In recent months, trade groups representing hundreds of airports and dozens of airlines have quietly stepped up the pressure on the European Commission to abandon its plan for a gradual easing of restrictions. From April 29, the change would allow passengers passing through Europe from a third country to carry liquids, aerosols and gels purchased either at an airport duty-free shop or on board a non-European airline. They are calling instead for the ban to remain in place until 2013, when Brussels has vowed to eliminate all cabin restrictions on such goods.

“The existing technology is not fit for the purpose,” said Olivier Jankovec, the director general of the Airports Council International Europe, a lobbying group based in Brussels that represents more than 400 airports. “We risk paralyzing the big hubs.”
[...]
But the intense lobbying has so far failed to sway the commission, which committed two years ago to simplifying the often onerous security screening process. It remains a source of frustration for passengers who are forced to jettison drink containers, toothpaste, skin creams and even jars of marmalade before boarding planes.

Aides to Siim Kallas, the European transportation commissioner, said he remained unconvinced by the industry’s arguments and was satisfied by the performance standards set by European regulators for liquid-explosive detectors. Moreover, they said, the numbers of transfer passengers likely to be affected by this first phase of the plan should be manageable.

Upgraded: AA miles on Facebook
It’s a spin of the wheel, essentially, but you could earn a random number of American AAdvantage miles — between 100 and 1,000,000 — if you “like” the AAdvantage program on their Facebook page. I think these “like” campaigns are kind of lame, but hey, if you’re a Facebooker, have some free miles. Full details here.

Upgraded: Atlanta Braves parking for Delta SkyMiles Medallion members
I guess this is a thinking-outside-the-box perk for upper-tier Delta elite frequent fliers: Medallion-level members get access to a special parking area within the Green Lot for Atlanta Braves games at Turner Field. It’s not free parking — normal rates apply. I’ve never been to a game at Turner Field, but the Green Lot looks like it’s as convenient as it’s going to get.

Upgraded: Taiwanese analysis of American aviation
For those who appreciate the kitschy animations of global news by the Taiwanese animators at Next Media Animation, please enjoy this cartoon analysis of American aviation’s obsession with fees. Note the not-so-subtle digs at the age of U.S. flight attendants (ouch) and the ragging on US Airways in particular, going so far as to use their logo. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the video celebrates the triumphant Asian airline industry, singling out Cathay Pacific. Who knows, maybe Cathay paid for this episode. Watch it below.

Until now, you needed to engage in some sort of activity every 24 months — either by earning or redeeming miles — in order to keep your account alive. If you didn’t, poof!, your miles disappeared.

This move is primarily a change for the better for the infrequent Delta traveler. After all, if you were a regular Delta (or SkyTeam) customer, you weren’t really worried about the expiration date, since you kept racking them up.

Rather, this helps the little guy and is bound to build up a great deal of goodwill.

(image)

The service comes with a promise of more service, too:

In addition to more leg room and recline, customers seated in Economy Comfort will board early and enjoy complimentary spirits throughout the flight. These benefits are in addition to Delta’s standard international Economy class amenities, including complimentary meals, beer, wine, entertainment, blankets and pillows. In-seat power will also be available on aircraft equipped with personal entertainment systems which come with free HBO programming and other for-fee content. The seats will be designated with a specially designed seat cover.

Food, drinks, legroom, and recline? Feels like a throwback to international travel in 1988!

Of course, there’s a velvet rope:

Customers who have purchased an international Economy ticket on Delta will be able to choose Economy Comfort seats for an additional fee of $80-$160 one-way through delta.com, kiosks and Delta reservations beginning in May for travel this summer. Complimentary access to Economy Comfort seats will be available to all SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum Medallions; up to eight companions traveling in the same reservation with Diamond and Platinum Medallions; and customers purchasing full-fare Economy class tickets. Gold and Silver Medallions will enjoy 50 and 25 percent discounts on the Economy Comfort seat fees, respectively.

