Has anyone had the chance to check out Yapta yet? The site originally launched as a way to see if the price of a ticket you had purchased had gone down. Since some airlines will give you a credit if the fare goes down, this could be a handy little tool to help you save some money. When it first launched, it required you to download a browser plug-in to work, but now you can get Yapta on the web. Unfortunately, there were some kinks that made the site unusable initially, but while some of those have been fixed, there’s still a ways to go before this is a helpful tool.

I decided to go to Yapta (Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant) and put in four itineraries I had already purchased to see what I could find.

Northwest to Indianapolis
This one ended before it started. You can’t check Northwest flight information on Yapta (maybe they won’t give you credit for a lower fare?), so I moved on.

United to Indianapolis
By entering my confirmation number and last name, Yapta originally told me that fare had gone down, but that’s because it saw our total price (for two people) as the per person price. Bzzzzt, no good. Now that’s been fixed, and it’s saying that the fare has gone up from $242 to $349. That’s still not quite right. I go on to United.com and it tells me that the price is $370 for that flight right now. So I’m not sure where this is coming from. True, the outcome is the same, but it won’t necessarily always be that way.

JetBlue to San Jose
I figured the third time would be the charm, right? Not quite. Yapta came back saying that the price has gone up from the $109 we paid to $149 per person so there’s nothing to gain here. But just out of curiosity, I checked JetBlue.com and the price is actually $139. Still nothing to gain, but it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence when the fares are not accurate on every itinerary I try so far.

Alaska to Seattle/Portland
This one I thought would be interesting. I’m flying out of Long Beach, going to Seattle, and then flying back from Portland to Orange County. This time, it was just me traveling so there was no issue of viewing two fares as one accidentally. The result? It says that the fare has gone from $310.57 all the way up to $744. Whoa, not so much. I did pay $310.57 (with a % discount certificate), but the current fare is $324. For those keeping score, Yapta was 0 for 3 in getting the correct current price of the ticket. Not good.

Bottom Line
The site has a great idea, but man are there problems. I’m glad to see they’ve worked out the kinks on the fare initially paid. That’s working perfectly now, but every single time it returned the wrong “new” fare that was currently available. Both components need to be right for this site to be successful. Without that component, I still find myself going to the airline website to double-check to actual fare, and that makes Yapta not very useful. Once they solve these problems, it’ll be worth a return visit.

Have you seen what’s been going on with Aerolineas Argentinas lately? I hadn’t, actually, until a reader brought it to my attention. Though Alitalia is still the worst airline ever, it appears that Aerolineas Argentinas is jockeying to be next in line.

Let’s start with a brief timeline.

2001: Aerolineas Argentinas is bankrupt; Spanish firm Grupo Marsans picks them up
2002-2007: All hell breaks loose
2008: The government decides to take the airline back into its own hands

That explains it all, right? Ok, maybe not. All sorts of charges have been thrown against Grupo Marsans (read reply #6). On one hand, there have been some very questionable decisions. How about the brilliant move to order A380s for the airline? Yeah, not so brilliant, right? Like there’s any need for an airplane that big on any route out of Buenos Aires . . . .

But that’s likely just the tip of the iceberg here. The allegations that Marsans was effectively manipulating Aerolineas Argentinas to benefit its Air Comet subsidiary sounds like shades of Frank Lorenzo’s Texas Air’s handling of Eastern Airlines.

Of course, to truly compete for worst airline ever, you have to have some serious labor strife. Don’t worry about that one, because these guys have been striking on a regular basis. (I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising, especially with the news that the company is falling behind on salaries.)

So far, we have all the ingredients for a strong candidate for worst airline ever except for one . . . government interference. But wait, we have that as well! Since it’s not illegal like it is in the EU, it’s not nearly as much fun as watching the Italian government, but hey, it’s still pretty good.

Earlier this year, the government struck a deal with Marsans to reduce its stake from 95% to 35%. The government will take 20%. Um, ok. But apparently that’s not enough. They’ve also forced state-regulated fare levels. At least they also subsidize oil, I guess. But somehow they’ve still lost $100m this year.

Where is this leading? A full nationalization, of course. The government has now asked the courts for an administrator to take over the airline, and a takeover is being negotiated

So let me get this straight. The airline already has fixed fares, subsidized fuel, and they can’t make money? I’m sure the government will be able to straighten this one out. Yikes. Marsans really isn’t happy, but maybe they should be. This sounds like a no-win situation.

For the people of Argentina, the best they can hope for here is that their country follows in the footsteps of Ecuador and Peru . . . let LAN expand significantly and run a real airline that serves the country well.

DOT Rejects Blanket Dormancy Waiver
The DOT has decided to deny the request by seven airlines to allow them to suspend international routes without losing the rights. This could get interesting.

Ramping Up Alternative Propulsion Systems
With fuel prices climbing, engine manufacturers are looking for new ways to reduce fuel burn. At least one concept is almost ready to fly.

Virgin America Appeals DOT Decision with a Vengeance
Unhappy with the DOT’s decision to require public submission of Virgin America’s data, the airline has decided to appeal with fists flying.

Allegiant Leaves Green Bay for Appleton
Allegiant really does practice what it preaches. Green Bay started charging more, so Allegiant packed up and moved 33 miles down the road to Appleton.

