Welcome to the May 2010 Issue of Travology Today

I’d like to take this opportunity to share some very exciting news. We are pleased to announce the availability of the new Flight Tracker program and invite all our travelers to take advantage of the many conveniences this web-based monitoring system offers.

With one simple registration, travelers will be provided with updates of all flights booked through Directravel, regardless of the carrier, including real-time information on possible delays, cancellations, gate changes and re-accommodations.

These notifications occur prior to departure and while traveling and can be received as either e-mails or text messages.

The Flight Tracker system is available free of charge to our clients, but you must opt-in to the program. Please contact your National Account Manager to set this up.

I strongly encourage you to take advantage of the many benefits of this value-added tracking service, which will help make travel more efficient, productive and less stressful.

Best regards,

Pat Fragale
President

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded three separate Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) contracts totaling up to $4.4 billion over 10 years. Under the contracts, the companies will perform work that will demonstrate NextGen procedures in real time on a large scale within the current air traffic system.

“NextGen is an economic opportunity that will challenge innovative companies to expand their workforce and help us modernize our National Airspace System,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Under NextGen, air travelers will be able to fly to their destinations safer and faster.”

Boeing, General Dynamics and ITT were awarded the contracts worth up to $4.4 billion. The three contracts, like one for $280 million awarded last month to CSSI, Inc., are part of System Engineering 2020 (SE2020). Two more contracts are expected under SE2020, which has a ceiling of $7 billion, making it the largest set of awards in FAA history. Boeing, General Dynamics and ITT will conduct large-scale demonstrations, including the use of aircraft as flying laboratories, to see how NextGen concepts, procedures and technologies can be integrated into the current system.

“NextGen is an intricate network of systems that involves everything from air traffic control to weather,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “We need to have the right tools to make sure we integrate all these different components safely and smoothly.”

The FAA will work with these companies to develop and demonstrate new procedures in four dimensions, adding the element of time to the current three-dimensional profile of an aircraft’s latitude, longitude and altitude. Introducing time to this profile means that under NextGen, pilots and controllers will know not only where an aircraft is with greater precision but when the aircraft is supposed to be there. Unlike the current system of “roads in the sky,” 4-D operations will allow aircraft to fly from Point A to Point B more directly, while taking into consideration factors such as heavy traffic and bad weather.

Other work to be performed by Boeing, General Dynamics and ITT includes the development and rollout of modernized weather services. NextGen weather imaging will allow pilots and controllers to see bad weather stratified by different altitudes, giving them a more detailed and accurate picture of severe weather conditions. The improved information also means that pilots and controllers won’t have to interpret weather information, allowing them to plan safer routes.

For more information, click here.

Despite the rapid proliferation of wireless Internet access on domestic aircraft, most companies do not reimburse travelers who elect to log on in the air, according to a recent Business Travel News survey.

Of the 230 respondents who guide corporate travel policy within their organizations, only 34 percent said it's OK for travelers to use their corporate cards to access Wi-Fi on all flights, though an additional 7 percent said they would reimburse wireless Internet access costs, but only for intercontinental or long-haul flights. The remaining 59 percent majority said travelers are on their own when it comes to paying onboard Wi-Fi expenses, regardless of the length of haul.

Nearly all major U.S. carriers have at least started outfitting some or all of their domestic fleets with Wi-Fi access. Aircell has been the industry leader in supplying commercial airlines with wireless Internet capabilities and to date the inflight connectivity provider has installed Wi-Fi on more than 900 commercial airplanes. "Installations continue to occur almost on a daily basis," a spokesperson said.

Using Aircell's GoGo service, Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines are in the midst of a domestic fleetwide rollout, while AirTran Airways and Virgin America already have brought Wi-Fi onboard their entire fleets. Continental Airlines, US Airways and Air Canada have opted for Wi-Fi on select aircraft with Aircell.

For more information, click here.

The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) and The Wall Street Journal have launched the 2010 Business Traveler Innovation Awards aimed at honoring innovative ideas, products or services that make life on the road easier for business travelers. Following a public nomination and voting period, the awards will be presented at the 2010 NBTA International Convention and Exposition in Houston, TX, August 8-11.

Craig Banikowski, CCTE, C.P.M, CMM, NBTA President & CEO, said, “We all know that business travel is necessary to conduct effective business, but life on the road can be stressful and tiresome. Those of us who travel frequently have long discovered the technologies and services that make our trips more practical and productive, and I continue to be amazed at the innovations that help me to save time and money or provide peace of mind. I’m looking forward to see which of my favorites make the list.”

Following the submission deadline of May 7, The Wall Street Journal will run four half-page advertisements to direct readers to the NBTA website where submissions will be displayed and the public will be invited to vote for their favorites. The top submissions will be featured at the NBTA Convention in the Business Traveler Innovations Pavilion where celebrity judges will determine the winner.