The key for Delta frequent travelers is the fact that seats in Economy Comfort will be complimentary for SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum level members. But not the entry- and mid-level elites (Silver and Gold), who still have to pay up, albeit at a discount.

The fact that you need to fly at least 75,000 miles before you get extra legroom distinguishes the program from United, which offers its Economy Plus seats to all its elites at no additional cost. UA Economy Plus is a lot easier to attain — only 25,000 miles, not 75,000 — and it’s available on domestic flights as well as international. Sure, Delta throws in some free drinks, but it takes a lot more flying to earn that complimentary cocktail.

Also, remember: This isn’t the same as a true premium economy class, as you find on, say, Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, or JAL. Those products actually have different, wider seats, and not just more legroom.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced it will add onboard Wi-Fi to 223 regional jet aircraft operated by Delta Connection carriers, expanding by 40 percent the number of Delta aircraft featuring Gogo Inflight Internet service. Delta will be the first domestic carrier to deploy Wi-Fi across its entire mainline and regional aircraft fleets with two classes of service.
[...]
Installations of Wi-Fi on Delta Connection jets will begin in January and will be complete by the end of 2011. Once complete, customers flying on all Delta domestic flights with a First Class cabin will enjoy Wi-Fi access, including service on every Delta Shuttle flight between New York-LaGuardia and Boston, Chicago-O’Hare and Washington, D.C.
[...]
Delta Connection aircraft featuring First Class cabins include Embraer 175, Bombardier CRJ700 and Bombardier CRJ900 models operated by Delta Connection. The aircraft feature between nine and 12 seats in First Class and between 56 and 64 seats in Economy.

This is an interesting move. First, it makes the regional jet experience a little more tolerable, by providing an option for inflight entertainment or productivity that wasn’t there before. With regional jets traveling on routes that have traditionally been handled by larger aircraft, it’s good to see Delta making the regional jets a little more “real.”

But perhaps more interestingly, the introduction of wi-fi actually brings a product typically only found on mainline jets to the subcontractors. These aren’t Delta’s planes. Sure, they fly with the Delta logo, but flights labeled “Delta Connection” are operated by a litany of regional airlines.

The only downside, for the time being, is the lack of wi-fi on the smaller jets. Sure, some of those 50-seat CRJ’s and ERJ-145s are just going to fly from Atlanta to Savannah, but some of those planes are for two-hour flights, regrettably. The people in the flying soda cans need distractions, too!

(image)

That’s a big deal.

Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott said Monday that her airline is issuing refunds on a case-by-case basis for customers worried about the new screening steps. The move, however, does not constitute a new refund policy at the airline.

Their competitors haven’t bit yet. No other airlines are cutting passengers any slack. Perhaps that’s because they (and Delta, actually) aren’t actually raising a red flag yet:

The Delta and American officials said they were not seeing large numbers of cancelations related to the new security checks, but they had no specific numbers.

“I can’t say no one has canceled,” [American Airlines spokesman Tim] Smith said, adding that it’s “just not a trend.”

Hmm. Well, if it’s not a trend, then why is Delta giving anyone any refunds for this reason? …and why are they admitting it to journalists?! I suspect that Delta’s admission is a tell, and that we’ll hear more in coming weeks about how the TSA’s rules are affecting the airlines’ businesses. Not this week — planes are full for the Thanksgiving holiday — and maybe not even in December, as other holiday travel ramps up. But if public anger is still high in January (and it very well could be if changes are slow in coming) then expect to see airlines lobbying to change the TSA gropefest.

Upgraded: Ideas for bad Hollywood movies
Downgraded: Congolese carry-on inspections
Headline: “Crocodile on plane kills 19 passengers“… I immediately had visions of a crocodile biting its way through the passenger list. But the truth is more unfortunate. A crocodile hidden in a carry-on bag gets loose, people panic, plane goes out of balance, aircraft crashes. Very sad. And preventable.

