The Stansted airport is only marginally truly a London airport. It is about 45 minutes and £18 away from Liverpool Station by express train. Still, it opens a fourth airport offering service to New York City back up to London residents and it offers some convenience for residents in the northern suburbs.

The Stansted – New York route was served previously by Eos airline, an all-business class carrier, and American Airlines. American fought Eos aggressively on price, and the upstart carrier eventually was forced into bankruptcy and a cessation of operations. Shortly thereafter American suspended service on the route noting that it was not profitable. The Dallas-based carrier has not yet indicated whether they intend to restart operations on the route given the new competition but it seems unlikely.

The service is expected to be operated on the carrier’s 737-800 aircraft making Sun Country the only operator of coach or mixed configuration 737s crossing the Atlantic at this time. The necessary ETOPS certification was accomplished in late 2009 so there are no limitations to offering the service at this point. Pricing and final schedule details have not been released and initial inquiries to the Sun Country press office have not yet been returned.

Related Posts:

• Another one bites the dust
• Eos Expanding

OK, so that’s somewhat strange, but maybe they really like flying. It is possible, right? Maybe possible, but not what actually happened. In this case the tickets were all purchased under assumed names by employees of a Norwegian Air Shuttle competitor, Climber Sterling. The competitor bought out all the tickets to prevent real customers from buying the seats. Oh, and a couple of the offenders are even members of the Climber Sterling Board of Directors.

Of course, the CEO from Climber disavowed all knowledge of the fiasco, calling it “misguided loyalty” on the part of the employees. Sure…whatever.

Standing in the corner, surveying the room I was somewhat surprised to hear an English accent over my shoulder, “Hey, you’re the Wandering Aramean, right? I recognize you from your photos.” That was a bit surprising to me but quite welcome. We chatted for most of the evening, trading stories of best hotels, meals and most overpriced indulgences around the world.

Being the attention seeking media glutton that I am, I was quite happy to spend a few minutes chatting with Kelly Samardak, a writer from MediaPost.com. And my unnamed “stalker” was apparently working overtime as a publicist at this point, trying to convince Kelly that, while I may be crazy, it is the good kind of crazy. It seemed to work well enough as I earned a mention in her write-up of the event.

Overall, a rather enjoyable couple hours of travel talk with a new group of friends. And some decent munchies to help absorb the open bar. I’m glad I came home a bit early from Burlington to make it to the event.

Apparently the passengers on a scheduled Vancouver – Montreal flight a couple weeks ago simply refused to board the plane and the flight was delayed waiting for them. The flight was scheduled to depart right around the time that the Olympics gold medal match for men’s hockey went into overtime. Passengers watching on the televisions in the airport terminal refused to get on the plane, choosing to watch the end of the game instead.

Good for them, I say. Every now and then the airlines need to be reminded that the customers are the reason they are flying.

Links:

• http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Gold+medal+hockey+kept+plane+ground/2665966/story.html
• http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=82883.blog

I lined up a decent itinerary and shared it with some friends. I was laughed at. A lot. Fine; I reworked the itinerary and found some new options. The Ben & Jerry’s tour was out – too short and focused on kids rather than the actual manufacturing process – and a visit to the Vermont Pub & Brewery was in. Cabot cheese was on the list, too. Still a pretty full day up in Vermont.

One of my favorite views – on the AirTrain at JFK

Then I got on the plane and ran into a whole bunch of other folks also taking advantage of the $10 10th birthday fares. There was a couple who came down to New York City for dinner last night, a business man who made some surprise visits to customers and a large group of guys on their way to a day of skiing. As we started discussing itineraries my plans changed again. VBP was sneered at for mediocre beer (in retrospect I agree) and the Cabot tour was scratched as too far out of town. Plus, there’s another event in NYC tonight at 6pm that I wanted to be home for.

Lots of liveries on display at JFK T5 this morning

Click here to view the embedded video.

So the new itinerary was simple: skip the rental car and just take a cab downtown. Wander along the lakefront until the bars open for lunch. Drink beer and eat pub grub. Return to the airport two and a half hours after leaving and head home. And that’s exactly what I did.

