Odds are they aren’t really going to call it Even More Power, but the concept is definitely there. The new A320 deliveries they are taking starting this year will have 110V and USB power ports installed in the rows which are also "Even More" everything else. This development was rumored starting this morning and unofficial sources suggest that the newest aircraft in the fleet, N804JB, is configured with the power outlets and is currently undergoing FAA certification for the new setup. It is not clear yet at what pace the existing 120ish A320s will be retrofit or whether the 50ish E90s will be similarly configured.

This is a great move in advance of the upcoming in-flight satellite connectivity solution that the company expects to begin deploying later this year. The only down-side is that the deployment is limited to the paid upgrade seats. Still, better than nothing and certainly a welcome development for the roughly 30% of the customers on the A320s who will have access to the plugs.

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Avianca currently has earning rates for flights on United on their website. The rates are pretty normal, with all economy fares earning at 100% and a 25% bonus for business class and 50% for first class. United does not yet have earning rates for Avianca-operated flights online. More updates to come when those are available.

United Airlines and Avianca Bring North and South America Closer Together Through Their Codeshare Agreement – Yahoo! Finance.

That said, there is one particularly interesting role which is being cut. Two senior executives are retiring a part of the deal. One is Dave Brown, VP of Airport Services. The other is Ed Criner, the company’s top safety official. That’s the one which is somewhat surprising. The safety role is being subsumed into the office of the COO.

Clearly it is possible for the COO to also oversee safety, but cutting the position as part of the reorganization doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It won’t affect my plans to fly on American Eagle, but I do find it an interesting move.

Read more here: AA’s American Eagle details management layoffs – USATODAY.com.

Rather than booking the sale in one of their lower fare buckets, limiting the number of seats available, the current deal of $980 all-in ($298 r/t base fare) is actually booking in to the B fare class. That’s the second highest fare bucket in the coach cabin and it comes with no co-pays for miles-based upgrades (30K points each way) and it also earns 150% PQMs towards elite status. Oh, and it is basically wide open for availability any day you want to fly.

There was some concern yesterday that the fare was going to be updated and pulled from the system. It was updated, but the update actually wasn’t too huge a deal.

So, no, you can not book to join the inaugural flight on this deal any more, but any other trip in the first three weeks should be just fine. The fare has a 3 day minimum stay as well, so there’s an opportunity to explore Tokyo, too. The fare must be purchased by 24 May 2012, so another 36 hours or so before it vanishes. It certainly isn’t the best mileage run ever, but it is a pretty good deal and there is some 787 novelty value, too. Plus, it makes for a huge chunk of points in one trip.

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For decades, a standard response to delays and disruptions on passenger trains in New York City has been to blame it on Harold.

That would be the Harold Interlocking, a century-old intersection of 14 train tracks in Queens, where hundreds of trains traveling between Pennsylvania Station and points east and north are sorted out each day. The central role it plays in the life of the city is invisible to almost all New Yorkers. At least until something goes awry.

Then it could be poor Harold’s fault. Harold was incriminated again this week when officials of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said that connecting the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal would take six years longer and almost $2 billion more than originally estimated. Harold again was the culprit. Tunneling beneath it and rearranging the spaghetti-like web of overhead wires and other equipment there is proving more daunting than expected, they said.

As for who Harold really is, no one knows. Poor guy.

The good news in this move is that fewer tiny regional jets generally should lead to a better in-flight experience for passengers. The bad news is that it may also lead to decreased frequencies as there will be fewer planes flying. Plus, the AirTran 717s are not known to be the most comfortable aircraft in the skies. That said, they are equipped with gogo’s in-flight internet service and Delta is also a customer of gogo so that should see the connectivity remaining in service.

As part of the deal with the pilots to bring the 717s into the fleet Delta will also be allowed to increase the number of 76-seat jets they have operated by regional carriers. These are not mainline pilot jobs, but the total number of regional pilot positions will likely remain steady as the smaller regional jets are retired and these are brought in to the fleet.

The overall position with the pilots at Delta seems to be quite positive these days. More flying will be mainline which means more pilots working for the parent company rather than a regional affiliate. It also seems relatively good for customers, with fewer of the small CRJs and the new planes all offering wifi and first class cabins. Seems to be mostly smiles all around.

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This episode talks a decent chunk about hotel programs and the value they do (or don’t) bring. It is actually one of my favorite topics, mostly because I pretty much hate hotel loyalty programs as they exit today and I go out of my way to avoid them in many instances. Give the podcast a listen to find out why and let me know if you agree or not.

It is a bit long at 47 minutes, but there’s some good stuff in there. Give it a go.

UA123 DEN1155 – 1500+1NRT 788 D 31MAR13-
UA122 NRT1640 – 1230DEN 788 D 01APR13-

Also of note on the schedule is that the total round-trip time for the flights is just over 24 hours. This means that there will be other connecting flights in and out of Denver to get the planes into position to operate the flights. Look for Houston-Denver to show up on the timetable operated by the 788 in the same timeframe.

Said company CEO Michael Small,

Ku is the here and now satellite technology and will allow us to service airline clients who want an overseas solution today. However, in many cases we see this as a bridge technology that will allow us to offer overseas service until Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka satellite service is available.

The AeroSat solution is an established, reliable product which is currently installed on nearly 400 aircraft world-wide. By going with a proven solution the company will be able to more quickly ramp up the service offering.

Additionally, we also changed our Mileage Plus program, some of the benefits that accrued to the members…. [W]e had certain groups in this group were over entitled if you will…we have realigned the benefits…and this is a good change going forward….

The philosophy is similarly represented in one of the slides included in the presentation (see the first full line of text):

In both cases the CFO has essentially made it clear that the company is moving towards a different version of defining customer loyalty than the days of yore. No longer is just flying a lot of miles the measure of a good customer. Now customers must also provide value to the company to be desirable and well rewarded. At least that’s the direction the company wants to be moving in.

But is it the right direction?

Once again, this question pits a number of folks who are low revenue, high volume against the company. The company seems quite willing to write those customers off without too much apprehension or concern. Those customers (of which I’m almost certainly one) are simply no longer desirable to the company, likely for being too expensive to service, or for getting in the way of the benefits offered to other less frequent but more profitable customers. Or the company just hates all its customers and wants to go out of business. But that seems less likely.

It is also somewhat interesting to note that every revision or release of a loyalty program I can think of from the past decade has shifted the balance more towards revenue and away from simply miles flown. There’s probably a reason that has been happening.

Perhaps the greatest challenge at this point will be for the company to actually deliver on the better benefits for those whom they see as valuable customers to keep them around. It will definitely be interesting to watch that unfold.

Also in the same presentation was an interesting slide on the benefits of the PSS integration effort which happened in early March:

Of course, all the benefits listed here are for the company, not necessarily to all customers. Still, there are some aspects of these changes which will probably be beneficial for different groups of customers at different points over the coming years. Yet another thing which will be interesting to watch unfold in the coming years.

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