Spirit Grows Dallas/Ft Worth
Spirit has has now refocused on domestic flying, and DFW is getting a big new spot on the map. This expansion will see one flight per day to Atlanta, Boston, New York/La Guardia, and Orlando. It also announced a day later that it was going to add a daily flight to Mesa (outside of Phoenix) as well.

Let’s be clear on this one: this doesn’t hurt American much. Sure, it has the potential to siphon off some seriously price sensitive travelers on to Spirit, but American shouldn’t be targeting those people anyway. The flight times here aren’t very good with a redeye on the DFW-Boston and Mesa-DFW flights and some mid-day runs on the others. This isn’t going to pull off business travelers in any way, and I can’t imagine Spirit wants to do that. Just as it has tried to do in Chicago and in Vegas, Spirit sees an opportunity to go with super low fares and skim traffic off the bottom.

For Spirit, the timing was perfect. Spirit thrives on using outrageous slogans or promos to get free press. So when Spirit saw American file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it was too good to ignore. The press release makes that clear with references to a “new chapter in Dallas/Fort Worth’s history” along with $11 fares. You have to love an opportunistic airline. Spirit is like a parasite that lives off the misfortune of others – it’s brilliant.

This really shouldn’t be viewed as much of an assault on American, but many will draw the parallel. And American, like most legacy airlines, has nothing against irrational response so we’ll see where this goes. But American isn’t the only one that’s thinking about these moves. . . .

JetBlue Starts Boston to DFW
Another move that would seem to be more alarming to American is JetBlue’s decision to fly Boston to DFW three times daily. JetBlue has avoided DFW so far, and it has a strong relationship with American, so this might seem curious. Why is JetBlue doing this? I think it’s more about Spirit than American.

Is JetBlue trying to make a move on American’s turf? Well, it is doing that, but I don’t think it’s particularly targeting American. JetBlue stands to benefit through greater cooperation with American after the bankruptcy process wraps up, and it wants to be a strong partner. That makes this seem like an odd move.

And that’s why I think this is more about Spirit. JetBlue has previously been VERY aggressive at tackling ultra low cost carriers. When Allegiant announced it would begin flying from Long Beach to Las Vegas, JetBlue ramped up to offer 5 daily flights in the market and launched the additional flights with a $19 each way sale. Overkill? Yeah, probably. But then again, Allegiant pulled out.

JetBlue has tried a similar move with Spirit. Less than a week after Spirit announced it would do a daily flight from Chicago to Boston, JetBlue added a fourth flight on that route. While JetBlue doesn’t care about competing on Boston to Myrtle Beach and it probably accepts Spirit flying to its home base in Ft Lauderdale, it’s not going to be willing to sit there while Spirit moves in on other destinations. That’s why I think we’re seeing this move.

Delta Steals Gol from American
In a completely unrelated blow to American, Delta signed an “exclusive” deal with Brazil’s Gol to be the only US partner with the airline. That means that American’s current partnership with the airline is going to disappear. Delta paid a pretty hefty price to get in on this – it had to invest $100 million in Gol and now has a seat on the Board of Directors.

While I can’t imagine this has anything to do with American’s bankruptcy (this kind of agreement had to be be in the works long before), I do think it was more about Delta feeling a little desperate about Latin America. Avianca/TACA and COPA will all be in Star Alliance. Though I don’t think it’s been announced, the combined LAN and TAM have to pick an alliance, and the scuttlebutt is that they’re leaning toward oneworld (as they should). That leaves Delta with a messy Aerolineas Argentinas and absolutely no presence in the increasingly important Brazilian market. This was an effort to buy a place in that market, and it’s a place that American likely won’t need assuming LAN brings TAM into oneworld.

So, lots of moves that impact American recently, but it’s not a direct hit, as the title of this post says.

