BTC's Call to Action For... Additional Government Expenditure and Taxpayer Burden ... But For Why?

When pressure groups call for additional Government oversight - it is usually to right a wrong and prevent a hurt inflicted on a group or individual.

So you have to ask why is BTC asking for additional US Federal Government intervention into what is already one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world. So what are they asking for?

Here is the relevant section from a recent press release from BTC:

However, current legislation will not require the airlines to share the information with TMCs. If amended properly, however, the law would make price information about these services clear and easy to find and purchase through TMCs servicing managed travel accounts.

For all the rhetoric that has come from the Open Allies for Transparency in Airfares - this is the salient sentence that BTC wants you to petition your Congressman....

ASK EACH CONGRESSMAN TO:
Include language in the Conference Report instructing the U.S. Department of Transportation to adopt a rule, already being considered, under which all airlines will be obligated to disclose airfares and all ancillary fees to consumers and to TMCs through which they choose to sell airline tickets.


So I ask you to examine this request and consider it VERY carefully.

There are two contradictory words in this statement.

They are OBLIGED and CHOOSE. That to me just doesn't make sense.

Further - why are we (oh yes the Professor is a law abiding and tax paying individual in the USA) - the US public being asked to pay for the additional big government at the very time when the US Government like many around the world are trying to pay off such huge debts.

Especially when you consider that there is already a vast amount of existing legislation that ensures that all pricing is indeed transparent.

So who actually benefits from this legislation? Actually it benefits 3 companies of which 2 are based in the USA - the third in Spain. These 2 US companies are owned by Private Equity firms. All three of which operate in a monopoly manner controlling volumes of business larger than any airline on the planet.

The proposed legislation is unnecessary, expensive and anti-competitive. It will set a dangerous precedent for any commercial enterprise in the USA who will be forced along with their intermediaries to disclose all pricing options.

This will add huge overhead to all and cause a nightmare of compliance. Can you imagine a travel agent who has to read to his customer the full pricing and fee information for every option he provides to his customer?

As I have said before - be careful what you wish for.

Now before another round of pork gets added to the VERY necessary legislation that this country needs - which is a next gen Air Traffic Control System - make sure you tell your legislative representative that you don't want him wasting our money.

Thanks for reading.

Our Future Might Just Be OK.... ADS-B to the Rescue

This week the US Dept of Transportation awarded its next gen ATC initial contracts.

This means that the USA has finally after YEARS or wrangling and false starts the US Government has finally taken the leadership role and published the rules for Next Gen Aircraft tracking and management.

The US DOT announced this week the performance requirements for aircraft tracking equipment that will be required under the Next Generation Air Transportation System. The avionics will allow aircraft to be controlled and monitored with greater precision and accuracy by a satellite-based system called Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast. (ADS-B).

“This technology represents another step forward in our ability to make America’s skies the safest in the world," The Obama Administration's point man Secretary Ray LaHood said.

The final rule requires aircraft flying in certain airspace to broadcast their position via ADS-B by 2020. The rule mandates that the broadcast signal meet specific requirements in terms of accuracy, integrity, power and latency.

“This rule gives the green light for manufacturers to begin building the onboard equipment that will allow our air traffic controllers to know where aircraft are with greater precision and reliability,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said. “That is one of the key elements of NextGen that will improve the safety and efficiency of flight.”

Additional ADS-B services should allow pilots to view cockpit displays to see the location of other aircraft in the sky around them. ADS-B displays are envisioned to show pilots where they are in relation to bad weather and terrain – even at night or in conditions with poor visibility – and provide flight information, including temporary flight restrictions.

This has been a long time coming.

So what does it mean?

Effectively it means that everyone in the air turns on the light so that they can be seen in 3 dimensions no matter what the weather or terrain. Current generation equipment is susceptible to both and is cobbled together using different technologies and processes. Imagine that someone turned the main lights on for the whole room rather than individual spot lights in a dimly lit room.

