Biz Buzz

Northwest Airlines Corp. said late today that it plans to cut capacity by 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent in the fourth quarter in response to “extraordinary fuel costs.”

Doug Steenland, Northwest’s CEO, in a statement (full text), said the cuts will allow NWA “to better match our capacity to customer demand as airfares, by necessity, must increase.” The cuts include reductions previously announced in April.

“No domestic station closures are planned as a result of these capacity reductions,” Steenland said. “Instead, we will pare unprofitable flying while maintaining the scope and presence of our network.”

Northwest flies out of Tupelo using Mesaba Airlines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NWA. The airline said it has “not yet finalized” how many jobs will be affected by the cuts.

Charging for checking a bag? Now that’s drastic. From Bloomberg (full story):

AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, the world’s largest carrier, will slash U.S. capacity as much as 12 percent, retire as many as 85 jets and cut jobs to blunt surging fuel prices and slowing demand.

AMR fell the most since September in New York trading. The reduction in domestic seating is more than twice what American had announced in April, and is the third cut in 2008. AMR also will add a $15 fee for the first checked bag.

American’s retrenchment went beyond steps taken by its peers, and comes as analysts predict possible bankruptcies among the biggest airlines amid an 84 percent jump in jet fuel in the past year. AMR said it would eliminate an undetermined number of jobs at both American Airlines and regional unit American Eagle.

American flies out of Memphis.

The government on Wednesday unveiled new rules for airlines in regards to paying bumped passengers – those “inconvenienced” can get up to $400 if their flights are rescheduled to arrive within two hours of their original schedule or within four hours for international flights.

But if travelers miss that time frame, airlines would have to pay up to $800.

The old rules – in place for 30 years – limited the amounts to $200 and $400, respectively.

Sounds good on the surface, but my biggest complaint isn’t being bumped – it’s the delays and cancellations. How about a plan for that instead?

Oh, don’t get me started. But here’s the latest news from the annual Air Quality Rating survey that was released today. Don’t take my word for it; here’s what they say:

The annual Air Quality Rating survey released Monday found that overall the industry did a poor job last year. There were more lost bags, more bumped passengers, more consumer complaints and fewer on-time flights than in the previous year.
The rate of consumer complaints was up 60 percent. US Airways had the most complaints last year. Southwest had the fewest.
All these problems are making travelers grumpy, the annual survey said.

Oh, really? Hadn’t noticed…

But wait, there’s more:

The industry posted declines last year in every area of the Airline Quality Rating, amid rising fuel prices, safety problems and bankruptcy filings that shut down three carriers last week alone.

On-time arrivals dropped for the fifth straight year, with more than one-quarter of all flights late, according to the survey. The rates of passengers bumped from overbooked flights and bags lost, stolen or damaged also jumped in 2007.

Need we say more?

From DJ’s 9-to-5:

A Northwest flight carrying some 40 passengers landed safely at Tupelo Regional Airport on Thursday afternoon, after reports that it had a possible tire malfunction that could have affected its landing.

While details are sketchy at the moment, emergency response teams were sent to the airport; however, they were called back after the plane landed safely.

At least three other jets were sitting on the holding ramp at Tupelo Regional, having been diverted from Memphis because of bad weather, an airport official said.

Well, the other half of the BizBuzz team is back from a great trip to Hong Kong - too bad not all of our luggage made it back. Four days after we get back, and we still don’t have all of our clothes or souvenirs.

After a delay then flight cancellation in Detroit Friday, one of four bags is still in luggage limbo. It was supposed to go to Jackson, Miss., but didn’t. Then it was going to Tupelo, but hasn’t made it.

Now it’s going back to Jackson, then coming to Memphis, then to Tupelo. Go figure THAT scenario out.
But it’s all the interesting details in between that makes this such an ordeal. It gives me an idea to find out other people’s experiences with airlines and losing luggage.

Any takers?

And believe me, I’ll be venting really soon. Nobody wants me to right now, especially Northwest. I need to calm down before I say - or write - something I shouldn’t.