KGW Travel/Aviation Blog

The Port of Portland wants your input as it updates its master plan for PDX. You can log on and learn more, find out when the next meeting's being held, and submit your comments. Log onto PDX Airport Futures to find out more.

I'd love to know what you think about PDX tabling plans for a third parallel runway. E-mail me at jpenning@kgw.com.

American Airlines announced today, in an effort to make additional money to offset the ever-rising cost of fuel, it will charge you $15 for your FIRST checked bag, and another $25 for your second, each way. It could add up to $80 in roundtrip fees just for the basic service of getting your bag to your destination.

All airlines are struggling to cover the cost of fuel. If oil doesn't come back down to the $100/barrel mark (It's hovering around $128/barrel today), you're going to see a lot of changes and extra charges. But for the airline that was supposed to be "full service," this is a radical change. Charging you more for something even Southwest does for free.

My thought has always been, go ahead and charge me extra if the service gives me "value added." For example, Frontier Airlines charges $6 each segment for a personal DirecTV screen. This gives me value added - something more to do while I fly. But to charge me extra for a basic service that is a necessity - that's where I have trouble paying extra.

Airlines know fares can't go up too much more without reducing passenger demand. There's a point at which people simply won't pay more to fly - and we're nearing that point. Legacy airlines, like American, United, and Delta, are going to cut major capacity this fall, in hopes of reducing the number of seats they have to fill, so they can raise prices on those remaining seats. They think this is the way to make more per seat mile (the amount they make by flying each seat on each plane one mile - a standard airline measurement of costs/revenues/profits).

That's not necessarily a good business model, and here's why: low cost carriers, such as Southwest, jetBlue, and Frontier, will just add seats in the markets the legacies vacate, spilling more low fares into the legacies' top markets. The low fare model, with much lower maintenance, crew, and overhead costs, can offer a fare at $200 round trip and still make $5 or $10 in profit, where the legacy airlines would lose $5 or $10 on the same fare.

So here's what you're going to see: legacy airlines angering their passengers by nickel and diming them. Legacy carriers will draw fewer passengers. Legacy carriers will shrink (American is already doing all of these things).

Then, low cost carriers will add flights where legacies drop out. Low cost carriers will further erode the potential revenue with lower fares. Then, the legacies will cut even more, blaming the low cost guys for putting too many seats on the market.

There is demand for air travel right now. Airlines are seeing record load factors - the percentage of seats filled on each flight. People are traveling. There isn't, necessarily, an overcapacity problem. There would be too much capacity if planes were empty. They're not.

The legacy airlines have a much different problem. A problem with their business plans. They simply can't compete with the low cost guys on fares. Only a radical change will allow for them to compete, no matter what the cost of oil does. Extra charges aren't the long term answer.

Many in the industry believe, as the legacies shrink, low cost carriers eventually carry the majority of domestic passengers. Already Southwest is the country's largest airline in terms of the number of passengers carried.

Will fares go up? You bet - on all airlines. The reality of high priced fuel will necessitate higher fares. But charging extra for things that should be considered necessary for the travel experience isn't going to make American profitable again.

I want to know what you think. E-mail me at jpenning@kgw.com.

I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Las Vegas with some of the folks from KGW. No organized event - just a good time with some good friends and a good chance to getaway and recharge.

Our travels were fine: on-time, good people helping us, and no lost bags!

The funniest part of the trip... and the reason for this blog... as we were waiting at Gate D26 at McCarran something caught the attention of Evan Chevrier, our sports producer, and myself. A very interesting comment on the back of our boarding passes.

Sports Producer Evan Chevrier notes the odd comment on the back of our boarding pass.

This was an Alaska Airlines boarding pass, printed from an Alaska Airlines e-ticket self check-in machine. The pass thanks us... for using speed!

I guess it's fitting - it is Vegas, after all!

For those who don't know why we think that's so funny, "speed," in the world of law enforcement, is another word for methamphetamine - meth. Only in Vegas would your boarding pass look like that.

Turns out, the boarding pass is thanking us for using "speed check" - the computerized check-in system at McCarran. But that's not nearly as funny.

Time to get back to work. Thanks to everyone on our flights who stopped us to say hi. It's always nice to meet NewsChannel 8 viewers. And next time you're at the Vegas airport, be sure to use Speed (Check)!

E-mail Jack with your travel stories.

I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Las Vegas with some of the folks from KGW. No organized event - just a good time with some good friends and a good chance to getaway and recharge.

Our travels were fine: on-time, good people helping us, and no lost bags!

The funniest part of the trip... and the reason for this blog... as we were waiting at Gate D26 at McCarran something caught the attention of Evan Chevrier, our sports producer, and myself. A very interesting comment on the back of our boarding passes.

Sports Producer Evan Chevrier notes the odd comment on the back of our boarding pass.

This was an Alaska Airlines boarding pass, printed from an Alaska Airlines e-ticket self check-in machine. The pass thanks us... for using speed!

I guess it's fitting - it is Vegas, after all!

For those who don't know why we think that's so funny, "speed," in the world of law enforcement, is another word for methamphetamine - meth. Only in Vegas would your boarding pass look like that.

Turns out, the boarding pass is thanking us for using "speed check" - the computerized check-in system at McCarran. But that's not nearly as funny.

