If you’re outside of Europe, you likely haven’t been paying close attention to the awesome drama unfolding over easyJet. The airline’s operations appear to be falling apart and the founder is threatening to take the name away if it doesn’t improve. This is worthy of a TV special.

easyJet was started in 1995 by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. He slapped his famed “easy” brand with bright orange colors on the airline and it took off from there. The initial idea behind easyJet was to be like a Southwest Airlines – low cost, low fare flying all around Europe but initially from its Britain base. I’ve always thought of easyJet as being Ryanair’s more convenient cousin. For example, easyJet flies most to primary airports while Ryanair focuses on alternates. easyJet also hasn’t gone to the extremes of cost cutting in terms of passenger amenities, but there’s a problem.

EasyJet’s on-time performance sucks, and for that reason, Ryanair is infinitely more convenient. You can follow FlightStats to see how dreadful easyJet’s performance has been on a daily basis, but the furor really came out of a report showing that the airline didn’t even get half of its flights out of Gatwick in the air on time in June. It’s not good.

Lots of excuses are coming out of the easyJet headquarters, but nobody really cares. Management has blamed air traffic control strikes, but other airlines don’t seem to be performing as poorly as easyJet. This is where it gets interesting.

Sir Stelios may be intricately tied with easyJet, but he’s pissed. Back in May, he left the board because he’s angry about the airline’s expansion plans, which he thinks won’t add value for shareholders. His family still owns 38 percent of the airline, but he stepped down from the board so he could act solely as a large shareholder to prevent management from going forward with these plans.

The on-time debacle has just added flames to the fire. When Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary came out swinging against easyJet and Sir Stelios for having a terrible on time record and failing to publish it, Sir Stelios got angry. He made it clear that he had nothing to do with it, and that led to one of the strangest things ever. In fact, I’m surprised it didn’t cause a rip in the space-time continuum.

O’Leary apologized. In print. No, he didn’t apologize to easyJet but rather to Sir Stelios for implicating him in the airline’s failures. Sir Stelios has taken that apology and started a crusade of his own against easyJet. He is now threatening the airline by saying that if on-time performance doesn’t improve within 90 days, he’s pulling the brand license. Yeehaw, this is getting good.

Sir Stelios had already been angry about the use of the brand, and this just adds flames to the fire. See, brand license requires that the airline generate at least 75% of its revenues from the core business of flying. This is meant to protect other easy-branded companies that have their own spheres. The airline, however, is arguing that the way that number is calculated is bull. So the two have been going at it in court.

In the end, this is just a disaster. How can an airline focus on running a business when its embroiled in a massive fight with its founder and 38% shareholder? It really can’t. I don’t blame Sir Stelios. He’s acting in his best interests, as he should. This whole thing is just a mess, and ultimately passengers will be screwed.

[Original photo via Flickr user alistairmcmillan]

Airport Effort to Charge More During Peak Times Could Hurt Passengers – BNET
Airports are one step closer to being able to charge more to airlines during peak times. This may not be a good plan.

JetBlue and American: Why Frequent-Flier Sharing Makes Sense – BNET
JetBlue and American have gotten one step closer to each other by starting frequent flier earning on select flights.

Delta Earnings: Outlook Weak Despite Strong Industry Premium Traffic Trends – BNET
Lots of conflicting information out this week. Huge profits but weaker outlook = confusion.

LA World Airports Smartly Reconsiders Regionalization Strategy – BNET
Interesting words from the LA airport folks – they’re thinking twice about the regionalization strategy now that traffic is so far down at LAX itself. Good.

Continental and Wired: How Not to Do a Promotional Partnership – BNET
Continental has teamed up with Wired to do a pretty awful job of promotion.

It’s been a fun week of reading emails and comments on why you should get a free copy of my book. Some were funny while some were just downright strange. I should note that veiled (or not-so-veiled) threats are usually not going to get you a copy. Also, how is it possible that two entries are Romania-related? I must have a huge following there. Sounds like it’s time for me to write about TAROM. But alas, I had to pick the top five, as un-fun as that was. Here they are (in no particular order).

1) Axelsarkis

1. I’m 13. 2. I have no income. 3. I’ve read you blog everyday since I was 11. 4. I like the book. 5. I’m terrible coming with this things, but hey, I tried.

Seriously, did anyone think our 13 year old friend wouldn’t get a copy? He has been reading and commenting here for a long time, and I’ll say that the fact that he has no income is a compelling argument. (Still, Axel, maybe you should ask your parents.) But the groundswell of support for him in the comments showed that he is certainly deserving. I think some are fully expecting a book report from you, Axel. If you write it, I’ll post it here.

