Monday, October 10, 2011
Friday, June 12, 2009
Near-complete Fontainebleau Las Vegas files Chapter 11
Near-complete Fontainebleau Las Vegas files Chapter 11
In yet another sign of how broadly the credit crunch is rippling throughout the hotel industry, the glitzy Fontainebleau resort-casino-condo project in Las Vegas this week sought Chapter 11 protection from creditors.
NEXT WEEK:Best Western CEO David Kong blogs on Hotel Check-In
In the case of the $3 billion Fountainebleau project, it was the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy that led to problems financing the resort, casino and 300,000-square-foot mall, the South Florida Business Journal reports. Lehman began refusing to forward more money to the developers under the project's construction loan starting in December 2008.
The Fontainebleau Miami Beach - the resort popular in the 50s and '60s with stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Sammy Davis, Jr. - is not included in the filing. (More coverage about the bankruptcy and the developer - the Soffer family of South Florida - from the Miami Herald.)
The 68-story tower is 70% complete, the Business Journal says, so the immediate goal is to get about $800 million in funding to finish the interiors.
Readers: Do you think Vegas has enough resorts and casinos?
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/hotelcheckin/post/2009/06/67983743/1
In yet another sign of how broadly the credit crunch is rippling throughout the hotel industry, the glitzy Fontainebleau resort-casino-condo project in Las Vegas this week sought Chapter 11 protection from creditors.
NEXT WEEK:Best Western CEO David Kong blogs on Hotel Check-In
In the case of the $3 billion Fountainebleau project, it was the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy that led to problems financing the resort, casino and 300,000-square-foot mall, the South Florida Business Journal reports. Lehman began refusing to forward more money to the developers under the project's construction loan starting in December 2008.
The Fontainebleau Miami Beach - the resort popular in the 50s and '60s with stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Sammy Davis, Jr. - is not included in the filing. (More coverage about the bankruptcy and the developer - the Soffer family of South Florida - from the Miami Herald.)
The 68-story tower is 70% complete, the Business Journal says, so the immediate goal is to get about $800 million in funding to finish the interiors.
Readers: Do you think Vegas has enough resorts and casinos?
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/hotelcheckin/post/2009/06/67983743/1
Friday, May 22, 2009
United States Id Changes June 1st 2009
Tougher ID requirements begin June 1 for citizens returning to the U.S.
By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY
On June 1, U.S. citizens returning from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and parts of the Caribbean by land or sea will face stiffer documentation requirements.
Passports, passport cards, Enhanced Driver's Licenses or "trusted traveler" cards will have to be shown, unless voyagers are youngsters or on certain exempt cruises.
(U.S. citizens already need a passport to return via air from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and Caribbean islands except Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.)
The stepped-up requirements are the final phase of a Department of Homeland Security/State Department anti-terrorism policy called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which took effect in January 2007 with passports required to fly back from neighboring countries.
"The mission is to strengthen border security while facilitating legitimate travel," says Joanne Ferreira, a spokeswoman for U.S Customs and Border Protection.
The various entry cards and information on how to get them are detailed on the agency's website getyouhome.gov.
Passport cards, which look like driver's licenses, have been offered since July and can be used to drive or walk across the border from Canada or Mexico or to take ferries or cruises. They're not accepted for international air travel.
Enhanced Driver's Licenses, embedded with technology that refers border agents to a stored record in a government database, are currently being issued by only four states: New York, Vermont, Michigan and Washington State.
Other forms of acceptable land-and-sea border crossing documentation: "trusted traveler" cards such as SENTRI, NEXUS and FAST (for truckers), which require more screening to obtain. Those with passport cards, enhanced licenses and other cards embedded with identity information can use scanners to speed their trip through some checkpoints.
Those under 16 or teens 16 to 18 who are traveling with an organized group to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean will need only a birth certificate, the Customs and Border Protection agency says.
The new rules were to have kicked in January 2008, but they were postponed in part by fears that they would hinder trade and tourism.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters this week that she knows some Americans are unaware of the new requirements or haven't gotten around to getting a passport. The process can take a month or more.
"We'll work with them at the border," she said. That may involve being pulled aside while border agents confirm identity and citizenship.
Cruising already is a sea of confusion.
For instance, cruisers who begin and end their trips in the same U.S. port are not required to show passports under the new law. Technically, they can use a driver's license and birth certificate.