[Original surfer photo via Flickr user The Pug Father/CC 2.0]

• That announcement said that they had “been awarded a large order for its FTTS™ (Fiber To The Screen™) Audio-Video-On-Demand, In-Flight Entertainment Systems for installation on the new customer’s fleet of 737-family aircraft.”
• This new customer will have entertainment but will also use the system to “support in-seat purchases by travelers of an array of products and services.”

With this information, Runway Girl started a conversation trying to figure out who it might be. I’ve uncovered an additional piece of info that dramatically narrows the field.

I asked Lumexis for further detail, and while they wouldn’t tell me much, they did say that “it is a full fleet installation.” Aha! So it can’t be an airline with just a large 737 fleet. It has to be an airline with a large fleet made up only of 737s. There are four possible suspects that come to mind.

• Southwest
• Alaska
• Ryanair
• Gol

Of these three, I would say Southwest is least likely. They don’t offer an “array” of products and services to sell onboard, so that seems suspect unless it’s part of a massive change for them. Gol is possible, I suppose, but I don’t have a feeling either way. Alaska and Ryanair, however, both would have good reason.

We know that Alaska likes to offer a good product onboard, and they aren’t shy about charging fees for things. We also know that they’ve been fighting Virgin America really hard, and this would help them get toward product parity. They also have a growing long haul network and a significant Hawai’i presence that can’t use live television because it’s outside of the service area. This would seem like a perfect solution.

On the other hand, nobody knows how to sell like Ryanair. If this system could somehow let them increase their onboard sales, it might be a rock star for them. They can, of course, charge for the entertainment itself, though when they tried to use portable units for sale before, it flopped and they removed them quickly.

Who else has a large 737-only fleet that could be in the running? I eliminated WestJet already since they have LiveTV. What am I missing? Anyone else?

What say you?

• Southwest Bumps Up Beer Prices – Boooooooo to Southwest for increasing the price of beer onboard from $3 to $4. And a double boooooooo for actually trying to make it sound like it’s a good thing for the customer in their email blast.
  

  . . . our ever-popular Drink Coupon Books will have a new look and simplified redemption. With the new coupons, your favorite beer, wine, or mixed drink is now only one coupon away! And the new look to the books will definitely give you something to talk about with your seatmate!

  Uh huh.

• Bmi Giving Up . . . – With Heathrow opening up soon, British Airways has apparently decided to start buying up slots to prevent competition. Rumor has it that they just purchased 51 slots a week from bmi. Now that bmi can serve the US from Heathrow, I have no idea why they’d consider selling these slots unless they needed the cash. After all, BA paid GBP 30 million for them, if you believe the article. I’m also not sure how they’ll use 51 slots when a slot is good for either a takeoff OR landing. There’s going to be one plane landing that can’t take off again!

• . . . Uh, or Not? – I’m not sure why Bmi would have sold those slots if this next story is true. It is being reported that United and Bmi have applied for joint flight operations over the Pond.  This sounds similar to what Northwest and KLM have done. United would sell tickets in the US and Bmi would sell in the UK. I have no idea why you’d want to sell your slots if this were the case. Something’s not right here.

• How is Varig Still Flying? – These guys truly have nine lives. After years of near-death experiences, they now seem to have found solid footing. Gol, the successful Brazilian low cost carrier, has decided to buy the airline to eliminate a competitor. They’re going to run the two airlines separately. It seems to me that besides eliminating a competitor, they wanted to get access to Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport (S.A.T. time: Congonhas is to Sao Paulo as National is to Washington DC) and the airline’s international route authorities.

Remember, the accident where the Embraer Legacy corporate jet collided with the Gol 737 causing the Gol aircraft to crash? Well, the Brazilians have now decided to charge the pilots of the Legacy with “endangering air safety” according to this Reuters article. This could result in up to 12 years in prison.

Now, had the pilots rammed the Legacy into a skyscraper in downtown Sao Paulo, then I would support a criminal investigation (though they’d probably be dead anyway). But this was an accident and should be handled just as all accidents are handled, through an accident investigation process.