Lake Champlain from the Burlington waterfront

The waterfront area is quite beautiful and the work they’ve done on the boardwalk and ferry terminal is impressive. Downtown Burlington is quaint and quiet, except for the “Free Tibet” rally being held at City Hall. Overall, the experience fit exactly what I expected of a sleepy New England town. From the 75 year old cab driver who was 5mph below the limit the whole ride to the quiet green in front of city hall to the over-zealous TSA agents hoping that I was their “Big Catch.” It shows signs of a life that starts when the college kids wake up and are done with classes in the evening but none of those places were open at noon.

On the plane I was warned off of Vermont Pub & Brewery as just not being that great. Unfortunately, it was all that was open at 11:30am on a Wednesday, so it got my business. I had a flight of six beers, only two of which I actually enjoyed. Still, it was better than a poke in the eye. Plus, it was 40 degrees and not a cloud in the sky so I was able to enjoy my beer outside. That was a special treat.

After beer it was off to find lunch – a quick gyro at Alhi Baba’s – and back to the airport. On the standby list, through security and to the gate just in time for my standby to clear and to hear final call for passengers. Perfect timing.

I’m sure that I missed plenty in Burlington today. Gravy fries at Nectar’s, for example. I’ll have to go back and spend a day or two rather than an hour or two. It seems worth it.

Related Posts

• Crazy $10 birthday sale from jetBlue

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/2010/03/crazy-10-birthday-sale-from-jetblue/

Crazy $10 birthday sale from jetBlue

The carrier will be converting their fleet of aircraft from their current 8-abreast 2-4-2 arrangement to a 3-3-3 configuration. This will allow the carrier to squeeze an extra 53 passengers into the economy section of the airplane, a 20% increase. The carrier will keep a 31”-32” pitch in the economy cabin as they decrease the seat width. And they aren’t going to be adding AVOD anytime soon.

The carrier stated that, in addition to packing in passengers more tightly than any other carrier on an Airbus A330 and A340, they will not be providing any in-flight entertainment systems at the passengers’ seats. The systems are too expensive and complicated according to CEO Azran Osman Rani. 

We’ve decided to move away from IFE screens on the seat backs. Demand simply isn’t there to cover the massive cost of the system, the Hollywood content and the extra weight and complexity of the wiring. We think portable units [these will be available for rental] are the way forward and we are hoping to debut these by mid-year.

Not a huge vote of confidence in the selling power of movies on board the plane.  Of course, the “portable for rent” units do suggest that is some value in having the systems available, so long as the customer is willing to pay for it. The carrier also expects that customers will be bringing their own IFE on-board.  Says Tim Claydon, commercial advisor for Air AsiaX:

In years to come we also feel that there will be an increase in customers bringing their own entertainment devices on board.

On the plus side, Air AsiaX does plan to keep the fares low and also upgrade the business class cabin to an angled lie-flat product. Which is great for the 18 folks up there during the flight. The lack of any IFE on flights up to 12 hours long seems to be a significant step backwards in time, but Claydon is probably right that passengers will be bringing their own more and more – I know I do – and that should help mitigate the issue.

As part of their efforts to monetize the extra leg room provided in certain exit and bulkhead seats, Continental Airlines has introduced new seat maps for their online booking engine.  The new maps are prettier than the old ones and they have the added bonus of identifying the extra leg room seats on the maps so folks booking will know which seats they won’t have access to until check-in, at which point they’ll have to pay more money for the pleasure of sitting there.

Which seats are “special” on the continental fleet?  It depends on the plane type (the unlabeled plane in a 757-300):

Not a whole lot of special seats in the fleet (16DEF are special on the 752 but are blocked from booking for all customers until close to departure).

The new seat maps are currently in testing and will go live on the continental.com website on the 17th of March, along with the new seating policy.

Related Posts

• The insider view of Continental’s new extra legroom policy
• Continental to charge for extra legroom

Between New York (JFK) and:

• Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
• Buffalo (BUF)
• Tampa (TPA)
• Orlando (MCO)
• Rochester (ROC)
• Oakland (OAK)
• Burlington (BTV)
• West Palm Beach (PBI)
• Salt Lake City (SLC)
• Fort Myers (RSW)

Flights should come out to about $42 round trip assuming you can find seats.  Book now and get jetting.

