Self-service – from Canada

WestJet has introduced self-service baggage tagging for those flying to the US from Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal. Having launched the same service in November in Calgary, WestJet becomes the first Canadian airline to introduce this bag tagging on non-stop trans border flights. Self-service baggage tagging allows WestJet flyers to use a mobile, the Web or a kiosk for checking in for their flight. They are then able to print their own baggage tags when they arrive at the airport. Those checking in via a kiosk may print their boarding passes and baggage tags at the same time; and once the tags have been attached, travellers simply drop the baggage off at the appropriate location.

In most Canadian airports, WestJet flyers have had the ability to print their own baggage tags for domestic flights since 2010.

 

Pollution not confined to the ramp

Average air pollution levels from secondhand smoke directly outside designated smoking areas in airports are five times higher than levels in smoke-free airports. This is one finding from a study carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study was conducted around five large US airports, which revealed that air pollution levels inside designated smoking areas were up to 23 times higher than levels in smoke-free airports. In the study, designated smoking areas in airports included restaurants, bars and ventilated smoking rooms.

Overall, five out of the 29 largest airports tolerate smoking in designated areas that are accessible to the public. However, more than 110m passenger boardings (around 15% of all US air travel) occurred at these five airports during 2011.

Although smoking was actually banned on all US flights through a number of federal laws (from 1987 to 2000), as yet there is no federal policy that requires airports to be smoke-free.

Secondhand smoke can cause heart disease and lung cancer in non-smoking adults and it is a known cause of sudden infant death syndrome, respiratory problems, ear infections and asthma attacks. Even a mild exposure to secondhand smoke can trigger a heart attack.

Whether the findings will persuade the authorities to look anew at smoker provision remains to be seen.

 

Apps now becoming commonplace

The just-published 2012 ACI-NA (North America) Concessions benchmarking survey makes for interesting reading. Within its compass there is detail on the rise of the app, that useful item that allows travellers to quickly log on to all sorts of sites for updates and information. According to the survey, some 33% (that is, 32 out of 98 responding airports) now have a mobile application ready. It is also worth recording that of those airports that have a mobile application, over 70% promote concession offerings using these mobile platforms. In terms of how the app was developed, the most common route was that of a joint venture involving the airport and a third party: this accounted for 50% of responses. Close behind was the third party approach, with 44%.

 

Chaos in store at US Airways?

US Airways cabin crew have been threatening sudden strikes unless the airline management looks at agreeing new contracts for flights attendants.
Staff have the backing of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and have held protests around the US in the light of the airline’s failure to agree on contracts for its cabin crew. The association says that flight attendants continue to work under separate contracts, in separate operations, some seven years after the merger of US Airways with America West. It further suggests that US Airways’ proposed takeover of American ought to be put on hold until US Airways has completed its merger with America West, and agreed a single contract for all attendants.

 

 

On time statistics take a knock

Internal problems at American Airlines contributed to a slight fall in on-time departure statistics during the month of September. For the purposes of recording, to be on time flights have to arrive no more than 14 minutes behind schedule.

According to the Transportation Department, some 83.3% of all flights were on time although this was slightly down from the figure of 83.9% recorded during September 2011.

The best on-time performance statistic was recorded by Hawaiian Airlines, which totaled 96%. Runner-up was AirTran Airways, scoring 91%, whilst Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines rounded off the front runners with nearly 90% each.

There were no plaudits for American Airlines, which only managed to post on time figures of 58%. American blamed its poor performance on a work slowdown by pilots, who have been unhappy that the airline has used the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process to trim their pay and benefits package.

Concurrently, American Airlines also had the highest cancellation rate (3.1%), which represented a total of 1,304 flights. All the other major airlines submitting figures posted statistics below 1%. In all, American accounted for a third of all canceled flights during the month.

On the other side of the coin, passengers reported a slightly lower rate of lost or mishandled baggage: in this context, wayward bags were a bigger problem on regional airlines. Conversely, the chance of being bumped from one flight to another grew over the summer period: this was up by 38% from July through September, compared with the same period last year.