The Cruise Lines International Association says individual carriers reserve the right to require certain identification, including passports and that would-be cruisers check with individual cruise lines when booking.
It's too early to say whether the new rules will further slow travel and harm tourist-dependent areas such as Mexican border towns.
A record 30% of Americans hold passports, the State Department says. But applications, which had been rising, are down in this recessionary year (7.1 million issued through April, vs. 10.3 million in the same period last year).
The cost for an adult passport ($100 purchased in person; $75 by mail) and $45 passport card for first-time adult purchasers ($20 by mail) may deter some vacationers. As might the wait to get them.
So who might profit from the new rules?
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix — are United States territory and continue to be passport-free zones.
Contributing: Gannett News Service
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-05-21-western-hemisphere-travel-initiative_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY
On June 1, U.S. citizens returning from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and parts of the Caribbean by land or sea will face stiffer documentation requirements.
Passports, passport cards, Enhanced Driver's Licenses or "trusted traveler" cards will have to be shown, unless voyagers are youngsters or on certain exempt cruises.
(U.S. citizens already need a passport to return via air from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and Caribbean islands except Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.)
The stepped-up requirements are the final phase of a Department of Homeland Security/State Department anti-terrorism policy called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which took effect in January 2007 with passports required to fly back from neighboring countries.
"The mission is to strengthen border security while facilitating legitimate travel," says Joanne Ferreira, a spokeswoman for U.S Customs and Border Protection.
The various entry cards and information on how to get them are detailed on the agency's website getyouhome.gov.
Passport cards, which look like driver's licenses, have been offered since July and can be used to drive or walk across the border from Canada or Mexico or to take ferries or cruises. They're not accepted for international air travel.
Enhanced Driver's Licenses, embedded with technology that refers border agents to a stored record in a government database, are currently being issued by only four states: New York, Vermont, Michigan and Washington State.
Other forms of acceptable land-and-sea border crossing documentation: "trusted traveler" cards such as SENTRI, NEXUS and FAST (for truckers), which require more screening to obtain. Those with passport cards, enhanced licenses and other cards embedded with identity information can use scanners to speed their trip through some checkpoints.
Those under 16 or teens 16 to 18 who are traveling with an organized group to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean will need only a birth certificate, the Customs and Border Protection agency says.
The new rules were to have kicked in January 2008, but they were postponed in part by fears that they would hinder trade and tourism.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters this week that she knows some Americans are unaware of the new requirements or haven't gotten around to getting a passport. The process can take a month or more.
"We'll work with them at the border," she said. That may involve being pulled aside while border agents confirm identity and citizenship.
Cruising already is a sea of confusion.
For instance, cruisers who begin and end their trips in the same U.S. port are not required to show passports under the new law. Technically, they can use a driver's license and birth certificate.
The Cruise Lines International Association says individual carriers reserve the right to require certain identification, including passports and that would-be cruisers check with individual cruise lines when booking.
It's too early to say whether the new rules will further slow travel and harm tourist-dependent areas such as Mexican border towns.
A record 30% of Americans hold passports, the State Department says. But applications, which had been rising, are down in this recessionary year (7.1 million issued through April, vs. 10.3 million in the same period last year).
The cost for an adult passport ($100 purchased in person; $75 by mail) and $45 passport card for first-time adult purchasers ($20 by mail) may deter some vacationers. As might the wait to get them.
So who might profit from the new rules?
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix — are United States territory and continue to be passport-free zones.
Contributing: Gannett News Service
Find this article at:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-05-21-western-hemisphere-travel-initiative_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Are airlines destined to go the way of the railroads?
Are airlines destined to go the way of the railroads?
http://asp.usatoday.com/marketing/rss/rsstrans.aspx?ssts=travel%7Ccolumnist%7Cgrossman
var storyURL = "http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/grossman/2009-05-19-airlines-
"Are airlines destined to go the way of the railroads? ";
By David Grossman, special for USA TODAY
Despite continued capacity cuts and lower fuel prices, most major airlines posted another round of steep losses in the first quarter as companies everywhere trim travel in a dismal economic environment. With fewer flight options, a slew of new ancillary fees, the continuing hassles of post-9/11 air travel and now a looming global health crisis, more companies and business travelers are choosing teleconferences, Webinars and other virtual meeting venues in lieu of the old-fashioned business trip.