Time to get back to work. Thanks to everyone on our flights who stopped us to say hi. It's always nice to meet NewsChannel 8 viewers. And next time you're at the Vegas airport, be sure to use Speed (Check)!

E-mail Jack with your travel stories.

It's been a real mess this week at PDX for those flying American Airlines. The Airline has cancelled more than two-dozen Portland flights since Wednesday, and it's planning to cancel more through Saturday, at least.

The problem with the way the wiring is installed on American's Boeing MD80s (really built by McDonnel Douglas, which was purchased by Boeing, which subsequently gets its name on the plane) has been a tough one for the Airline to re-inspect and fix. Even now - Thursay night - NBC reports American has just 100 of its 300 MD80s back in service.

Portland was hit worse than any other major west coast city. The reason: American only flies MD80s here - unlike cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego, where it also flies Boeing 757s. While the vast majority of Portland flights were cancelled, American's 757 flights in other west coast cities were zipping in and out on time.

Today I sat down with a travel agent I often work with, Don Francis, of Barbur Travel/Uptown Landing Travel in John's Landing. He's a good guy, who always tells it like it is. He's been swamped by people wanting help with their cancelled American flights. "A lot of people are just flat-out worried about their flights," he told me. "It doesn't matter if they're on American. They're so skittish now about leaving town at all, it's like, 'are we impacted, are we going to make our flight?'"

Don's been helping the best he can. His advice to those who have tickets on American through the weekend: check with the airline often, from the day before your flight, until the time you leave for the airport. If your flight is cancelled, ask to be confirmed on a new flight - don't go standby. If your flight might be cancelled, you can ask to be protected on another flight. That won't change your reservation, but it will reserve a confirmed seat for you should you flight eventually be cancelled. Don explains it better: "You basically have a dupicate reservation, which is usually frowned upon. But, given the circumstances, you need to have it if there's a high percentage chance your flight is going to be cancelled."

American has been willing to put travelers on other airlines, instead of forcing them to wait for the next AA flight. You just have to ask. As Don says, "They know that they've got to get you home. And they don't want to put you up in a hotel and waste a lot of per diem. They want to get the situation resolved."

The big question everyone's been asking me for the last couple days: what's next? Everyone wants to know which airline or which aircraft type will be next to be called out by the FAA, with its new emphasis on following directives to the letter. I wish I could answer that question. Don tells me these MD80 inspections, "Could be the tip of the iceberg." Certainly, the FAA could require similar inspections on any other aircraft. But it could, just as easily, be satisfied with how other airliners have been inspected. It's impossible to say.

If you're flying in the next few months, stay on top of the news surrounding your airline. KGW.com is a great place to do that. And I'll do my best to keep updates here - when I get them.

If you have a story you want to share, e-mail me at jpenning@kgw.com, or add a comment to the blog.

It's been a real mess this week at PDX for those flying American Airlines. The Airline has cancelled more than two-dozen Portland flights since Wednesday, and it's planning to cancel more through Saturday, at least.

The problem with the way the wiring is installed on American's Boeing MD80s (really built by McDonnel Douglas, which was purchased by Boeing, which subsequently gets its name on the plane) has been a tough one for the Airline to re-inspect and fix. Even now - Thursay night - NBC reports American has just 100 of its 300 MD80s back in service.

Portland was hit worse than any other major west coast city. The reason: American only flies MD80s here - unlike cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego, where it also flies Boeing 757s. While the vast majority of Portland flights were cancelled, American's 757 flights in other west coast cities were zipping in and out on time.

Today I sat down with a travel agent I often work with, Don Francis, of Barbur Travel/Uptown Landing Travel in John's Landing. He's a good guy, who always tells it like it is. He's been swamped by people wanting help with their cancelled American flights. "A lot of people are just flat-out worried about their flights," he told me. "It doesn't matter if they're on American. They're so skittish now about leaving town at all, it's like, 'are we impacted, are we going to make our flight?'"

Don's been helping the best he can. His advice to those who have tickets on American through the weekend: check with the airline often, from the day before your flight, until the time you leave for the airport. If your flight is cancelled, ask to be confirmed on a new flight - don't go standby. If your flight might be cancelled, you can ask to be protected on another flight. That won't change your reservation, but it will reserve a confirmed seat for you should you flight eventually be cancelled. Don explains it better: "You basically have a dupicate reservation, which is usually frowned upon. But, given the circumstances, you need to have it if there's a high percentage chance your flight is going to be cancelled."

American has been willing to put travelers on other airlines, instead of forcing them to wait for the next AA flight. You just have to ask. As Don says, "They know that they've got to get you home. And they don't want to put you up in a hotel and waste a lot of per diem. They want to get the situation resolved."

The big question everyone's been asking me for the last couple days: what's next? Everyone wants to know which airline or which aircraft type will be next to be called out by the FAA, with its new emphasis on following directives to the letter. I wish I could answer that question. Don tells me these MD80 inspections, "Could be the tip of the iceberg." Certainly, the FAA could require similar inspections on any other aircraft. But it could, just as easily, be satisfied with how other airliners have been inspected. It's impossible to say.

If you're flying in the next few months, stay on top of the news surrounding your airline. KGW.com is a great place to do that. And I'll do my best to keep updates here - when I get them.

If you have a story you want to share, e-mail me at jpenning@kgw.com, or add a comment to the blog.