EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT 07/17/06 Welcome to EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT for the week of July 17, the weekly e-mail of essential business travel news! To sign up for the e-Alert, click here. American reveals details of new business class seats Labor troubles continue to simmer - especially at Northwest Airlink Southwest sets Dulles schedule; JetBlue to add Columbus New FAA procedures should minimize bad-weather delays Eos expands schedule, eyes Paris route Airlines offer more choices than ever to Europe Singapore Airport adds budget terminal, plans luxury facility THIS WEEK'S QUESTION FOR READERS: American has unveiled plans for a new lie-flat international business class seat (see below). Our question for you: Do you notice differences in business class seats from one international airline to another? If so, which one is your favorite, and why? Which ones don't you like? Send your replies to skyguide@aexp.com. Last week, we asked how readers pass the time in flight, and reading seems to be the preferred activity among respondents. "I always feel this is a good time to catch up on trade journals, or in their absence, a good book," said Charles Groebner. Reader C. Christensen said that "I read a book or listen to my iPod. About 40 percent of the airline-provided earphones don't work, or the music is awful." AIRLINES American reveals details of new business class seats American Airlines this week is unveiling details about its planned overhaul of international business class cabins, which should be installed in all its 767-300s by early next year, followed by its fleet of 777s. The centerpiece of the "Next Generation Business Class" redesign will be new business class seats developed by Recaro Aircraft Seating. The seats will recline to a lie-flat position, and they'll be equipped with "five independent motors, allowing for infinite adjustability," a spokesperson said. The seats will recline into a bed that's 77 inches long, and the seats' width will be 20 inches - or 23 inches when the privacy divider is raised and the outer armrest is dropped down. The seat designs feature two significant innovations: Passengers will be able to move the upright seat forward for added privacy or for easier access to the seat-back tray table; and each seat will have two interlocking tray table units - one in the seatback and one in the center console. "The tables can be used separately or together to create one larger work or dining surface," the spokesman said. Passengers will also get a "personal in-flight entertainment device with audio and video on demand" and a 10.6-inch monitor that can be viewed hands-free from a position in the seatback, or moved around to a location of the passenger's preference. For listening, the device comes with a pair of Bose QuietComfort 3 noise-canceling headphones. Labor troubles continue to simmer - especially at Northwest Airlink The airline industry's labor problems are far from over, especially at some regional carriers like Mesaba Airlines, which operates as Northwest Airlink at Northwest's Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis hubs. Mesaba's bankruptcy court last week gave the company the authority to terminate its contracts with the pilots, flight attendants and mechanics unions, and to impose its own wage levels and work rules on them unilaterally. Mesaba only has to give the unions 10 days' notice of its intention to do so. This set off a firestorm of protest, with the pilots and mechanics planning immediate appeals of the court's ruling, and pilots threatening to walk off the job. "If management does elect to impose new terms unilaterally, the pilots of Mesaba will strike," said Capt. Tom Wychor, who heads the pilots' union at Mesaba. "In that case, no one should plan to travel on Northwest Airlink for the remainder of the summer." Mechanics also said they reserve the right "to exercise all legal options, up to and including a strike." Mesaba's pilots union claimed the wages Mesaba wants to impose on them would make Mesaba pilots the lowest-paid in the nation, "in many cases, even below the federal poverty guidelines." At Northwest Airlines itself, Monday (July 17) is the court-imposed deadline for management and the flight attendants' union to come to terms on a new contract. If they don't, Northwest's bankruptcy court has ruled that management can impose its own terms on the flight attendants. Facing that prospect, the flight attendants' union last week said it was preparing for various limited job actions, which could include random walkouts on selected flights, or localized strikes that affect all flights at specific airports. And at Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which operates as a Delta Connection carrier, pilots last week voted to authorize a strike if their representatives can't reach agreement with management on a new contract. However, that would first require that the National Mediation Board declare an impasse in negotiations, followed by a 30-day cooling off period before any job action could begin. Southwest sets Dulles schedule; JetBlue to add Columbus Southwest Airlines, which earlier this year announced its intention to begin service at Washington Dulles, has released some specifics. Southwest said last week it will start flying at Dulles on October 5, using two gates in the B Concourse. The airline's initial schedule includes seven flights a day between Dulles and Chicago Midway as well as one daily roundtrip to Las Vegas, two to Orlando and two to Tampa Bay. Southwest already has a significant presence at Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways said last week it will add yet another city to its growing network this fall: Columbus, Ohio. JetBlue said it will launch service October 3 with four flights a day from its New York JFK base to Columbus, and adding one flight a day from Boston Logan to Columbus starting October 18. FAA/SECURITY New FAA procedures should minimize bad-weather delays The Federal Aviation Administration said last week it is phasing in a new, more sophisticated program for weather-related flight delays that should make life easier for harried travelers and for airlines. Instead of ordering wholesale stoppages or delays of scores of flights when bad weather occurs, the new system would permit a much more targeted response, minimizing overall delays. Under the agency's new Airspace