2) Kristin

Here is my reason for wanting to win a copy of your book; I live in Canada and Amazon.ca says your book is temporarily out of stock! I would be more than happy to purchase your book if I could; even for $15.74 on the Canadian site. Help a Canadian spread your good word and send a copy up here! Still not convinced? Here are some other reasons: 1) I too am an airline geek and love working in the industry 2) My husband’s name is Brett also 3) I forwarded your review of jetBlue’s new snack boxes to at least 20 people at my company

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s prejudice against Canadians. Ok, that’s not really true. Making fun of Canadians is hilarious, but Amazon shouldn’t be in that business. It is sadly true that well-meaning Canucks are unable to purchase my book since it’s “Temporarily out of stock.” For shame, Amazon. For shame. Take this book and start a maple leaf revolution, Kristin.

3) Dustin H

I would love to have a free copy so that I may bring it with me to the airport. I plan to wear a pilot’s uniform and sit down to read the book in a highly visible area of the boarding gate. Ideally, when passengers walk by and see the title of the book, they will have a minor anxiety attack. Top that off with extra thick glasses and a copy of The Idiot’s Guide to Flying and Gliding and I’m pretty sure I could clear out a terminal.

Now that’s what I’m talking about. A pilot reading a book on where the hell he’s going is a great visual. It reminds me of the excellent Man Show parody of drunk pilots. I want some hidden video, Dustin. Bonus points for passengers who visibly look frightened. (Maybe you could try reading it upside down for maximum effect.)

4) CJ Taylor

I want to take my free copy of your book on my upcoming “around the world” tour as a passenger on the world’s best airlines which i will contract the Cranky Concierge to orchestrate. Once airborne with the volume, I will garner signatures of best wishes to you from members of every cockpit and cabin crew I can manage and on my return, give it back to you as a keepsake since I am now convinced that next to you, I am in the minor league of airline “aficionados.” More than anyone, Brett, you have given me a sense of belonging to a special group of people who possess an innate passion for aircraft types, seat configurations, aerial views, liveries, flight schedules, menus, perks, airport maps, upgrade options, and a myriad other details of the business and pleasure of flying. Congratulations on your new book!

There are a few reasons for picking this one. First, I must admit that I’m not above flattery. Second, I’m pretty stoked about the idea of getting the copy back to me signed by cabin crews on an around the world trip. I’m gonna hold you to it. And last, well, your love for Birmingham is admirable. I’m not above alienating readers from time to time (got a post that’ll most likely do that next week), but not in this case. Enjoy the book.

5) Brett R

I have a 6-week old girl whom I’m told I should be reading to (despite her inability to read, understand english, hold a consistent job, or even focus her eyes for prolonged periods of time. This book would be a great tool to educate her on geographic adventures around our great sphere, in hopes of getting her into prep school at the age of 7 and riding her coattails of success by becoming an overbearing stage father.

I’m all about the importance of strong education, and this one plays to that. (Seriously, I am. I sit on the board of Equitas Academy charter school and have been involved in education for years.) I’m also a huge fan of living off your children. One day, I aspire to such an easy life, though I suppose I’ll need to actually have children first.

So there you have it. The five winners will all get a free copy of my book. For you rest of you, there’s nothing stopping you from buying a copy yourself. Thanks for playing!

Where the Hell Am I Going? paperback via Amazon for $10.79
Where the Hell Am I Going? for Kindle for $9.99

Flying through Sacramento last week, I couldn’t help but notice the stark contrast between the old terminal buildings and the new one that’s slowly taking shape, towering over the surrounding area. The humble, old terminals look like shacks compared to the monster they’re building. This is going to be one expensive terminal project, and you know how I feel about that.

Right now, there are two terminals in Sacramento. The oldest is the 13-gate Terminal B. Terminal A was built in a similar style in the early 1990s to add another 13 gates. Here’s the lay of the land:

The old Terminal B will be toast as soon as the monstrous new Terminal B gets built. That in itself is a good thing. I actually like the retro look and feel of the terminal, but it is hardly adequate for an airport today. Check out this front view of the high B terminal facade where JetBlue flies.

Kind of cool, right? But it’s not exactly the most functional building around. The small lobby where JetBlue lives has JetBlue and Continental employees shoe-horned into a tiny ticketing area. That’s actually right behind the baggage claim, as strange as it sounds. Then there’s an enormously large open area flanked by the small Horizon Air ticket counter. After checking in, you go upstairs to a very small security area which undoubtedly is under-sized and not ideal for TSA operations.