At the same time - the US FAA awarded 3 contracts to the leading lights in this area - Boeing, General Dynamics and ITT to provide flying demonstration laboratories that show the full integration of these services. These contracts will then lead to the awarding of the final NextGen solutions for a US Airspace wide advanced capability. Thereby lessening the requirement for guided air traffic and thus ensuring more efficient use of the sky and more efficient flight planning and use of tools to make the use of scarce resources which includes fuel much much better than today's heavily managed processes.

Its a lot to make work and it is still far into the future but this is a very good step for all of us. Now the rest of the world has to agree. But at least there is a model to follow.

Image Courtesy of ITT one of the bidders on the contracts

3 Hour Rule: Is It Enough & Will It Work?

With much heralding the US DoT has implemented effective April 2010 a new rule that limits tarmac delays of more than 3 hours. While itself a victory for Kate Hanni and her FlyersRights group, it doesn't do a lot of things.

Firstly it is not a law. Let's hope the Boxer/Snowe Bill becomes law this session. Secondly international is not subject to this. Effectively letting JFK and the Transatlantic carriers off the hook. Thirdly this is far from a comprehensive Passenger Bill of Rights that many (me included) have been seeking. The Boxer/Snowe bill from the fine Senators from California and Maine must pass. Event then it is not as comprehensive as the EU legislation.

Being a frequent flyer and at the same time working within the industry, I have perhaps a more heightened awareness to the issues of operational nature that affect flight operations. The US Air Transportation System is a finely tuned animal moving 3/4 of a billion people annually on its scheduled apparatus. Europe's traffic (as represented by the ECAC countries) is now approaching a similar size and has a far more complex infrastructure due to the national jurisdictions that it covers. However the EC has been able to pass and implement a far more comprehensive set of rules than the USA. For which successive Administrations must accept responsibility.

For a comprehensive set of rules and how to implement them as an example - I suggest dear readers you go and visit the Relevant European Community Transport Website - Passenger Rights

As to whether it will work, I am somewhat skeptical due to the nature of some airports and the ways in which some airlines have the peaks and hub banks. Like all services - there needs to be a better way to manage these peaks and the onus needs to go back to the airports to implement this. Today they have a vehicle for collecting a passenger head tax - PFCs some of which are used to line City Coffers rather than directly related to services provided. Each airport has the right to charge a peak slot time price. What the DoT has failed to do here is to make the policy have greater teeth by only putting the onus on the airlines. The airports too must be part of this equation as indeed must the DoT itself through its management of the FAA.

For regular readers of this column - I am still angry (make that livid) at Secretary LaHood's recent screw up over the BA India Fare debacle. Perhaps he is trying to deflect attention away from that by announcing this "Rule" now.

In the long run there is no substitute for a comprehensive set of rights and rules that can be justly applied. There are no arguments that can be levied by any of the supply side players (Airports, Airlines, FAA etc) as the EU's code has been implemented and has shown a materially improved level of service to the travelling public.

So to answer my own question. The answer is No and No. But it is a move in the right direction. Let's hope it is not the only move.

Cheers

With thanks to the Brisbane Times for the most appropriate picture.

New US DoT Secretary

So the new broom is sweeping clean in a couple of places.

One of the early appointments is the Secretary of Transportation. Former Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., won unanimous Senate confirmation on Thursday to head President Barack Obama's Department of Transportation. The 63-year-old LaHood called the Cabinet post "the capstone of my public service career," and said "it shows the whole idea of bipartisanship and working with people across party lines was not just a political slogan." In his confirmation hearings, LaHood vowed openness and fairness in overseeing the flood of public money expected for transportation projects under the president's stimulus plan.

For Airlines this means a long awaited fix (we hope) to the ATC system. Of course this will require some money - this part of the "Stimulus" package. However with airlines cutting capacity and travelers staying away in droves - the Feds may need to look to new revenue sources for paying for this new system upgrade.

Lets wish LaHood well. He has a tough road ahead. Let's also hope that he recognizes the value of air transportation and allows the system to grow as it will need to do. During the down year of 2009 - if there is a swift implementation - we can see better performance within the system. It isn't just technology that will make this work but better processes and procedures. Challenge everything. We sure need to.