With the airline business eroding, it might be a good time for airlines to ask themselves, "What business are we in?" I suspect every airline CEO would probably say they are in the business of flying passengers from one place to another, but they may be off the mark. The purpose of just about every business trip is to facilitate some kind of meeting. Whether it is a sales person calling on a prospect, a job applicant interviewing with a potential employer or conventioneers wandering the exhibit hall, the objective is always the same: Get people together.
In each case, it's the meeting, not the air travel, that's the true purpose of the trip. When air travel becomes too costly, inconvenient or dangerous, business travelers find ways to make meetings happen without flying.
Yet airlines fail to comprehend their supporting role, and the fact that they could cease to exist if business travelers stopped holding meetings. Therefore, airlines are not in the flying business; they are in the meetings business, at least with respect to their most important clientele.
The current airline struggle for survival is reminiscent of the death of the passenger railroads in post-WWII America. Once upon a time, hundreds of railroads crisscrossed the country and carried everyone wherever they needed to go. When air travel became safe, reliable and affordable, and the nation constructed a network of interstate super highways, the passenger railroad industry missed a vital and obvious business signal that major change had arrived.
What the railroads failed to recognize was that they were really in the transportation business, rather than the narrow niche of moving people from city to city in metal coaches riding along thousands of miles of tracks. In the short space of a few decades, every major U.S. passenger railroad disappeared as Americans opted for faster and more convenient air and automobile travel instead of the train. Had even one railroad CEO understood this simple concept and altered their business model to include air and road options, that railroad might still be in business today.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: United States Europe World War II Amtrak
A savvy railroad CEO, who saw the handwriting on the wall, might have extended their tracks right up to the airport passenger terminals (as they have done in Europe), or constructed new airports alongside their existing tracks. Had one CEO recognized they were in the transportation business, no matter what mode, that railroad might have purchased or partnered with an airline, a rental car company, a taxi or limousine service, parking facilities, bus lines and any other businesses that help passengers complete their journey from end to end regardless of transport mode.
While the airlines helped put the passenger railroads out of business, in an ironic twist of fate, those same airlines are facing a similar threat to their core business and may eventually be obliterated by virtual meetings, automobile travel and even a high-speed, all-electric reincarnation of those railroads they replaced decades ago. Sadly, the airlines have failed to learn the lessons of the defunct passenger railroads and have yet to see the big picture: Airlines are in the meetings business.
If I were an airline CEO today, instead of annoying my best customers with service cuts and ancillary fees, I'd be building conference rooms with lots of meeting space at airports and installing the latest Web and teleconferencing equipment. I might partner with or even purchase a company that already provides these services across the globe and integrate these services into my product line. I'd partner with Amtrak and municipal commuter railroads and mass transit systems in every major city, and position my airline to capture federal government stimulus funds to construct my own high-speed, intercity rail lines. I might also partner with or purchase a hotel chain and fill those properties with the latest virtual-meeting and communications equipment. I'd even encourage my customers to try a virtual meeting this time instead of flying. In short, I would try to capture as much of the money spent on business meetings as possible, regardless of the venue and meeting method.
In this way, during hard times like these when fewer people are traveling, I'd be expanding my revenue stream to include virtual in addition to face-to-face meetings. Additionally, on my website I would sell all of my company's meetings products including air, rail, highway and virtual meetings – all on the same page. I'd display prices for every meeting option as well as the features and benefits of each option to make it easy for my customers to evaluate the merits and costs of each business meeting type to help them make an informed decision in selecting a meeting method best suited for their needs.
If just one airline implemented some of these suggestions, that airline would be miles ahead of its competitors and could become the instant favorite of business travelers, meeting planners, and other professionals who control the travel and meetings spending for their companies. Perhaps that airline would still need to shrink the flying part of its business to match reduced travel demand, but it would also spend less money on flying, and surface travel options or virtual meetings might provide the revenues and profits necessary to sustain the company until the demand for air travel rebounds again. Finally, that one airline which has redefined itself as a meetings company might consistently make money while its myopic competitors still in the "airline" business continue to drown in red ink.
