Sky Talk

No airport strike in London - for now

Workers at London's Heathrow Airport and six other airports in the U.K. have called off the first of their three strikes planned for this month, the wires are reporting.

The workers' union Unite is negotiating with BAA, a private company based in Spain that owns seven U.K. airports, over a new pension plan.

The 5,000 security, maintenance and administrative workers were planning to walk out on Jan. 7, Jan. 14 and Jan. 17. But the first strike was called off because BAA agreed to negotiate, Unite told the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.

The union told Bloomberg that the strikes would have shut the airports down, but BAA never confirmed that would happen, the wire service said.

Heathrow is the world's busiest airport, and a shut down would have major implications on all of the world's busiest airports, including Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, the third-busiest on the globe. D/FW Airport won't begin feeding nonstop flights to Heathrow until this spring, but it sends a bunch of connecting traffic there.

-David

'Stranded passengers' sue AA

Two passengers have filed suit against American Airlines over Dec. 29, 2006 flights in which they were stuck on the tarmac in Austin for more than eight hours, after being diverted amid bad weather over D/FW.

That's the infamous day that sparked the latest drive for an airline passengers' "Bill of Rights." Passenger Kate Hanni, who was on one diverted flight, has since created the Coalition for an Airlines Passengers Bill of Rights, testified before Congress and been interviewed countless times in the media about the issue.

Hanni filed suit in California, and passenger Catherine Ray of Fayetteville, Ark., filed a complaint in Arkansas. The lawsuits accuse American of false imprisonment, inflicting emotion distress, negligence, breach of contract and fraud, and asks for damages as well as class-action status. The Ray complaint includes some lurid details from her flight, including:

• "While confined in Austin, the toilets became full and would not flush and the stench of human excrement and body order filled the plane."
• "Passengers were deprived of access to medications, nutritional supplements and needs, and hydration, especially needed by infirm, elderly and children."
• "Passengers were forced to witness the physical and emotional distress and panic of other passengers."
• Passengers suffered hunter, thirst, anxiety, physical illness, emotional distress and monetary loss as a result of (American's) failure to permit passengers to exit the aircraft to the airport terminals or to supply the parked aircraft with essentials of water, food, sanitary waste removal, light and breathable or fresh air at normal temperatures."

We'll see what American has to say about the suits, and update the blog with their response when we got one. The airline's corporate communications office is closed today, so we may have to wait until later in the week.

- Trebor

More on pilot shortage, hiring requirements

Here's yet another story on how regional airlines are slashing minimum requirements for new pilots. The Star-Telegram reported on this issue in November, and the Wall Street Journal followed up with its own story (subscription required) a few weeks later.

Now the Pittsburgh Business Times reports on the issue, paying particular attention to how it is affecting US Airways, which has a hub in Pittsburgh. You can read their story here.

The Allied Pilots Association, meanwhile, is suggesting that the lowering of minimum hiring requirements is creating safety issues. Here's what the union said in a recent update to American Airlines pilots:

Safety Sacrificed as Pilot Hiring Standards are Cut!

The industry-wide pilot shortage that has resulted in recent reductions in pilot hiring experience standards by U.S. regional air carriers is already leading to serious breeches in airline safety. An incident on Dec. 8 at Newark Liberty Airport where a regional jet (RJ) taxied into the path of a major airliner on takeoff roll was just the latest in a series of near-misses involving RJs. The combination of an increase in RJs congesting airports and the diminishing experience requirements to fly these aircraft have created an environment at many major airports where the margin of safety has been reduced and near-misses are occurring more frequently.

Safety note to our pilots: During this extremely busy and challenging holiday flying period, all crews need to be especially aware of aircraft around them and in their flight path. Use caution for higher-than-normal airport congestion and lower-than-normal pilot experience and judgment.

- Trebor

United plane stuck in the mud

The Kansas City Star (a sister paper of the Star-Telegram) reports on a United Airlines Boeing 757 that took a wrong turn onto a service road at Kansas City International Airport yesterday and got bogged down in mud. The plane had to be evacuated. This photo, published in the Star, was taken by a passenger after he left the aircraft.

- Trebor

Herb chats with the Fed

The latest issue of Southwest Economy, the newsletter published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, includes an interview with Herb Kelleher, the legendary co-founder of Southwest Airlines. Here's how he sees the economy from his vantage point:

Q. Some analysts worry that the U.S. economy is slowing. What do you see from your vantage point?

A. What we have seen is a gradual softening that started at the beginning of this year. If you look at the consumer confidence readings from the Conference Board or the University of Michigan, you can see there has been a downward trend.

