In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m working on clearing out some of the Ask Cranky question that have been piling up for awhile here. This is a great question that has probably confused people for ages. I’ll give my best answer, but I encourage customer service reps to chime in if things are different at their airline.

When I get saddled with a middle seat on a transatlantic or other long flight, my 6 foot 1 inch, 225 pound frame starts to ache before I even go through security. When I beg at check-in for a better seat assignment, why are they powerless? They always tell me to see the “gate agent” which, sometimes, is the exact same person. Is it because once the flight has closed they will have a better sense of what they can do?

Derrick M

There can be a couple of reasons why a ticket counter agent would push you off to the gate agent, one sensible and one obnoxious. Fortunately, the sensible one is far more likely.

Just think about what goes into getting a flight out from the perspective of a gate agent. Up until the day of the flight, some people have chosen seats while others have not. Airlines will usually hold back a chunk of seats for the day of departure anyway, so many people can’t get seats in advance even if they tried. Then of course there are the seats that are held back for elite members. Those same elite members are likely to get upgraded, so the seats in coach can become available when they get moved up to the pointy end up of the plane.

There are a lot of moving parts, so to help control the chaos as departure nears, the airline will put these flights “under airport control.” This prevents all different kinds of people from sticking their fingers in and making life difficult for the agents who actually have to get the flight out of the gate. So when you get to the gate, there are a lot of different things going on. Upgrades will be cleared and gate agents will try to help families sit together who have been split apart, for example. Then there are just the people who want to sit in a different seat from what they already have assigned. It can be a gigantic puzzle that’s difficult in its own right.

Now imagine trying to solve that puzzle while it’s in motion. Yeah, that sucks. So when the gate agents take control of a flight, they have the ability to make changes without worrying about others poking their noses in there as well. And that’s the sensible reason for having you talk to the gate agent.

What’s the obnoxious reason? There might not be any good seats left and if the agent is having a bad day, he might just want to push you off on someone else so he doesn’t have to deal with it. Yes, that does happen from time to time, but the sensible reason is far more likely.

For this Ask Cranky, I’m heading to the comments section. That’s right, this comment was posted a couple weeks ago and I thought it was worth bring it to the forefront here. Many know that there are strong European passenger protections, but not many know exactly what they do. So, let’s dig in.

Four of us travelled from Newark to Paris on Open Skies Airlines this month. The flight was delayed from 6.40 p.m. to about 11 p.m. and consequently we missed our next flight from Paris to Edinburgh on Easy Jet and had to purchase new tickets. Open Skies is offering us each $65 vouchers on future flight with them.
Since we do not routinely fly transatlantic, I have told them that there offer is not sufficient for our inconvenience and added expenses. Under the new EU Regulation 261/2004 are we entitled to compensation?

Arlene

First, to answer the immediate question here. No, sorry Arlene, but you aren’t technically entitled to any compensation. You would have had to buy two separate tickets since Open Skies and easyJet wouldn’t have an agreement in place. That can save a lot of money, but it also relieves the other airline from having to give you any compensation due to a missed connection. In addition, EU Regulation 261/2004 (pdf) does not offer compensation for delays. But it does offer a lot, and some of it makes very little sense. So let’s look at it.

This rule applies if you’re bumped, canceled, or delayed. It only applies to passengers departing from a European Union member state or flying to an EU state on an EU-based airline if the originating country doesn’t already have protections in place. It applies to anyone holding a confirmed reservation (including frequent flyer tickets) who arrives at the airport with adequate time and does everything as required to board the flight.

If an airline has an oversold flight and can’t find enough volunteers, it has to involuntarily bump passengers and there are specific compensation rules. That same compensation applies if a flight is simply canceled. In these cases, the passenger is entitled to the following:

There are a couple exceptions here. For example, if another flight can be found that gets the passenger to the destination soon after the original time, then compensation is reduced or eliminated depending on the instance. There is also an interesting little stipulation that says;

An operating carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation . . . if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

This doesn’t apply for simple weather cancellations. In fact, I believe that some are even saying this doesn’t apply to the volcano earlier this year. If that’s the case, then this statement is apparently meaningless.

Now, that compensation amount is just flat compensation regardless of what the passenger decides to do with the flight. If the passenger doesn’t want to travel, he is entitled to a refund. If the passenger can’t get another flight for awhile, he’s entitled to food and hotel as appropriate. That last piece also applies to delays.

The delay rule itself says that passengers are entitled to food, hotel, etc regardless of the reason for delay if the delay is anywhere from 2 to 4 hours using the same distance breakdown as shown in the compensation table above. If the delay passes five hours, then the customer can walk away and get a full refund.

And that’s the gist of the rule. My only problem is that these things apply to flights even if the problems are outside the airline’s control. It makes little sense to me that if a flight is canceled because there’s a storm over the airport, that airlines should have to shell out hundreds of euros. That’s the sort of incentive that encourages airlines to fly unsafely. But this is the rule, so now you now what applies to your flights.

After talking to Emirates last year about onboard mobile phone use, I said that I was “less averse” to the idea. Now I’ve moved even further. I’ve decided to take a stand. Mobile phones should be allowed on airplanes. I know, you hate the idea, right? But there’s a lot of good that can come out of it, and I think that outweighs the bad.

I spoke with several communications providers at the Airline Passenger Experience Association show last month, and there was a common theme out there regarding mobile phones. Use of these devices in the air is increasing worldwide, and the US is quickly becoming the only place around to still want to keep their use banned. Now that mobiles are seeing more widespread use globally, we can finally judge whether the fears in the US are merited or not.

The reality is that it hasn’t been much of a problem at all so far, and that’s probably due to the rate structure. The way it’s set up, you can think of airplanes as a separate country in the mobile world. Just as you would roam when you go to any other country, you roam when you get on an airplane. If you have an international plan, you would be able to make calls, receive text messages, and surf the web as your plan allows.

