It hasn’t been a fun couple of days for me as I work to fight off a cold/flu in time for my trip back east for the holidays. I just don’t have it in me to put together a post today. So, let me offer you some light reading to get the day started.

If you haven’t heard, the DOT put out their plan for New York’s airspace. You can take a look here. I still like the idea of capping flight operations until they’re able to handle additional capacity. The higher fares that may result from fewer flights is better than the horrible delays we saw last summer. As a temporary measure, it’s worth it. Let’s just make sure it stays temporary and they actually do make the improvements that are sorely needed.

I’m off tomorrow to visit the soon-to-be inlaws. I’m not sure what my posting schedule will be like while I’m gone, but there’s a good chance I won’t post again until after Christmas.

If I don’t speak to you before then, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. And for those who don’t, enjoy the long weekend!

Poor Alitalia. No seriously, I really do feel bad for them. I know they’re completely incompetent and losing millions of dollars a day, but I still feel a little sympathy. See, even if they could run a functioning airline, they wouldn’t be allowed to do it thanks to the meddling of the Italian government.

In last week’s episode, we were down to two bidders, but the final decision had been delayed. Then yesterday, we had big news. Um, the final decision has been delayed again. Now it’ll supposedly happen on Dec 21, but I wouldn’t put bets on it. Why?

The Italian government can’t keep their grubby hands to themselves.

We have two offers here. Air One, the Italian airline, will pay 1 euro cent per share (basically nothing) and then spend most of its money on fixing the airline and merging into it. Air France will pay 35 euro cents per share, but they won’t pour as much into the airline. They also say they’ll make Milan a regional hub and focus their efforts on Rome flying. Air One hasn’t made such claims.

The reason everything has been delayed is because the government is dragging its feet. In fact, there’s a top level meeting between the Italian and French heads of state to discuss things on Thursday, and you know this will come up in their talks. But why should it? It’s a business that should be allowed to run like a business. You know that’s not the case when you hear what some of these guys are saying.

Take yesterday’s Reuters article, for instance. On Monday, the Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli said, “Alitalia must propose the best partner, but the government also has a responsibility … It is not about necessarily choosing an Italian airline, it is not a nationalistic issue. But the interest of the country is at stake. Where will our children, our firms leave from to go to China or India? Will they have to fly from Paris, or even Frankfurt, or will they be able to leave from Milan or Rome?”

Somebody get this guy an economics text book. If there’s demand for flights between Rome and China or India, you know there will be nonstop flights there regardless of who owns the airline. If there isn’t demand? Well then there shouldn’t be a flight there, and if you force one, it will end up being an unprofitable mess. You’ll be right back where you started.

In this article talking about the delay, Rutelli was at it again. “I do not say an absolute no to a partnership with Air France or other foreign partners, but I say that if Air France wants to sit at the table, it has to act in Italy’s interests, rather than its commercial interests.”

Arrrrggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Look, genius, of course Air France has to act in its commercial interests. Why else would they be doing this? Do you think a single Air France shareholder is going to say, “Gee, I don’t care if we make money as long as we’re doing it for Italy.” If you do a good job of making your country a center for commerce and tourism, people will go to/from there. And if there’s demand, airlines will gladly fill it with nonstop flights. But if you have no demand, why on Earth would any airline fly it? So, spend your time furthering your country’s ability to be a desirable place for business and tourism, and then there will be enough demand for flights.

When it comes to Alitalia, just take the bid that makes the most sense from a financial perspective and get out of that mess as soon as you can.

Bruce Schneier is a security guru. Though much of his focus is related to computer/online security, he will dabble in the world of air travel from time to time. If you haven’t gone to his website, I would highly recommend doing so to experience the awesomeness of his powers.

Last week, he took on something I briefly noted in my trip report back from London in October. I called it the “strange, random, post-security shoe inspection” that we had to go through after main security in Terminal 3. Schneier rightly pokes holes in what a stupid idea this is.

The setup is that you go through security as usual, but then afterwards you pull your shoes off and put them through a special shoe scanning x-ray. How to beat it if you want to do bad things? Well, bring two pairs of shoes: one clean and one evil and dirty. Walk through the first checkpoint with the dirty shoes on and the clean ones in your bag so they make it through the x-ray. Then, switch them. Put the clean ones through the shoe x-ray while keeping the dirty ones in your already-scanned bag.

Could it be any easier? Think of how many people are inconvenienced by something like this every single day, and then think about how completely useless it is. I know this is UK security, but it sounds like something the TSA would think up as well. Anyone else want to start a campaign to make Bruce Schneier the head of the TSA?

You’re sitting back relaxing on your flight from the US down to New Zealand when all of a sudden you realize you forgot to book your hotel. Ah crap. Or let’s say you and your geographically ignorant friends are flying from NZ to Vancouver and you’re debating whether Toronto or Montreal is the capital of the country. How do you settle the bet (and find out that you’re both wrong)?

Say hello to Air New Zealand’s onboard concierge service, a “walking Wikipedia,” if you will. They’ve decided to put someone on each long haul flight to help you with all your problems. (Um, maybe not ALL of them.) And that’s why they get the Gold Star today.

This concierge will be an additional crew member that will have no duties other than helping customers with whatever they need. Now admittedly, many of those questions could easily be answered with an internet connection, so is this just a stopgap measure to achieve the same thing until onboard internet becomes a reality or is there more here? I spoke with Ed Sims, Group General Manager International Airline for Air New Zealand, and he had more details.