Banikowski added, “NBTA is pleased to be working with The Wall Street Journal on this inaugural award, and I know the innovations revealed throughout the competition will be of interest to the millions of business travelers who read the paper. It’s the way of the corporate travel industry – to share new ideas and products that make our travel easier, lighter and more efficient.”

For more information, click here.

On May 25, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs unveils a new design of www.travel.state.gov that is easier to navigate and more user-friendly. Changes to the site were based on feedback received from over 32,000 people who participated in a customer satisfaction survey the Bureau of Consular Affairs has been conducting since May 14, 2009.

“People from all over the world visit travel.state.gov to find information about how to get a passport, apply for a visa to come to the United States, or for other consular services our bureau provides,” said Janice L. Jacobs, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, “It is the Department’s preeminent tool for reaching out to the American public about travel safety in other countries, and for them to let us know their travel plans so that our consular officers in Embassies and consulates around the world can serve them better.”

The site is particularly useful for people traveling or living abroad during times of crises because it serves as the official source of information for U.S. citizens during emergency situations abroad. For example, during the recent earthquake in Haiti, people visited travel.state.gov for information on how to report missing loved ones or check on their status and for guidance on the evacuation process.

Travel.state.gov received over 370 million visits last year and expects even more this year given the increasing number of people interested in travel.

The nation’s largest airlines had a rate of on-time flights this past March that was higher than the same month last year and the rate posted in February 2010, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today 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 18 carriers reporting on-time performance recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 80.0 percent in March, better than the 78.4 percent on-time rate of March 2009 and February 2010’s 74.6 percent.

The monthly report also includes data on lengthy tarmac delays, flight cancellations and the causes of flight delays by the reporting carriers, as well as information on airline bumping, reports of mishandled baggage filed with the carriers, and consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. This report also includes reports of incidents involving pets traveling by air, as required to be filed by U.S. carriers.

Tarmac Delays

In March, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that .005 percent of their scheduled flights had tarmac delays of three hours or more, down from .013 percent in February. There were four flights with tarmac delays of four hours or more in March.

Causes of Flight Delays

In March, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 6.03 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 6.88 percent in February; 6.44 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 6.66 percent in February; 5.24 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 5.30 percent in February; 0.54 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.62 percent in February; and 0.06 percent for security reasons, compared to 0.07 percent in February. 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 March, 40.68 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, down 10.55 percent from March 2009, when 45.48 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, and down 3.78 percent from February when 42.28 percent of late flights were delayed by weather.

Mishandled Baggage

The U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 3.72 reports per 1,000 passengers in March, an improvement over March 2009’s rate of 4.23 and February 2010’s 4.01 rate. For the first quarter of this year, the carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 4.10, down from the 4.39 rate for first quarter of 2009.

Consumers who want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline’s reservation number or their travel agent. This information is available on the computerized reservation systems used by these agents.

The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on DOT’s website at http://airconsumer.dot.gov.

American Airlines launched its first flight between Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport, one of the world's busiest airports…Continental Airlines fully reopened Terminal C at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport after completing extensive renovations and expansion to its ticketing lobby and check-in area, the security checkpoints, baggage claim and surrounding curbside areas…Delta Air Lines announced it is adding more flights between New York City and key global business markets this year, with nearly 30 cities slated for new or expanded service by fall. Expanded routes include: International - New York-JFK to London-Heathrow; Brussels; Shannon; Manchester; Amsterdam; Cairo; Istanbul; Milan; Moscow; Nice; and Athens, in addition to previously announced new service to Copenhagen and Stockholm and expanded capacity to Tel Aviv and Tokyo-Narita. Domestic/Canada - New York-LaGuardia to Nashville, St. Louis, Norfolk, Richmond and Kansas City; JFK to San Antonio, Cleveland, Montreal, Charlotte, Toronto, Baltimore and Richmond, in addition to the previously announced introduction of Delta Shuttle service between LaGuardia and Chicago-O'Hare… Emirates’ A380 superjumbo will make a much-anticipated return to New York on 31st October, the airline has announced. The aircraft's reinstatement on one of Emirates' double daily JFK routes comes as the carrier reported a significant increase in revenue for the Americas in 2009-10, representing a year-on-year rise of 8.1 percent. …US Airways began a daily, year-round nonstop service to Rome from Charlotte, N.C. on May 13th…

In March'10 increased to 80.0%, up 0.8 points vs. the running 12 month average of 79.2% and up 5.4 points from February’s 74.6%. 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 Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, Colombia, Cote d’lvoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Mexico, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, and Yemen.