Cheers

Southwest - Pay The Fine And Get On With It

Southwest is still fighting the fine it has imposed on it for operating approx one thousand flights with aircraft that had not been properly inspected. The FAA in a type of witch hunt has already assessed a fine of $10 Million that Southwest said first it needed more time to pay - now is saying it wont pay and has resorted to hiring lawyers instead.

This is a bad precedent for the industry. So Mr Kelly and crew - pay the fine and just get over it. It would be best that you address the problems - which I am sure you are. But fighting this sets a bad tone that you will have hanging over your head. If you win what will you gain? If you lose it will be the end of a good relationship.

you can easily afford the cash - just do it.

This is my opinion

Physician Heal Thyself of Tarmac Delay Ills

Gotta love those guys... the Government and Industry and "users" all 36 of the task force could not do anything better than waste US Taxpayer money ($135,000) and decide the best way to solve the airline tarmac problems that beset the industry in 2007 with ...

Drum roll and anticipation - excitement is building...

Yes the airlines and the FAA can work this out themselves. Over and Out.

Any idiot can see that if this is really the answer they would have solved it before now. So as usual sanity and common sense has failed to prevail. Remember that this is coming at a time when the Airlines and the FAA are now at true loggerheads over the issue of airport slots.

So expect this to end some time at the end of Obama's Administration.

Congrats to all the participants in this quango. You have deservedly won the old Coveted Proxmire Golden Fleece Award. Which for the benefit of all I am resurrecting specifically for this instance!

For official seekers - here are the relevant links for you:

I went to the FAA site - here is the press release:

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/dot16308.htm

Here is the report itself:

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/Tarmac.pdf

Officially called the " Tarmac Delay Task Force"

The official release about setting up the task force in January:

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/peters012208.htm

Cheers

Why did AA cancel so many MD80 FLights?

It may seem to be illogical that only AA the world's largest operator of MD80 series aircraft cancelled such a large number of flights operated by these aging aircraft.

The route cause is probably a clear miscommunication between the FAA and the airline's maintenance people. Sorry chaps this should not be the case. About half of the world's largest airline's fleet is MD82/83s. So you would think by now they would know what the wiring bundle looks like. If my memory serves me right this is about 1/3rd of the total MD80 fleet.

I checked the other operators in the USA - Delta is the next biggest with over 100 and a smattering of the MD90s also but it has the much newer MD88s as its mainstay. No flight cancellations today. None from either Allegiant or Alaska.

Nor in Europe or anywhere else. The next largest operator I think is Alitalia. They also did not report major problems.

American has always marched to its own tune with regard to maintenance. Some of us remember the unorthodox way they removed CF6s of DC10s with a fork lift truck. Fine until one of the engine bolts sheered as a result and the results were disastrous.

The knee jerk response by the FAA to cover its own short comings with these emergency inspections may have an adverse affect. The hard pressed line engineers at AA have had to endure consecutive weeks of long overtime periods while they inspect the planes and get them back in the air.

I hope the FAA has enough inspectors in place to make sure these inspections occur properly. Not good chaps...


Timothy

Airlines adjust after Summer of discontent

Great piece in the (still) independent WSJ. http://online.wsj.com/article/the_middle_seat.html?mod=djemseat

The airlines opine that they have been hit by a triple whammy: High Load factors (duh!!!) ATC delays (if all else fails blame the government), The weather (act of God). They can apparently handle 2 out of 3 but not all 3. Apparently Airlines cannot make bad decisions that contribute to the problem…

As a result they are going to operate differently and hold back seats (read this as still overbook just not as badly), use spare aircraft and add flex into the timing.

OK Chaps (Mr. and Mrs. Airline) - I have a suggestion for you. How about using less SMALLER aircraft and bite the bullet on capacity constraints. The overuse of RJs is the fundamental root cause of the increase in aircraft system resources without a corresponding increase in passenger capability or a pricing model that accommodates this significant upsurge in traffic without necessarily increasing the system capacity for passengers.

I have a further suggestion for the FAA. Guys is this a wakeup call for VLJs? If you were to reprice the usage of the scarce airport tarmac, and flight pathways - then this problem can be ameliorated BEFORE it hits us.

But perhaps its just better to blame the Government and the weather than actually doing the right thing.

One day Congress will wake up to the problem and boot in a quick fix.