Last year, I wrote about how US Airways had started scanning bags at planeside. When I was in Phoenix with the airline recently, I decided to stop in and get an update on how things were going. They’ve made a lot of progress since then, and there are some exciting new developments.

US Airways has long had bag problems (remember Philly back before the merger?) but they’ve been achieving record low mishandling bag rates in recent months. Most of this can be attributed to an improved system. US Airways now scans bags when the come on and off airplanes at every airport with the exception of a couple European stations due to technical issues. This now also applies to US Airways Express flights.

When the bag is scanned, the information is sent to a central system and there are real-time monitoring systems, built from scratch by US Airways, that make things run smoothly. I saw the system, but they weren’t willing to let me post a screenshot since it’s proprietary.

You can watch this system from a desktop or from the scanner itself. It shows for every flight how many bags have been checked in and how many bags have been loaded onboard. If a big is missing, you can click on it and see where it was last scanned. It has the person’s name, the tag number, etc. If you’re in the hub waiting for it to connect, then you can have it tracked down immediately. Since it’s in real-time, it’s easy to see the problem bags.

When I was sitting there, we looked at a flight heading to Mexico City. It had 173 bags planned, with the split between local and connecting bags shown as well. As bags are checked in, they show up on the screen. As they are loaded on the plane, that gets recorded as well. This is also used for bags that are checked at the gate, so now all bags will be loaded into the system.

As we sat there, I noticed that there was one bag from one person that was loaded and the other was not. I asked aloud about that – was it lost? Within just a minute, that bag had been loaded as well and it clicked off. Very cool.

The system is also tied in to the baggage tracking system NetTracer that’s used when you file a mishandled bag claim so it makes it easier to get information. What’s next? They’ll be automating more of the mishandled bag claim system, but more importantly, they’re talking about notifications.

Eventually, you’ll be able to get a notification when your bag is loaded or possibly if it doesn’t get loaded. This is fantastic for setting expectations. If your bag is loaded, you’ve got peace of mind and you’re happy. If it’s not, you’re unhappy but at least you know. You’ll also no longer need to sit and wait at the carousel, hoping that yours will be the last bag out. Instead, you can file a claim right away and be on your way.

Great stuff from the US Airways people here.

Let’s say you’re flying on a German airline and you’re riding in style up in business class. What would you like to see in the lounge before you go? That’s right, a German beer garden. And now you can. Lufthansa has installed a beer garden in its newly-refurbished Munich lounge, and I love it. They should roll this out to every lounge in the system.

When you’re flying Lufthansa, you’re expecting a German experience. I realize that beer halls are more of a Bavarian thing, so it makes sense it’s in Munich, but I’d like to see that kind of character in lounges all over. I want my airline’s personality to come out from my first interaction, and this certainly does that for Lufthansa.

It got me thinking, what should other airlines be doing with their lounges? Here are some thoughts on lounge design for just a few airlines out there.

• Aeroflot – vodka bar (preferably no flying pilots allowed)
• Air Canada – an igloo with Molson and hockey
• Air New Zealand – sheep farm
• Delta – huge veranda with mint juleps
• Emirates – made of solid gold
• Hawaiian – a lanai
• KLM – four words: red light district, pot
• Spirit – a cardboard box (extra fee for roof)
• TAM – Carnaval!
• Thai – I probably shouldn’t say this one out loud

 
Gimme some more in the comment section. I know you guys have ‘em lined up.

And now, finally, part three of the airline CEO panel. I promise this is my last post on the symposium for this year. They finished up with a discussion about new aircraft and regulation. (See part one on consolidation and part two on competing and cooperating with low cost carriers.)

On the Introduction of New Aircraft
Republic CEO Bryan Bedford: We spent a lot of time looking at the narrowbody product offering and we fly a lot of Airbus products. Our employees love them. It’s a great aircraft. Then you start looking at operating capability and cost. You’re looking for that step function change to overcome the induction differences with training, different costs. Before I’m going to induct a new fleet type, I have to get a new double digit saving opportunity.

So with the [Bombardier] C Series, we saw an airplane that at least, as advertised and engineered, will deliver the goods. We compare a 138 seat aircraft to 138 seat aircraft, we’re looking at between 17 and 19% aircraft-related cost savings.

Qatar CEO Akbar al Baker: We look at the operating costs, amenities and the product improvements that these new airplanes bring. We also believe in keeping types of airplanes we operate to a minimum. We like to keep our fleet up to date. The average age is just 3.2 years.

