Winging It

Philadelphia has managed to do something that most U.S. cities have not since Sept. 11, 2001 -- draw more visitors from overseas than it did in 2000. As you've probably heard, since 9/11, this country has made it much harder for business and leisure travelers, including citizens of European countries that are allies, to enter the country. Travel industry organizations have been ciritical of the federal government's visa requirements and the tedious, time-consuming welcome visitors get at international airports.

Despite that, Philadelphia had 434,000 overseas visitors (those from Canada and Mexico don't count in this measure) in 2005, compared with 390,000 in 2000, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau says. Among major U.S. ports of entry, only New York, with about 12 times as many foreign visitors as there are here, also grew when 2000 is compared with 2005. For Philadelphia, US Airways increase in European service in recent years has helped draw more visitors here. But most of the credit for maintaining the market goes to the visitors bureau. It advertises the city and region in a vareity of ways in Europe, and several times a year, it hosts groups of European travel agents, tour operators and travel writers to show off the city. Apparently, many of the travel-business visitors like what they see, and recommend Philadelphia to their customers.

Read our story about US Airways most recent additions to its European flight schedule here.

The case of Andrew Speaker, the Atlanta man who flew back and forth to Europe last month despite having a dangerous strain of tuberculosis, makes business travelers wonder just how risky it is to breathe in the confined space of an airplane cabin. Since you have no choice about breathing, and you need to travel to do your job, we suggest you take a deep breath and relax — but only if you’re not sitting close to someone with a hacking cough. We know from personal experience that you can come down with a nasty case of the flu two days after being jammed against the window of a 737 for six hours, surrounded by coughing and sneezing members of a college baseball team.

Here’s what happened in Speaker’s case: He was found to have a rare, extremely drug-resistant strain of TB. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told him they “preferred” he not take a planned wedding-and-honeymoon trip to Europe, but they did not order him to stay home. He felt fine and had no TB symptoms, such as a cough. He made the trip, flying Air France from Atlanta to Paris, then took more flights within Europe before returning two weeks later on Czech Air from Prague to Montreal. He drove a rental car back into the country near Plattsburgh, N.Y., where a border-control officer thought he looked healthy and welcomed him home. He is now in isolation in a Denver hospital.

Here’s the important part for those concerned about exposure to TB or any other airborne illness while flying. Following World Health Organization guidelines, the CDC is recommending passengers on Speaker’s flights who were sitting in his rows or in the two rows behind or ahead of him, as well as flight-crew members, be evaluated for TB infection. That proximity to what the CDC calls “the index patient” is among several important considerations when assessing risk for catching a bad bug on an airplane, says Myles Druckman, a physician who’s medical assistance director for International SOS. The company is one of the world’s largest medical-assistance companies for travelers and has its North American headquarters in Philadelphia.

“Any time you get a group of people from around the world in a confined space for hours, there’s a risk, and that includes on a train or in a room,” Druckman said. In fact, he said, the air in an airplane cabin usually is cleaner than that in the average building because it is filtered as it is drawn in and recirculated. In most cases, gettting sick from airplane air happens only on very long flights and to those sitting within five or 10 rows of someone who is coughing, according to Druckman. “On any flight of less than eight hours, the risk is very, very low,” he said.

Druckman and other experts recommend travelers use common sense: If you’re sick, stay at home to avoid exposing others or getting worse yourself. If you have to cough, bury your face in your sleeve or otherwise cover your mouth. Wash your hands frequently. If you’re healthy and ready to go, you should arm yourself with knowledge about the risks of traveling to particular parts of the world where infectious diseases are endemic. Many companies with employees who travel internationally have gotten much better in this area because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack, and warnings that started about two years ago about avian flu in Asia. Companies and other organizations now keep better track of where their travelers are and provide information about threats — health or otherwise — for the places they send their people.

The Internet is a rich resource for advice about healthy business travel. One of the most comprehensive is the travel section of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov/travel . These companies sell advice, insurance and services to companies and individuals: International SOS and Medex Assist

The Internatioinal Air Transport Association announced plans today to take on what its chairman called its "toughest challenge" -- helping combat global climate change by cutting its carbon emissions to zero. The United Nations estimates that the global industry's "carbon footprint" is now about 2 percent of all emissions, and will go to 3 percent by 2050, based on the projected growth of air travel. But chairman Giovanni Bisignani, speaking in Vacouver to the group's annual meeting, said that won't do.