Cranky: Practically, how will someone flag this person down onboard? Do you just ring your call button or ask a flight attendant? Or, will there a set location where you can go to find this person?

Ed: We see the IAC [concierge] moving between cabins, with a combination of pre set times to talk to individuals with longer questions like itinerary planning and simply being flagged by passengers with quicker queries ie food and beverage info. I would also envisage key times like top of descent where the IAC and FSM [Flight Service Manager] would work together on [announcements] with onward flight connections and timings. We haven’t designated a meeting area but could easily do so on the the 747 ..and possibly make better use of the galley on the 777. In the near future we would like to see an option on pre order IFE (as per the Virgin America system) where you could book IAC time.

Cranky: Will people in Coach have the same level of access as people in the premium cabins?

Ed: Yes absolutely ..I see the IAC spending most of their time in Economy, making more of a special event for these cabins.

Cranky: How will the person help rebook people during irregular ops? Will they just hop behind a podium and help the existing agents or will they get things done on their own and bring it back to the customer when it’s finished?

Ed: Probably both. The key aspect is that the IAC will not be tied to the flight (or crew) on which they arrived – they will stay with disrupted passengers to work with airport staff to ensure onward travel arrangements. If they miss the next flight due to the nature of these disrupts, they will have to connect with our next service. In the ideal situation they will brief the ground agent with requirements from their flight and return to passengers with confirmed arrangements. We have a rebooking system called Passenger Reaccomodation Management (PRM) which sends an automatic ACARs from the plane to the ground to reselect customers by class for rebookings – and I see the IAC overseeing and communicating this process one on one with disrupted
customers

Cranky: When will the person begin helping people? Will he/she show up at the gate 1 hour prior to departure and work until after everyone has left? What about crew rest issues. Will they only be available for certain parts of the flight?

Ed: Just as our Flight Service Manager (FSM) enters the lounge an hour prior to meet/greet HVCs, we see the IAC at the gate an hour prior, letting people know who they are and what they can do in flight. We are working on an informal variation on the Uniform so they can be recognisable from check in. They will need to take Crew rest during the flight..working mostly 12
hour sectors, there will be times when passenger demands will be lower and this is something we will need to experiment with by route and flight times.

Cranky: Is this a union job that will have strict job guidelines or will it be more of a general, “do everything you can to help” type of job?

Ed: We have scoped the job on an Individual Employment Agreement and the spec will be more “do whatever it takes”..I am not unhappy about the fact that we have already started the discussion on potential collectivisation but that will be more about membership and affiliation than changes to the scope of the role – it will be up to the successful candidates as to whether they would feel happier in a collective.

It sounds like a great program, but one big question remained. What sort of ability will this person have to actually get things done. Would it be more of a “I’m here to give you options” type of position or is it more of a “I can do it for you” position? That makes a big difference, so I asked Ed a followup question.

His response? At first, it will be more limited in scope. He says that the concierge will have access to ACARS, so he/she can radio ahead to get information like connecting gates, etc. And more importantly, the IAC will be able to radio ahead to take care of possible misconnections and other travel problems that require rebooking. But when it comes to actually making someone a hotel reservation, That’s further down the line. He says that he sees it “being used more as a customer service and for peace of mind, rather than to make bookings” at this point, but that doesn’t mean things won’t change down the line.

So there you have it. The concierge can be considered peace of mind, and for a lot of travelers, I think that’s important. I suppose ANZ doesn’t run into the same delay/cancellation problems on their international routes as, say, a domestic US airline flying to JFK does, but it has to happen sometimes. And it’s nice to know that when it does happen, someone will be there to help.

Of course, the extra crew member costs money, so can they really justify it as a service enhancement that will increase revenue? It’s hard to say, but there are potentially other opportunities here to partner with local accommodations and tourist attractions to generate revenue through recommendations. Of course, I’d be very wary about that, but if it’s what it takes to justify paying the extra crewmember, then I think it would be worth it with restrictions.

Most importantly, I agree that’s it a “peace of mind” type of thing. I like knowing that if there’s a problem, then I can ask the concierge to help regardless of where I am in the flight. More importantly, I know that the person will ACTUALLY help me. It’s interesting that most airlines have focused on improving revenue by adding physical improvements like inflight entertainment and better seats. ANZ has certainly done that, but now they’re really angling for the next step – improving service levels as well.

I know it must be hard to justify this extra expense, but I truly hope they can find a way to have this work out. Increases in service levels are all-too-rare these days. I know travelers are often looking for the cheapest fare, but then you can’t really turn around and complain about service. Vote with your wallet and start supporting carriers that have enhanced service levels like this. Maybe it will convince other airlines that it’s actually the way to go.

How about a little airplane porn for the weekend? Horizon had to repaint all those planes formerly flying as Frontier JetExpress anyway, so they decided to have a little fun with it. Now, Oregon, Oregon St, Washington, and Washington St will all have their own painted airplanes.

Dear Horizon, any chance of a GW plane? Ok, you may not fly anywhere near my alma mater, so that’s probably too much to ask, but how about painting ones for the rest of the PAC-10? You fly to the airports nearest to Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, and USC. Ok, so you don’t fly to Phoenix or Tucson for ASU and UA, but Alaska does. I like the idea.