EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT 09/19/05 Welcome to EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT for the week of September 19, the weekly e-mail of essential business travel news! To sign up for the e-Alert, click here. Will Delta, Northwest merge in bankruptcy? US Airways, America West merger looms after court OK American enhances kiosks, sells lifetime Admirals memberships United, SAA to start code-sharing Alaska, Horizon terminate paper tickets JetBlue poised to begin service to smaller cities NEW ORLEANS UPDATE: Slow revival for air, hotel services Boston may add premium reserved parking for a surcharge American gives up airport gates at St. Louis AIRLINES Will Delta, Northwest merge in bankruptcy? Longstanding predictions of more major airline bankruptcies came true last week not just for Delta but also for Northwest, when both companies sought Chapter 11 protection on Wednesday (September 14). As both airlines filed at almost the same time, analysts and industry observers quickly began to speculate that the two might be considering a merger under court protection. "The two airlines have compatible routes that would make them ideal merger partners, and bankruptcy is a perfect place to deal with the pilot integration issues that are the biggest reason airline mergers can fail," The Wall Street Journal remarked in an editorial. Other stories quoted financial analysts who said such a combination would make good sense for both airlines. Delta and Northwest are both members of the global SkyTeam alliance, along with Continental, Air France, KLM and others. "While Delta and Northwest continue their restructuring efforts they will remain full members of SkyTeam, maintain all alliance agreements currently in place and continue to offer SkyTeam passengers the high level of service they expect," an alliance spokesman said last week. Both airlines are expected to trim their route systems in bankruptcy to reduce costs; Delta had already announced a 26 percent reduction in capacity at its Cincinnati hub starting in December. They are also likely to ask employees for more givebacks. Northwest remains the target of a strike by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, and last week it started to hire permanent replacements for the striking mechanics after the latest round of talks got nowhere. Delta and Northwest both sought to reassure customers that the Chapter 11 filings will have no effect on flight operations or on other customer-oriented activities like their frequent flyer programs and airport lounge facilities. US Airways, America West merger looms after court OK The long-planned merger of US Airways and America West could take effect as soon as September 27, after it cleared a series of necessary approvals last week. First, shareholders of America West Holdings gave the nod to that company's acquisition of US Airways; then US Airways creditors approved that company's plan to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization - a plan that hinges on the merger; and finally, the bankruptcy court overseeing US Airways also gave its blessing to the arrangement. Under the merger plan, the combined airline would retain the US Airways name, but most of its senior management would be from America West. The combination of the two will create the nation's fifth-largest airline. American enhances kiosks, sells lifetime Admirals memberships American Airlines said it has improved the functionality of its airport self-check-in kiosks so that customers with excess baggage can now use the devices to check in. Previously, they had to go to the check-in counter for assistance. After two free checked bags, kiosk users can now use a credit card to pay excess baggage charges on up to three additional bags as long as they weigh less than 50 pounds. American said it has also added kiosks at six more airports, all served by American Eagle: Champagne and Peoria, Ill.; Ft. Wayne and Evansville, Ind.; Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.; and Shreveport, La. Meanwhile, American said it will sell lifetime memberships to its airport lounges, the Admirals Clubs, now through December 31. The cost of a lifetime affiliation for persons not currently members is $5,500; a lifetime senior membership, for non-members 65 and over, is $2,500. The prices for current Admirals Club members are $200 less in each category. United, SAA to start code-sharing South African Airways, due to become a full member of the global Star Alliance early next year, will start code-sharing with United Airlines on November 1, the two companies announced. The plan calls for United's code to go on SAA's Washington/Dulles-Johannesburg flights, and on SAA's intra-African and Africa-Europe services. Meanwhile, SAA will code-share on United flights beyond Dulles to San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Alaska, Horizon terminate paper tickets Effective last week, Alaska Airlines and partner Horizon Air said they are no longer issuing paper tickets. If you're holding one for future travel, don't worry: They'll still accept previously issued paper tickets for another year. But from now on, "all tickets for travel on Alaska and Horizon, including interline travel originating on other carriers, will be issued as electronic tickets," a spokesman said. The airlines noted that more than 95 percent of their passengers already use e-tickets. Customers with questions can call Alaska at 800-252-7522 or Horizon at 800-547-9308. JetBlue