And a lot of people do just that. If you need to tell someone you’re late or change the spot where you want to meet, a quick text message will do the trick. Or a quick email can do the same and it won’t cost much. And yes, if you need to actually call Aunt Bessie to tell her where to bring the Cadillac to meet you, you can do that as well, but roaming charges can ramp up quickly. So it’ll be a quick conversation.

Everyone’s worst nightmare is getting stuck next to the valley girl who giggles and screams with her friend on the other line throughout the flight. That’s just not happening and it’s not likely to happen. (If it does, her parents will never let her out of the house again.) Yes, I’m sure that at some point this will happen, but social pressure and flight attendant intervention can solve that problem (along with determined staring at close range).

You’re far more likely to get stuck next to a gregarious seatmate who wants to talk your ear off all flight anyway. Phones just aren’t proving to be a problem. That could change if rates plunged, but I don’t see that happening in the near future.

But if that were to happen, the airline doesn’t even have to allow phone calls at all. Look at British Airways, for example. Using the system from OnAir, with whom I spoke at the show, on their A318 flights between New York and London/City, you can send text messages or surf the web using your mobile network, but you can’t make phone calls. They’ve turned that functionality off.

Now, the US itself does make things difficult in that most of the world is centering on the GSM standard for inflight while many in the US use CDMA. That’s something that can be addressed, but not until it’s made legal to use your phone in the first place. I’m convinced that there is more benefit to be had than there is potential harm to be made. Let’s open up the rules and see what happens.

[Original Photo via Flicker user Kai Hendry]

By now, you undoubtedly know that the United and Continental merger has officially closed and United Continental Holdings is now the parent company of both airlines. But that was actually the third most interesting story on Friday, and of those three, the merger actually has the least impact on you as a traveler. The other two, one involving American and the other Frontier, have the biggest immediate impact.

See, the merger closing means absolutely nothing for you as a passenger. Ok, maybe that’s not true. It did mark the start of free beer and wifi in United’s Red Carpet Clubs. Nothing else has happened to impact you yet. That’s all coming later, and I’m eagerly awaiting details on what will happen and when. But for now, it’s all a financial deal and that’s boring. Let’s talk about the other two.

Use BA miles on American Transatlantic Flights and Vice Versa
To paraphrase Vince Vaughn from his earlier, funnier days, British Airways and American are now all growns up. Friday marked the day that American AAdvantage members could earn and use miles on British Airways flights over the Atlantic.

To those who don’t fly American, this may sound insane. You United Mileage Plus members and Delta SkyMiles members have been able to do this with your European partners for years, but BA and American have always been a pain in the butt. They didn’t allow “earning and burning” on each other’s flights because they weren’t able to get antitrust immunity. Nothing like punishing your customers, but hey, that’s all behind us now, right?

And yes, I have proof this works. My parents had been waiting for the day to book a planned trip to Europe in March, and I called American first thing on Friday to put it on hold. The agents said they had been receiving a lot of calls, and they seemed pretty happy about that. I got the seats for my parents without any trouble. Happy day.

The reaction has been mixed in the mileage community, but as usual, I look to Gary Leff at View from the Wing for his opinions as an expert. There are some goodies in here for BA Executive Club members, but in general, this is a very welcome move (except for those pesky fuel surcharges).

Midwest is Finally Dead
It seems like such old news, but Friday also marked the official (in my mind) death of Midwest Airlines. Oh sure, it had been left for dead years ago, but up until Friday, you could still book a flight at midwestairlines.com on flights with the old YX code. On Friday, the switch was flipped and that was gone. This is all good news for travelers, and to celebrate, I’m bringing back an old favorite image.

I’m very happy about this one, because it means all reservations are on a single (Frontier) system now and there are no confusing crossover issues. I had all kinds of problems before with a Midwest record locator on a Frontier flight operated for Midwest or something like that.. It was just a mess. No more. Thank you.

This does not, however, mark the official end of the Midwest Airlines website. It’s still hanging around for Midwest Miles redemptions for now, but that’s about it. If you try to book a regular flight, it redirects you to frontierairlines.com.

I suppose it’s an appropriate end for Midwest. The airline had long ago been forgotten about by most people in the US, so the fact that its disappearance was overshadowed by other news is quite fitting. It is important to remember that the one thing most people remember about Midwest, the cookie, will continue to live on. So this is all good news, except for those people who used to work for the airline, I imagine.

Southwest Acquires AirTran: Six Reasons This is a Great Move – BNET Headwinds
Part one of my story focused on the positive things to come out of this merger.

Lambert cautious over Southwest-AirTran deal – St Louis Post-Dispatch
I was asked if I thought the AirTran/Southwest merger opened up any opportunities for St Louis. I think the quote they used was a bit too optimistic sounding.

Southwest Acquires AirTran: Four Reasons This Isn’t the Best Plan – BNET Headwinds
And now for the potential downside. Lots of people are hyping up the merger, but there is always a downside risk.

Spirit Airlines is Going Public and Its Business Model is Producing Stellar Results – BNET Headwinds
Spirit is going public and that means we have data to play with. These guys are doing very well.

Mesa Air Group Shows Everything That’s Wrong with the Bankruptcy Code – BNET Headwinds
In case you missed Mesa’s reorganization plan, you’ll want to take a look. It’s a frustrating look at how management can take advantage of the bankruptcy process.

Combining airlines may be challenging for Southwest, AirTran – Ft Worth Star-Telegram
Lots of questions for me on the Southwest/AirTran integration and any potential bumps along the road. (Though the pay rates quoted aren’t right. Those are closer to what a 10 year captain makes.)