British Airways CEO Willie Walsh: It’s great to see good competition between Boeing and Airbus and developing competition like the C Series. We have had a look at that and it looks like an excellent aircraft. We’ve ordered A380s and 787s. We see them as being very different from the A380. An aircraft like an A380 can be very effective at some destinations we serve. Hong Kong is a good example where typically we’d operate 3 747s a day and they leave within an hour of each other. So frequency is not important, volume is. If you can replace 3 747s with 2 A380s you get much better economics and it frees up a slot at Heathrow. The A380 works really well but we never saw it as an ideal replacement for the 747.

The 787 has the opportunity to be a game changer more than anything else. It’s a very efficient aircraft, it should be, and I think that will open up new destinations that are just not economic with the aircraft we have today.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker: I see nothing revolutionary coming out of the manufacturers. It’s not meant to be disparaging, the jet age is over and physics are what they are. Clearly there are some things evolutionary that would be of interest. What matters to airlines right now is, consumers don’t care, you can find no difference between aircraft types. No premium for a better airplane including even regional jets. Now it clearly matters how many seats you have. So what matters is for the number of seats you have in the market, how do you generate seats at the lowest cost. If there’s a next generation narrowbody that’s coming that works, that’s great, but I don’t think it’s a revolution.

JetBlue CEO Dave Barger: We’re kind of boring compared to Willie. I’m just looking for a winglet or a sharklet so we can go Boston to Oakland 100% of the time. We’ve been testing with Aviation Partners a winglet. We’re through the testing now and we’ll see if Airbus can work the engineering accordingly. Not just better range but the fuel efficiency that everyone talks about. That’s a big number for an airline like JetBlue. As Doug mentioned, whenever it’s decided to be built, there are some improvements that are out there technologically that can help.

Willie: I think there are issues. Doug is right to a point, but sometimes you’ve heard customers say it. “I hope I’m not traveling on that thing.” Propellers somehow still discourage people. I think there is an issue, the open rotor from an efficiency point of view sounds fantastic, but I’m not sure if it’s the right way forward. You’ve got this balance between noise, which is a very sensitive issue, and fuel efficiency. I think people need to think long and hard before leaping to these solutions.

Doug: If that’s the only problem, that’s a marketing problem. Get Sully to fly around in one and say it’s safe and you’re fine. There is more to it than that but the simple optics issue is something that we can deal with.

Bryan: Clearly today, Willie mentioned it, there is this aversion to getting on a prop plane whether it’s less safe, noisy, bumpy, lower altitude, who knows but it’s there. It’ll be one of these issues about how low a cost for someone to take the revenue.

Dave: Put TV in the back of the seat and nobody will ever notice.

On Regulation
Dave: I think, Doug I’ve heard you say, we brought [the three hour rule] on ourselves. We were there 3 years ago. It’s unfortunate that we spend so much time because we brought it on ourselves, because if we could spend more time talking about investment and technology, as we start talking about RNP and RNAV, the procedures at these airports, what a better use of time as long as we’re not stranding customers on the tarmac. That type of thing, things such as financial regulation and oil speculation and the bills that are making their way through Washington.

There are parts of the same building talking about oil going to $200 a barrel and other parts talking about shorting the airline stocks. What’s wrong with that picture? Investment in technology, focused oversights, position limits, whatever it might be so that we’re not caught in the middle is very important and then climate change. I think we’re playing catch up to other countries. Just do no harm. We’ve done an awful lot to really drive fuel efficiency. It’s a big deal.

Bryan: I agree with everything Dave said. I’d like to envision a partnership between government and industry between regulators and those who are regulated so we don’t feel like we’re constantly fighting each other. The things that bind us together are much greater than the things we don’t see eye to eye on, but the climate in Washington seems to be more of a “gotcha.”

I’m not sure what it is but it feels like there’s less cooperation. It may not be happening in the trenches, but when we see our public officials come out and castigate a guy for wanting to implement a carry on baggage fee – why is that a political thing? Customers should be able to decide not to fly that guy. I think the problems are real and significant and there’s opportunities to fix them. You’ve got very willing industry participants. We want efficiencies because burning less gas makes that pie bigger for our employees to share in. We all want the same thing; we just have a hard time getting there.

Doug: Our message is simple: do no harm, which means two things to us. Please no new taxes or fees. We’re already the most burdened industry, higher than cigarettes, alcohol. We’re taxed like we’re a vice. For now, just don’t give us any more please.

