Winging It

The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued a final rule requiring airlines to report more data about on-the-ground flight delays. This is an outgrowth of the long tarmac delays and strandings in the winter of 2006-2007. As it turns out, this last winter saw few similar, widely publicized delays, or if they happened the media didn't turn them into national news. The reports were down, probably, for at least two reasons: less severe winter weather and the airlines improved their performance in hopes of avoiding any more news stories. The new reporting requirements for airlines start in October. You can read details of the rule --- many of them -- on the DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics Web site at this link.

A slight decrease in travel, by both air and road, is expected this Memorial Day weekend and on into the summer. Read more in an Inquirer story this morning that looks at the predictions and what it may mean for the Philadelphia region's own efforts to attract visitors.

Change is a constant in life and so it is with what you are seeing at the top of this page today. Don't worry. What has for the last 16 months been the Philly Road Warrior blog has changed its name to Winging It, but the principal author is still the smiling guy whose face appears to the right. The Philly Road Warrior column that appears in the Monday Inquirer Business section in print and online will also be renamed Winging It. The change reflects the reality that this is primarily a space devoted to air travel.

In coming weeks, we also plan to switch to a different blog publishing platform, designed to make it easier for you to comment on what we post. Beyond that, the only other difference you're likely to notice is more comment and analysis on the news of the day, in both the blog and the column. We will still focus on news and information from around the world that is useful to the PHL flier. If you continue to visit here, we think you'll enjoy the ride. Or make that, enjoy the flight.

Sources tell the Assoicated Press that United and Continental are talking about some type of alliance, but short of a full merger, while United still is discussing merger with US Airways. Read the latest here.

This is a topic we think travelers and airlines will be talking a lot about the rest of this year, at the very least. A new survey sponsored by the UBS investment bank has detected a downward trend in spending on corporate travel, despite airlines seeing little evidence of it yet in their boardings. The survey results, and responses from carriers and industry observers were reported in Business Travel News Online, one of the best sources we know of for early intelligence on what companies, especially big ones that spend millions of dollars a year on employee travel, are thinking and doing. Read the full BTN Online story to learn more.

The Air Transport Association predicts fewer flights, but high load factors and more fare increases. Read a little more in this AP story.

This story should warm the hearts of those of you who commented on whether cell phone calls should be allowed in flight. Southwest had police arrest a man for disorderly conduct after flight attendants said he wouldn't stop talking on his phone. Too bad it's only a misdemeanor. Read more here.

Media in the Newark, N.J., area are reporting concern by air-traffic controllers about pilots making wrong turns after takeoff because of unfamiliarity with new procedures adopted in December as part of PHL-New York-New Jersey airspace redesign. Read the AP story here, This is the same issue we reported on two months ago in The Inquirer, noting that PHL controllers had the same worry, and what the FAA had to say in response.

The Big Six airlines are raising fares again, they say to offset fuel costs. We will take a closer look at this topic soon. In the meantime, read the basics of what the carriers did most recently here.

Here's an idea that perhaps PHL should try. Chicago's Midway Airport, like PHL a city-owned facility, has created three security-checkpoint lines based on symbols used on ski slopes: green for beginners, blue for those with some experience and black for experts at getting through the process. Read a Chicago Tribune story about it, and tell us what you think by making a comment.