For us, the trend wasn’t totally manifest until the second quarter, but there’s little doubt that many people are getting a little more cautious with their discretionary spending. Consumer demand is looking somewhat dicey, and the public seems increasingly skittish about the prospects for the U.S. economy.

Q. What about the Eleventh District, consisting of Texas and parts of Louisiana and New Mexico? How are things faring in our neck of the woods?

A. We had been saying for some time that the Eleventh District was a standout, a star with respect to airline bookings. But from the perspective of passenger traffic, we can no longer say that the district is head and shoulders above the rest of the country. Today, it’s sort of in the middle of the pack relative to the rest of the country and continuing to exhibit a gradual downward trend in demand for domestic travel.

Q. Are there areas of the country that remain standouts?

A. At this juncture, we’re characterizing “no change” from last year’s bookings, on a capacity-adjusted basis, as doing “pretty well” relative to peer districts. On that basis, Cleveland and Kansas City appear to be strengthening, and Boston and New York are still relatively strong.

You can read the entire interview here.

- Trebor

Best of Holiday Sky Talk

There's been plenty of airline chatter in the past week despite the typically slow holiday period. Here's a recap of some of the more interesting items from the blog:

• American Airlines extends recall rights for ex-TWA flight attendants
• AA flight returns to airport after passenger refuses to leave ill-gotten first-class seat
• United cancels Christmas flights amid a scarcity of pilots
• Airlines: Merry Christmas! We're raising prices!

'Payments to dancer' part of AA embezzlement

A longtime American Airlines manager based at O'Hare Airport in Chicago was reportedly charged with embezzling more than $3 million, using the money to buy cars, a yacht, riverfront property and "monthly payments to a dancer," according to a story in the Chicago Tribune:

Gary M. Aumann, a 39-year veteran at American and its facilities maintenance manager at O'Hare, directed in excess of $3 million in business toward companies owned by co-defendant Donald Down over the last five years, authorities said.

But Down's companies, A & D Supplies and Addison Business Supplies, did no work for American, and the two split the proceeds, according to the charges.

Aumann, 65, and Down, 53, both of Wood Dale, were charged with mail fraud and conspiracy.

You can read the full story here.

The Allied Pilots Association is already barking about the case on one of its websites, comparing the manager's alleged $3 million theft with the case of the flight attendants who were fired for taking items, such as bottled water, from a plane.

- Trebor

Former AMR chairman Brennan dies

Former AMR Corp. chairman Ed Brennan, who helped Gerard Arpey transition to the CEO job after the ouster of Don Carty in 2003, has died, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune.

Brennan, who made his mark in the business world as the longtime chairman of Sears, Roebuck and Co., died Thursday night, according to the newspaper.

"He was always prepared to step in and help in a crisis situation," John Madigan, former CEO of Tribune Co. who was a friend of Brennan's, told the Tribune. "I don't know anyone who did more things than he did. I really don't. It was quite a life, and so much more than Sears."

Brennan took over as AMR's executive chairman when Arpey was elevated to the CEO position. He served as a close advisor to Arpey during the difficult days of late 2003 and 2004, when American struggled to keep flying after it decided not to slim down in bankruptcy court.

- Trebor

Coming Sunday: Schnurman's Top 5 wishes for '08

Wish No. 1: that management and labor at American Airlines find some common ground. Coming Sunday in Work & Money. Early editions available in grocery stores Saturday.

-- Scott Nishimura

Jim Parker's new book

Jim Parker took the helm at Southwest Airlines in 2001, just before the beginning of one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of the airline business. He steered the Dallas-based discount carrier through the difficult post-911 years, keeping it profitable and growing while competitors flamed out and descended into bankruptcy.

Parker, who left the airline in 2004 in the aftermath of unusually contentious contract talks with flight attendants, has written a book, titled “Do the right thing: How dedicated employees create loyal customers and large profits.” The book, which will be published in January by Wharton School Publishing, delves into Southwest’s culture of respect for employees and customers, and how some of Parker’s crucial decisions after the 9-11 attacks helped keep the carrier going. It will also touch on some of Southwest’s storied history.

The question we’d like to ask, of course, is whether he knew that Gary Kelly and Herb Kelleher were going to declare war on the Wright Amendment shortly after he left, and whether the thought of that battle may have hastened his decision to leave.

- Trebor