Winging It

Do you travel on business from -- or to -- the Philadelphia area? Are there things about the travel business and your experience with it that make you mad? That frustrate you? Things that simply could be done better? And are there aspects of travel that gtive you pleasure? Are there people, companies or government services that deserve credit for making travel better? If you answered yes to any of those questions, we need you.

This new blog, from the folks who bring you The Philadelphia Inquirer each day, was created to generate comments and questions about your experiences traveling in and out of the region, by air, road or rail. I will report to you on developments in the travel business, with links to other news stories and columns.

In addition to answering your questions, I will do my best to make thought-provoking queries of my own about Philadelphia International and other airports, the airlines that serve the region, and 30th Street Station and Amtrak. About the only travel-related topics we won't get into are in the general area of "What I did on my vacation," meaning tales of that lovely, or wretched, room you had overlooking the Grand Canal in Venice. But please do tell us, whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, about life on the road, your favorite airlines or hotels, how you got to your destinatioin, and what it was like coming and going.

So welcome aboard, and let's have a conversation.

To get your thoughts flowing, I will ask the first question:

What do you disiike the most, or believe is in the most need of improvement, at PHL (that's going to be our shorthand for Philadelphia International) and the airlines that serve it ?

We're off to the races! A reader has posted a comment, asking: When will there be signs on I-95 to the airport's cell-phone lot?

The answer is not for awhile, if ever. I-95 is controlled by PennDOT, which doesn't want to see a lot of signage cluttering up its interstate exit signs. The lot is on Bartram Avenue, also now designated as State Route 291. The portion of Bartram where the lot is situated is parallel to I-95 and north of the intererstate. The way to find it is to follow a series of small signs along the airport's internal roads that say "Cell Phone Lot, Follow Park and Ride."

The signs are not always easy to read or follow. The people who run the airport have promised to revisit the issue of how good -- or bad -- the signs are, and we will follow up with them for a future story, and for posting in this space.

Starting Jan. 23, all U.S. citiizens and citizens of Bermuda, Canada and Mexico arriving in the United States from any part of the Western Hemisphere by air must have a valid passport. Airlines and government officials reported few problems with the new rules. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents indicated they were showing leniency toward travelers arriving without passports.

Click here to read the AP story.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker won't commit to increasing his airline's bid for Delta Air Lines, the AP reports this morning.

Read the full story here.

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The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is conducting a hearing today in Washington to look into airline industry consolidation, a topic that could have a profound effect on travelers who use Philadelphia International Aiurport. Among the issues: How would service and fares at PHL be affected were US Airways to acquire Delta, and the surviving entity "rationalizes" its route structture in a way that cuts the number of flights or airplane seats available ?

Nerws releases and the text of US Airways CEO Doug Parker's testimony at the hearing can be found at the airline's Website, usairways.com. Another view, from Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein, can be found on delta.com, (search for Newsroom on the Delta site).

One group of passengers who are mad as hell at the airline industry is using the hearing to issue a call for a passengers' Bill of Rights. These folks are angry because on Dec. 29,. they were among hundreds of American Airlines passengers stranded aboard planes that sat on the ground for as long as nine hours at the Austin (Tex.) Bergstrom International Airport. The travelers, whose flights were diverted to Austin by bad weather elsewhere, had no water, food or sanitary restroom facilities during their ordeal. And they're not happy with the airline's response to their treatment, offering little in the way of compensation, the group says.

The movement that this group of travelers could start has been brewing for awhile, with complaints about airline service growing. We will keep up with it and report further developments as they happen.

The federal government issued its Air Travel Price Index (ATPI) for the third quarter of 2006, and the results won't surprise you if you've were flying much last year. Fares shot up in the third quarter at the fastest rate for that three-month period in the 11 years the index has been around. If you like statistics, check out the details at the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Website, bts.gov. Analysts who keep track of the industry say the major network carriers have raised fares a dozen times since the start of 2006.

Amtrak has spent decades under threat from presidents and some members of Congress who see it as a waste of money. But numerous attempts to reform it or shut it down have failed because most members of Congress know how vital good rail service is in the Northeast. What's more, trains are popular with many of their constituents, even if those people have little or no service they use. Now, Amtrak's new president, Alex Kummant, appointed last year by President Bush, is offering a refreshing perspective, talking of expanding service rather than cutting it. Read more about what he and Amtrak's supporters in the Senate have planned here.

Good news for anyone who planned to travel to Britain this week: British Airways said today that it will operate a full transatlantic schedule, starting tomorrow, after reaching an agreement with the union representing its cabin staff. The flight attendants had threated to stay off the job this week when they could not reach agreement with the company on a new contract. That had forced the airline to cancel most of its flights betrween London Heathrow Airport and North America.

We posted a comment today about homeless people at PHL, the second one on the topic since we started last week. The questions raised need a response.

First, to clarify, no one needs a ticket or to show identification to be in the portion of airport before security checkpoints. That includes throughout the parking garages, ticketing areas, baggage claim areas, the SEPTA rail platform, and the corridors, roads and sidewalks in between. That's where some homeless people can be found, especially in the winter. They are allowed to be there because the airport is a public facilitiy, owned by the City of Philadelphia. Starting Jan. 8, the airport started an outreach program, with the help of other city agencies and the police, to try to help some of these people move to city-funded shelters; in the last two weeks, two homeless people have been moved to shelters, airport officials say. During very cold weather, like today. the city declares a "Code Blue," and by law, cannot remove people from public facilities.

Perhaps this question should be directed to the mayor, City Council, the governor, the state legislature, Congress or the President, or all of them ?

US Airways reoported today that it made money in the fourth quarter and for all of 2006. Airline execs used a news release and conference call with analysts and reporters to tout the progress they said had been made in improving baggage service at PHL.

Read the full story here.

Philadelphia Police officers who patrol PHL have a new way to catch up to people who need catching up to: Segway "personal transporters." Officers Darryl Jones and Gene Jones (no relation) were riding two of the four Segways the police have today past a bank of flight monitors. Photo by Tom Gralish of The Inquirer.

US Airways announced this morning that it was giving up on its dream of mergeing with its larger East Coast rival, Delta Air Lines.