Downgraded: Cruise ship pricing
The cruise ship lines are taking a page from the airlines and going a la carte with their services, slowly but surely whittling away at the “all-inclusive” pricing plans that were the hallmark of cruising. Sure, there have been upcharges for shore excursions, but now you have to pay up for certain meals, services, and options. Looks like easyCruise‘s fully-a-la-carte model may not be so farfetched after all. (Thanks, Bill!)

Upgraded: Cross-selling of Hotwire inventory on Expedia
Expedia is now widely selling Hotwire’s hotel inventory as “unpublished rates.” Like on Hotwire, the hotels won’t be listed by name, just by star-level and city zone. Since Expedia and Hotwire are part of the same parent company, I’m surprised it’s taken this long.

Upgraded: The last frontier of domestic inflight wifi
Aircell’s Gogo service has launched inflight wifi within the state of Alaska, for those traveling on Alaska Airlines. For now, the service only exists between Anchorage and Fairbanks, and Alaska Airlines is giving it away for free. It’s slated to be complimentary until the entire state is blanketed with signal availability.

Upgraded: Traveler seat-selection stereotypes
The folks at Hunch have found significant personality and life-experience differences between those who prefer aisle seats vs. window seats. It’s based on poll data. ME, I prefer the window seat, not just because it makes napping easier, because I never tire of looking out the window and staring down from 35,000 feet. And yet, my vita reads much more like the aisle passenger’s. Call me an outlier.

The announced benefits:

• On-demand inflight entertainment in coach
  About time. 9″ touchscreens will be installed for the coach seats. Economy passengers will have access to “250 movie titles, hundreds of television shows, 4,000 digital music tracks, personalized music playlists, more than a dozen interactive games and a USB port to charge iPods and other personal electronic devices.”
• More room (1.5″ legroom) in economy
  The new seats in economy benefit from slimline seats — they’re also lighter, saving fuel, and offer increased under-seat storage.
• Upgraded flat beds in business class
  Each seat has aisle access. The window seats point toward the window, and the center seats point toward each other. More details: “The new seat, manufactured by Weber Aircraft LLC, will be 81.7 inches in length and 20.5 inches wide, similar to the flat-bed product currently offered on Delta’s 777-200LR fleet. It also will feature a 120-volt universal power outlet, USB port, personal LED reading lamp and Panasonic’s 15.4 inch personal video monitors with instant access to 250 new and classic movies, premium programming from HBO and Showtime, video games and more than 4,000 digital music tracks.”

This sounds like a solid improvement to the hard product in every class. It’s not a game changer — other airlines have been rolling out changes like this for years — but it’s nice to see an American airline trying to make the customer experience a little more enjoyable. A shame that we’ll have to wait a year before the rollout actually starts.

As mentioned explicitly in the press release, the company is trying to position itself where the internet traffic is, rather than steering web traffic to their own site. It’s a smart move insofar as it piggybacks a widely adopted technology.

But by setting up shop within Facebook, Delta runs some real risks, too. Facebook has not endeared itself to privacy advocates through its constantly devolving notion of what is considered private, vs. what is shared with the world. And the airline takes on the risk — both real and perceived — of being a piece of the Facebook puzzle.

Delta tries to skirt this issue with a notification that “information collected [on the Delta Facebook page] goes to Delta and not to Facebook.”

Two issues there, though: First, the airline needs to reassure customers that buying a ticket via Facebook doesn’t open up the entire wealth of personal data which people share about themselves on the social networking site. Are you giving Delta a lot more info about your personal buying habits by accessing their site via Facebook, rather than browsing over to own site?

Second, it’s Delta’s responsibility to reassure customers that the information they enter really remains in Delta’s hands and not Facebook’s, over time. Facebook has retroactively changed the rules for what is public and what is private. What’s to step them from changing the rules again?

In talking to some Delta frequent fliers, I found some hesitance to use the site. They expressed worries that others might learn about their travels if they used the Delta Facebook page, who is going to find out about it? Will data related to the transaction be available to competing travel companies, if they pay Facebook enough? What about industrial espionage: You may be booking a flight to woo a prospective client, and if you booked it via Facebook, might your competitors get wind of it too?

