Mexican Airlines Suspends Ticket Sales

Mexicana Airlines, which last week disclosed serious financial problems and this week filed for creditor protection in Mexico has now suspended ticket sales. According to CNN, the company confirmed ticket sales stopped Wednesday afternoon. Although the website was operational Wednesday evening, tickets were not able to be purchased on the Mexicana website. Up to this point, Mexicana Airlines was one of the leading airlines operating flights from the Bay Area to Mexico. Passengers holding confirmed reservations on Mexicana may wish to contact the airline or its partner American Airlines, for possible reaccommodation.

Airline Talk: Operational Upgrades

By Mike Grasso

In most cases upgrading from one cabin (such as economy) to another (such as business) requires an upgrade instrument. This may be in the form of miles, cash, a combination of both, or automatically as a perk of an airlines' loyalty program. Each of these options are generally cheaper ways that outright purchasing a ticket in the higher class of service. In addition to these, there is another method - called an operational upgrade, which takes place behind the scenes. That is to say, your miles, money, and elite status are less important (at least directly) than the immediate operational needs of the airline.

A typical operational upgrade happens when the flight is oversold in economy. With inventory left in business/first, the airline can "bump" select passengers from economy to the front of the plane - a free upgrade. More often than not, this is handled at the gate just prior to boarding, once agents have a handle on how many ticketed passengers will actually show up for the flight. It is true that customer loyalty goes a long way on these types of upgrades, and therefore holding elite status may put you at the top of that "list." But in other situations, the "op-up" as it is called, happens when its least expected. A friend of mine was trying to negotiate a better economy class seat with the gate agent, when suddenly by surprise the agent presented him with a first class boarding pass. Why? The agent needed his original seat because a family of 3 (including 2 children) were going to be separated on different parts of the plane. Little did he know at the time how much easier he had just made that gate agents job. In another case, a few years ago I misconnected on a Northwest Airlines flight due to a mechanical issue; the gate agent rebooked me into first class because no economy seats were available onto my connecting flight. In each of these examples, the needs of the airline (and the need to quickly board the plane for an on time departure) meant operationally, the complimentary upgrades made good business sense.

In summary, operational upgrades are a necessary part of the airline business. The are however, rare. If you are an elite traveler, and/or find yourself in irregular operations, such as an oversell or a last minute plane change (to a larger plane), an op-up may be in your future.

Hurricane Rick - 2pm Advisory

From the National Hurricane Center
2pm PDT Sunday, October 18, 2009

--Position: 450 miles South of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
--Movement: WNW 14 MPH
--Maximum sustained winds: 160 MPH (Category 5 Hurricane)

A general decrease in intensity is forecast over the next 48 hours, however Rick expected to make landfall as a dangerous Hurricane later this week.

United Airlines and American Airlines travel waiver for customers flying through Los Cabos

Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst: Smart Packing for Airline Travel

By Mike Grasso

We've all heard the dreaded stories of planes stuck on the runway for hours at a time, passengers suffering in the cabin lacking some of the basic essentials such as food and water and the pilot refusing to allow people to de-plane. Thankfully, these are rare cases. But there are steps you can take in advance should you find yourself in a similar situation. Many of these suggestions are common sense, and put the bulk of health & safety responsibility back onto you - the passenger. If we have learned anything from these extreme situations, it's that nobody can best take care of you better than YOU.

Bottled Water: You can purchase a bottle post-security, or simply bring an empty bottle through security and refill it at a water fountain before boarding your flight.

Snacks: Energy bars, a cup of trail mix or nuts, or even a sandwich are all great munchies to have handy.

Vitamins/Supplements/Meds: Ensure you have taken your proper dosing before catching your flight, and bring extra in your carry-on bag.

Sanitizing wipes: Bring disposable wipes and wipe down the arm rests, head sets, tray tables, and anywhere else your skin makes contact with the plane. Remember, just because it doesn't appear dirty - doesn't mean bacteria aren't present.

Toiletries: Keep a small toiletry bag with your carry on. Anyone who has ever had their luggage lost by the airline has learned to keep essentials such as a toothbrush and deodorant nearby. The TSA 3-1-1 rule currently allows you to carry personal-care products in 3-ounce containers which are to be placed in a 1-quart resalable bag, 1 bag per person.