The second part of that is that you’ve got to let us go do self help so we can fix ourselves. Don’t get in the way of us trying to do things to get this industry profitable. This slot swap that we announced in August still isn’t approved. Just please execute the slot swap. It’s symptomatic about what’s going on. This is pro-consumer. Delta is going to take those slots and fly big airplanes, we’re going to do the same in Washington. This is good. . . . All we want is just let us compete; let us do the things that other businesses are allowed to do – trading assets – let us compete within the antitrust laws. There are laws if we start to violate those, but these are not even close. I can’t imagine there’s any problem with United/Continental but there are going to be people in the administration that are going to try to make problems. Our government doesn’t seem to want to let our industry get itself profitable. Just leave us alone and let us compete.

Willie: I enjoyed that. Governments and regulators have two very important roles: safety standards and security standards. It’s important to acknowledge there’s a standard of safety that we must match and aim to exceed. Regulators telling us what to charge, where we can fly, those days are long over. I think they need to stand back. We’re dealing with a situation in Europe. European airspace closed down for the best part of 6 days. As an airline we’re deemed responsible for providing food drinks, phone calls, etc. This had nothing to do with the airlines and yet with thousands and potentially hundreds of thousands of customers stranded away from home, we’re forced to pick up the bill. We then have to give priority to the people with bookings instead of trying to get people repatriated because it forces us to pay high levels of compensation to anyone who we would bump from the flight. Politicians were criticizing the industry yet at the same time telling us to comply with this legislation which prevented us from doing that. Common sense says the regulators should have suspended the legislation and allowed the industry to sort out the problem. We do well in the face of challenges like this. If we had been allowed the scope to do what’s right for customers, we would have handled that situation in a much better way. And when we talk about closing down airspace in the first place – scandal – it never should have happened. We’re forced to stop flying and yet we have to pick up the bill. Consumers do not benefit from that. We need regulators to stand back and look at the big picture and really challenge us to sort these issues out. This is a brutally competitive industry. We will fight for every customer. If one airline wants to charge you to carry on a bag and everyone else says they won’t do that, why should a regulator intervene?

Doug: I enjoyed his comments.

Akbar: I entirely agree with Willie that they should leave the airlines alone. The more they interfere with us, the more they will put us against the wall. The general public will suffer.

For Fliers, Mixed Impact Seen – Wall Street Journal
The articles have been flying fast and furious this week regarding the United/Continental merger. I was quoted in this one.

United-Continental Merger: A Good Fit (If It Happens), but Cleveland Won’t Like It – BNET
It’s merger time and now it’s time to start picking off the winners and losers. Let’s start here with the cities at risk.

The Mike Siegel Show (radio – MP3 file) – Business Talk Radio Network
I spent more than half an hour talking with Mike Siegel about the proposed Continental/United merger and about Cranky Concierge (starts at the 18 minute mark).

United-Continental Merger: Will Regulators Approve? They Should – BNET
Everyone wants to know if this will get federal approval. It should.

united and continental get married – antibride.com
Writing for a wedding site, I couldn’t resist drawing parallels between a wedding and a merger.

Slot Swap Ruling Demonstrates Hostile Washington Climate for Airlines – BNET
Now that the final order has been issued on the Delta/US Airways slot swap, we might have a window into how things will go for United/Continental.

Why the Volcano Airspace Shutdown Was Actually an Overreaction – BNET
At the Phoenix symposium, I had the chance to hear BA CEO Willie Walsh go on a rant about why the airspace shouldn’t have been closed. I find myself starting to agree.

Why Japan is the Most Interesting Aviation Market in the World – BNET
It’s incredible when you think about all the changes happening in Japan right now. I spoke with ANA’s Director of International and Regulatory Affairs about the challenges ahead.

I know I’ve already given you most of the info from the US Airways media day and the Phoenix Symposium, but I never got around to posting the trip report. Unlike in previous years, I opted to fly instead of drive, and US Airways offered the ticket for free to anyone who was attending. I accepted.

I could have flown out of Long Beach, but I made the rare decision to go LAX instead. Why? I’d rather not fly Mesa, and that’s who US Airways uses from Long Beach.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get a ride on the way out. Not wanting to leave my car at LAX for a few days, I just took public transit. Track closures had rail running slow, but I still arrived at the terminal about 1:15 before the flight.

I always like to leave a little buffer when I fly out of LAX Terminal 1 (Southwest and US Airways) but it was completely unnecessary today. There was no security line and I tested the new option to leave your netbook in the bag. Didn’t work. They said it had to be the only thing in the bag, so they made me take it out. Oh well.

