Sky Talk

New life for Ben & Jerry's at D/FW

Looks like the owners of the two Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream stores have managed to work out a sale to keep the airport from shutting the business down for more than $100,000 in back rent.

The finance committee of the airport board will hear a request on Tuesday to approve the sale to a new group called Airport Concessions, according to the board meeting agenda released late today. Airport Concessions is also seeking a new 5-year lease with the airport. If all is approved by the committee, the full board would vote on the matter Thursday.

Carolyn Johnson, who owns the two stores in Terminal D along with her business partner Terrence Chavis, has said that the stores wouldn't have to shut down as a result of any deal she could strike with a new owner.

As of July, the stores, near gates 12 and 27, owed $124,286.94 in back rent.

Proceeds from the sale will allow the Johnson and Chavis to pay off the outstanding rent, according to the agenda.

Airport Concessions, which was formed in 1986, has airport concession operations in Denver, Los Angeles, Jacksonville and Houston Intercontinental, according to the agenda.

-David

May the Flight Be With You

Southwest Airlines transported Luke Skywalker's original lightsaber from Lucasfilm's headquarters in Northern California to NASA in Houston this week. The movie prop is destinated to be carried to the international space station during an October space shuttle mission, and when it returns it will be displayed at the Houston Space Center.

Southwest employees had a chance to pose for pictures with the famous prop, which was guarded by a contingent of Stormtroopers and droids, at Houston Hobby Airport.

- Trebor

Arpey grilled on "Today"

In case you missed it, Ann Curry of NBC's "Today" show interviewed Gerard Arpey Thursday morning for the show's "CEO one-on-one" segment. She hammered him over this summer's delays and American's poor showing in customer-service rankings. He blamed the problems, not surprisingly, on bad weather in the D/FW area, an antiquated air traffic control system and some operational problems, including not enough scheduled time for airplanes on the ground between flights.

You can see the interview here.

- Trebor

Trippler: Northwest drops D/FW-LaGuardia flights

Fare expert Terry Trippler says that Northwest Airlines has apparently dropped its plans to begin nonstop flights between D/FW and LaGuardia Airport in New York. Those flights were scheduled to begin on Sept. 5, but Trippler says that they aren't on the schedule.

Readers may recall that Northwest announced the flight after American said they would begin service between LaGuardia and Minneapolis, where Northwest has its hub. As Trippler put it: "Looks like AA won this one, even before any wheels left the ground!"

For North Texans, though, it means that AA will continue to have a monopoly between D/FW and LaGuardia. That means we'll have to keep waiting for any fare wars to bring down prices on that route.

Northwest spokesman Roman Blashoski told me that "Northwest has decided that the LaGuardia slots allocated to the DFW service would be better utilized in our key Heartland markets, and as a result we have now assigned the LGA slots to provide new nonstop services to Des Moines, Iowa; Flint, Mich.; and Madison, Wis."

- Trebor

Get out of the airport faster

The next time you park in one of the Express parking lots at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, consider using your TollTag to park. It will let you skip the long lines to pay at the toll plaza when you leave.

The folks at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport announced this morning that you can now use your TollTag to pay for parking in its Express parking lots.

Since the TollTags, which are sold by the North Texas Tollway Authority, were first used at the airport in 2003, the only place you could use them to pay for parking was in the expensive Terminal parking lots. The Express lots, which are located just inside the toll plazas on the north and south ends of the airport, are the medium-priced parking option at the airport, at $10 and $11 a day.

To use your TollTag to park at the airport, enter through one of the booth at the far right side of the toll plaza that says TollTag. Then look for the sign next to Express parking that has the TollTag logo on it.

The airport reports that 27 percent of the traffic passing through pays with a TollTag.

-David

Weighing in on behalf of airline management...

Business & Media Institute says the news media has unfairly bashed airline management over delays and other travel disruptions.

"The friendly skies haven’t been so friendly to fly this summer according to the network news media. But journalists have been quick to point the finger at business when the problem can easily be blamed on an outmoded computer system – owned and operated by the

U.S.

government," the institute says.

-- Scott

Delta's new CEO could mean consolidation, US News says

U.S. News & World Report says Delta Air Lines' hiring of Richard Anderson, Northwest Airlines' former chief, to take the helm at Delta suggests one thing:

"If mergermania erupts, Northwest is Delta's most logical target," the magazine says. "Like other airlines, Delta is quietly developing elaborate plans for what to do if consolidation sweeps across the industry. Delta probably wouldn't initiate a wave of buyouts or mergers — United has been more aggressive, hiring an investment bank to identify targets and issuing periodic executive pronouncements about the need for consolidation. But one buyout or merger will beget others, lest any of the major carriers becomes a sparrow among condors. And the Anderson (above, greeting the people at Atlanta's Hartsfield airport last week) selection indicates that to Delta's board, which hired him, consolidation is a when, not an if."

-- Scott

Land of Lincoln gets more AA service

American Airlines' AmericanConnection is adding nonstops between St. Louis and Springfield, Ill., the Illinois capital, beginning Nov. 4. AmericanConnection will fly the route on 50-seat ERJ-145 jets. AA doesn't currently serve Springfield, and tickets will go on sale Sept. 2.

-- Scott

Airlines find four 737s with loose bolts in wings

USA Today reports that "airlines this week found four Boeing 737s with loose bolts in the wing that could have led to a fuel leak and fire, prompting federal officials on Wednesday to order speedier inspections of the popular aircraft."

Southwest Airlines, which operates a famously all-737 fleet, told USA Today that it completed its inspections. The airline didn't elaborate on the results.

-- Scott

Delta's chief operating officer, passed over, resigns

Jim Whitehurst, passed over last week in his bid to become Delta Air Lines' CEO, resigned his post as the airline's chief operating officer.

-- Scott