Seating and Stretching: The middle seat is bad enough, but if you find yourself stuck for hours on a runway, the middle seat will feel like misery. So, get your seat assignment far in advance, to avoid the middle. Regardless where you sit, be sure to stand, stretch and walk around from time to time.

Entertainment: OK so you've packed everything to ensure "survival", now pack a couple items to ensure you actually have a bit of enjoyment, in an otherwise unbearable situation. Magazines, books, portable gaming devices (think, for the kids), or a deck of cards (nearby passengers would probably love to join in too!) are all fine choices. Ensure portable electronic devices, such as mini DVD players and laptops, are charged-up in advance, to allow for maximum enjoyment.

inFLIGHTout Travel Tip: Program Airline Phone Numbers

Be sure to program your cell phone the phone numbers of airlines you frequently fly.

In the event your flight has a last minute cancellation or significant delay, you can immediately call the airline for rebooking on alternate flights. Use this method while concurrently waiting to speak with an airport gate agent. If several people are impacted by the cancellation or delay, your wait to speak with a gate agent may be quite long.

Atlantic Southeast Temporarily Grounds 40% of Fleet

Atlantic Southeast Airlines, more commonly known as Delta Connection, has grounded 60 planes - nearly 40% of its fleet, due to engine safety inspections. The 50-seat CRJ200 jets were pulled from operations after an audit revealed concerns about whether or not engines were inspected to manufacturer guidelines. The Atlanta-based airline reportedly has cancelled several flights through Friday due to the precautionary inspections. 

inFLIGHTout Travel Tip: Know Alternative Flight Options

You trot on down to the airport two hours before departure, check-in, dance your way through security, and gracefully arrive at the gate in preparation for boarding. Just then you realize the flight has been cancelled. Gut reaction for you and the gate agent is to rebook everyone on the next available flight. What if it's the last flight out? What if later flights are booked to capacity? What do you do if there are 200 people from your flight already in line waiting to get rebooked on another carrier? Here is a solution that has worked for me quite well in the past:

Know alternative flight options. It's an exercise I perform each time I arrive at the airport. If I'm flying from say Chicago to San Francisco, a quick glance at the Departures board shows my flight is running 30 minutes late. Elsewhere on the board, I see a flight to Oakland on-time, leaving 10 minutes later than mine. This cues me in to a potential alternative should my original flight go severely delayed or cancelled. So if the San Francisco flight gets pulled, most passengers will be scrambling for the next flights to SFO leaving the next day, while a few wiser folks opt for Oakland and likely fly out that same evening. Know your alternatives!

What to Do When the Airline Changes Your Reservation

By Mike Grasso

Reader question: United called to notify me of a schedule change for a trip this Summer. It's not a significant change, but requires me to catch an earlier flight. Can they do this?

Yes they can. But you don't always have to accept their specific change.

It sounds like you planned ahead and booked a Summer trip well in advance. Good for you! Hopefully you managed to get a convenient flight at a good price.

Unfortunately, a downside to booking far in advance is the reservation can be changed, sometimes more than once, by the airline.

Here's why: Based on historical data, airlines generally set flight schedules up well in advance. But sometimes unexpected events occur - much like in our personal lives, that cause us to drift away from a set schedule. For the airlines, that was the high cost of fuel, a downturn in the economy, and utilizing much of their remaining cash reserves to stay in business. In response to these events, airlines quickly trimmed capacity throughout the United States, selectively eliminating certain flights, and flying to fewer destinations. This practice is still going on into 2009 as airlines struggle to turn a profit.

One outcome of airline cutbacks is customers holding future reservations, such as yourself, are being consolidated onto other flights. Where an airline may have previously operated six daily flights between San Francisco and Las Vegas, then decide to cut one of those flights, everyone on that cut flight to be rebooked on one of the five remaining.

Routes that have high frequency, such as San Francisco to Los Angeles, mean your departure time may change by only an hour. But if you are flying San Francisco to Ontario, where only a few flights per day operate on this route, a reduction in one flight means a schedule change to your itinerary could become quite inconvenient for you. On the plus side, airlines are pretty good about notifying affected passengers at least several weeks in advance.