After, I went to the gate. This was my first time flying US Airways in a long time, but it brought back memories. My days at America West were spent flying between Phoenix and LA, always taking one of the two midday flights home on Sunday. Here I was, taking the same flight (there’s only one these days) back to Phoenix.

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April 27, 2010
US Airways #574 Lv Los Angeles (LAX) 1240p Arr Phoenix (PHX) 200p
LAX: Gate 6, Runway 24L, Dept 3m Early
PHX: Gate A28, Runway 25L, Arr On Time
Aircraft: N521UW, Airbus A321-231, Post Merger Colors, ~75% Full
Seat: 6F
Flight Time: 1h4m

I boarded to find a very nice, new A321 (about a year old). US Airways has done a nice job with leather seats and a bright interior design. The legroom, at 32 inch pitch, actually felt quite roomy for me. I took my seat and waited as we boarded early and pushed a couple minute before schedule.

We taxied out and sat off the runway for about 5 minutes before heading off into the marine layer. It was my favorite kind of departure – a short hop into the marine layer and then out into sparkling sunshine just a minute later. Only this time, the sunshine didn’t last long because we had high clouds that kept us bouncing much of the way to Phoenix.

This is one of the planes equipped with wifi from GoGo, but it was never mentioned by the crew and there weren’t any pamphlets in the seat back. How did I even know? There was a sticker on the door. But I wasn’t about to use it, not for an hour flight. I just did some reading and drank my ginger ale. (If you haven’t seen it, read this great piece from Mark at Upgrade:Travel Better on drinking ginger ale on airplanes.)

Soon enough we were passing over the Colorado River and beginning our descent. It may not be summer, but the temperature was heading toward the high 90s. If you’ve flown into Phoenix in the summer, you know that it can be a rockin’ ride with the thermals. This trip was no exception and the captain actually had the flight attendants sit down early so nobody would get hurt. We bounced our way into Phoenix and had a long taxi back to the gate.

After the door opened, I stood up and crossed my seat belt, another America West flashback. Seatbelts had to be crossed before boarding back in the day, and as an employee I always crossed it to help out. That’s stuck with me, and I cross it every time I fly.

I was supposed to come home on Saturday at midday, but I decided I just wanted to get home early so I switched to good old flight 24. For as long as I can remember, flight 24 (or previously 2024) has been the morning flight to LAX. I used to take this often, so once again, it was a nice flashback.

I got to the airport an hour early and found a very slow line with a single ID checker. Our line kept backing up as employee after employee kept coming through and cutting in front of us. It took 15 minutes to get through a line that should have taken 5.

Once through, I headed to the gate to find the latest Arizona plane. This is the third one I’ve been on. The first was 757 N916AW. That was returned to the lessor in the 1990s and N901AW was painted in Arizona colors. Then when the merger happened, the 757s all received regular US Airways paint and the theme planes moved to A319s.

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May 1, 2010
US Airways #24 Lv Phoenix (PHX) 740a Arr Los Angeles (LAX) 905a
PHX: Gate B6, Runway 25R, Dept On Time
LAX: Gate 8, Runway 24L, Arr ~10m Early
Aircraft: N826AW, Airbus A319-132, Arizona Plane, ~95% Full
Seat: 1D, First Class
Flight Time: 53m

I had forgotten I was on a US Airways-provided ticket, so when they called me up to the podium, it threw me off guard. Fortunately, they had called me up to give me a First Class ticket for the ride home.

I boarded after most, but I did find a place to put my carry on just a couple rows behind me. The flight attendants were having a rough start to their day. One was running back and forth trying to help everyone. At one point, the gate agent was on the plane when the flight attendant realized there was a child in the exit row. She asked the gate agent for help and he simply shrugged and said, “What do you want me to do?” If I could only describe the look on her face . . . . She just did it.

We pushed back on time and were told to expect a bumpy ride. Once we got airborne, it turned out to be pretty smooth, and I had a bloody mary to make the ride a little better.

It was a beautifully clear day and the service was excellent onboard. We did end up hitting some turbulence as we descended into LA, but that only prompted the flight attendant to ask me if I wanted another bloody mary. I had no intention of doing so, but hey, why not? I wasn’t driving home.

We came into LAX on a beautiful day and landed nice and early. The captain opened the door at the gate and exclaimed “Welcome to Burbank! Oops.” Those at the front laughed and then we all headed out to find our rides.

It was a great trip on US Airways. It’s been awhile since I last flew them, but I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.