"In today's political reality that is not acceptable -- for any industry," Bisignani said. "We must aim high. Air transport must become an industry that does not pollute --zero emissions." Achieving that will require leadership from governments, the UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation, and "a technology leap" from aircraft manufacturers and fuel suppliers, he said. He promised airlines will do their part by making environmental concerns as important as safety and security.

This is an issue that U.S. airlines have said little about. If they have, they must be talking to themselves and not telling the rest of us about the efforts they're making. At the same time, European carriers -- and European businesses and consumers in general -- appear far more aware of the issues and what must be done to deal with themt. If that concerns you, tell us -- and the airlines -- about it.

The Department of Transportation reported April airline performance today. Read our story here.

American Airlines joined other major carriers in cutting the time limit for activity in a frequent-flier account to 18 months. Here's the page on the AA Web site with details. Read what one longtime observer of frequent-flier programs thought about the move and the way it was announced here

We have this news brief in print this morning: The Federal Aviation Administration has scheduled a public meeting June 27 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Route 70 and Cuthbert Boulevard in Cherry Hill, to hear comments about its airspace redesign plan for the Philadelphia and New York areas. The meeting, scheduled for 6:30 to 9 p.m., was set at the request of members of Congress from New Jersey, who complained that hundreds of their constituents were not able to get into a similar May 1 meeting in Tinicum Township for lack of space. The airspace plan, which could change takeoff patterns from Philadelphia International Airport, has generated opposition in parts of Delaware County and South Jersey because of the potential increase in aircraft noise in residential areas. The FAA expects to complete its study of the plan in late August

Remember the late-April predictions that gasoline could hit $4 a gallon this summer? As we reported at the time, the AAA Mid-Atlantic motor club said whoa, hold on, relax, it's probably not going to happen. More likely would be prices closer to $3, So far, AAA was absolutely right. The group's daily reports this week on gas prices in the region indicate a trend toward lower costs. Here's what AAA found in its overnight survey of area service stations:

National regular unleaded average for a gallon: $3.13; Pennsylvania, $3.05; Delaware, $2.99; New Jersey, $2.94. In the five-county Philadelphia area, it was $3.10, and in South Jersey, $2.89.

The Transportation Security Administration and the airlines disagree over how much carriers should be paying for security services. Read more here.

The State Department and the Homeland Security Administration said today they're relaxing the rule requiring passports of U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda, because of the backlog of applications. More detail was in print in this story today, which was written before the announcement.

It's going to be a long night at PHL. Read what we've prepared for tomorrow's newspaper here

Last week started in a minor key, with release by the U.S. Department of Transportation of data for airline on-time performance in April at Philadelphia International Airport and elsewhere. It wasn't good, as anyone flying could have guessed. But as the week went on, the skies brightened, with positive developments on a number of fronts that travelers care about. Of course, that was before the weather and FAA computer problems ganged up Friday to make a mess of flight operations at PHL and many other airports.

The reports on airline and airport delays for April (see the links posted on the blog early Tuesday) show a pattern that you can pick up if you read these things as often as we do. Remember how much rain we had in April? On-time performance nationwide slipped because of the weather. As usual, the New York airports and Chicago O'Hare were even worse than PHL. But PHL was hit especially hard because of US Airways' ongoing struggle to fix its reservations system. Those problems also have caused on-time operations to suffer in March and April at Charlotte, US Airways' largest hub, which usually finishes far ahead of PHL in the rankings. US Airways says service got much better in May, with 80 percent on-time arrivals systemwide. We await the next federal report.

Another bit of good news: The world's airlines, represented by the International Air Transport Association, say they will do their part to cut carbon emissions that cause global warming. The head of the group promised it would work with governments and aircraft manufacturers to improve technology to reach a goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Those worried about the Federal Aviation Administration's airspace redesign plan for the Philadelphia and New York areas had reason to cheer, too. The FAA says it will hold another meeting to take public comment, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. June 27 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill.

As the week ended, the feds - this time the State Department and Homeland Security - recognized what travelers had been telling them for months: They are ruining long-planned trips because they cannot reduce the backlog of unprocessed applications for passports. So they suspended the requirement for U.S. citizens to have passports to fly to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda this summer. What will suffice until at least September is a government-issued photo I.D. and proof that you've applied for a new passport. The proof, officials say, can be found at the State Department's Web site within a few weeks of receipt of an application.