What to do when your flight is eliminated and/or the schedule is changed:

More often than not, the airline will rebook you on a new flight. If you are inconvenienced by the new itinerary call the airline and negotiate something that works for you. If they rebook you on an earlier flight but the later one is more convenient, ask for it. Depending on how significant the schedule change is, you can ask for a different routing (ie: connecting through different cities), travel on a different day, or a complete refund. A rule of thumb is any schedule change more than 90 minutes from your original reservation and the airlines are willing to consider any creative changes you propose. Is it a guarantee they will make the change? No. If you have elite status will it help? Yes. Will it depend on which airline agent you speak with? Maybe.

It all starts with you. If you come across a schedule change you are not particularly fond of, draft up some proposals of how you think the airline can make it right. Then give them a call, politely explaining how the schedule change negatively impacts you, and discuss some alternatives you have come up with.

N.Y. Jet Crash Called 'Miracle on the Hudson'

Officials say all of the 155 passengers and crew members are safe
(From MSNBC)
NEW YORK - With both engines out, a cool-headed pilot maneuvered his crowded jetliner over New York City and ditched it in the frigid Hudson River on Thursday, and all 155 on board were pulled to safety as the plane slowly sank. It was, the governor said, "a miracle on the Hudson." One victim suffered two broken legs, a paramedic said, but there were no other reports of serious injuries. Read the full story.

inFLIGHTout Travel Tip: Program Airline Phone Numbers

What's worse than showing up at the airport and finding out your flight has been cancelled? Realizing you will be competing with up to 200 other people from your flight trying to get rebooked as well. Everyone has a story: "We're on our honeymoon," "I have a business meeting to attend," "I have elite status," and the list goes on. At the customer service center in the airport, everyone lines up in proper form, hoping for the best - expecting the worst, to find out whether they will even fly out today.

The key here is to have your situation looked at before the others. Call it selfish, if you must. But there are a limited number of seats and trying accommodate a full plane of customers from a cancelled flight onto later flights can be a challenge. Here is what you can do to improve your chances of of a desirable outcome:

Program airline phone numbers in your mobile phone. (Go ahead and do this now, I'll wait). This way while you are standing in line at the customer service/rebooking center, you can concurrently call the airline. By the time you hang up the phone, many of your fellow passengers may still be in line awaiting their fate.

Sun Country Declares Bankruptcy, Plans To Continue Flights

In a press release today, Sun Country airlines, facing a significant cash shortage, announced it has filed for bankruptcy. Petters Aviation, which owns all of Sun Country's voting shares, also filed.

"We were forced to take this action as a result of recent events at Petters Group Worldwide," Sun Country CEO Stan Gadek said in a prepared statement.

The airline plans to continue operating a regular flight schedule, but last week warned employees of significant layoffs or a complete shutdown by December 1st if the cash problems were not resolved.

Sun Country currently offers flights between San Francisco (SFO) and Minneapolis.

inFLIGHTout Travel Tip: Airline Phone Numbers

Be sure to program the phone numbers of airlines you frequently fly. In the event your flight has a last minute cancellation or significant delay, you can immediately call the airline from your cell phone for rebooking. Use this method while concurrently waiting to speak with an airport gate agent. If several people are impacted by the cancellation or delay, your wait to speak with a gate agent might be quite long.

Hurricane Ike Expected To Cause Travel Disruptions

Even if you are not planning travel through the projected path of Hurricane Ike, you may be in for travel delays the next few days.

The 10am CDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center brings Ike onshore, west of Houston somewhere between a category 2 and category 4 Hurricane. Strong winds, heavy rainfall and isolated tornadoes are expected. Ike has a particularly large wind field, and regardless the actual landfall, areas up to 275 miles from the eye of the Hurricane may experience sustained tropical storm force winds.

Several flights have already been cancelled. As a result, airlines are offering alternative arrangements for passengers flying in or through the risk areas. Even if you are not traveling through Ike's path, your particular plane might have been scheduled to earlier in the day, thereby resulting in your flight to be delayed or cancelled. It is highly recommended that you check the flight status of your departing flight before heading for the airport.

Major airline hubs in the affected area:
Houston - Continental Airlines
Dallas/FW - American Airlines

(Image courtesy of National Weather Service Fort Worth)

Zoom Airlines Grounds Flights, Files Bankruptcy

Canadian-based Zoom Airlines failed to receive additional funding from creditors Thursday, causing the airline to suspend operations and enter into Bankruptcy. Yet another victim to the high cost of fuel.