The Airlines Attack Oil Speculators
The ATA has gathered US airlines to fight oil speculation. Will it help or just end up making things worse?

Ever get the feeling US Airways is a sinking ship that’s throwing off as much weight as it can to stay afloat? This week we’ve seen the airline drop inflight entertainment on domestic flights and ditch all the onboard equipment. They’re also getting rid of ovens in the coach galleys. Yep, that means they’re really, honestly, trying to get as much weight off the plane as they can to save gas. But it’s not just on the plane. They’re also getting rid of ticket jackets. I always thought that ads made those profitable, but I guess not.

You might think that I’d be flinging a Cranky Jackass award for this move, but actually, I’m not. Surprisingly, I have to give them credit here for actually following the strategy they’ve laid out, right or wrong. This is the strategy that was outlined for us at media day back in March. In their eyes, all that matters is price and schedule as long as the appearance is clean, the flights are on time, and it’s convenient. They’ve held their own when it comes to on-time performance, and I think they’ve been cleaning up their planes (though I haven’t flown them in quite some time).

In other words, though many people bemoan the direction the airline is taking, US Airways is actually delivering on its promises. With that in mind, I started thinking about what they’re going to spring on us next. No matter what it is, there’s a very good chance people will hate it, but at least it’s not false advertising.

Here is my list of the top 5 ways I’d expect to see US Airways increase revenues next, in no particular order. And no, this isn’t a joke or some snarky post about “gee, what could the airlines possibly charge us for next.” There have been far more than enough of those floating around.

• Overhead Bin Ads – Ah come on, they’ve already done tray table ads, so why not just go to the overhead bins as well? It’s worse, yes, because you can’t actually hide those from sight, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they could make some decent money off of it. And that means it could actually happen, even if it does somewhat degrade the “appearance.”




• Charge for Advanced Seat Assignments – I know, this is a little late to the game with Spirit already setting the bar, but why not jump on the bandwagon? If someone is really going to choose you because of price and schedule, then advanced seating assignment fees won’t really alter the decision, right?




• Remove Window Shades – This takes a page out of the Ryanair playbook. No window shades = less weight and fewer things that can break. Ryanair also doesn’t do seatback pockets, but there’s too much money in the magazine and Skymall to take that away. Would US Airways actually do this? I’m not sure what the savings would really be, but if they are real, then I don’t see why not.




• Sell Products Onboard – They already pimp their credit cards, so why not follow the Skybus model and start selling products, like duty free in the international world? True, that would technically add weight to the plane, so it would have to generate good revenue to make sense, but they might think it’s worth a shot.




• Charge for First Class Upgrades – I’ve saved the most controversial for last. If you think there have been objections to the latest round of changes, just wait until something like this happens. All hell will break loose. I’d argue that free First Class upgrades are by far the most important reason someone desires elite status with the airline. But, would people walk away if they had to pay $25 for the privilege on a domestic flight? It’s a risky move, and it would absolutely piss off the elites, but at some point they may consider it for the revenue it would raise.

Some of these are pretty risky moves, but with fuel where it is right now, I’m sure everything is in play. Would any of these moves stop me from flying the airline? Nah, not more than anything they’ve already done. (I haven’t flown them in almost 18 months, or at least that’s what my Dividend Miles expiration notice tells me.) The reality is that they’re right about a lot. Price and schedule do matter most in the domestic world, and they rarely if ever have a price or schedule advantage from my home in the LA area.

The airline has made it clear that it is racing to the bottom when it comes to amenities being included in the fare. At some point, passengers will revolt, that is, if they actually have a better option to choose. With all the legacy airlines following similar paths, there aren’t many options left for someone who wants to protest. But one of these moves will cross the line, and passengers will start to defect. Until that happens, you can expect to see airlines continuing to push the envelope on what they’re willing to try to reach profitability.

The writing has been on the wall for quite awhile hasn’t it? In what has to be one of the most expected announcements in a long time, ExpressJet has now officially decided to end its branded operations on September 2.

We all know the story here. It’s fuel. I was a big fan of the idea behind ExpressJet from the beginning. There are opportunities out there for point-to-point service on smaller city pairs, but flying it as a brand new airline in 50 seat jets just didn’t work. I used to say that it might have worked as Southwest Express, because the power of the network would have helped significantly. With fuel above $4 a gallon, I can’t even imagine that working.

So, if you have tickets through September 1, you’re fine. In fact, you can still buy a seat on a flight until then. But after that, you’re going to have to call the airline for a refund. Hey, at least it’s a solvent airline that can actually refund your money.

At last check, there were 205 aircraft flying for Continental, 23 for Delta, 23 for the branded operation, and 23 for the corporate aviation group. We already know that they won’t be flying those 23 for Delta anymore, and now branded is gone, but they can only return 39 aircraft. This means that there will now be 30 planes flying for corporate aviation in addition to the 205 for Continental.

Anyway, I still think this idea can work some day, but we’ll need to see the price of fuel come down again. Next time, I’d probably try it with a Q400 turboprop or something, not that ExpressJet had that choice. This is a sad one for me, because I really liked flying the airline, and I think they had the right idea. It’s just the timing (and probably the airplane) that was wrong.