Grumpy Editor

Air pass idea creates PR problem for American Airlines

An American Airlines marketing gimmick is turning into a major public relations problem for the carrier and its parent, AMR Corp., notes Grumpy Editor. 

The airline, starting in 1987 and through 2004, offered a lifetime AAirpass that, with a companion ticket, allowed unlimited travel at home and abroad for $350,000.  It attracted 66 people. 

Now, the carrier is focusing on ways to terminate the lifetime contracts. 

Steven Rothstein was one of the AA pass holders.  But the airline snatched his lifetime pass, saying it was due to fraudulent activity --- booking flights under fake names if he didn’t know who his companion would be for the trips. 

He filed a lawsuit but a federal judge ruled against him.  The case is being appealed. 

In the meantime, Rothstein has been making the media rounds, including an appearance Monday night on Fox News’ “On the Record” with Greta Van Susteren.  It followed an ABC News interview and a New York Post piece.  In far-off Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald last Thursday picked up a lengthy Los Angeles Times story on the revoked pass saga. 

Such negative news is not exactly what AMR, which filed for bankruptcy protection last November, seeks in the competitive air travel world. 

As Rothstein told ABC:  “AA signed a contract, and a contract’s a contract.”

 

Spirit Airlines adds to long list of fees for passengers

Spirit Airlines’ Web site spotlights a new service between Atlanta and Atlantic City with a fare from $28.79 each way based on round trip purchase, but passengers these days --- as with flying on other carriers ---  have to factor in other fees and charges, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Spirit this week is in the forefront with a new charge it labels “Department of Transportation unintended consequences fee.”  (Say that fast a few times.) 

That DOT fee tacks on $2 each way to the Spirit ticket price. 

The airline with “ultra low fares” blames that on a new DOT regulation that allows passengers to change flights within 24 hours of booking without paying a penalty. 

The added fee joins a long list of “optional” charges beyond ticket price. 

Among them: 

Carry-on bag fee, $30 at booking or $35 at check-in.

Customer-requested seat assignments, $1 to $50 per seat.

Unaccompanied minors fee, $100 each way.

Pet transport fee, $100 per container each way.

Onboard snacks, $1 to $10.

  

See the full list here.

 

Poll finds most people turn on TV for breaking news

When a sudden development occurs, most curious people turn on their television sets and check out the news networks, according to a new poll, notes Grumpy Editor. 

A Poll Position-TV Newser survey finds 58 percent of Americans cite TV news networks as the source for breaking news details, while 17 percent go to Web sites, 14 percent tune in news radio stations and eight percent head for social media. 

It marks the initial survey (via telephone to 1,110 registered voters nationwide, conducted Oct. 23) in a Poll Position-TV Newser polling partnership. 

The two plan a periodic ongoing series of surveys on news media coverage and consumption. 

Poll Position describes itself as a “non-partisan news, polling and social media company.” 

TV Newser, an industry "ticker" blog hosted by mediabistro.com, covers daily developments in the TV news field.

 

Proposed taxes likely to cut 10,000 airline industry jobs

With U.S. job creation static while some in Washington consider “taxes” their favorite word, Air Transport Association of America (ATA) President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio sums up what he considers a job-killing equation:  “Add taxes and lose jobs,” notes Grumpy Editor.

ATA is the industry trade organization for leading U.S. airlines. 

Just in case ATA’s warning is not in your newspaper today, the organization points out nearly 10,000 airline industry jobs could be cut within one year if two new proposed passenger security and airline departure taxes are approved by Congress. 

More broadly, adds ATA, nearly 181,000 jobs could be lost across the economy related to reductions in aircraft manufacturing, airports and supporting businesses. 

The airline industry is the third greatest contributor to the U.S. economy after energy and farming, yet it is among the least profitable, says Calio. 

“Tripling the passenger security fee and creating a new $100 departure tax will have a devastating effect on the U.S. economy and our customers, who already pay more in taxes for air travel than they do for alcohol, tobacco and firearms," cites Calio. 

“The proposed new taxes will impact fares and reduce service, which equates to a one-way ticket to the unemployment line for thousands of Americans." 

Calio declares, "The president is proposing a huge new tax on the least profitable and most highly taxed industry in the economy while all its competitors are left untouched.  Airlines and their passengers should not shoulder the burden to pay for the country's security, or even worse, to pay off the national debt.” 

 

Bathroom vs. lavatory: Which word flies with editors?

Many busy newsroom copy editors increasingly are letting an essential section aboard an aircraft slip by without changing its description to lavatory from bathroom, grumbles Grumpy Editor. 