In a press statement today, co-founders of Zoom stated, "We deeply regret the fact that we have been forced to cease all Zoom operations. It is a tragic day for our passengers and more than 600 staff."

The discount carrier operated intra-Canada flights, and internationally between Canada and the U.K, Paris and Rome. Additional service was provided to/from New York, San Diego, Fort Lauderdale and Bermuda.

On the Zoom website, customers holding confirmed reservations are given direction on how to apply for a refund, and an option to receive a discounted price for re-booking with select carriers.

Engine Trouble Forces Jet Back to SFO

On Friday night, an engine on United flight #158, bound for Chicago, stalled in-flight forcing the plane to operate on the one remaining engine. Shortly thereafter, the pilot turned the plane around and landed about 30 minutes after takeoff. Reports from passengers stated smoke had entered the cabin while in the air. A United press release however asserts the smoke occurred only after the plane safely returned to the gate and engine turned off. No injuries were reported.

Death Toll Rises in Madrid Plane Crash

Two dozen survivors pulled from wreckage

An airliner departing Madrid's Barajas International airport caught fire Wednesday and reportedly crashed after a take-off attempt.

The Spanair flight carrying 172 passengers and crew was en route to Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands - a popular vacation destination.

Latest government numbers report 90 fatalities, but CNN+ is reporting nearly 150 deaths. "It is certain catastrophe," one emergency official said.

Madrid newspaper El Mundo stated the aircraft broke into two as it crashed off the runway. Another report stated the accident occurred after a second attempt at take-off.

Spanair is Spain's second largest commercial airliner.

(Photo from Sky News)

ExpressJet Cutting Operations, Big Impact on Sacramento Airport

(Sacramento Business Journal)
ExpressJet will stop flying under its own brand name effective September 2. The company will discontinue its 13 daily departures from Sacramento International Airport, including flights between Sacramento and Bakersfield; Santa Barbara; Tucson, Ariz.; Tulsa, Okla.; San Antonio; Oklahoma City; Spokane, Wash.; Colorado Springs, Colo. and Albuquerque, N.M. Those flights will end Sept. 1 under the plan the company announced Tuesday.

The 39 aircraft currently used in ExpressJet operations will be among those returned to the lessor no later than June 2009.

On July 7, Delta Air Lines Inc. announced it was ending its Delta Connections partnership with ExpressJet.

ExpressJet, a subsidiary of Houston-based ExpressJet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: XJT), said it would stop flying Delta Connection routes, primarily out of Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, beginning Sept. 1. ExpressJet said it will continue to operate flights as Continental Express under a deal with Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL).

ExpressJet will continue flying a fleet of 205 aircraft as Continental Express to more than 150 destinations, as well as continue to serve charter customers with a fleet of 30 aircraft through ExpressJet Corporate Aviation.

"If we had any other choice, we would not take this difficult action," ExpressJet chief executive officer Jim Ream said. "However, rising fuel prices has made the operation impossible to sustain."

Tickets to ExpressJet flights before Sept. 2 are not affected, the airline said. The carrier will continue to sell tickets for those flights.

American Airlines Plane Departing SFO Makes Emergency Landing

An American Airlines jet made a safe emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday after the pilot reported smoke and the smell of fuel in the cockpit, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

American Flight 442 was en route from San Francisco to Miami when the pilot declared an emergency, diverted to Los Angeles and landed shortly after 2 p.m., said FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. There was no fire on the plane, which carried 180 passengers, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman d'Lisa Davies. Read more from CBS5

Eos Airlines Files Chapter 11, To Cease Operations Today

New York-based Eos Airlines announced Saturday they have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will cease operations by Sunday afternoon. Established in 2004, Eos is known for their all business class flights, operating daily departures from JFK to Europe. They had announced plans to expand their routes, including flights from Los Angeles.

Jack Williams, Eos' CEO said they were unable to secure additional financing to keep the airline and its unique business model flying. In a press release, Williams added, “there are times in business when even though you execute your business plan and even though your employees do their jobs beautifully, external forces prevent you from controlling your own destiny."

Southwest Grounds 38 Boeing 737's for Review

The Airline is reporting irregular operations and grounded aircraft after a review of maintenance records led it to question whether required testing had been done on some of the Boeing 737 aircraft. As of Wednesday afternoon, Southwest reported 4% of scheduled flights had been cancelled Nationwide, including from Oakland Airport.
More from the NY Times