Cranky on the Web (March 29 – April 2)

Apr 3, 2010

787, American, Baggage, BNET, Boeing, Delta, Southwest, Westjet

Now Departing: Delta Cuts Ties with Midwest Airlines – BNET
Midwest and Delta are no longer going to be frequent flier buddies.

Southwest Fail: Technical Delays Frustrate WestJet’s New Boss – BNET
WestJet is not happy that it’s taken Southwest so long to get its act together regarding the announced codeshare. Looks like their eyes are straying toward Delta.

Bend Not Break: Boeing 787 Passes Wing Load Test – BNET
It wasn’t as dramatic as the 777 wing snap, but the 787 passed the wing load test with flying colors.

American Airlines Seeks Air Supremacy in New York (With JetBlue’s Help) – BNET
This is my take on what American is up to in New York – a complementary piece to my JetBlue-focus here on Cranky.

United’s new Boeing 777 to have video-on-demand – Chicago Tribune
The Trib picked up on my United 777 story, and I had a couple comments to add.

Airline Baggage Fees: The Perils of Making Air Travel Suck More – BNET
Airlines that charge bag fees like to crow about the revenue bump, but they don’t talk much about the hidden costs of the policy. Oh yeah, and that whole customer dissatisfaction thing.

Brett

5 responses to “Cranky on the Web (March 29 – April 2)”

AndrewBW

Apr 3, 2010

RE: Your article on Delta cutting ties with Midwest. While there may be no mention of it on Midwest’s web site, I did get an e-mail from Midwest a few days ago announcing the split (I don’t know if I got it simply because I am a member of Midwest’s miles program, or because I took advantage of the partnership in the past to earn NWA miles while flying Midwest).

It was pretty straight forward e-mail, no information that wasn’t in your writeup.

Reply
1. Alex Hill
  
  Apr 3, 2010
  
  I received the email too, and I have never used my Midwest account for DL or NW flights.
  
  Reply
2. David M
  
  Apr 4, 2010
  
  I got that email too, and it was because I’m a member of Midwest Miles. I’ve actually only flown them once though, and it was back when the 717s were all Signature Service airplanes.
  
  Reply
Dan

Apr 5, 2010

Cranky,

In your article on the AA/B6 thing, you said the arrangement “isn’t a codeshare.” Dumb question, but do customers really care about code sharing, whether they know it or not? For the life of me, I can’t figure out how I benefit from flying “NW 8825 operated as DL 523.” (And then there was the time as a UA baggage handler that I had an interlined bag destined for said NW 8825, to a city it didn’t serve out of this airport. I had a heck of a time trying to figure out where that bag was supposed to go. Turned out, it was a flight out of a co-terminal on one of NW’s codeshare partners. So I postulate that codeshares add a level of unnecessary confusion.)

Reply
1. CF
  
  Apr 5, 2010
  
  I don’t think a customer particularly cares if it’s a codeshare or not, but when they’re looking to book, they’re usually more likely to see the “online” options, which I put in quotes since it’s really just codesharing and not actually online. It’s all about display in the booking game. With a codeshare, they’d be likely to find more bookings.
  
  Reply