Two Sunday incidents in the air referred to a lavatory as a bathroom. 

A bathroom is defined as “a room containing a bath or a shower and usually a wash basin.” 

(Taking a shower or bath at 35,000 feet would be nice, especially on a cross-country flight.) 

Lavatory refers to “a room fitted with equipment for washing the hands and face and usually with flush toilet facilities.” 

Bathroom was widely used in two separate stories focusing on air incidents on security-conscious Sunday that marked the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

With both words highlighted below --- 

A Fox News story mentioned that on a Los Angeles-to-New York American Airlines flight, three passengers made repeated trips to the bathroom.  It added that on an earlier Denver-to-Detroit Frontier Airlines flight, the crew reported two people were spending much time in a bathroom.  

The second paragraph in an Associated Press story cited, “The bathroom use by some passengers aroused the suspicion Sunday.” 

A following paragraph pointed out that with the American Airlines flight from Los Angeles, three passengers who made repeated trips to the bathroom were cleared after the plane landed at New York's Kennedy Airport. 

Meanwhile a Denver Post story had it right, reporting “The pilot aboard Frontier Flight 623 from Denver International Airport radioed the tower in Detroit about suspicious behavior onboard after two people stayed "an extraordinarily long time in the lavatory.”  

A Christian Science Monitor report used both words.  Referring to the Frontier flight, it said the crew feared that a passenger's frequent and unusually long trips to the aircraft lavatory on Sept. 11 were a sign that a potential terrorist plot was under way.  But then, the second paragraph described it as “peculiar bathroom breaks.” 

The Wall Street Journal’s version with the Frontier flight mentioned bathroom twice. 

However, bypassing use of bathroom or lavatory, London’s Daily Telegraph dropped in a down-to-earth description of the location of suspicious action aboard the aircraft.

The British paper’s version reported the Frontier crew said "two people were spending 'an extraordinarily long time' in a toilet."

 

Delta Air Lines reaps bad PR with U.S. troops’ luggage fee

Delta Air Lines, encountering turbulence with some bad public relations involving unexpected baggage fees tacked on for U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan last week, quickly addressed the problem, but some soldiers won’t be getting reimbursed --- via slow military channels --- for weeks, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Thirty four soldiers were charged $2,800 for extra checked bags. 

Military orders stated each soldier was allowed to check up to four bags at no charge.  But a Delta agent last Tuesday at a layover in Baltimore told the returning military unit they would have to pay for a fourth bag linked to each traveler. 

The action quickly brought national attention after Staff Sergeants Fred Hilliker and Robert O’Hair on flight day posted a video on YouTube. 

“Historically, the airlines have been gracious in waiving baggage fees for our troops deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Army spokesman Col. Thomas Collins. 

Delta, a day later, announced U.S. troops will be allowed to check four bags free of charge. 

The quick change in policy didn’t curb the lingering negative PR associated with the earlier baggage charges. 

A syndicated editorial cartoon, still circulating over the weekend, stuck it to Delta. 

The artwork, by two-time Pulitzer prize winner Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, replicated the famous February, 1945, U.S. flag-raising photo on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. 

It depicted four helmeted U.S. troops toting a mounted U.S. flag at a Delta Air Lines counter where the serious-faced agent declares:  “There’s a flag baggage fee…”

 

S.F. police find no terrorism link to cockpit door pounder

Soon after the arrest of an unruly air passenger who was wrestled to the cabin floor after shouting in a foreign language while pounding on the cockpit door of an American Airlines 737 just before it landed at San Francisco International Airport Sunday night, police declared there was no terrorism link, observes Grumpy Editor. 

An Associated Press story filed 10 hours after the plane landed, quotes a San Francisco police spokesman saying the 28-year-old with a Yemeni passport taken into custody had no known ties to terrorism. 

That’s a speedy checkout considering warnings are being issued on possible terror plots following the death of Osama bin Laden. 

And it comes at a time when even a baby’s diaper is patted down on the same day by Transportation Security Administration agents at Kansas City International Airport.  (View the TSA action here.)  

On the San Francisco-bound 737, it took several people, including a retired Secret Service agent and a retired police officer, to subdue the male passenger about 10 minutes before landing on a flight that originated from New York City with a stop in Chicago. 

The Bay Area disturbance was the third of the day. 

Previously, a Continental 737 from Houston to Chicago was diverted to St. Louis after a man attempted to open the aircraft’s door.  Earlier, a Delta flight from Detroit to San Diego was diverted to Albuquerque where officials investigated an undisclosed security threat.