Read previous columns
Send David your feedback: David Grossman is a veteran business traveler and former airline industry executive. He writes a column every other week on topics of interest and concern to business travelers. E-mail him at travel@usatoday.com.
http://asp.usatoday.com/marketing/rss/rsstrans.aspx?ssts=travel%7Ccolumnist%7Cgrossman
var storyURL = "http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/grossman/2009-05-19-airlines-
"Are airlines destined to go the way of the railroads? ";
By David Grossman, special for USA TODAY
Despite continued capacity cuts and lower fuel prices, most major airlines posted another round of steep losses in the first quarter as companies everywhere trim travel in a dismal economic environment. With fewer flight options, a slew of new ancillary fees, the continuing hassles of post-9/11 air travel and now a looming global health crisis, more companies and business travelers are choosing teleconferences, Webinars and other virtual meeting venues in lieu of the old-fashioned business trip.
With the airline business eroding, it might be a good time for airlines to ask themselves, "What business are we in?" I suspect every airline CEO would probably say they are in the business of flying passengers from one place to another, but they may be off the mark. The purpose of just about every business trip is to facilitate some kind of meeting. Whether it is a sales person calling on a prospect, a job applicant interviewing with a potential employer or conventioneers wandering the exhibit hall, the objective is always the same: Get people together.
In each case, it's the meeting, not the air travel, that's the true purpose of the trip. When air travel becomes too costly, inconvenient or dangerous, business travelers find ways to make meetings happen without flying.
Yet airlines fail to comprehend their supporting role, and the fact that they could cease to exist if business travelers stopped holding meetings. Therefore, airlines are not in the flying business; they are in the meetings business, at least with respect to their most important clientele.
The current airline struggle for survival is reminiscent of the death of the passenger railroads in post-WWII America. Once upon a time, hundreds of railroads crisscrossed the country and carried everyone wherever they needed to go. When air travel became safe, reliable and affordable, and the nation constructed a network of interstate super highways, the passenger railroad industry missed a vital and obvious business signal that major change had arrived.
What the railroads failed to recognize was that they were really in the transportation business, rather than the narrow niche of moving people from city to city in metal coaches riding along thousands of miles of tracks. In the short space of a few decades, every major U.S. passenger railroad disappeared as Americans opted for faster and more convenient air and automobile travel instead of the train. Had even one railroad CEO understood this simple concept and altered their business model to include air and road options, that railroad might still be in business today.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: United States Europe World War II Amtrak
A savvy railroad CEO, who saw the handwriting on the wall, might have extended their tracks right up to the airport passenger terminals (as they have done in Europe), or constructed new airports alongside their existing tracks. Had one CEO recognized they were in the transportation business, no matter what mode, that railroad might have purchased or partnered with an airline, a rental car company, a taxi or limousine service, parking facilities, bus lines and any other businesses that help passengers complete their journey from end to end regardless of transport mode.
While the airlines helped put the passenger railroads out of business, in an ironic twist of fate, those same airlines are facing a similar threat to their core business and may eventually be obliterated by virtual meetings, automobile travel and even a high-speed, all-electric reincarnation of those railroads they replaced decades ago. Sadly, the airlines have failed to learn the lessons of the defunct passenger railroads and have yet to see the big picture: Airlines are in the meetings business.
If I were an airline CEO today, instead of annoying my best customers with service cuts and ancillary fees, I'd be building conference rooms with lots of meeting space at airports and installing the latest Web and teleconferencing equipment. I might partner with or even purchase a company that already provides these services across the globe and integrate these services into my product line. I'd partner with Amtrak and municipal commuter railroads and mass transit systems in every major city, and position my airline to capture federal government stimulus funds to construct my own high-speed, intercity rail lines. I might also partner with or purchase a hotel chain and fill those properties with the latest virtual-meeting and communications equipment. I'd even encourage my customers to try a virtual meeting this time instead of flying. In short, I would try to capture as much of the money spent on business meetings as possible, regardless of the venue and meeting method.
In this way, during hard times like these when fewer people are traveling, I'd be expanding my revenue stream to include virtual in addition to face-to-face meetings. Additionally, on my website I would sell all of my company's meetings products including air, rail, highway and virtual meetings – all on the same page. I'd display prices for every meeting option as well as the features and benefits of each option to make it easy for my customers to evaluate the merits and costs of each business meeting type to help them make an informed decision in selecting a meeting method best suited for their needs.
