AirOptions Blog

Columnist Scott McCartney says Spirit Airlines is planning to levy a “passenger usage fee” of as much as $10 per ticket for buying a ticket anywhere other than the carrier’s ticket counters in airports. The fee is the next step in Spirit’s edgy and aggressive strategy, which is often criticized by passengers. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (3/3)

Columnist Arnie Weissmann says that, in general, people involved in the travel industry are conservative in that they want low corporate and personal taxes. They have a more liberal outlook on the use of public funds to support the industry, however. This mind-set puts industry insiders at odds with the situation regarding corporate travel by companies that received taxpayer money. Travel Weekly (3/2)

The 20 biggest U.S. passenger carriers lost 1.3 million fewer pieces of luggage in 2008, according to new figures from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Experts say the dramatic improvement is largely because of bag-check fees, which have sharply decreased the number of bags turned over to airlines for safekeeping during flight. “The fewer bags you check, the fewer bags you lose,” says aviation consultant Robert Mann. Chicago Tribune (3/2)

A working paper from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University suggests that higher fuel prices have made connecting flights more expensive than direct flights in terms of operating costs. While airlines used to save $18 per passenger in marginal costs with connecting flights, by 2006 there was a $12 cost advantage for direct flights. The reason: Connecting flights create more takeoffs and landings, which can account for up to 40% of fuel consumption. The New York Times/Economix blog (2/27)

The travel industry, including agencies, hotels, casinos and airlines, is expected to face difficult conditions for a while and is thus finding ways to battle the downturn and significant decline in demand. “For anything remotely touching the travel industry, it’s definitely a challenging time,” said Warren Miller, a Morningstar equity analyst. “I don’t see a very quick turnaround in demand. In the next couple of quarters, I think things can and will get worse.” Reuters (3/2)