Let’s not forgot that the latest information in this case (see my last post) points away from the pilots being at fault. Unless the Brazilians know something that they aren’t telling anyone, it would amaze me if the pilots could be proven to be criminally negligent right now. This just seems like a good excuse for the Brazilian authorities to place the blame away from their crumbling air traffic control infrastructure (or lack thereof).

It is despicable that before any investigation is complete and any cause has been determined, these pilots have been charged. I truly hope that the US gets more involved in this incident, because the American citizen pilots deserve far better treatment. The Brazilians deserve a lot worse than the Cranky Jackass award here.

• Hooray for the Brazilian courts! – It was ruled that the two American pilots being held in the Gol accident investigation cannot be held any longer. After some more interrogation and a promise to return when needed, the pilots will be free to go home. At least someone realized the gross injustice going on down there.
• Virgin Blows . . . – At least, that was the gist of the press release announcing the airline’s return to the Windy City (that’s Chicago). A daily flight between London/Heathrow and Chicago/O’Hare begins April 23, 2007. The airline used to fly from Chicago but pulled out afternoon Sept 11, 2001. I’m surprised that they’re going back, because it’s a very competitive market. American, United, and BA all fly it multiple times a day.
• . . . So Does LAWA – In the news of the lame, LA World Airports (LAWA) has announced it will rename Ontario Intl Airport to LA/Ontario Intl Airport and Palmdale to LA/Palmdale Regional Airport. Since apparently nobody knows where Ontario is (Canada?), this is the right thing to do. Actually, the Ontario renaming doesn’t bother me nearly as much as Palmdale. I mean, Palmdale doesn’t even have any flights! Do you think that airlines will start flying there just because of its new name? Lame-o.
• Lufthansa to Kick Airbus in the Nuts – Rumors abound today that Lufthansa is set to be the first major customer for Boeing’s new 747-8 with more range and more seats. This is Boeing’s competitor to the A380, and if a German airline which has traditionally ordered Airbus chooses Boeing here, it’s very bad news for Airbus.
• Does God Hate El Al? – That’s definitely a question being asked these days. Due to a general strike, El Al opted to fly on the Sabbath in order to get people home. Well, the flight to New York had rudder problems and had to return to Tel Aviv, prompting those onboard to say it was the “finger of God” punishing them for flying during the holy day. Um, ok. Now there’s a huge boycott in the works by the ultra-orthodox community, and the airline will probably be forced to sign a document saying they won’t do it again. My question is this . . . if they boycott El Al, who are they going to fly? Everybody else flies on the Sabbath. Good luck with that one.

For those who don’t remember, back on September 29, a Embraer business jet clipped a Gol 737 at 37,000 ft over the Amazon. The Gol aircraft crashed into the jungle while the Embraer jet was able to land safely. On that Embraer jet was New York Times journalist Joe Sharkey, who has been obviously covering this story very carefully.

Initially, the government suggested that the Embraer was doing acrobatic moves in the sky and that its reckless behavior was responsible for the accident. In fact, they went so far as to detain the American pilots of the Embraer in the country until the investigation was complete.

As more and more details come out, this account appears to be false, and the complete violation of civil liberties is frightening. The pilots have now been detained for 2 months at a hotel in Rio. They have been able to interact with family, but that is all.

In the meantime, more evidence has come out pointing to air traffic control, not aerobatics, as a major problem here. According to this article by Sharkey, the Embraer pilots has initially filed for an altitude of 36,000 ft but air traffic control has them flying at 37,000 ft instead. Meanwhile, the Gol aircraft had filed to fly at 41,000 ft, but they were being held at 37,000 ft as well. Tapes on the Embraer show that the pilots tried to contact air traffic control 19 times and they were unsuccessful each time.

After the crash, the air traffic controllers in Brazil went into a frenzy protesting the dangerous working conditions and problematic systems in use. The unrest went far enough that the head of the country’s air traffic control was recently reassigned.