 

Air New Zealand ‘happy’ pre-flight video gains attention

With airline passengers fretting a bit more these days in the wake of Southwest Airlines’ problem Friday with a 737 fuselage rupture, one gets the feeling of happier flight times ahead after viewing Air New Zealand’s pre-flight safety video, observes Grumpy Editor.

It's entertaining as well as educational, especially for first-time air passengers.

With a disco feel, fitness legend Richard Simmons leads a happy crowd of energetic dancers in an aircraft.

To viewers/passengers Simmons announces, “In the next three minutes we’re going to work hard, work out and get you fit to fly.”

Various safety steps range from stretching to store luggage in an overhead locker or under a seat to buckling seat belts.

It’s the most-viewed YouTube in New Zealand and Australia where Air New Zealand is a household name.

View it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iaTEgoezNQ

Meanwhile, with Southwest Airlines, more inspections of its Boeing 737-300 fleet continue after cracks were found in several jets following one in which part of the skin ripped away at 36,000 feet.

No happy video with that incident, however.

 

Americans wait as other nations clear citizens from Libya

While citizens of many nations were able to depart turbulent Tripoli by air and sea over the past few days, about 600 passengers --- mostly Americans --- were on board a ferry docked for three days in Libya’s capital awaiting a green light to sail to Malta, about 300 miles to the north, notes Grumpy Editor.

The ferry finally set sail this afternoon.

Media reported officials blamed the holdup in departure of the sleek, dual-hull, five-year-old Maria Dolores (capable of reaching 39 knots) on rough weather.

But there was a question mark with that reason.

Grumpy Editor found mid-day Thursday weather in both Tripoli and Malta was satisfactory:  52 degrees, scattered clouds and 15 m.p.h. winds in Tripoli and 48 degrees, mostly cloudy with a chance of rain and 22 to 25 m.p.h. winds at Valetta, Malta.

There were increased fears for U.S. citizens in troubled Libya as the security situation deteriorated.

A CNN anchor, after detailing the tense situation yesterday, mentioned that the Americans aboard the docked ferry could be “sitting ducks.”

While those U.S. citizens remained dockside, two ships transported about 4,500 Chinese workers to Crete. China also sent a missile frigate to protect its citizens evacuated by sea.

Meanwhile, citizens of other nations also had a much easier time leaving Libya.

While Libyan authorities refused the U.S. permission to land chartered aircraft, there were no problems for the German air force flying some of its citizens home, as did French chartered aircraft along with British and Russian departures by air.

Italian citizens were able to take Alitalia commercial flights home and the Italian air force was handling the overflow.  The Italians also dispatched two navy vessels to eastern Libyan ports.

The Dutch also used military aircraft to evacuate its citizens.

Turkey removed 3,000 of its citizens on two ships.

 

Stranded Americans in Egypt await word on escape route

As chaos and lawlessness continued for a seventh day in Cairo, print and broadcast coverage by U.S. media has been scant on weary and concerned Americans stranded in Egypt awaiting overdue word on evacuation, notes Grumpy Editor.

While meetings, including photo ops, focusing on the violent protests  in Egypt continued in Washington, and the U.S. embassy in Cairo yesterday recommending that Americans leave Egypt as soon as possible, getting out of the country posed a major problem.

Thousands of travelers, including Americans, were stranded at the Cairo International Airport.

Among Americans were Diane Kelley and her husband.  She managed to tell CNN Saturday that they were concerned by the lack of help from U.S. authorities and they were awaiting a way out.

Through yesterday, the U.S. had not dispatched any special flights to fill cancellations by airlines, including Delta, the only U.S. carrier with direct service to Cairo.  Delta earlier suspended service to the area.

Meanwhile, other nations --- acting promptly --- have flown in additional flights to evacuate their citizens.

An airport official told Associated Press that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan sent in more than 15 flights in total to transport their nationals out of the country, adding that Royal Jordanian and Bahrain's Gulf Air switched to larger aircraft to accommodate more people.

A State Department spokesperson late yesterday said the U.S. was hopeful in sending chartered aircraft to Cairo for the trapped Americans today --- one week after protests started.

However, chaos mushroomed at the airport today as thousands of foreigners, including Americans, sought to flee the unrest.

Setting off further grumbling by Americans was word from the State Department that those taking chartered flights will be billed for the cost, mainly to Europe, and would then need to make their own travel arrangements home.

About 52,000 Americans are registered with the U.S. embassy in Cairo.