Carry-on v. Checked Luggage and Incentives

Velocity is the key to making money for the airlines. An airplane on the ground does not make money. Turn the airplane around as quickly as possible to make the most amount of money. Yet, by charging for checked bags, airlines have taken away the incentive for checking bags. Thus, many travelers use a carry-on bag, slowing boarding, slowing velocity.

Spirit Airlines now charges for carry-on bags. The charge though, is less than for a checked bag. Passengers on Spirit, then, still do not have an incentive to put up with the inconvenience of checking their bags, walking to baggage claim, waiting, and hoping their bag is not lost.

American Airlines is experimenting with letting passengers without carry-on luggage to board the airplane before those who do. Not having to stand in the aisle as people in front of you try to put their carry-ons in the overhead bins is not much of a benefit, but it is a start.

Reference

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/04/american-airlines

China Eastern airliner orders

News media outlets have widely reported China Eastern canceled an order for twenty-four 787s, in favor of purchasing forty-five 737s. Not as widely reported is the airline also ordered fifteen A330s from Airbus. I interpret these actions as dissatisfaction with the delivery delays of Boeing’s Dreamliner and a tactical adjustment on route structure. Hopefully it is not indicative of dissatisfaction with the Dreamliner itself.

Penny-wise and pound-foolish - Congress and the FAA reauthorization bill

I am pleased Congress reached agreement on the debt limit. I understand it took priority over all other legislative matters for the past few weeks. I also understand there are philosophical reasons to debate the budget for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). I do not understand why Congress would take a recess before addressing the FAA reauthorization. A temporary extension until Congress reconvenes seemed a reasonable compromise. Instead, the government cannot collect federal airport taxes, the FAA furloughed 4000 employees, and many airport construction projects are on hold. Has anyone noticed the economy is weak and tax revenues are down? President Obama correctly characterized the situation as "another Washington-inflicted wound on America."

United, but Different Origins

A common flaw of company mergers is the failure to recognize the contributions from the past - the positive heritages the different companies have brought to the new corporation. Yes, the new must have its own identity to which all stakeholders can unite, but this should not come at the expense of recognizing what had been accomplished previously. Boeing, for example, following the acquisition of parts of Rockwell and merger with McDonnell Douglas had new organizations called Boeing North American, Douglas Aircraft, and Phantom Works. Each recognized the contribution of a component that had been merged into the new Boeing. Even employees associated with the Seattle jet maker were proud to have the connection with the series of incredible DC series of airliners. The corporation though did not tolerate such diversity long, and the Douglas name quickly disappeared, followed by North American, and almost Phantom Works.

Now the Proud Bird with the Golden Tail is Flying the Friendly Skies. A new United is coming into existence. There appears to be a recognition that both airlines have heritages to be recalled. United is planning to paint a Boeing 757 in a retro-United paint scheme. I hope they will paint one in a Continental scheme, too.

You have the opportunity to help decide which retro-United paint scheme the airline will use. Go to http://bit.ly/fxDndT and vote. I favor the DC-4 scheme even though the Mainliner scheme is what I most closely associate with the airline. Vote and let your voice be heard.

Kudos, too, American and US Airways, both of which have retro-painted airliners. Among transportation companies, though, no company has acknowledged its heritages as has Union Pacific, which has a small fleet of locomotives in heritage paint schemes.