Upgraded: Wifi on Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines will put wi-fi on all its aircraft, using Aircell’s service, which is sold under the Gogo name.

Downgraded: Rental car deals
Blame Toyota. The carmaker’s huge recall took out about 8% of vehicles of the American rental car fleet. Yes, recall repairs are being done, but the rates aren’t pulling back too quickly. That is, unless you’re doing a one-way rental from Florida to … well, anywhere.

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Downgraded: Airborne
I’ve always found the boxes of Airborne nutritional supplements to be silly (a healthcare product that proudly proclaims it’s “created by a schoolteacher!”). But now, they’ve been forced to change their packaging. Gone are the germs, the sick people, and the claim to prevent inflight illness.

Downgraded: Airline maintenance
A frightening report on outsourced aircraft maintenance companies, where some staff can’t read the instructions. Shudder… (via Consumerist)

Downgraded: First class on Qantas
Like everyone else, Australia’s Qantas is feeling the pinch. First class has been removed from flights to San Francisco, Buenos Aires and Melbourne-Hong Kong-London routes. Not much of a loss, really, since business class is where the action is.

Upgraded: the environment
A positive side effect of the economic slowdown: Fewer flights means less pollution.

Upgraded: US Airways luggage delivery
The passengers whose flight landed in the Hudson River have gotten their luggage and belongings back, including things left behind on the seats. Nice! I just hope that getting your stuff doesn’t always require such dramatic landings…

Upgraded: Momondo
Danish airfare aggregator (reviewed here previously) just got an upgrade, by including Ryanair fares in its searches. That’s a big change for the ultra-discounter, which has kept its fares exclusively on its own website until now.

Downgraded: Exit rows on Qantas
Qantas will start charging an extra fee for the exit rows. They’re not the first, but still, annoying. (Thanks, Rob!)

Downgraded: Business sense
If a business model failed miserably for Skybus, I’m sure it’ll work just fine a year later, in a significantly worse financial climate, right? Right? JetAmerica, a new startup, is trying out the Skybus model themselves, with 9 seats for $9 on every flight. Minneapolis and Newark are the biggest destinations, but the operations are run through Toledo. Cranky has the rundown. Who wants to start the bankruptcy countdown pool?

The Maldives will begin to divert a portion of the country’s billion-dollar annual tourist revenue into buying a new homeland – as an insurance policy against climate change that threatens to turn the 300,000 islanders into environmental refugees, the country’s first democratically elected president has told the Guardian.

…Sri Lanka and India were targets because they had similar cultures, cuisines and climates. Australia was also being considered because of the amount of unoccupied land available.

“We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades,” he said.

Environmentalists say the issue raises the question of what rights citizens have if their homeland no longer exists. “It’s an unprecedented wake-up call,” said Tom Picken, head of international climate change at Friends of the Earth. “The Maldives is left to fend for itself. It is a victim of climate change caused by rich countries.”

Most of the population of the Maldives is concentrated on one island — Male — which contrasts with the rest of the resort-studded archipelago. Check out this density:

And for some scale, click here to see the island in context — next to the airport.

Carbon footprint measurers take note: Chicago O’Hare is taking steps to reduce the fuel burned by aircraft while they’re still on the ground.

It’s a worthy target: The jet fuel spent by commercial aircraft when taxiing can run in the hundreds of gallons if the plane idles long enough. For every minute the plane isn’t in the air, but the engines are on, it’s essentially wasted energy. That’s a lot of carbon — and a lot of money. Enter the entrepreneurs:

[Executives at UST Aviation Services, the company providing towing services at O'Hare,] think they have a better idea and hope the airlines will let the firm do the driving between O’Hare passenger terminals and maintenance hangars. [emphasis added]

UST has purchased a high-speed push tractor that lifts a plane’s nose gear off the tarmac and tows the jet with the plane’s engines off.

The German-made tractor burns less than a half-gallon of diesel fuel per minute, compared with almost 6 gallons of the more expensive jet fuel that a 757 burns each minute while taxiing, said Mayank Tripathi, president of UST.

This is similar to something Richard Branson was pitching to Chicago and other airports a couple years ago. But Branson wanted planes towed from the gate to the runway. Gate-to-runway towing is unfortunately laden with risk of delays. The fuel savings only actually happen if the plane is able to take off immediately. If there’s a line-up, you need a huge army of tugs (which isn’t economical) or the plane has to fire up the engines to inch forward, which negates any carbon benefit.

Towing a plane to the hangar isn’t nearly as impactful as towing to the runway would be, but still, it’s a good step!

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Reader Michelle sends in a link about the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey’s plan to make the outlying Stewart Airport “carbon-negative.” Carbon-negative? So flying from Stewart actually HELPS the environment? Uhh, yeah.

