Airlines: November 2007 Archives

Addison Schonland over at IAG is doing what I think is the best job of anyone on podcasts in air transport. He's taking the medium seriously and using it to genuinely add something to the debate. I worked together with him to interview John Heimlich, who's VP and chief economist at the US Air Transport Association (ATA) on what $100 oil means for the airlines. John really his knows his stuff and makes some smart observations. Take a listen.

I'd be very interested in your views on podcasts. Leave a comment if you've got opinions on that.

A major reason why security fails is when people are instructed to implement procedures that nobody believes matter. Pretty soon after the same people start to doubt that even the bits they thought mattered do in fact matter. And then nobody pays much attention to anything until something bad happens.

I suspect Easyjet is doing the world a favour by making it pretty clear that they don't think the "have you packed this yourself, "has it been out of your sight" malarkey actually means a damn.

A really thought-provoking piece in the Dallas Morning News about what would have happened if American Airlines hadn't avoided Chapter 11. This got my attention because I previously wrote respectful things about the airline for dodging the bankruptcy bullet, and now it seems there are plenty of people who think that just shows how unsophisticated I am.

So you're standing in the check-in for your favourite lo-co airline and you're feeling a bit antsy as the guy in front argues with the clerk about the three add-ons he didn't notice in the booking conditions. A bit of you is thinking 'sheesh, why don't you just read that stuff' and a bit is thinking 'when are the airlines going to make that stuff clearer for people who don't travel every week'. But what you're not thinking is ' I bet he's a travel columnist on US Today'. Which makes this piece all very odd.

All over the world TV newsrooms have got pre-recorded packages set to run as soon as oil hits $100 per barrel - and you can be sure they all include lurid stuff on airlines. I think this time the broadcasters have got it right - putting aside the psychological shock of hitting a hundred bucks, the airlines really are starting to run out of options. And fares are on their way up.