Song Flies One Millionth Customer...

[General Lee]

FLB717,

I don't know a lot about this issue, but I think most business travellers on your airline want to go at a specific time, and probably wouldn't want to spend the night at a hotel. Maybe leisure travellers would, but not people with a schedule. It proves that your airline is doing a good job at selling tickets, but they have to remember that they currently have a limited number of planes. It sounds like you are expanding a lot, but don't have the number of open seats as of yet. We, on the other hand, must have a lot of open seats to provide your passengers with transport----and I am sure that our management does appreciate a little extra revenue.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Redtails]

Congrats on the 1,000,000th passenger. Now, how many are counted or subtracted from Delta's total share of passengers???

 

[General Lee]

Redtails,

You have to remember that all of the RJ flights we have, all of the Song flights we have, and all of the INTL and mainline flights we have put revenue into Delta. Most of the current routes flown by Song were once Delta Express flights, and those 737s now fly mainline flights. Most of the planes have been switched around to different routes to ensure some sort of revenue--and that is called flexibility. But, the Song planes are now targeting Jetblue and causing a flood of seats in your best markets, and with the addition of TVs and a better frequent flyer program, along with the availability of flights out of all 3 major NYC airports---Jetblue is now feeling the heat. Let's see how things go when the fleet is complete--all 37 757s by December. We shall see. Besides the quick 1 Mil passengers, mainline also had a great summer, and INTL travel was packed--trust me--I had to jumpseat 3 out of 4 legs to Europe this Summer due to the loads, and the competition on those routes is really not a factor.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[tbkane]

As far as leisure travel and Airtran. They do have limited service to most cities. We had a package cruise and airfare deal with them. They cancelled our morning flight to MSY and casued us to have to switch airlines. We are now flying Delta. I was told that they took the segment out we needed in order to start service to DCA, and they could not get us to the boat on time.

This could be partially the travel agents fault, but they do still have a limited flight schedule, and we were very inconveinced.

I should have learned the last time Airtran tried to kill me!!!! May 1998 in Chatnooga. Nothing against the pilots, but we were really put out.

 

[mad691]

Delta, AirTran end fare dispute

By RUSSELL GRANTHAM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Rivals Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways have agreed to continue handling each other's stranded passengers -- but at steeper prices demanded by Delta.

To minimize hassles for passengers, most airlines have deals with other carriers to offer seats to the other's passengers when a flight is canceled. However, a spat erupted this month when Delta said the fees charged under a 3-year-old deal with AirTran were too low and proposed raising them.

Delta said the change, which sets the cost of reimbursements between the two carriers, will not affect its passengers.

AirTran complained about the planned fee increase, which starts today, and had hoped to talk Delta out of the change.

Previously, the two carriers reimbursed each other at about the average fare for the route. Now they will reimburse each other at prices above the highest coach fares for the route, raising the cost per passenger by hundreds of dollars in some cases.

AirTran said it agreed to the higher fees to preserve the so-called interline agreement.

"The interline agreement will remain in place. However, it's unfortunate that Delta is not putting the needs of the Atlanta passengers first," said AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson. "We'll continue to send passengers over to Delta, but we're just going to have to pay a lot more."

Delta said it demanded the higher fees because AirTran is sending over twice as many passengers this year as last year, disrupting its operations.

But in a recent letter to Delta, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, AirTran said the number of passengers Delta sent to AirTran has grown 24 percent, compared with 19 percent growth in AirTran passengers traveling on Delta. AirTran acknowledged, however, that the total number it sends to Delta is about 20 percent higher.

 

[General Lee]

Thanks a lot---we'll gladly take the extra revenue.

Bye Bye--General Lee