Cranky on the Web (July 6 – 12)

Asiana Airlines Crash Lands at SFO, No Fatalities but Airport Closed, Call Your Airline for Delays and Info – Conde Nast Daily Traveler
We all know about the Asiana accident at SFO last week. This was my early post on Conde Nast talking about how operations would be impacted.

In the Trenches: Crisis Mode – Intuit Small Business Blog
As you can imagine, when the Asiana flight went down in San Francisco, Cranky Concierge got ready to respond for clients who might have been stuck. It was a busy weekend.

How Long Do We Have to Wait Before We Can Print Bag Tags at Home? – Conde Nast Daily Traveler
Iberia just rolled out bag tags you can print from home on domestic flights. Alaska has quietly been doing a small test as well. With any luck, we’ll see this become much more widespread.

Ontario officials will face challenges if the city gains control of ONT airport – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Another story talking about Ontario Airport, and I was interviewed. But this time, it’s looking at how if the city gets control, it won’t be an easy road to growth.

Brett

8 responses to “Cranky on the Web (July 6 – 12)”

Consumer Mike

Jul 13, 2013

ONT needs to get control fast, otherwise LA will let it die on the vine. ONT services a vast area in the inland portion of California, there is obviously a need for proper and sensible service there. AND, they can do it competitively! LA has their head up their cheeks for not utilizing this beautiful facility. Consumers will benefit greatly if ONT can move in to turn things around. To delay is to loose. The people who actually live in the area will be able to address airport business issues MUCH BETTER than the clowns in LA. Good Luck to ONT!

Reply
Ron

Jul 13, 2013

“It’s all about location … The Ontario airport is in a perfect location to reach from anywhere in Southern California…” — Yeah, anywhere other than L.A.!

On the other hand, Ontario is studying a rail link:
http://www.pe.com/local-news/politics/imran-ghori-headlines/20130710-transportation-rail-link-to-ontario-airport-studied.ece

Reply
David SF eastbay

Jul 13, 2013

That was a long story on ONT. So if a ‘for sale’ price was offered to Ontario to buy the airport, does that mean anyone could pay that amount and buy ONT?

Reply
David SF eastbay

Jul 13, 2013

Make your own online reservation, do your own check-in, print your own bag tag. What’s next, bring your own seat, bring your own oxygen mask, bring your own life vest?

How can anyone expect the airlines to provide customer service when they are making the customer do everything themselves?

Reply
Axelsarkis

Jul 13, 2013

“Other successful low-cost carriers include Virgin America and JetBlue, neither of which serves Ontario. Virgin America has its Southern California base in Los Angeles while JetBlue is in Long Beach. Of the two, JetBlue could be more likely to turn to Ontario, as Long Beach Airport is capacity controlled and the carrier has no room to grow there.”

Did I miss the memo on VX becoming successful?

Reply
BJ

Jul 14, 2013

Regarding bag tags, Qantas has had electronic tags for some time. If youre a high tier FF you get them for free otherwise you can purchase them. Once checked in you just take your bag to a bag drop point and off it goes. Total airport check in time is about 2-3 minutes.
If you have in line bag screening I dont see the security problem. Mind you, having spent the last few weeks ‘enjoying’ the TSA I found the 04th of July to be quite ironic.

Reply
Shawna

Jul 15, 2013

Oh my gosh, why had I never thought about printing bag tags at home!? What a great idea. I can’t even imagine the amount of time that would save at the airport.

Reply
MeanMeosh

Jul 15, 2013

Re: printing bag tags at home – some cruise lines already let you do this, believe it or not. I just took one to Alaska, and Princess allows (actually strongly encourages) you to print your bag tags at home and affix them to your luggage before showing up at the pier. The tags have bar codes, so I’m guessing they have some kind of airline-like tracking system to sort bags and then deliver them to the correct stateroom. All of ours made it to our rooms just fine. Granted, the whole check-in process for a cruise ship is very different from a commercial flight, and on a much smaller scale overall, but that shows a “tag at home” system is possible to do, at least.

I for one would like to see a tag at home system rolled out nationwide. I rarely check bags, but anything to cut down on my time standing in line at the airport is appreciated.

Reply