If just one airline implemented some of these suggestions, that airline would be miles ahead of its competitors and could become the instant favorite of business travelers, meeting planners, and other professionals who control the travel and meetings spending for their companies. Perhaps that airline would still need to shrink the flying part of its business to match reduced travel demand, but it would also spend less money on flying, and surface travel options or virtual meetings might provide the revenues and profits necessary to sustain the company until the demand for air travel rebounds again. Finally, that one airline which has redefined itself as a meetings company might consistently make money while its myopic competitors still in the "airline" business continue to drown in red ink.
Read previous columns
Send David your feedback: David Grossman is a veteran business traveler and former airline industry executive. He writes a column every other week on topics of interest and concern to business travelers. E-mail him at travel@usatoday.com.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Mexico resorts offer 'flu-free' deal
Desperate to woo back travelers who cancelled trips in the wake of Mexico's swine flu outbreak, more than 20 coastal resort hotels have launched a "flu-free guarantee": Guests who catch the H1N1 virus in Mexico — and have the blood test to prove it — can get their next three vacations for free.
The initiative comes as the country's tourism industry tallies staggering losses from a flu epidemic that Mexican officials first confirmed on April 23. The country's official death toll rose to 64 Thursday, with 2,656 confirmed infections. The virus has so far infected nearly 6,500 people worldwide, including 3,352 cases in the USA.
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. State Department warned travelers against nonessential trips to Mexico, U.S. cruise lines dropped port calls, airlines waived cancellation fees and resorts emptied. The advisory remains in effect despite lobbying efforts from Mexican hoteliers and the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, whose May 5 letter to Pres. Obama noted that "it is now apparent that the health implications of H1N1 are not limited to Mexico, (and) CDC and WHO officials have publicly stated the H1N1 virus is generally no greater health risk than seasonal influenza."
Tourism minister Rodolfo Elizondo estimated this week that a flu-related drop in foreign visitors could cost Mexico up to 250,000 jobs and as much as $4 billion. this year, or nearly a third of what the country earned from 22.6 million visitors last year.
The new flu guarantee is offered at Real Resorts, AMResorts, and Karisma's El Dorado and Azul hotels, most in Cancun or the Riviera Maya. At least 25 Cancun hotels have closed because of low occupancy, and many are slashing rates.
To qualify for a free vacation under the flu guarantee, travelers must have made a new reservation at a participating hotel between May 8 and June 30 for travel taking place between May 8 and Dec. 20, 2009.
Sniffles don't count: Guests must provide a doctor's certification and positive test results, taken within five days of departure, for Influenza A — H1N1. The three return stays — one per year — are valid for the original traveler plus one companion; blackout dates and other restrictions apply.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2009-05-14-mexico-flu-deal_N.htm?POE=click-refer
The initiative comes as the country's tourism industry tallies staggering losses from a flu epidemic that Mexican officials first confirmed on April 23. The country's official death toll rose to 64 Thursday, with 2,656 confirmed infections. The virus has so far infected nearly 6,500 people worldwide, including 3,352 cases in the USA.
After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. State Department warned travelers against nonessential trips to Mexico, U.S. cruise lines dropped port calls, airlines waived cancellation fees and resorts emptied. The advisory remains in effect despite lobbying efforts from Mexican hoteliers and the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, whose May 5 letter to Pres. Obama noted that "it is now apparent that the health implications of H1N1 are not limited to Mexico, (and) CDC and WHO officials have publicly stated the H1N1 virus is generally no greater health risk than seasonal influenza."
Tourism minister Rodolfo Elizondo estimated this week that a flu-related drop in foreign visitors could cost Mexico up to 250,000 jobs and as much as $4 billion. this year, or nearly a third of what the country earned from 22.6 million visitors last year.
The new flu guarantee is offered at Real Resorts, AMResorts, and Karisma's El Dorado and Azul hotels, most in Cancun or the Riviera Maya. At least 25 Cancun hotels have closed because of low occupancy, and many are slashing rates.
To qualify for a free vacation under the flu guarantee, travelers must have made a new reservation at a participating hotel between May 8 and June 30 for travel taking place between May 8 and Dec. 20, 2009.