Our favorite bit of cheer was from the AAA Mid-Atlantic motor club, which surveys service stations from Virginia to North Jersey daily about their gasoline pump prices. AAA reacted with dismay in late April when fuel-price prognosticators said a gallon of unleaded regular could hit $4 a gallon this summer. No way, the club said, and that's what's happening so far, with prices hovering just above $3 in Pennsylvania and just under $3 in South Jersey. Let's hope it stays that way.

AirTran Airways' effort to buy Midwest Airlines is ready for a stockholders' vote. Read the AP story from the newspaper this morning.

AirTran extended its bid for Midwest Airline until Aug. 10. Read about it here

On a summer afternoon in the Northeast, delays for air travelers are mounting. Most flights in and out of PHL were operating on time earlier in the day, but as thunderstorms moved across the country and into the region, more flights are late. The biggest problems so far look like flights coming from the West and upper Midwest, according to phl.org and flightstats.com. Prepare for more as the evening approaches.

This is an impportant week for Midwest Airlines and its fight for control with AirTran. While these two carriers aren't among PHL's biggest, they both have been solid performers here for years. Read the latest AP story about them here.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly says the airline's growth may not be as strong as it had hoped. That could slow down its plans to expand at PHL when it gets more Terminal E gates this fall. Read more here

The grassroots movement to get Congress to force airlines to provide better service, by adopting a passengers' bill of rights, has gotten some traction in Washington. Legislation is pending in the Senate that would require carriers to provide some minimal creature comforts --such as drinking water and working toilets -- if travelers are stranded on flights, away from a gate but not yet airborne. The legislation is opposed by one of the more powerful members of Congress, Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, who wants the Department of Transportation to do the regulating in this area, and House hasn't acted on it.

This movement is a brainchild of Kate Hanni, a California real estate broker who was among those stranded for nine hours Dec. 29 aboard an American Airlines flight in Austin, Texas, that had been diverted because of weather. You may remember the horror stories, which were repeated by JetBlue Airways in February, and here and there by other airlines at various times.The Coalition for a Passengers' Bill of Rights has a Web site and blog and has generated signficant media coverage. This week, the group issued a report asserting that the airlines and DOT grossly underestimate how many flights wind up stuck on the tarmac for long periods, because flights that are eventually canceled aren't counted. The group used reports by the media and its own members about strandings to counter statistics, used by airlines and DOT, that show the number of such incidents is a tiny fraction of all flights.

The airlines and a some other groups that represent travelers' interests oppose the legislation Congress is considering. You can read what the head of the Air Transport Association, the big carriers' lobbying group, told the Senate transportation committee in April here.

For anyone who drives in our region, two good stories appear in print this morning. Read about AAA's call for Pennsylvania to require testing of the octane level in gasoline. And who knew that a Philadelphia company has devleoped a way to make biodiesel from restaurant grease?

We meant to post this earlier, a report blaming an old FAA computer for last week's air-traffic control meltdown, Here's the link to the print story today.

Perhaps PHL will be studied next, but in the meantime, here's an AP story about delayed flgihts at New York area airports.

US Airways has big dreams about additional international service from PHL. Read more here

If airline flights you took over the last 10 days were on time, you were among the fortunate few. We all heard the predictions that air travel was going to be rough this summer, with more flights scheduled and planes packed tighter than ever, and recent days have been doozies. The worst day was June 8, a Friday, when a Federal Aviation Administration computer failed, backing up air traffic across most of the East as severe thunderstorms were breaking out. Just one example: A blog commenter reported a five-hour takeoff delay on an American Airlines flight from Philadelphia — for his two-hour flight to Chicago. Matters weren’t much better on most afternoons last week as thunderstorms built up.

One way to track how airports and airlines are doing in real time is flightstats.com. The site is useful to see whether an individual flight is on schedule and to see the full array of operations for each carrier or airport. On the free portion of the site, you can check an airport’s departures or arrivals for the current day and one day before or after, and find a notation for how many minutes late each delayed flight was. You can see how grim the situation was at PHL on Thursday, when most flights before 9 a.m. were on time, a few more were late from 9 a.m. to noon, and half or more ran late in the afternoon. After 6 p.m., almost none was on time.

