Welcome to the January 2008 Issue of Travology Today

Travel delays remain a problem for business travelers and a recent Directravel survey has found that more than 80% feel airlines should provide a sliding scale refund if flights are late.

When asked about their tolerance for the length of delays, the survey found that 83% of respondents felt that a delay of up to 30 minutes was acceptable, while 45% were upset by and 46% felt that delays of over 1 hour were completely unacceptable.

“Better practices for reducing delays must be implemented sooner rather than later,” said Directravel’s Chairman and CEO, Vincent Vitti. “This survey shows there is some tolerance from travelers of the delay situation but that does not mean the solutions offered to date have been by any means successful.”

“We recognize that flight delays cause our clients time and productivity losses, in addition to increases in actual hard dollar expenses,” said Patrick Fragale, president of Directravel. “Our goal has always been to help manage bottom line expenses and adapt our services so that our clients get the most from their travel program.”

In addition, it was found that:

• While 46% of those surveyed would be willing to pay a little more if the airline arrived on time, more than half felt that they were already paying for a service that should be delivered as scheduled.
• Sixty-two percent of those surveyed would be willing to travel to a regional airport if they were assured they could avoid delays
• Eighty-four percent would be willing to depart between 10am and 2pm if they could be assured this would avoid delays.
• Twenty-eight percent felt that their flights were delayed 50% or more of the time.
• More than half of respondents, 64%, did not feel delays were limited to a particular carrier

Of the comments submitted by respondents, many felt that delays based on weather or for safety-related issues were more easily tolerated, while honesty from airline employees went a long way in reducing the negative impact caused by a delay.

Complete survey results are available upon request. Please e-mail surveys@dt.com

The U.S. Department of Transportation released its target figures for the number of daily flights that can safely be handled at New York’s JFK airport in advance of this week’s schedule reduction meeting between the FAA and airlines, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters.

These initial targets are required by statute to begin the scheduling reduction meeting and to determine the flight reductions required to reduce congestion at JFK. The meeting will be held Oct. 23-24 in Washington.

“Our strong preference is to develop market-based solutions that will address delays and preserve passenger choice,” Secretary Peters said. “But we will consider scheduling reductions as a last resort in order to prevent a repeat of this summer’s nightmare delays.”

Secretary Peters said that from 6 a.m. to 9:59 p.m. local time daily, the target for the number of flights per hour is 80, except for 3 p.m. to 7:59 p.m., when the target will be 81 flights. To efficiently space flights throughout an entire hour, the Department also set a 30-minute maximum of total flights at 44 and the 15-minute maximum at 24 flights.

In addition, to evenly spread demand for both arrivals and departures and to make the best use of the airport’s runway configuration, the number of arrivals or departures may not exceed 53 in any one hour period, 29 in any 30-minute period or 16 in any 15-minute period, Secretary Peters said.

To set the targets, the FAA reviewed hourly arrivals and departures from July 2005 through July 2007. The review determined an increase in capacity, from 74 operations per hour between July 2005 and June 2006 to 81 from February through July 2007. However, during the same period, airlines increased their operations at JFK by more than 40 percent, causing on-time arrival performance at the airport to slip to 59 percent in July 2007, she said.

The scheduling meeting is part of a multi-pronged approach to address chronic New York delays, Secretary Peters said. She has also charged a group of airline, airport and travel officials with developing a series of market-based measures to reduce congestion at New York’s three major airports before the start of the 2008 summer travel season.

For more information, click here.

In anticipation of land border travel document requirements, US citizens may begin applying in advance for the new US Passport Card beginning February 1, 2008.

The passport card will facilitate entry and expedite document processing at U.S. land and sea ports-of-entry when arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The card may not be used to travel by air. It will otherwise carry the rights and privileges of the U.S. passport book and will be adjudicated to the exact same standards.

The Department of State is issuing this passport card in response to the needs of border resident communities for a less expensive and more portable alternative to the traditional passport book. The card will have the same validity period as a passport book: 10 years for an adult, five for children 15 and younger. For adults who already have a passport book, they may apply for the card as a passport renewal and pay only $20. First-time applicants will pay $45 for adult cards and $35 for children.

To facilitate the frequent travel of U.S. citizens living in border communities and to meet DHS’s operational needs at land borders, the passport card will contain a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. This chip will link the card to a stored record in secure government databases. There will be no personal information written to the RFID chip itself.

For more information, click here.

The nation’s largest airlines recorded lower rates of flight delays, cancellations and mishandled bags this past November than during both the same month last year and in October 2007, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released this month by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to information filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the 20 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 80.0 percent in November, better than both November 2006’s 76.5 percent and October 2007’s 78.2 percent.

The report also shows that these carriers canceled 1.0 percent of their scheduled flights in November, down from both November 2006’s cancellation rate of 1.6 and October 2007’s 1.2 percent.

In addition, the U.S. carriers reporting flight delay and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 4.89 reports per 1,000 passengers in November, lower than both the 6.32 rate of November 2006 and the 5.36 rate for October 2007.

The carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 6.77 percent of their November flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 7.54 percent in October; 6.07 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.62 percent in October; 5.39 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 5.63 percent in October; 0.51 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.64 percent in October; and 0.04 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.05 percent in October. Weather is a factor in both the extreme-weather category and the aviation-system category. This includes delays due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration in consultation with the carriers involved. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed to late-arriving aircraft, although airlines do not report specific causes in that category.

Data collected by BTS also shows the percentage of late flights delayed by weather, including those reported in either the category of extreme weather or included in National Aviation System delays. In November, 37.82 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, down 7.12 percent from November 2006, when 40.72 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and down 5.05 percent from October when 39.83 percent of late flights were delayed by weather.

Detailed information on flight delays and their causes is available on the BTS site on the World Wide Web at http://www.bts.gov.

The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on the Department of Transportation’s website at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov.

As of January 1, passengers are no longer able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage, after new federal safety rules take effect. The new regulation, designed to reduce the risk of lithium battery fires, will continue to allow lithium batteries in checked baggage if they are installed in electronic devices, or in carry-on baggage if properly protected from short circuiting in their original packaging or by placing them in individual plastic bags or a protective travel case.

Common consumer electronics such as digital cameras, cell phones, and most notebook computers are still allowed in carry-on and checked luggage. Moreover, any number of spare batteries for these devices will be allowed in carry-on baggage if they are properly protected from short circuiting and do not exceed 8 grams (~100 watt hours) of equivalent lithium content. Most lithium-ion cell phone and standard notebook computer batteries are below 8 grams (~100 watt hours) of equivalent lithium content. Batteries not installed in electronic devices are not permitted in checked baggage.

The rule limits passengers to not more than two large spare rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in carry-on baggage. This applies to batteries that exceed 8 grams (~100 watt hours) of equivalent lithium content and less than 25 grams (~300 watt hours). Batteries with more than 25 grams (~300 watt hours) are not allowed in either checked or carry-on baggage.

“Doing something as simple as keeping a spare battery in its original retail packaging or a plastic zip-lock bag will prevent unintentional short-circuiting and fires,” said Krista Edwards, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Lithium batteries are considered hazardous materials because they can overheat and ignite under certain conditions. Safety testing conducted by the FAA found that current aircraft cargo fire suppression system would not be capable of suppressing a fire if a shipment of non-rechargeable lithium batteries were ignited in flight. This rule aims to reduce the risk of fires involving lithium batteries in the cabin of passenger aircraft.

Useful safety tips are highlighted at the Department of Transportation’s public website: http://safetravel.dot.gov/.

The Commercial Aviation Safety Team is expanding its outreach efforts by launching a new website to spread information about efforts to make commercial air travel safer.

The new site, www.CAST-safety.org, is geared toward the international aviation community, interested media, government agencies, and the general public. The website details CAST safety enhancements, procedures, and the global strategy that has resulted in the CAST track record of increasing safety and reducing commercial aviation accidents.

Formed in 1998, CAST is a voluntary partnership consisting of all commercial aviation stakeholders — government agencies, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, additional aviation industry members, employee representatives, and others. The CAST mission is to increase air travel safety using an integrated, data-driven approach based on analyzing accident causes, identifying ways to make positive changes and implementing improvements.

When the group formed, its goal was to reduce the fatal accident rate by 80 percent over 10 years. By this year, CAST was able to report that by implementing the most promising safety enhancements, the fatality risk of commercial air travel in the United States was reduced by 83 percent.

For more information, click here.

American Airlines… has been named Best International Airline for 2007 by readers of Travel Weekly in its annual Readers Choice Awards competition…British Airways is planning to launch its new US-EU subsidiary airline "OpenSkies" with daily flights from New York to Brussels and Paris. The airline will launch in June 2008 with one Boeing 757 aircraft that will operate from New York to either Brussels or Paris Charles de Gaulle airports…Boeing and Continental Airlines today celebrated the delivery of the airline's first Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range) airplane. With this delivery, Continental becomes the first airline in the Americas to operate the 737-900ER, a higher-capacity, longer-range derivative and newest member of the Next-Generation 737 airplane family… She may not wear that famous designer red dress worn by Delta Air Lines flight attendants, but master sommelier, TV host and author Andrea Robinson is adding her own stylish touch to travel with a sophisticated wine program boarding in February and a new in-flight program revealing little-known travel tips from regarded foodies, called “Local Flavor.”… Northwest Airlines announced that it has successfully completed the renewal audit of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and has been entered into the IOSA Registry. IOSA is an internationally recognized evaluation system and the industry benchmark for airline global safety management.

in November '07 increased to 80.0%, up 6.2 points vs. the running 12 month average of 73.8% and up 1.8 points from October’s 78.2%. To view the USDOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics' (BTS) Air Travel Consumer Report, click here.

The United States Government has posted recent travel advisories and warnings for Algeria, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’lvoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor, Eritrea, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Yemen