poised to begin service to smaller cities Fast-growing JetBlue Airways last week was ready to begin a critical second phase of its expansion as it took delivery of its first Embraer 190, a smaller jet with 100 leather seats in a 2x2, one-class configuration with 32-33 inch pitch. Like JetBlue's Airbuses, the Embraers have individual seat-back entertainment systems with DIRECTV satellite service as well as satellite radio. The new Brazilian-built Embraer model just won certification by the FAA on September 5. JetBlue has ordered 101 of the planes, to use in expanding its route system to smaller cities than it currently serves. It expects to take delivery of 18 planes per year through 2011, and to put the first one into service in November - although it hasn't yet said where. NEW ORLEANS UPDATE Slow revival for air, hotel services As flood waters continue to recede, New Orleans is slowly struggling to revive as a business destination, but it still has a long way to go. The city's airport reopened to commercial flights last week, and Northwest was first in with flights from Memphis; it's due to add Minneapolis/St. Paul and Detroit service this week. Delta this week will resume service as well, building up to four a day from Atlanta and one from Cincinnati by September 23. Continental plans to resume New Orleans service from Houston Intercontinental on Monday (September 19), and Southwest said it also expects to start Houston Hobby-New Orleans flights on Tuesday (September 20). Before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans' airport was getting 175 flights a day. On the lodging side, a study by Lodging Econometrics released last week said that as of September 15, 160 hotels in Louisiana were closed, as well as 93 in Mississippi and 33 in Alabama. The report said that in New Orleans, 70 percent of hotel rooms are closed, representing 127 of the city's 203 hotels. "The number of reported closings is likely to rise as communications systems are restored and the extent of the damage will become better known," a spokesman said. Many New Orleans hotels cancelled all reservations on the books through December. Starwood said the Sheraton New Orleans and two W hotels in the city reopened a limited number of rooms last week. The JW Marriott was due to reopen late last week as well. New Orleans' Windsor Court Hotel said it expects to reopen some rooms on November 1. AIRPORTS Boston may add premium reserved parking for a surcharge At Boston Logan, the Massachusetts Port Authority is planning to start offering premium reserved parking spaces for an extra fee at the airport's newly overhauled garages, according to the Boston Globe. Details are still unresolved, but the plan would let purchasers set up an account over the Internet and pay with a credit card for the right to a close-in parking space. The reconstruction of the parking facilities at Logan is adding 2,800 more spaces. The current daily rate is $22, and there was no decision yet as to how much more the reserved premium space would cost. American gives up airport gates at St. Louis The St. Louis Business Journal reported that American Airlines is giving up rights to 25 of the 56 gates it leases at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Most of American's gate space at Lambert came with its acquisition of TWA, but American slashed its schedules at the airport two years ago and hasn't really needed all those gates since then. The airline's leases at Lambert are up for renewal at the end of this year. The carrier is giving up gates in Concourses B and D; it will consolidate its operations in Concourse C, the publication said. THIS WEEK'S DEALS AND SPECIALS FOR BUSINESS TRAVELERS Lufthansa is having an online sale (www.lufthansa.com) for business class travel from New York to Hamburg or Berlin. The roundtrip fare is $2,290 in both markets. However, tickets must be bought 50 days in advance and are non-refundable. The minimum/maximum stay requirement is 7/30 days; the purchase deadline is October 31; and fees, taxes and airport charges of up to $176 are extra. British Airways set a deadline of midnight Thursday (September 22) for its latest worldwide fare sale, which applies from its 19 U.S. gateways to more than 100 destinations. The bargain rates are good for travel from October 27 to December 15 and again from December 24 to April 3, 2006. Sample fares for economy class midweek travel are $278 roundtrip New York- London; $423 Boston-Rome; $512 Los Angeles-Madrid and $972 New York-Hong Kong. Sale fares are also available for BA's World Traveller Plus, an upgraded section of economy class. For details, visit www.britishairways.com/worldonsale. Here's another business class sale, from Malaysian Airlines for travel from New York/Newark to India and Southeast Asia. Fares are $2,880-$2,990 roundtrip to Bangkok, Phuket, Yangon, Jakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya, Medan, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Dhaka, Colombo or Karachi. Purchase deadline is September 30, and tickets can only be bought online at www.malaysiaairlinesusa.com. For links to other websites where you can search for bargains, click here: www.executivetravelonline.com/reference/deals.html For in-depth analysis, news, features and opinions about the current business travel scene, check out Joe Sent Me (www.joesentme.com), produced by veteran traveler advocate/journalist Joe Brancatelli and a team of contributors. By Jim Glab To sign up for the e-Alert, click here.