As David P., an independent contractor working for both federal government and corporate clients, asked, “Delta may promise you privacy now, but what happens when Facebook changes their terms again? It’s too risky. I can type in ‘delta.com’ pretty easily. Why is the whole Facebook thing really necessary?”

So, is buying tickets via Facebook something you, as a traveler, want? Is it something you’d use, or have used? Is privacy a concern? Or something else? Hit the comments.

Starting June 1st, Cardmembers with a Gold, Platinum, or Reserve Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express—and up to eight travel companions within their reservation—will automatically receive a first checked bag fee waiver upon check-in for all Delta and Delta Connection® flights.

This only applies to general members of the SkyMiles program, of course, since elite-level members are already waived out of paying the baggage fees — for two bags.

Assuming a single checked bag, checked both ways on a roundtrip, Delta Amex holders would save $50 per person on the itinerary. (Up to eight travel companions?! Big crowd. But that could work out to quite a savings.)

The cards charge annual fees — the gold, platinum, and reserve cards charge an $95, $150, or $450 (!) annual fee, respectively — but if you’re not an elite member of SkyMiles and you’re going to be traveling with Delta (and checking bags) anyway, it may be worth signing up for a card.

For those who have never had the pleasure, a “shuttle” operation typically means high-frequency, some perks aimed at business travelers, and open seating — no reserving that aisle or window.

The press release adds some detail:

Delta’s new hourly shuttle service between New York-La Guardia and Chicago O’Hare will begin June 10 and replace existing flights between LaGuardia and Chicago Midway. The flights, which are a strategic part of Delta’s commitment to expand in New York, will operate between Delta’s convenient Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia and O’Hare’s Terminal 2.

In advance of the launch, Delta will install new dedicated Shuttle check-in and self-service kiosks at O’Hare, which will become a new Delta Shuttle station. The kiosks feature the ability to purchase tickets for travel that day to LaGuardia, replicating the speed and convenience that customers enjoy in other Delta Shuttle markets. The airline also will assign the Chicago-New York flights to dedicated gates located nearest to O’Hare’s Terminal 2 security checkpoint and offer complimentary morning coffee, tea and newspapers to customers departing from these gates.

Flights on this route will be operated with Embraer 175 jets equipped with 12 seats in First Class and 64 seats in Economy Class. Both cabins are configured with no middle seats. Delta’s enhanced onboard Shuttle product will be offered in both classes, including meals in First Class, and, in economy, bagels on departures before 10 a.m. and complimentary wine and Sam Adams beer.

There are a few things notable here:

For starters, more frequency in a crowded field. The announcement means eleven Delta shuttle flights a day in each direction. But talk about a crowded field: American has 17 flights between O’Hare and LaGuardia alone, plus 8 flights to Newark and a single, solitary flight to JFK. United has 15 to LGA and 8 to Newark. JetBlue has three flights to JFK. Continental has 7 flights to Newark. And Delta has two flights to JFK in addition to their new shuttle service. (The online schedule still shows 9 flights between Midway and LaGuardia, but those are due to be cut.)

At first, I thought that the increased frequency between two of the busiest airports in America would mean greater delays. But Delta recently picked up a number of slots at LGA in a convoluted 6-way transaction with other airlines, so there should be no congestive effect of the increased frequency.

The shuttle service also will include some amenities for the folks in coach, including a snack and a included alcoholic beverage (ironically, on the heels of Continental’s elimination of free meals in coach).

Some might object to the use of Embraer 175 regional jets, in lieu of larger Boeing or Airbus aircraft. The aircraft have been flown by subcontractors under the Delta Connection label in the past. Personally, I find those Embraers comfortable, especially for a short flight like the 733 miles between New York and Chicago.

So I like this. It improves the product on a busy route while increasing competition. I’ll be interested to see how they choose to price these flights — at a premium to other airlines? — and how they fare with business travelers.