Once you get behind security, you see a relatively short concourse. It isn’t connected to the other B concourse, so transferring between the two appears to require leaving one secure area and then going back through to the other side. The concourse is small and awkwardly arranged. I love it. But that’s only because I like the old-school retro feeling you get in a place like this. I mean, check out this gate sign.

But having gone through this terminal, there’s little doubt in my mind that it should go away. The question is, how do you fix the problem? The plans that were put together were ambitious to say the least. Sacramento used to be a cheap place to fly. As recently as a couple years ago, cost per enplanement was in the $5 range. That’s cheap. But after building new rental car facilities and parking garages among other things, costs have started to rise. In the fiscal year that just ended, cost per enplanement is expected to come out to $11.65. That’s expensive but not horrendous. After the new terminal is built, cost per enplanement will balloon to $17.75. That will be the peak cost in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. That is horrendous.

Airlines had been vocal about not being happy about the project. I remembered that Southwest was really pissed, so I asked for comment. A spokesman told me:

Naturally, anything that might increase our costs is a concern for us. That said, they are moving forward with the project, and therefore we’ll continue to work with the airport to see how we can best operate in the most cost efficient way.

In other words, “we didn’t like it, but they’re building it anyway. Now we have to figure out what works and what doesn’t.” This is bound to hurt traffic levels at the airport, though a spokeswoman from Sacramento Airport said that no airlines have suggested they’ll cut back service. We’ll see about that. My guess is some traffic has already suffered from the creeping costs.

The project was trimmed a little bit, but I’m talking very little. They scrapped the in-airport hotel and another parking garage for now. Yet even without that, the cost will be over $1 billion. (It was going to top out at $1.3 billion.) What are they building? Well, here’s what they’ve built so far:

It towers over the current Terminal B and it will have a lot of light and open area. The concourse will grow from the current 13 gates to 19 and it will be connected by a people mover to the main terminal. Here’s a mock-up of the landside part of the terminal.

This seems extravagant to me. It also looks like they’re trying to set a world record for the number of escalators in a building. If it looks familiar, it should. This has been designed by Fentress Architects, the same people who brought you Denver International Airport (or as Holly Hegeman used to call it, Senor Peña’s Palace of Planes) and the overgrown new Bradley Terminal concourse at LAX.

Many have questioned why the airport even needs to build such a large new addition when traffic hasn’t grown in years. In 2009, 8,914,510 passengers used the airport. That was down 10 percent from 2008. Going all the way back to 2004, the airport had 9.5 million, so it’s not even back at 2004 levels yet. And it’s not like things look good for the future either.

This is a city that runs on state government, and massive government cuts are constantly in the works. The dysfunction of our government in California is legendary, and I don’t anticipate seeing much growth for years to come.

The project looks nice, of course, but it seems entirely too expensive. My guess is airline service will suffer.

The management team at British Airways must be doing their best impression of a manic depressive this week as they swing from great news to crappy news. The great news? The airline received final approval for antitrust immunity with American. The crappy news? The flight attendants have once again rejected BA’s offer. Unbelievable.

The flight attendant deal is actually the one that has me shaking my head the most. These guys are absolutely insane. After BA put out an improved final offer, it was thought that the deal might have had a chance. It didn’t even get close.

There are about 11,000 union members and not even half voted. In fact, only 5,105 voted, two-thirds of which voted no. You would think that a vote on a contract that has resulted in a lot of strikes and tons of losses for the airline would get a bit more turnout than a mere 50% That’s just downright pathetic. It’s even more surprising since there’s a good chance that these flight attendants will end up out of a job once this is all said and done. I’m not sure what the flight attendants think they’re going to get out of this, but they might want to consider the likelihood that the only thing they’ll get is a pink slip.

But let’s not focus on all the idiocy. Instead, let’s talk about the good news. British Airways and American found themselves leaders of a shiny new joint venture with antitrust immunity yesterday. After getting European Union approval earlier this week, the Department of Transportation gave its final blessing. It’s now a done deal. American and British Airways will be able to compete on equal footing with the Lufthansa/United-led Atlantic Plus Plus venture as well as the Delta/Air France/KLM deal. If those two groups are able to operate with antitrust immunity, so should the combined BA and AA-led venture.

So now we have a much strengthened oneworld alliance. This will ultimately mean that BA Executive Club members will be able to earn miles on American flights between the US and the UK. American AAdvantage members will be able to earn miles on British Airways flights between the UK and the US as well . . . assuming BA’s flight attendants don’t ground the airline again.

Damn, I just have to keep coming back to the negative, don’t I? The flight attendants aren’t likely to strike again until after the busy summer season, but that problem will be back.

If only BA could take medication to temper the problem.