BUMMER: DELTA & SINGAPORE AIR BREAK UP. Delta and Singapore Air have “mutually agreed to terminate” their frequent flyer program partnership effective May 15, 2010. After that date, SkyMiles members will no longer be able to earn or redeem SkyMiles for Singapore Air flights. Too bad, because this was one of the classiest redemption options available to SkyMiles high rollers. It feels much like the loss of the ability to use SkyMiles for Virgin Atlantic flights back in 2005. TIP: You must book your Singapore award flight by May 15, but you have until May 14, 2011 to take your trip.
DHS/TSA SUBPOENA TRAVEL BLOGGERS? Yep. In an Orwellian turn of events, the Department of Homeland Security has subpoenaed the computers of travel blogger Christopher Elliott. Elliott was the first to post the DHS security directive issued on Christmas Day after the so-called “crotch bomber” attempted to blow up Delta/Northwest flight 253 over Detroit. (We’ve also learned that DHS has seized the computer of another travel blogger in Connecticut over the same matter.) Hmm. 
Our take? DHS is making a major PR blunder here and should be more focused about how the bomb got on the plane instead of going after bloggers who were simply trying to help travelers during a time that the TSA was silent and caught off guard. Should be interesting to watch this story unfold! UPDATE: TSA RESCINDS SUBPOENAS JAN 31
WHY DO THEY KEEP CALLING IT “NORTHWEST FLT 253″ WHEN IT IS A DELTA PLANE? We’ve all seen the image of the Delta Airbus A330 on the tarmac at Detroit. But the media keep referring to it as “Northwest flight 253? Why? Here’s what Delta told The TICKET: “The issue with the reference to NWA for flight 253 is that it is operated under the Northwest Airlines operating certificate, therefore it is technically and legally a NWA flight. The liveries [paint] on over 50% of the NW aircraft have changed to the Delta livery, however still fly under the Northwest operating certificate. Once we have our fleet inventory cutover complete in 1st quarter of 2010, all flights that were once NWA flights will be Delta flights.”
SO LONG DC-9s. One of the scariest things about Delta’s merger with Northwest is that it inherited a fleet of nearly 60 ancient Northwest DC-9s, (average age, according to Delta’s own web site it 36.2 years!) At a recent investors conference, Delta president Ed Bastian that that Delta would start phasing out those creaky old DC-9’s over the next year. (Delta retired its original fleet of DC-9’s back in 1993.)
DELTA WI-FI UPDATE: According to the latest from Delta, it’s got Wi-Fi on 325 planes now: ALL MD88 and MD90 aircraft. It’s on 116 of 180 B-757’s. And you can log-on on 66 of its 80 B737’s. It’s still a toss up on all other aircraft.
PAY UP OR LOSE MILES. Starting this month, if you pay your Delta SkyMiles credit card late, you will forfeit your bonus SkyMiles and must pay a $29 fee to recover them. (American Express has long applied this rule to its standard issue cards earning Membership Rewards points, and is now applying it to its co-brand cards.)
UNITED ORDERS NEW PLANES. While they won’t be touching down at an airport near you until at least 2016, United recently announced that it’s placed orders for 50 new wide-body aircraft. It split the order 50/50 between the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” and the Airbus A350. Both are about the size of current Boeing 767 or 777 aircraft and will eventually replace them.
Don’t Forget! BOOK ALL YOUR ONLINE TRAVEL VIA LINKS FROM THE TICKET!
airtran.com | delta.com | Hotwire
NOT SO DREAMY. We’ve got an issue with the whole “Dreamliner” name… and get irritated when we see reporters get all wistful and dreamy-eyed thinking that everyone’s going to get a massage and a flat bed for sleeping (and dreaming) on every flight. Sorry folks—the plane is a dream to the airline, because it purportedly uses about 20% less fuel. But it’s not so dreamy for passengers sitting in coach– it’s just another twin-aisle, wide-body plane…okay, with bigger windows, but still….
BEST ON TIME PERFORMANCE IN THREE YEARS. Yep, it’s true. Flightstats.com reports that US airlines achieved their best on-time performance in three years in November delivering just over 87% of their flights to the gate within 15 minutes of schedule. This compares with 77.4% in October and 85.53% in September and 82.1% in November ’08.According to the DOT, United was on time 91% of the time this past November, its best performance since the government starting tracking it in 1987. How did this happen? It’s all about the money according to gadling.com. Since last winter, United has offered all employees a $100 bonus each month the airline tops the DOT on-time ranking. They get $65 for second place.
FLOWN LOW COST LATELY? Did you know that just 10 years ago, 90% of all air travel in the U.S. was on so-called “legacy carriers” like United, Continental, Delta, etc. Only 10% was on low cost carriers such as Southwest, AirTran or JetBlue. Well, what a difference a decade makes. Legacy dominance has declined to just 74% of the market this year…low-cost carriers have 26% of the market and low-cost giant Southwest owns 64% of that market.
Travel to Italy twice a month, every month. Security hasn’t really changed that much – no changes on the outbound from the US. From Milan back to the US they now do an additional check at the gate while boarding. At the end of the jetway near the plane door are several security people who search each carry on bag and pat down each flyer. Slowed the boarding process a little but otherwise no impact.
Speaking of the misnomer for “Dreamliner,” I remember the first time I heard an Eastern Airlines “Whisperjet.” Hardly. It was a little quieter than a DC-8 or B-707, but that’s only because it had three LOUD Pratt & Whitney engines – not four.
Sent to my by TICKET reader A Selden: Chris–For future reference, in relation to AirTran’s hub at MKE, note that there is free shuttle service at MKE to the Amtrak station AT the Milwaukee airport (located at the northwest corner of the perimeter fence; the tracks Amtrak uses there run N-S along the west fence, directly under the approach for the main E-W runway). The timetable for this is linked below, or you can get it at http://www.amtrak.com under “Hiawatha Service.” The Amtrak code for this stop is MKA. (They already used “MKE” for the downtown Milwaukee station.) This station offers service to Chicago, including a north suburban stop at Glenview, several times a day.