U.S Domestic Airfares Up 4.4% Over Previous Year

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics released findings today that show an overall 4.4% increase in the average price of an airline ticket during the 1st quarter of 2008, compared to the same time period in 2007. In the Bay Area, San Francisco actually saw a 6.7% decline in fares, while Sacramento's increased by 6.2%.

Q1 2007 to Q1 2008 average fare by market
$317.88 to $331.72 (U.S Domestic Average Fare)
$240.23 to $244.46 (Oakland)
$263.07 to $279.36 (Sacramento)
$421.90 to $395.54 (San Francisco)
$261.02 to $268.03 (San Jose)

Travelocity Brings Back 'Flexible Dates' Feature For International Travel

Back in July 2006, Travelocity opted to disable the "flexible dates" functionality that allowed customers to search for the best international fares when travel dates were flexible. They did so after failing to reach an agreement with the Department of Transportation on how to show the most accurate fare when factoring in all surcharges, which vary by city and carrier.

Well, that wonderful feature is back! According to our friends at Airfarewatchdog.com, Travelocity reintroduced this functionality late last week.

How it works: Let's say you want to travel from San Francisco to Paris (CDG). On the Travelocity website (and really most travel booking sites) you simply enter the travel dates you want to fly and the site returns with the best available prices. Easy enough. But using the flexible dates feature, which Travelocity again offers, the site searches 330 days in advance and reports back the least expensive travel dates. Most other travel sites do not have this extensive international search feature - farecompare.com being a notable exception.

I have not seen an official press release from Travelocity as yet regarding the recent changes. But let's hope this move is permanent, thereby enabling travelers with more tools when making travel plans. Two thumbs up for Travelocity.

Denied Boarding Compensation going up to $800

Starting next month, if you are involuntarily denied boarding on a U.S-based carrier, the airline must pay you up to $800 for the inconvenience. You can thank the Department of Transportation for following through with their commitment to improve the passenger flying experience.

How it works: You have a confirmed reservation, but the flight is oversold. The airline will ask for volunteers to be "bumped." If too few people volunteer, the airline is forced to involuntarily deny boarding to selected passengers, often those who check-in late or without seat assignments.

Under previous rules, the airlines would pay $200 for many involuntary denied boardings, and $400 if you arrived more than 4 hours later than your originally scheduled time. This compensation hasn't been revised since 1978. But starting in May, these payouts double!

Most delayed flights in America: SFO makes the list!

The US Department of Transportation released its monthly on-time statistics report this week, and September 07' wasn't so bad. While Nationwide statistics showed overall improvement for on-time performance compared to August 2007 and the September 2006, there were 5 flight routes that reported being late more than 85% of the time. One of those "top 5" is a flight that departs San Francisco. DOT considers a plane late when it arrives at its destination 15 minutes or more after the scheduled time.

Most Frequently Delayed Flights

Comair flight 5042 from Philadelphia to New York JFK – late 90.91 percent of the time!
Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4822 from Atlanta to Myrtle Beach, SC – late 89.66 percent of the time
Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4377 from Lafayette, LA to Atlanta – late 87.50 percent of the time
Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight 4423 from Atlanta to Lafayette, LA – late 87.50 percent of the time
Alaska Airlines flight 688 from San Francisco to Los Angeles – late 86.36 percent of the time
(Alaska Airlines has since dropped this evening flight from its schedule)

(Thanks Tommy) U.S Department of Transportation numbers show that airline on-time performance for the month of August was 71.7%.

More than 1 in 4 flights, on average, were delayed more than 15 minutes. Of the largest U.S carriers, United ranked the worst with only 66.2% of their planes arriving at the scheduled time.

August numbers, which are best described as "terrible", are slightly better than the month of July at 69.8% - one of the worst since the government started keeping records in 1995.

United Airlines awarded non-stop service San Francisco to Guangzhou, China

Other new U.S to China routes to follow under new airways agreement
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded a new direct route to China to United Airlines, making it the first U.S. carrier to offer daily, nonstop service between San Francisco and Guangzhou. The San Francisco to Guangzhou service will begin in spring of 2008 utilizing a Boeing 777 aircraft, including United First, Business, Economy Plus and Economy classes.

Also awarded was a Atlanta-Shanghai route to Delta Airlines. Delta will be the first U.S carrier to offer this route as well.

These new routes mark the first additions since the Chinese government signed an open airways agreement with the U.S this past July. Other new routes being considered are Chicago to Beijing (American), Newark to Shanghai (Continental), Detroit to Shanghai (Northwest), and Philadelphia to Beijing (US Airways).

Domestic on time arrivals in the United States have hit an all-time low. According to a Department of Transportation (DOT) press release, the first 6 months of 2007 saw more than 1 out of every 4 flights delayed, the worst record in the 12 years statistics have been recorded by the DOT.

American Airlines reported only 57.9% of its flights on time among the major carriers, while Southwest had the most on time flights at 75.3%.

Later and L a t e r flight arrivals

U.S. based airlines had their lowest on time performance rating in nearly 3 years; just 68% of flights arrived on time during the month of May according to the Department of Transportation.

Virgin America: Ticket sales and schedules coming in weeks

The Department of Transportation (DOT) this afternoon gave thumbs up to Virgin America to begin selling tickets. This was considered the final hurdle for the airline. Now, with the airline staffed and ready for business, all that's missing are reservations. In a press release today, Virgin America says ticket sales will begin in the 'coming weeks' with first flight in August.

'Bumping' compensation rules by Airlines being reviewed

Getting "bumped" off a plane usually really pisses people off, or it makes them quite happy. The later is likely a voluntary bump and the former an involuntary bump. You know when something is involuntary is just can't be good; indeed the case here.

Scenario: Your flight is oversold by 10 seats. The gate agent asks for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for some denied boarding compensation (free air credit, ticket, upgrade etc) and put on a later flight. Lets say they can round up 9 good ol' folks to accept the voluntary bump- they walk away happy with some freebies in hand; that leaves the airline now 1 seat overbooked. The airline then initiates an involuntary bump; some lucky passenger will be pulled off the flight and accommodated on another flight - whether they like it or not. I've seen ordinary calm and pleasant passengers become hysterical in a matter of minutes once they've found out the ticket they have in hand is useless because of an involuntary bump.

It is here, the involuntary bump where the federal government steps in and monitors what's going on. Mandated reporting of INvoluntary bumps by the airline can show trends and whether the airline is just overbooking flight to frequently. The government also specifies mandatory compensation for INvoluntary bumps, whereas voluntary bumps are negotiated (in theory) between the passenger and gate agent.

INvoluntary bump compensation is being discussed by the Department of Transportation, specifically whether the compensation levels should be increased. The press release is here. Essentially 5 proposals, most to increase a displaced passengers compensation to a higher amount for being inconvenienced. DOT is accepting comment on the proposed changes.