The weather made it a good time for another push by the Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights, the grass-roots group (find its blog here) that wants Congress to require airlines to provide basic human comforts during long delays. The group issued a report last week asserting that airlines and federal regulators understate the number of flights that get stranded on the runways for hours. Good arguments can be made on both sides of this issue. The airlines’ views can be found at the Air Transport Association’s Web site, airlines.org

Despite the amount of coverage the media (ourselves included) give airlines, the majority of business trips are literally on the road. It’s logical, of course, considering how many people have opted since Sept. 11, 2001, to drive 300 miles or more to avoid the hassle of airport security and airline delays, and how many miles are put on rental cars by air travelers. That makes the price of filling a gas tank of acute interest, and the news has been good so far this summer in the Philadelphia region. Last week, the average price of unleaded regular continued a trend that started just after Memorial Day, dropping a penny or two a gallon on successive days, the AAA motor club says. By week’s end, the cost was below $3 a gallon in Pennsylvania, although it’s a little higher in the five-county area west of the Delaware. In South Jersey, the price was $2.89 a gallon.

The dreams of[ US Airways to make Philadelphia an even bigger and better international hub surfaced again Friday. The airline says it wants to start flying nonstop to two to four more cities in Europe and beyond, including some that have never been mentioned before by airport or airline officials. Among the places under consideration: Moscow; Istanbul, Turkey; Tel Aviv; Birmingham, England; India; and Japan. Read more in our story in Saturday's paper.

This is the week of the Paris Air Show, which means you will hear about a number of orders for new Airbus and Boeing jets. Yesterday, US Airways said it had ordered 92 Airbus jets, for delivery over the next decade. Read the full story we had in print here.

Boeing Co. had its own news this morning in Paris. See who's ordering its planes here

Souithwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly says BWI is where it would have a code-share arrangement with ATA Airlines for connecting to international flights. Read more from Baltimore Sun

Here's thought No. 1 from Nutter: "The airport is critical, not only to the future of the city but to its impact on the region. ... I think it's pretty obvious there have been a number of challenging situations in airport operations. I'm fully examining all the performance issues out at the airport." So we know he appreciates what a powerful force PHL is, the source of close to 35,000 jobs and $14 billion a year in economic activity in the region, and how its reputation rubs off on the city.

Something else that's clear to us is that Nutter has already been talking to airlines and suburban politicians. He wants to find common ground with political leaders of South Jersey, Delaware County and, especially, Tinicum Township, where two-thirds of the airport's city-owned land is situated. County residents are concerned about aircraft noise and other effects of proximity to the airport. They are opposed to an FAA plan to use new takeoff paths over residenttial areas, and they want to know what Tinicum can expect if an additional runway is built along the Delaware as a way to reduce flight delays. While Nutter said he wants to work with suburban politicians, he also said, "It's critically important we improve our takeoff and arrival times, given our current record." Our thought: If reducing delays without having an impact on the neighbors were easy, it would have been done years ago.

Nutter said increasing international service will be another priority for him because of its ability to increase tourism and promote overseas trade. He said he would like to see direct flights to Africa from PHL (perhaps the longest of long-shot dreams), as well as the routes to Asia and additional service to Europe that US Airways seeks. The airport also needs to resolve the disagreement it's had with US Airways involving use of gates in Terminal A-East for domestic flights, Nutter said. US Airways continues to complain that it's hamstrung by the airport's decision to move Delta to A-East from Terminal E, so Southwest can expand its domestic service.

As for baggage, Nutter said: "We need US Airways to resolve the baggage-handling issues at the airport. My understanding is some improvements have been made, but more needs to be done."

One more area that Nutter says needs work is how efficiently the city handles requests for things like construction permits and installation of new equipment. That's another issue that frustrates US Airways' people, from baggage handlers up to the CEO.

In his call, one question Nutter did not want to address was this: Does mayoral front-runner want a new airport boss to replace Mayor Street's appointee, Charles J. Isdell? Nutter said he will only answer that question after the election in November. So if he wins, plan on us asking again.

United Airlines had a computer failure this morning that grounded all fllights for about two hours. United flights to PHL are running an hour or two behind schedule, but most other operations here are normal for a warm summer afternoon. Read an AP story about United here

The U.S. government is easing the passport rules for Western Hemisphere travelers. Read about the tedious process as it works now, in this morning's Inquirer.

Passengers on a Continental flight from Amsterdam to Newark had a horrible experience this week when a malfunctioning toilet overflowed. Hold your nose and read more here.

Al Taubenberger, who ran unopposed this spring in the Republican mayoral primary, has been thinking about the importance of PHL in the regional economy. After Democratic nominee Michael Nutter called to tell us his priorities for the airport, we asked Taubenberger to give us his. (We posted Nutter's comments two days ago.)

