I really can’t let Herb’s departure as Chairman go without a little more color. I mean, he’s an absolute legend in this business, and he deserves a proper send off (not that I can really live up to that). So, here are a couple of video links that I recommend watching.

First, take a look at the 1988 commercial called “The Unknown Flier” (second one down). The story behind this video, if I recall correctly, was that one of the founders of America West (not sure which one) said he’d be embarrassed to fly Southwest because of its cattle car mentality. (Is someone remember this story better, please comment below.) Well, Herb and his team came up with this fantastic response. Talk about being clever . . . .

Second, I’d recommend heading over to the Dallas Morning News for a clip montage of Herb’s final annual meeting yesterday. It’s a great collection of video that I think sums him up quite well, from what I know of him. You can see a guy who genuinely cares about people, tells it like it is, and definitely loves that airline. We need more people like that in the industry.

It was a sentimental day over in Dallas yesterday when Herb Kelleher officially stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Southwest Airlines. It won’t, however, be the end of his involvement with the airline. He’s still going to be around for at least 5 years. Apparently he’ll be focusing on getting a more fuel efficient replacement for the airline’s 737s. Rumor has it that the new plane will be powered by Wild Turkey.

With the end of Herb’s tenure in Southwest management comes the end of an era of true airline people. I know, it’s funny to say that since Herb is a lawyer by trade, but he knew how to run an airline. And drink. And smoke. A lot. He’s not the corporate-type, and he’s not afraid to be very blunt. There’s really nobody made of that kind of metal anymore. Crandall is gone, so is Bethune, and so are countless others who built this industry on their own backs. It really is the end of a era.

So it was fitting that at the same time this happened, American stepped into a new era for the airline industry. The plentiful and cheap seats that we’ve known for a long time are history . . . at least until (if?) fuel costs begin to subside. American was just the first one to take the plunge.

American not only announced that it would slash domestic capacity in the fourth quarter by 11 to 12%, but it also said it would retire at least 75 aircraft and it would start charging $15 to check your FIRST bag. The second bag will still be $25. Why are they doing this? We’ve talked about it a million times. High fuel costs + weakening demand = doom and gloom in the airline industry. But more important than “why” is “what” does it mean to you as a traveler?

The capacity cut will help keep fares up after the heavy summer travel season has passed. So get ready to continue to pay more. Start readjusting your sense of what a fair fare would be, because it’s going to need to be higher.

No details have been released as to which flights will be going away, and American never responded to my query, but we do know that 40 to 45 of the planes will be mainline, another 35 to 40 will be RJs, and there will be an undisclosed number of turboprops going away as well.

Of those mainline planes, most will be, as expected, the gas-thirsty MD-80s that are either now bound to fly for Allegiant or be earthbound for Miller Brewing Co. Those flight cuts could come from anywhere in the US, but I have to think that St Louis is going to see further shrinkage. Meanwhile, they’re also retiring some of the A300s. These are exclusively flown to the Caribbean, so you’ll see smaller planes, if not fewer flights, down there. There will also be RJs and turboprops going away. I’m not sure where the cuts will be, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the California turboprop flying disappear as well as some of the west coast regional flying. This is, of course, all speculation.

And then there are the baggage fees. Oh boy, what a can of worms this opens. It’s funny that AA was the lone holdout on the fee for checking a second bag for a long time, but now they’re the first to jump right in and charge for the very first bag. This is going to be an ugly transition period.

Now, people will do anything they can to avoid checking a bag. But wait, you still can’t bring liquids over 3 oz through security, so what can you do? Well, you can try to sneak liquids in, and I’m sure many people will. You can just suck it up and pay the fee for checking bags as well, and some will have to do that. I think it’s a safe bet that most people will try to cram as much as they can into a carry-on, and that leads to filled overhead bins and possibly some pretty ugly fights at the gate. What if the overheads are full? Will they charge you to gate-check your bag? There are so many painful operational scenarios here that would keep any customer service agent up at night.

But ultimately, it was American’s realization that as fuel costs continue their upward trajectory, they really don’t have a choice. This is truly the least imaginative way to raise money, but it’s the EASIEST way. Raising fares isn’t even as easy as this. And right now, they’re going for quick and easy. So, once again, brace yourselves when you have to travel. This is going to contribute to an even more difficult experience at the airport. Practice meditating and lay off the coffee when you’re heading out on a flight. The industry is going to be fundamentally changing, and it’s not going to be pleasant while it happens. Hopefully, when things settle down, airlines (existing or new) will find a better way to do business, but for now . . . yikes.

It can’t be easy being Champion Air these days. The clock is ticking . . . only 10 days until the airline shuts down for good. But apparently, this fine airline found the will to do a great thing yesterday. And for that, they get a (purple and) gold star.

So what did they do? Well, they made the San Antonio Spurs sleep on one of their planes on the ground in New Orleans while they fixed it. Why is this great? I grew up in LA during the time of Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Byron Scott, AC Green, Michael Cooper . . . you get the drift. Even though I don’t follow the game as much as I did back then, growing up here during that era makes me a Laker fan for life. And the Spurs were on their way to LA for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against Lakers.