Now, though it appears air traffic control was a major problem in this accident, it clearly was not the only one. As in all accidents, a trail of problems led up to the final outcome. For example, had the traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) functioned and been followed correctly, the pilots could have avoided each other even despite the air traffic control failures.

That being said, perhaps the most disturbing thing here is how the pilots have been treated. There is little reason to believe at this point that the pilots committed a crime. In fact, they have not been charged at all in this mess. They are simply being held against their will in defiance of Brazilian law. If that’s not enough to disturb anyone, then how about this . . . according to Joe Sharkey’s blog, the general response in the country can be summed up as “Payback for Guantanamo! Serves them right for being Americans.”

The most interesting news today involves the unearthing of details of the crash of the Gol 737-800 with 155 people onboard. It seemed very strange when it happened because all newer aircraft of this type should be equipped with Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) that would have encouraged at least an attempt to avoid a collision.

These TCAS systems give an audible warning in the cockpit of each plane when two of them approach each other giving specific directions on how to avoid the accident. When a pilot hears TCAS alerts, he/she is supposed to follow instructions immediately and ignore any other directions that may come from air traffic control or instinct. As an example, this should have prevented an accident in Europe in 2002, but while one plane followed instructions, the other listened to air traffic control (which gave opposite instructions) and the planes collided.

Back to Brazil, what seems strange is that neither aircraft seem to have attempted evasive action. In the end, they were both cruising at 37,000 ft and the Gol flight crashed while the private jet landed with this damage:

Yeah, that’s a missing winglet, and they’re lucky to be alive. Interestingly, New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey was onboard the private jet and addressed the accident in this week’s column. He noted that the flight was at 37,000 ft, but now it sounds like they should have been 1,000 feet lower.

CNN reports today a couple of very interesting things. They cite another report that the private jet missed or ignored an instruction to descend to 36,000 ft and that the transponder may have been turned off. The problem with the former is obvious – if the flight descends, the accident doesn’t happen. The latter, however, is a little more complicated.

Let’s go back to TCAS. The only way TCAS systems can detect other airplanes around them is through transponders. Each aircraft turns on a transponder for identification purposes during the flight. If the transponder was turned off, the Gol plane never would have seen the private jet coming.

We don’t know what happened for sure yet, but these initial accusations have been enough for Brazil to refuse to allow the American pilots of the private jet to leave the country during the investigation.

• Looks like the Wright Amendment deal has cleared Congress and is now on the way to the President for signing. PlaneBuzz and State of the Airlines had pieces on this today. This means that in eight very long years, the distance restrictions for flights from Dallas/Love Field will be lifted. At least as soon as this takes effect, airlines can begin selling connecting flights from Love to anywhere they want. That should help Southwest considerably.
• Upgrade: Travel Better points out a very helpful mileage earning offer today. Looks like US Airways will allow all points to be elite qualifying through the end of the year. This means that any points you earn at hotels, car rentals, even flower deliveries will count toward elite status. You need 25,000 miles to qualify for the lowest level. The good news is that my current plan has me 500 miles short, so this will be nice. The bad news is that it means a lot more elite members and the benefits will be diluted. They also point out something that I found in my email inbox today. United is giving double elite qualifying miles through the end of the year if you pay $499. Yikes. That’s pricey, but I guess if you need it, it’s worth it.
• Many of you have heard about the horrific crash in Brazil between a corporate jet and a Gol 737-800 on a scheduled flight. Though the corporate jet was able to land, the Gol flight crashed and all 155 people on board perished. It’s extremely sad when something like this happens, and it’s even more difficult to swallow when it’s something that seems so preventable. The planes were cruising at 36,000 ft and they both should have had a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) installed. It will be very interesting to hear what actually happened here.

I’ll try to post a couple times when I can this week, but I may be too busy. Talk to you all again soon.