Travel News On 04/30/2008
Posted by The Traveling Tourist on
April 29, 2008
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Strapped Airlines Seen Pushing Fares Higher
Airfares are on the rise as airlines keep a tighter rein on flights and seats — and that rise could accelerate if industry merger efforts bear fruit.
The average cost of airline tickets in the U.S. was up 10.2% last month compared with a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as airlines struggle with surging fuel prices and a softening U.S. economy. Over the same period, overall inflation rose 4%.
Already this year, most of the more than a dozen price-increase attempts have been matched by rivals. UAL Corp.’s United Airlines Thursday introduced a fare increase of as much as 5% on domestic fares. Competitors quickly followed. On Monday, Delta Air Lines Inc. raised its fuel surcharge by as much as $20 on each leg of domestic fares, pushing its round-trip fuel surcharge to more than $100 on some domestic routes.
Many in the industry hope mergers can eliminate seats and competitors and give airlines even greater pricing power. UAL is in deal talks with US Airways Group Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. UAL had previously tried to reach a deal with Continental Airlines Inc., but the latter carrier said Sunday it wasn’t interested in mergers at the moment. UAL’s merger efforts follow Delta’s deal to acquire Northwest Airlines Corp.
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New technology, rules aim to ease air travel aggravation
The Department of Homeland Security unveiled measures Monday aimed at easing the aggravation associated with air travel, including new screening machines, clearer standards for identification, and a new effort to keep travelers from falsely being identified as potential terrorists.
Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security secretary, said the measures aim “to take security to a new level, but also to take convenience to a new level, to eliminate some of the persistent irritations that are a constant source of complaint.”He announced the new measures at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, where new “millimeter wave” scanners that went into operation Monday were demonstrated to journalists. The scanners are part of a system the department calls Checkpoint Evolution.
“Another thing the checkpoint uses is whole-body imaging. … This technology allows us to detect any item concealed in a person’s body,” Chertoff said.