This is actually a pretty bizarre story. The Spurs decided to fly out right after Game 7 against the Hornets. When they won, that meant they’d be heading to LA. The team went to the airport and found out that the plane was on a mechanical. Apparently, it wouldn’t be ready to go until 7a yesterday morning. Hotels were overbooked due to some huge convention, so the team had to sleep on the plane.

So, yesterday morning they made it to town, probably pretty tired from the long and uncomfortable night. I’m confident the Lakers can pull this one on their own, but there’s nothing wrong with a little extra advantage.

Now, should everyone be concerned about a mechanical on a plane that’s destined for the scrap heap in a couple of weeks? Nah, I’m going to assume that they’re doing what they have to do to keep those planes airworthy for now. And I don’t say that lightly. Champion also transports the Lakers.

Next year, Northwest will take over the contract with the NBA, but for now, let’s just say thanks to Champion Air for helping out my home team.

Congratulations to Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi. The company’s first Superjet 100 successfully flew yesterday. This is obviously a huge milestone for any aircraft program, but it must be even more exciting for these guys since this is the first Russian commercial jet program with any economic success potential in many, many years.

Sukhoi’s Director General was so happy, he, um, didn’t make any sense at all. He said, “Today is the most important day for us – we have virtually beaten the air with our own wings.” Uh, ok. Not sure what the air did to deserve the beating, but well, whatever. I’ll just assume it’s a translation issue.

This aircraft is very interesting, and I will be curious to see if it can gain any traction outside of the Russian sphere of influence. The aircraft has had plenty of Western help in its build, but it still carries a Russian name, and that may turn some operators off.

I have to assume that the price will be right, and the aircraft economics should be quite good as well (they say). Think about it this way. This plane should compete with the Embraer E190 family of aircraft. Who would have thought 20 years ago that you’d be buying jets from Brazil?

Further reading: My previous posts on the aircraft

I started putting this post on the airlines and the environment together a long time ago, and then it fell by the wayside. I dusted it off this weekend, and fortunately it’s still relevant. In fact, it’s only going to continue to become a bigger and bigger issue as time goes by.

I was prompted to write this post when I saw that the green community was up in arms over an incident involving American awhile back. You probably remember this one. The airline had the “audacity” to fly an airplane from Chicago to London with, *gasp*, 5 passengers onboard. Why? Well, they had canceled the flight but they couldn’t reaccommodate everyone on the other flights. There were 5 people left over. They had to fly the plane over to London to pick up the people flying westbound anyway, so they let those 5 people onboard for the trip east. That would have been called good customer service back in the day, but now many will call it a crime against the environment. It’s amazing how quickly times change.

I think this incident makes it pretty clear that airlines need to be paying very close attention to their impact on the environment. Even if you don’t believe in global warming, you have to understand that this issue is going to continue to snowball from a PR perspective and it will likely result in higher taxes on airline tickets if the airline don’t pay attention. You need to look no further than the actions over in Europe to see what’s undoubtedly going to make its way stateside with increasing volume. Over there, they’re talking about carbon trading schemes and insanely high taxes. It won’t be much longer before it reaches a fever pitch over here as well.

Now, I do believe that there is a human impact on climate change, but I also think the airlines are going to bear far more of the burden than they should. Air travel accounts for somewhere between 2 and 3% of greenhouse gas emissions and probably a slightly larger percentage of overall global warming. That’s a pretty small number in the scheme of things, but that’s not going to be a good argument in the public eye. But even looking within that 2 to 3%, why is it the airlines and not other contributors to the aviation industry get hit the hardest?

Well, they’re the easiest ones to nail. The problem here for the airlines, of course, is that they can’t pass along all these additional costs to consumers, and for environmentalists, that’s probably the point. The green people want fewer flights, but that’s a very bad idea if you care about the economy. We’re having a hard enough time keeping flying affordable in this country with the cost of fuel right now. Additional taxes on air travel are going to be detrimental. How else can this issue be addressed?

It seems to me that the best place to focus efforts here is on the manufacturers. I know, I know. Indirectly, anything that happens to the airlines will force the manufacturers to be more green, because the airlines will demand it. But with US airlines conserving cash and not looking at new aircraft orders, pressure from the airlines on the manufacturers won’t result in much change for a long time.

By going after the airlines directly and taxing them further, you’re bound to hurt the environment even more. In Europe, you have greener options. You can take a train instead of flying, but in the US that’s rarely an option. So, as costs rise, people will just head to their cars more. Even with the price of gas where it is, if you lump more taxes on top of an airline ticket, it’s going to be less economically feasible to fly and people will drive. Cars are way worse for the environment than flying an airplane over the same distance.

So instead, let’s focus on the manufacturers. If we want to truly be green, we should be offering tax breaks and R&D funding to help create greener aircraft, and that really begins with the engine manufacturers in particular. That’s where I think the gains can be made. Let’s fund alternative fuel and fuel conservation research. That’s how we can really have the greatest impact.