Business Travel Tips

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which has recently experienced significant flight cuts on domestic routes, is set to suffer heavy reductions of service by international carriers.

Los Angeles Times reports a number of carriers planning flight cuts this Fall.

Air India plans to eliminate its six flights a week between LAX and Frankfurt, with connecting flights to New Delhi and Mumbai.
In late October, Thai Airways will no longer offer nonstop flights to Bangkok.
Cathay Pacific said it was suspending one of three daily flights between Hong Kong and LAX.
Aer Lingus is pulling six of its weekly flights from LAX.
Malaysia Airlines, announced its weekly flights will drop from 14 to six.

The cuts by foreign carriers will add to sharp reductions for overseas flights being made by U.S. airlines. United Airlines is slashing 31% of its overseas flights from LAX, while Delta Air Lines is cutting many of its flights to Mexico and Latin America.

In total, LAX is scheduled to lose at least 15 long-haul flights in the fall.
The cuts would heavily affect local travelers, with fewer nonstop flights to overseas destinations, higher fares and crowded planes.
The effect for the economy of Southern California is also significant; the newspaper estimates the cuts could erase more than $9 billion in local economic activity.

Despite cutting heavily flights and seats — U.S. carriers are cutting about 10 percent of available seats, the airlines are still facing the problem of planes flying with empty seats.

Because of that most of carriers, both U.S. and foreign, are planning discounts for fall, with some airlines dropping prices by as much as 50 percent on international flights to the U.S.
However, according to travel website Travelocity which is expected to release this week figures on this matter, U.S. domestic fare for fall travel is still up about 14 percent.

Analysts say that, it is not the fuel cost, which despite the significant drop in the last month is still 53 percent higher than a year earlier, but the falling demand for air travel that is forcing the airlines to slash fares for fall.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) replied to a USA Today story published August 13 about passengers without identification who cooperate in establishing their identity at airport checkpoints.

The newspaper titled its article: “Fliers without ID placed on TSA list

TSA says on its blog:
“The story gives the public the impression they might be put on a “list” if they forget their ID. That is false.
Passengers whose identity is confirmed will not be added to any watch list or face additional scrutiny during future checkpoint visits.
[...] On June 21 enhanced identification requirements went into effect and passengers now have to be positively identified before proceeding past the checkpoint. This makes sense because our law enforcement and intelligence partners go to great lengths to identify people planning attacks on aircraft. It is our obligation to stop them once they have been identified.”

American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia have signed a “Joint Business Agreement” to cooperate commercially on flights between North America and Europe.

The carriers say that through this agreement consumers will benefit of more competitive fares and improved flight schedules thanks to more global destinations with better connections.
Flyers will be able to travel on combined route networks including more than 443 destinations in 106 countries. They’ll also have enhanced frequent flyer benefits.

This new alliance still requires approval from Department of Transportation (DOT) as well as from regulatory authorities in the European Union.

The three airlines say they will expand their codeshare arrangements on flights within and beyond the EU and U.S..

London’s mayor Boris Johnson is investigating the possibility of building a sixth metro-area airport for his city.

On the Telegraph, Boris Johnson writes:

“With Gatwick full to bursting, and with Heathrow’s third runway already bitterly contested – and I bet it never gets built – it is also ever more urgent that we investigate the possibility of a long-term solution, in the form of a new and more eco-friendly international airport at a site in the Thames estuary”.

It seems clear that with London Olympics in four years, mayor Boris Johnson is looking for alternatives to expansion at Heathrow.
He adds: “…we need to sort this chaos out now.”