runway expansion

Work/Life: Is À La Carte Cruising in Your Future?

Owen Wild — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:32:08 -0400

The next time you are toot-tooted aboard a cruise ship, come prepared with more than just your swimsuit: The à la carte revenue model that has swept the airline industry may be coming to a cruise line near you.

Perhaps a topic oversimplified by the press, the practice of charging consumers for services they select (how novel! how capitalistic!) has been stigmatized as "nickel and diming."

Technology: Airline Industry Basically Bankrupt?

Robert Buckman — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:34:04 -0400

George Mason University's Kenneth Button, a professor of public policy, calls an airline basically "a bus with wings."

In the same Travel Weekly article in which Button makes that assertion, he also points out that
the airlines have a razor-thin operating margin of just 0.4 percent vs.
6 percent for other industries.

Work/Life: ...But Boss, I Saved $15 at the Bunny Ranch!

Owen Wild — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:18:34 -0400

The unpopularity of American Airlines' $15 first-checked-bag fee is
stimulating the creative impulse in marketers who want to tap into
travelers' desire to get some relief from the airlines' expanding list
of fees.

While nobody can turn back the clock to the fee-less past,
certain civic-minded groups are stepping up to the plate, like the
doctor or dentist who validates your parking, to pick up the change for
their customers.

Now you can add to that list a Nevada brothel.

Technology: Fees, Fuel, and Survival

Robert Buckman — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:37:09 -0400

Terry Trippler is absolutely "right on" in his quote in a recent edition of USA Today in which he says "This isn't nickel-and-diming. It's survival."

Trippler is talking about the American Airlines $15 first-checked-bag fee.

I think flyers are starting to recognize that right now, moves like this one, controversial as it is, are about survival. This fee isn't about getting extra revenue, but about getting operational revenue.

Work/Life: Bringing Chaos Out of Order

Owen Wild — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:07:17 -0400

American Airlines may rediscover in the most unwelcome way possible that the Law of Unintended Consequences is not only alive and well, but probably was invented in an airport terminal.

In fact, American may end up erecting a statue to that law once the full implications of their new first-checked-bag fee policy goes into effect on Sunday, June 15.

Think about it. Not about the $15 or more you won't have in your pocket. I've almost come to terms with that. Think of what's going to happen in those ticket and check-in lines.

Work/Life: Silverjet Strikeout Makes Three

Owen Wild — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:49:05 -0400

And then there was one.

L'Avion is the last of the pure business-class airlines still flying.

Work/Life: Orbitz Poll Says No to Inflight Internet

Owen Wild — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:17:32 -0400

A recent Orbitz poll says business travelers "don't feel the need or desire to be connected at 30,000 feet."

But don't count me among the nearly six in 10 who prefers to keep the air up there a refuge from the Internet.

Sure, I can appreciate the airborne downtime that comes with unplugging from our always-on world. On the other hand, an airborne Internet would give me not only better productivity but up-to-date new and improved entertainment choices.

Work/Life: Have Mobile Tech, Will Travel

Owen Wild — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:07:53 -0400

While business travel has taken a hit from the recent up tick in ticket prices, increase in air traffic congestion and a decrease in passenger comfort, I see mobile technologies as one ray of sunlight on the road warrior's horizon.

Traditionally the most popular mobile technology among road warriors has been the cell phone. But business travelers today are staying connected in a variety of ways — from smart phones to WiFi-enabled laptops to, of course, the trusty BlackBerry.

Work/Life: Why Are Business Traveler-Unfriendly Rules Back in Vogue at Some Carriers?

Owen Wild — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:28:26 -0400

Lower earnings among major U.S. airlines have led some carriers to resurrect revenue-generating strategies — I call them "segmentation tactics" — that essentially penalize business travelers more than other travelers.

Work/Life: Top 10 Ways the Road Warrior Can Fire Up The Economy

Owen Wild — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:29:39 -0400

So the U.S. Congress is rebating us up to $600 of our own money to help stimulate consumer spending and pull us out of the recession.

So if it's every road warrior's patriotic duty to use his rebate to fire up the economy, here are my top 10 ideas for frittering away mine.

(1) Get better luggage;

(2) Try out a local BBQ restaurant featured on The Food Channel;

(3) Get one of those portable GPS gizmos that comes with a travel guide;