Sniffles don't count: Guests must provide a doctor's certification and positive test results, taken within five days of departure, for Influenza A — H1N1. The three return stays — one per year — are valid for the original traveler plus one companion; blackout dates and other restrictions apply.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2009-05-14-mexico-flu-deal_N.htm?POE=click-refer
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
AirTran's in-flight Wi-Fi service takes off with test flight
AirTran's in-flight Wi-Fi service takes off with test flight
By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY
LINTHICUM, Md. — AirTran Airways (AAI) launched its wireless Internet service Tuesday, allowing passengers on a promotional test flight to quickly connect to and browse the Web at 39,000 feet.
The Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service — which AirTran says will be on each of its 136 jetliners by late July — performed as advertised.
BACKGROUND: AirTran to offer Wi-Fi on all flights
But the promotional flight from Baltimore/Washington International up the Eastern Seaboard pointed out one shortcoming in cruising the Web in the air: a lack of electrical outlets, which could prove troublesome for customers whose flights last longer than their devices' battery lives.
Tad Hutcheson, AirTran's vice president of marketing and sales, acknowledged the power problem. He said it's a priority for AirTran to resolve the issue but conceded, "That's not likely to happen anytime soon."
AirTran's promotional flight points up how fast airlines are racing to provide Wi-Fi capability on their planes after experimenting with it for more than a year.
Airlines see the service as a way to lure lucrative business travelers and boost revenue during the economic downturn.
Wi-Fi "is not just a luxury, it's a necessity" as AirTran looks to stay ahead of its rivals, said Bob Fornaro, AirTran CEO.
AirTran will charge $12.95 for a "Gogo Flight Pass" that covers both laptops and mobile devices on flights of three hours or longer. The fee drops to $9.95 for flights that are shorter than three hours. AirTran also will offer a "Gogo Mobile Flight Pass" for $7.95. As the name suggests, that plan covers only mobile devices but is good on flights of any length.
The airline wouldn't say how much it expects to make from the service.
There will be pornography filters to help prevent access to inappropriate websites. Access to Skype and other Internet-based phone calls will not be allowed.
AirTran is the first big U.S. airline to guarantee wireless capability on every flight nationwide.
Virgin America, a smaller carrier, says it will be able to make the same claim by the end of this month by having the capability on its 28-plane fleet.
Big carriers, including Delta Air Lines (DAL), American Airlines (AMR) and United Airlines (UAUA), are equipping planes for service on domestic routes later this year.
Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-05-12-airtran-wifi-flights_N.htm
By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY
LINTHICUM, Md. — AirTran Airways (AAI) launched its wireless Internet service Tuesday, allowing passengers on a promotional test flight to quickly connect to and browse the Web at 39,000 feet.
The Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi service — which AirTran says will be on each of its 136 jetliners by late July — performed as advertised.
BACKGROUND: AirTran to offer Wi-Fi on all flights
But the promotional flight from Baltimore/Washington International up the Eastern Seaboard pointed out one shortcoming in cruising the Web in the air: a lack of electrical outlets, which could prove troublesome for customers whose flights last longer than their devices' battery lives.
Tad Hutcheson, AirTran's vice president of marketing and sales, acknowledged the power problem. He said it's a priority for AirTran to resolve the issue but conceded, "That's not likely to happen anytime soon."
AirTran's promotional flight points up how fast airlines are racing to provide Wi-Fi capability on their planes after experimenting with it for more than a year.
Airlines see the service as a way to lure lucrative business travelers and boost revenue during the economic downturn.
Wi-Fi "is not just a luxury, it's a necessity" as AirTran looks to stay ahead of its rivals, said Bob Fornaro, AirTran CEO.
AirTran will charge $12.95 for a "Gogo Flight Pass" that covers both laptops and mobile devices on flights of three hours or longer. The fee drops to $9.95 for flights that are shorter than three hours. AirTran also will offer a "Gogo Mobile Flight Pass" for $7.95. As the name suggests, that plan covers only mobile devices but is good on flights of any length.
The airline wouldn't say how much it expects to make from the service.
There will be pornography filters to help prevent access to inappropriate websites. Access to Skype and other Internet-based phone calls will not be allowed.
AirTran is the first big U.S. airline to guarantee wireless capability on every flight nationwide.
Virgin America, a smaller carrier, says it will be able to make the same claim by the end of this month by having the capability on its 28-plane fleet.
Big carriers, including Delta Air Lines (DAL), American Airlines (AMR) and United Airlines (UAUA), are equipping planes for service on domestic routes later this year.
Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-05-12-airtran-wifi-flights_N.htm
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