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'Economic' flight cancellations may make cheap travel a thing of the past
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'Economic' flight cancellations may make cheap travel a thing of the past A few weeks ago, Delta cancelled some flights strictly because of anticipated light loads. The reason was to cut fuel consumption. Those cancellations have now been reversed, says Delta, since fuel supplies are now stable. But fuel prices could easily spike again, prompting a new round of cancellations. And that's unfortunate, because last-minute cancellations are the most difficult ones to cope with if you can't accept the alternative your airline gives you. While travelers have long speculated that airlines routinely made such "economic cancellations," Delta is the first to admit so in public. Delta's plan was to cancel "a few dozen flights a day," when projected loads are unusually light. Delta says it cancelled flights only when it projected light loads on both a flight and the return flight, or whatever flight the airplane was next scheduled to fly. Delta also says travelers would be "easily accommodated with another flight" and that it provided at least a two-day advance notice. And, says Delta, travelers on cancelled flights could ask for a credit or refund, regardless of the type of ticket they held. Economic cancellations are the third and least desirable approach to the downsizing that major "legacy" lines are taking. The first level is across-the-board systemwide downsizing, at least for trips within the U.S. All the big lines are doing that to a degree, either by halting flights completely or shifting them from mainline planes to smaller regional jets. The second level is a series of temporary schedule reductions, announced well in advance. This strategy is exemplified by American's recent announcement that it is canceling its low-performing nonstop flights from Chicago to Nagoya, Japan, and canceling a series of flights between Chicago and Dallas on busy routes where it has enough other flights to accommodate its current levels of traffic. Both the first and second levels have the advantage that you know about them well in advance. So if you don't like the alternative schedule your airline proposes for you, you have enough time at least to try to arrange a "plan B" alternative on some other airline. But you can't do that with short-term cancellations. By the time you learn of the cancellation, you may have too little time to find a seat on some other line, and even if you do, you'd likely face a much higher fare for a last-minute ticket. No matter how unsatisfactory, you may be stuck with whatever substitute itinerary your airline offers. If nothing else, a late re-booking almost guarantees you'll be stashed in a middle seat. Economic cancellations have long been a favorite conspiracy theory of frequent travelers. I used to hear it all the time, especially about shuttle flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco. United once flew an average of three flights per hour, each way, often providing enough excess capacity to allow one or two off-peak round-trips to be cut. And I've been on plenty of flights that an airline would have a strong incentive to cancel, if it could, including one transcontinental nonstop flight on a 747 with only four passengers. Historically, airlines have either denied the practice or simply refused to provide any direct answers to questions about it. So, however unwelcome, Delta's announcement was at least an honest admission. Would you be at all surprised to learn others have done the same thing? The bottom line: Overt or covert, there are probably some economic cancellations in your future. After years of urging you so seek out lightly loaded flights—for more low-fare seats, extra room, better service and quicker unloading—we travel writers may soon have to back up and instead warn you about flights that are so lightly loaded that the airline may cancel them, demonstrating again that today's airline travel is increasingly a no-win situation. http://www.smartertravel.com/advice/...0&u=SL4F6B4DC5 ==== "I don't care (if I get booed). I don't know any of those people. As long as my kids tell me that they love me, I'm fine. My motto is, when people talk about me, I say, 'Who are they? They're not God.' If God was out there booing me, I'd be upset." -- Bonzi Wells, Sacramento Kings _________________________________________ Usenet Zone Free Binaries Usenet Server More than 140,000 groups Unlimited download http://www.usenetzone.com to open account |
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