowed for $50 for passenger with Classic and economy tickets. A name change is free on Classic Plus fares.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Lufthansa to introduce first-ever A380 service to Miami

Lufthansa announced that it will be the first airline to offer scheduled Airbus A380 service to Miami with daily flights between Frankfurt and Miami beginning June 10, 2011. Flight LH463 will leave Miami at 4:10 p.m. and arrive in Frankfurt at 7:15 a.m. the following day; the return flight LH462 will depart Frankfurt at 9:55 a.m. and arrive back into Miami International Airport at 1:50 p.m.

SFO Completes Terminal 2

The $383 million renovations to SFO’s Terminal 2 are complete, and will open to the public on April 9. The terminal will now become the nation’s first LEED Gold-Registered terminal, after design updates from Turner Construction and Gensler. The 640,000-square-foot terminal comprises of 14 gates, a local food marketplace and world-renowned art from. It will be served by American Airlines and Virgin America. flysfo.com

post script - I connected thru SFO today and can verify (seeing it from the air) that the terminal had AA planes at the gates. This terminal has been closed for almost 10 years If I recall correctly.

FAA orders emergency Boeing 737 inspections

The Federal Aviation Administration plans to issue an emergency directive on Tuesday that "will require operators of specific early Boeing 737 models to conduct initial and repetitive electromagnetic inspections for fatigue damage."

FAA noted the directive would "initially" impact about 175 aircraft, 80 of them operating in the United States.

"Most of the aircraft in the U.S. are operated by Southwest Airlines and a few by Alaska," according to an FAA statement.

Southwest canceled hundreds of flights on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to inspect Boeing 737 aircraft after an incident on Friday in which a hole ripped open in a plane's fuselage, forcing an emergency landing.

After the Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency directive that mandates operators of specific Boeing 737 aircraft to conduct repetitive electromagnetic inspections for fatigue damage, Southwest has grounded two more planes because of cracks, bringing the total to five.