In reality, the airport would offset the carbon dioxide produced on its premises by planting forests wholesale. All well and good. But is it realistic to expect an airport to counteract all of the fossil fuel burning machines that grace its pavement? And then some?

I don’t buy it. Airports aren’t exactly minty-fresh. Never have been, and as long as their tenants burn hydrocarbons, they won’t be. Offsetting the pollution they create is an honorable goal, but face it, that’s a lot of trees. Especially if the airport is expected to grow.

And it doesn’t help the local environment. “People who live around Stewart have concerns that expanded operations will exacerbate air and noise pollution and fuel sprawling development.” Indeed, I’m sure they will. And planting trees fifty, a hundred, or a thousand miles away won’t fix that.

This is a “greenwashing” PR stunt.

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If you invest in socially-responsible mutual funds, you may not be investing (however indirectly) in airlines much longer. And it has nothing to do with labor practices, if that’s where your mind is drifting.

Fund manager Standard Life is dropping airlines from its “ethical” portfolios:

Airlines have been labelled unethical by one of Britain’s biggest investment firms, which plans them to blacklist them alongside arms dealers, pornographers and animal-testing laboratories.

Concern over the millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide produced by commercial aircraft has prompted the Edinburgh-based Standard Life to cease investing in carriers such as British Airways, Ryanair and EasyJet on behalf of tens of thousands of customers of its ethical funds.

Sure, the parallel with arms dealers and pornographers is intentionally inflammatory, and makes great headlines. And if the funds have an environmental focus, then the exclusion makes sense. Air travel isn’t without its carbon impact (though short-hop airlines like Ryanair presumably have a greater negative impact than long-haul airlines like British Airways…)

And let’s not forget that airlines have been pretty lousy long-term investments. But that’s not ethics, that’s business.

But above all, this highlights how different the discourse of travel is in Europe and America, despite perpetually increasing environmental awareness among Americans. Sure, airlines spew plenty of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but this is barely an issue in the US.

Ethical investment? Or a distasteful stain on any self-respecting person’s portfolio? Hit the comments.

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Looking up into the sky, you’ll often see lines of white contrails painted against the blue. Sometimes it’s a mesh, sometimes it’s remarkably parallel, reminding you that there really are highways in the sky. Rarely does a day go by that we don’t see the cloudlike atmospheric footprint of travel in the jet age.

Ever wonder what those jets’ contrails actually do to the atmosphere, and how they affect the weather 35,000 feet below?

For an answer, we turn to to Chicago weatherman extraordinaire, Tom Skilling. For those who don’t know Tom Skilling’s weather reports, they are an exercise in most excellent geekdom. His 9:30 forecasts on WGN go on for far longer, and in far greater scientific detail, than any other local weather forecaster or Weather Channel report I’ve ever seen. We may no longer live in Chicago, but my weather-nerd wife can’t let go of Tom Skilling. His blog remains her daily read. If only his brother, Enron’s disgraced CEO Jeff Skilling, could have followed Tom’s footsteps. At least the older brother made good.

Tom offers this on the contrails question:

The grounding of all U.S. and Canadian commercial air traffic for three days following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks constituted a gigantic unplanned experiment, one result of which was a demonstration that high-altitude contrails affect weather at the ground. Contrails, the long, narrow, wispy ice-crystal clouds that form behind high-flying jet aircraft, result from the condensation of water vapor in jet exhaust. It was learned that contrails lower daytime and raise nighttime temperatures slightly in high-traffic jet corridors. Lacking those clouds for a few days after Sept. 11, the spread between daily high and low temperatures increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Thanks, Kim!

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With everyone talking green these days, and with many environmental groups squarely putting the travel industry in its crosshairs, European mega-tourism conglomerate TUI has announced that it will use its size to make good on the green mandate. The tour company is putting pressure on hotel companies to make their operations more environmentally sound.

“In five years we want minimum standards in all our hotels,” said Dermot Blastland, managing director for TUI UK and Ireland, which carries 30 million passengers a year across Europe to 200 destinations. “We will not feature hotels that do not comply.” He said that he expects other companies to follow its lead, as customer demand drives the move to more sustainable travel.

No specifics on what those green standards actually are, and five years is a long time for companies to catch up.

I’m hoping that the standards include more than putting a card in the hotel room to tell you how to notify housekeeping whether or not you want your sheets washed or your towels changed.

But it’s a start, and if a 600-pound gorilla like TUI gives its standards teeth, then they’re very likely to gain global relevance.