Update: Upon further review, it seems that I can get in a quick day-trip to Burlington, VT, tour the Ben & Jerry’s factory, Cabot Cheese and have time for a meal in town, all for ~$75 round trip, including the car.  Time to get booked on those flights!

Questions and Answers about CO’s Premium Seat Program

Why not just continue giving the better seats away for free? It has worked for years.
CO is focused on making money, and we aren’t going to be able to do that by doing the same things we have done in the past. There is additional revenue from new products, like extra legroom seats that are already in our coach cabin, that we have not effectively unlocked in the past. It makes no sense to give away the best seats in coach to non-Elites for free. So we are changing that, and will bring in new sources of revenue we’ve not tapped in the past.

Will our customers be willing to pay for extra legroom on the aircraft?
Yes. Certain customers strongly value having more space on the aircraft. On the other hand, some customers don’t value extra space. Customers will pay for the things that they value, and extra legroom is one of those things. Many other airlines like United, Virgin America, Singapore and British Airways have successful programs selling extra legroom.

Which seats on our aircraft are classified as premium seats with extra legroom?
Initially this program is focused on selling seat assignments for exit row seats that have extra legroom. We expect to start selling bulkhead seat assignments in the future. The exact seats that will be available for sale will vary by aircraft type. For example, not every exit row seat has extra legroom, and those seats would not be included in the program.

How much will the premium seats with extra legroom cost?
Pricing will vary based on numerous market characteristics, including length of the flight. We’ll experiment with various prices, and that will give us solid data upon which to base future pricing decisions. For example, extra legroom seats between IAH and EWR might be offered at $59. Certain days like holidays or weekends might get discounted pricing. All check-in applications like continental.com and kiosks will have the prices of seats at check-in.

If the only seats left on the aircraft are premium seats, will we force passengers to pay extra for them?
This is a pretty unlikely scenario, but if it happens, we won’t require a passenger to pay extra to obtain a seat assignment.

Will pass riders have to pay in order to obtain a seat with extra legroom?
No. Pass riders will be given these seats for free when they are available. Charging non-Elite revenue passengers for these seats should increase their availability to pass riders, as there will be customers who don’t value the extra legroom enough to pay for it.

None of the answers are particularly surprising – except for where they expect folks to pay $59 for an exit row from Houston to Newark – but the tone of the email definitely is.  Continental’s inclusion of British Airways and Singapore Air in the list of companies that sell extra legroom is also quite interesting considering that those airlines actually have a wholly separate product that they are selling, not just a couple seats on the plane, and their Premium Economy product comes with other benefits as well.  And while the bulkhead seats generally offer extra legroom there are also compliance issues with selling those seats.  Continental will need to be very careful about that while ensuring that they can meet their obligations for passengers with limited mobility.

Also of note is the comment about bringing in “new sources of revenue” that have not been previously tapped.  This leaves the door wide open for the airline to start charging for even more individual benefits than they do today.  From the complimentary “meals at mealtime” to carry-on baggage, it is hard to take anything off the table at this point.

Related Posts

• Continental to charge for extra legroom

Most interesting in the announcement was this bit:

Extra legroom really means extra legroom. The seats that we’ll be selling have at least 7 inches of extra legroom. Specifically, our mainline aircraft will offer 10-12 extra inches on average, whereas our Continental Express aircraft will be closer to 7 extra inches

There are only two on the 737-700s, three on the 757-200s and 9 on the 757-300s.  The 737-800 and 737-900 planes will have 12 seats each in this configuration.  Not too bad, though most of these seats are likely to be filled with OnePass elite members.  Plus, I’m not really convinced that the exit row seats on the 737-800 and 737-900 planes really have 10″ of extra legroom.  I’ll be bringing my tape measure next time I’m on board.

The seats will be available for purchase starting on March 17, 2010 and will only be available at check-in, not in advance.

Of course, this does open the window for an Economy+ style operation similar to what United Airlines offers.  United’s E+ does not offer as much extra legroom as Continental is suggesting and it will be difficult for Continental to maintain this offering while increasing the number of seats available in this setup; their 10-12 inches minimum extra space would be very difficult to accomplish without removing a lot of other seats.  Still, the opportunity – and the billing infrastructure – will be in place.