Flow Program, "controllers will issue expected departure times to aircraft that are expected to pass through airspace affected by bad weather, and safely meter them through the constrained area," FAA said. The new procedures, developed by a team of FAA and airline experts, take advantage of technology deployed in the past few years. The program "will allow air traffic controllers to delay only those flights that are expected to encounter extremely bad weather," the agency said. "As a result, the new program is expected to minimize the crippling effects of the sudden thunderstorms that frequently affect the nation's airspace system during the summer." FAA estimates that there are as many as 40 severe weather days each year. INTERNATIONAL Eos expands schedule, eyes Paris route Eos, the all-premium airline that operates 48-seat 757s, said it plans to double its New York JFK-London Stansted schedule with the addition of a second flight six days a week effective September 8. With the addition, Eos will have 7:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. departures from JFK Sunday through Friday, with return flights departing London at 10:40 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday flights will leave JFK at 7:15 p.m. and return from London at 10:40 a.m. Eos said its June load factor was 72 percent. Meanwhile, a trade newspaper reported last week that Eos has applied at the Transportation Department for permission to begin operating New York to Paris service next spring. Airlines offer more choices than ever to Europe An analysis of airline schedules by USA Today found that transatlantic passengers have more options than ever, thanks to an ongoing expansion of frequencies and city-pairs. Even as major airlines are cutting back their domestic schedules in response to high fuel costs and competition from low-cost carriers, the analysis found that the number of non-stop flights between the U.S. and Europe has increased by 7 percent in the past 12 months, to the current total of 386 a day. That's a higher rate of increase than to Latin America or to Asia. In the past three years, according to USA Today, the number of U.S.-Europe flights has jumped by 21 percent. The biggest growth has been at Newark, which added 17 flights a day to Europe since 2003, to a current total of 55; New York's JFK added 16 daily departures since 2003, to a total of 81; and Atlanta tacked on 10 daily flights, to a total of 31. AIRPORTS Singapore adds budget terminal, plans luxury facility Singapore's Changi Airport has opened a Budget Terminal to accommodate the increasing number of low-cost carriers operating between Singapore and other destinations in Southeast Asia. A five-minute shuttle ride from Terminals 1 and 2, the Budge Terminal will offer "common services found at most airports including food and beverage outlets and duty free shopping," a spokesman said. Meanwhile, Changi Airport plans an August opening for a luxury arrivals/departure facility for high-end passengers of commercial airlines as well as those flying on private aircraft. The airport said the new facility will offer "personalized services unique to premium air travel including independent check-in, luggage and immigration processes." It will have luxury lounge, business center, retail outlets and a health club. Changi plans a 2008 opening for its next new passenger facility, Terminal 3, which will expand its total capacity to 64 million passengers a year. AIR ROUTES DENVER (DEN). Southwest Airlines on July 17 will increase its operations at Denver by launching new daily non-stops between DEN and Houston Hobby, and by adding a second daily roundtrip between Denver and Baltimore/Washington; a fifth between Denver-Chicago Midway; and a sixth between Denver-Phoenix. HOUSTON HOBBY (HOU). Southwest will add a third daily roundtrip to its Houston-Tampa route effective July 17. LOS ANGELES (LAX). El Al will inaugurate three-class 777 non-stop service between LAX and Tel Aviv on July 23, with three flights a week. Eastbound service departs LAX Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. NEW YORK KENNEDY (JFK). JetBlue has launched its promised new service between its JFK base and Charlotte, with four daily roundtrips. On July 17, North American Airlines is due to begin service between JFK and Lagos, Nigeria, operating two-class 767-300ER flights three times a week. Eastbound service will depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. ORLANDO (MCO). On July 20, JetBlue is due to start flying one daily non-stop roundtrip between Orlando and Syracuse. DEALS AND SPECIAL OFFERS FOR BUSINESS TRAVELERS US Airways, which just added Budget Rent a Car to its Dividend Miles program, has announced two more car rental partners: Alamo and National. The new Alamo partnership "is the result of the recent US Airways and America West merger," a spokesman said. Members will get 250 Dividend Miles per rental at participating Alamo locations, which can be found at www.alamo.com. For details of mileage-earning possibilities on National rentals, visit www.nationalcar.com. Red Lion Hotels (www.redlion.com), which has more than 10,000 rooms in 10 states and Canada, has rolled out a "Stay the Summer" promotion that awards members of its GuestAwards program bonus points for multiple stays. It applies for stays of at least two nights through September 30 that are booked through the company's web site. The first stay earns 5,000 points; the second, 10,000; and the third, 15,000. Delta Air Lines (www.delta.com) is having an international fare sale for tickets purchased within 72 hours after booking, but no later than July 28. The sale fares are good for travel through April 20, 2007 (or for travel through January 13 to the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico). Sample roundtrip fares include $618 from Atlanta to Rome; $518 from Boston to Barcelona; $638 from Los Angeles to Frankfurt; and $398 from New York to Berlin. 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. Airline traffic at Philadelphia International Airport has been growing rapidly since Southwest Airlines moved in a couple of years ago. If you have business in Philadelphia, get an update on what's new and different in the City of Brotherly Love in the September issue of Executive Travel magazine, coming soon. By Jim Glab Have a question or comment? Send it to skyguide@aexp.com. To sign up for the e-Alert, click here.