Some may be crying hypocrisy, since TUI operates airplanes after all, which aren’t known for their carbon-neutrality. But it’s a smart business move, even if hoteliers may be crying environmental blackmail. A company that’s willing to step forward and make a move like this signals to consumers that they’re taking the environmental impact of travel a smidgen more seriously than their competitors, and that could tip the scales for some folks weighing vacation alternatives.

Note to airlines: This is how you get in front of bad PR. By taking a stand that improves the greater good, and demanding that others follow or get left behind, the company comes out looking like a knight in shining armor, even if it’s not really a selfless act. There’s got to be a way for airlines to spin their less-than-stellar environmental reputation — or their less-than-stellar passengers’ rights reputation, for that matter — in a way that benefits the masses and simultaneously makes the company look good.

Downgraded: The mile-high club
Singapore Airlines has some of the swankest first class seats — ahem, “suites” — in the sky, but if you want to get frisky with your mate at 39,000 feet, no dice. Despite having a double bed in their suites, the airline enforces a no-sex policy in the sky. Note the key word: enforces. Early passengers on the A380 weren’t pleased:

“So they’ll sell you a double bed, and give you privacy and endless champagne — and then say you can’t do what comes naturally?” asked Tony Elwood, a vigorous 76. “Seems a bit strange.”

Sorry, Tony. Your ticket may say first class, but you and the missus will have to use the lavatory, just like everyone else. Or rent a private love jet for $299.

Downgraded: Airbus’ green claims
One big selling point for modern aircraft is always their lower fuel consumption. Leo Hickman at the Guardian ran the numbers on the A380, and found that Airbus’ calculations are bogus. They assume a full plane of 555 passengers, but zero luggage or cargo, when they calculate the kerosene burn. How realistic. (By the way, Airbus claims that the A380 will burn 2.9 liters of fuel per passenger for every 100km traveled, i.e., 75 grams of carbon dioxide per passenger per km.)

Upgraded: Olde tyme hotel rates
The Palmer House in Chicago is allowing repeat guests to stay there at the rate they paid years ago. A great deal… as long as the earlier stay was fifty years ago or more, and if the guests still have the original receipt. A 1947 receipt will get you a room under $10. Which wasn’t cheap! (Notice to my wife: THIS is why I keep receipts.)

Downgraded: The State Department
Turns out that the $97 passport fee is nicely padded in the government’s favor, far above the cost of processing. Gosh, really?

Downgraded: Surcharges
The seven most annoying travel surcharges, from Chris Elliott. Room service “Tray fee”?? Wow, that’s really brazen.

Downgraded: The TSA
TSA regularly sends staff to conduct internal testing of its security procedures. But it turns out they’re sometimes tipping off the front-line staff in advance. (I know someone who works for TSA, who has had the pleasure of carrying a “bomb” through the airport. Yes, they caught him. Who’da thunk.)

Upgraded: The jurisdiction for Southwest’s Fashion Police
Good to see that the memo that Southwest doesn’t have a dress code made it to every employee. Oh wait… “Southwest Airlines said it will apologize to a passenger who was told he would be removed from a flight if he didn’t change clothes, the second time in recent months the budget carrier has been forced to do so.” The shirt read “Captain Jack Hoff: Master Baiter.” Har har har. Those t-shirt auteurs… such cunning linguists! Well, considering how Southwest “apologized” the last time, we should expect a fare sale with a saucy name soon. But what will they call it? “The ‘No shirt, no shoes, no assigned seating!’ Sale” ?? “The Happy Hands Sale” ?? Speculate in comments.

Downgraded: Urns
The Indianapolis Airport was shut down and evacuated because a funeral urn hadn’t been screened properly and the owner couldn’t be found. Talk about adding insult to injury for the family of the deceased. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened with those newfangled security systems that somehow keep hitting the media but don’t actually show up in widespread use at airports. Or maybe it would happen anyway. This is the TSA we’re talking about, after all.

Upgraded: Olympic fever!
Looking to visit the Olympics in Beijing next summer? Over on Peter Greenberg’s site, Mike Day rounds up the ways to get tickets, get a room, and get around. Don’t forget your asthma medication.

Upgraded: Erosion
A 2002 flood created a new canyon in Texas in just three days. And then it took five years to open it to the public!

Upgraded: Quieter hotels
Longtime readers know that one of my pet travel peeves is the noisy luxury hotel, often courtesy of a crappy door with a giant gap at the bottom, allowing in all the noise from the hall. I’m happy to read that soundproofing materials are selling well as hoteliers build new facilities. Better walls, yay! But no mention of better doors. Nice try, people! The Door Wars are still on!

Upgraded: Bio-air-travel
Air New Zealand, Boeing, and Rolls-Royce engines will test a biofuel-powered 747. If you smell french fries in the wind, look up to see if a jumbo jet is passing by.