Like Nutter, Taubenberger said he supports US Airways' plans to add more international flights here. The GOP candidate said job growth in the city was a key plank in his platform, and while each new overseas flight would add only a few jobs, the service will help international trade. Because US Airways uses PHL as a hub, he said the city should help US Airways get as many airport gates as it needs. He was familiar with US Airways' objections to moving Delta into Terminal A-East to free up space in Terminal E for Southwest.

"There's no doubt Southwest has helped," he said. "But Southwest... is not the hub airline here...Southwest does not have international flights. It's more of a commuter and leisure airline."

Taubenberger said he wants members of Congress from the region to fight to help clear more air space for flights in and out of Philadelphia. Flights to and from airports in the New York and Washington areas have a higher priority to air-traffic controllers than do flights here, he said. But he said he needed to do more study before he expresses an opinion about the FAA's airspace redesign plan for the Philadelphia and New York areas, which is aimed at trying to reduce delays and is opposed by some political leaders in Delaware County and South Jersey.

If Taubenberger becomes mayor, he would ask Charles J. Isdell to continue as city aviation director. "He has done a good job under difficult circumstances, plenty of which weren't under his control," he said.

Great peril awaits anyone who dares to say these words: PHL flights are very largely on time today. The danger, of course, is that matters could deteriorate in a heartbeat as clouds build up later this evening. But throughout most of what's usually one of the heaviest travel days of the week, in the busy summer season, only a few dozen flights are seriously late, according to flightstats.com . We apologize if you're on one of the late ones, but for everyone else, have a nice trip.

The murky weather here and to the west has many PHL flights backed up for departure, with arrivals affected as well. We heard from www.joesentme.com (subscription Web site for frequent fliers) that Northwest was cancelling a number of flights, but here most of its flights have arrived and departed normally this morning.

Consumer Reports, the monthly magazine of Consumers Union, regularly asks its members to rate consumer products and services, and in the July issue now on newsstands it looks at hotels and airlines. For travel veterans, much of the CR articles will seem very basic, such as what to expect from a luxury hotel vs. a budget brand. But CR surveys' get thousands of responses from readers (more than 31,000 on airlines), so serve as a fair guage of what leisure and business travelers think.

There's far too much data in the reports to recount much of it in our space, but here's a hint: The highest ratings in the "fanciest" category went to Ritz-Carlton (Four Seasons apparently didn't get a minium of 150 responses). Among luxry brands, top marks went to Renaissance. Homewood Suites and Springhill Suites by Marriott tied for best upscale hotels, and Drury Inns/Suites was the top vote-getter in moderately priced, Microtel was rated best in budget lodgings, but ratings for all the budget brands were quite a bit lower than those in the other categories. One area to watch for are the room rates, because the surveys were done from January 2005 to April 2006. Some of the prices seem low to us, at least for urban hotels.

In the airline survey, the best ratings went to JetBlue, Midwest and Southwest. (The survey was done in February but included a followup in April after JetBlue's February service meltdown, which the magazine said didn't change the results). At the bottom of the list of best airlines were No. 17, America West, and No. 18, US Airways.

Pilots at Northwest say the airline's spate of cancellations over the last three days is due to a shortage of crews to fly its planes, the result of poor planning by management. Northwest says it was the weather, which caused enough delays that some pilots ran up against federal and union-contract rules on how many hours per month they can fly. Whatever the cause, it's up to management to fix it. And, as usual, it will be the front-line Northwest employees in airports and on board its planes who will bear the brunt of travelers' anger over the situation. Read more "he said / she said" in a Detroit Free Press story.

The FAA holds what is probably its final informational meeting tonight on its airspace redesign plan for PHL and New York area airports. Read this morning's story here

Southwest won't be flying nonstop between PHL and LAX or Oakland for awhile. Baltimore to California nonstop also will be out of the schedule by fall, although the changes may only be temporary. CEO Gary Kelly briefed analysts and reporters on that and other tweaks it made to its schedule as a way to cut costs at a time of high fuel costs and a sluggish economy. Two other local notes: one less PHL-Providence flight and one additional PHL-Nashville roundtrip. And the airline says in the fourth quarter it will announce changes in its seating and boarding policy, frequent-flier program and overall fare structure Read more in our story for print tomorrow, and in an AP story and check in again forr additional insight as the week goes on.

We've had a long day on the road and we're just now getting to staying in touch with readers. Here's a report on what's expected to be the last public meeting on the FAA's airspace redesign plan