Finding Luggage For The Way We Travel Today

We all know the troubles with traveling today, particularly air travel: the long lines at security checkpoints, the rules of what will -- and will not -- be allowed to be carried onto an airplane, that always seem to change. And that says nothing of the ongoing cost-cutting rules the airlines themselves are putting out there that limit the Luggage you can bring with you.

Luggage may all seem the same -- but that's why it's not. You know that if you ever try to get that big suitcase your grandma gave you from 1964 through all of those logistical nightmares I just described. You ought to shop around, from brands like Tumi Luggage, Hartman Luggage and Vera Bradley Luggage, that is modern and suited to today's traveling circumstances.

Look for luggage pieces that are flexible and can you can adapt for different situations. Luggage that you can throw prohibited carry-on items into quickly and easily so you don't lose your items to security at a minimal delay for you and those you may be traveling with.

Also, just try paying attention to the way you personally use your luggage some time, and try to find pieces that are more suited to that style.

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Go With The Australia Travel Specialist

Australia is a world away -- literally. That means there's a lot riding on having your trip go off without unforeseen problems. You don't want to get halfway there only to have a connection fail or some other headache show up.

So yes you could go with any travel website but doesn't it make more sense to go with a site that knows Australian travel and can still get you cheap flights. Visit Travel.com.au for deals on qantas airlines flights, as well as other major airlines. Not only do you get deals on Qantas but how many other travel sites can get you deals on singapore airlines, as well.

You can also visit the site for cruises, hotels -- even travel insurance. If you are traveling to or from Down Under, isn't better to go with a travel site that speaks Australian?

This post was sponsored by your friends at travel.com.au.

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Researchers Team with Airline to Pinpoint Turbulence in Clouds;

A new turbulence detection system now being tested is alerting pilots to patches of rough air as they fly through clouds. The system, designed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and tested by United Airlines on commercial flights, is designed to better protect passengers from injuries caused by turbulence while reducing flight delays and lowering aviation costs.

The new system uses a mathematical method developed by NCAR scientists, known as the NEXRAD Turbulence Detection Algorithm, or NTDA, to analyze data obtained from the National Weather Service's network of Next-Generation (NEXRAD) Doppler radars. The resulting real-time snapshot of turbulence can be transmitted to pilots in the cockpit and made available to airline meteorologists and dispatchers via a Web-based display.

The research is funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in partnership with the National Science Foundation, NCAR's primary sponsor.

"Pinpointing turbulence in clouds and thunderstorms is a major scientific challenge," says NCAR scientist John Williams. "Our goal is to use these radar measurements to create a three-dimensional mosaic showing turbulence across the country that can help pilots avoid hazardous areas, or at least give them enough warning to turn on the 'fasten seat belt' sign."

The NTDA is being tested until October by a group of United Airlines pilots who fly routes east of the Rockies. The pilots, who receive information in their cockpits about turbulence detected ahead, report that the system provides them with accurate information about turbulence that is not available from any other source.

"The messages I've received in the cockpit gave a very accurate picture of turbulence location and intensity," says Captain Rocky Stone, chief technical pilot for United Airlines. "The depiction of turbulence intensity provides an unprecedented and extremely valuable new tool for pilot situational awareness."

Depending on the results of this year's tests, the next step may be to expand the system to additional United aircraft or other airlines. Williams anticipates that, by 2011, the NTDA will provide input to a system over the contiguous United States that will update comprehensive turbulence "nowcasts" for pilots and air traffic managers every 15 minutes.

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Despite Recent Severe Weather, Travelers Blame Airlines Most for Flight Delays

A majority of air travelers have been delayed within the past three months -- and they are holding the airlines responsible, according to a new survey focused on consumer perceptions of the causes for air travel delays.

The survey was conducted by market research firm TNS and was based on interviews August 16-19 with 2,500 members of the TNS US online panel. Respondents were screened for past month travel and past three-month air travel.

Just this month, a Federal Aviation Administration report named June 2007 one of the worst travel months in U.S. history. At the same time, the Department of Transportation stated that the first half of 2007 was the worst for air travel delays in 13 years, when the department first began keeping statistics. The TNS study reveals that among those who expect to travel over the Labor Day holiday, 30 percent plan to travel by air. Despite the delays, the Air Transport Association expects 15.7 million passengers will fly over the Labor Day Weekend -- a 2.6 percent increase over last year. As the already busy skies become increasingly crowded this
holiday weekend, consumers can only hope that airlines will be prepared to meet the demand.

"What's interesting is that consumers are now blaming the airline itself for their travel delays more often than they blame the obvious culprits -- weather, increased summer air traffic, or both," says Tim Gohmann, senior vice president, Travel & Leisure, TNS North America. "Airlines have the opportunity to address the contributing factors such as overbooking and mechanical failure and win back some of the trust of consumers. Consumers, on the other hand, should approach Labor Day weekend prepared to face the same delays they have experienced throughout the summer."

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Hurdles Remain For NextGen Air Traffic Control

U.S. agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), still face challenges in creating a state-of-the-art air traffic control system needed to meet increasing demand for air traffic, according to a new government report.

The current U.S. air traffic control system is reaching its capacity limits as demand for air transportation grows. The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) represents a new system that will use state-of-the-art technologies and procedures. Transitioning to NextGen will require the FAA to continue to sustain the current air traffic control system while acquiring new systems on schedule and on budget.

In 2003, Congress authorized the creation of the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), housed within FAA, to plan NextGen and coordinate the transition.

FAA and JPDO continue to face a number of challenges in moving toward NextGen, including questions about FAA’s technical and contract management expertise; FAA’s ability to maintain a number of existing systems, including monitoring and addressing equipment outages to ensure the safety of these existing systems as it transitions to NextGen; and conducting necessary human factors research.

That's according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

"In addition, while JPDO recently estimated that the total federal cost for NextGen infrastructure through 2025 will range between $15 billion and $22 billion, questions remain about which entities will fund and conduct the necessary research, development, and demonstration projects that will be key to achieving certain NextGen capabilities," GAO says. "Also, JPDO faces a continuing challenge in ensuring the involvement of all key stakeholders, such as active air traffic controllers and system technicians, in its NextGen planning efforts."

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One Site for Your Travel Needs

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With United Vacation Network, you need no real estate broker, appraisal or attorney.

Visit their site for their free seller's market survey.

United Vacation Network doesn't end with timeshares, either. Rely on them for condominiums, hotels, B&Bs, resorts, cruises, airfare, rental cars, RVs, tours, and individually prepared customized vacation packages.

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FAA Continues To Face Challenges in Air System Reform

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues to have hurdles it must overcome to come up with a new-generation air system for U.S. aviation to deal with crowded skies, according to a new government audit.

Congress in 2003 authorized a Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) and requires the office to operate in conjunction with multiple federal agencies, including the departments of Transportation, Commerce, Defense, and Homeland Security; the FAA; NASA; and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

JPDO is responsible for coordinating the related efforts of these partner agencies to plan the transformation to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), a fundamental redesign of the national airspace system. FAA will be largely responsible for implementing the policies and systems necessary for the new system, while safely operating the current air traffic control system.

Among the challenges JPDO faces are institutionalizing the interagency collaboration that is so central to its mission, developing a comprehensive cost estimate, and addressing potential gaps in research and development for NextGen, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

"In transitioning to NextGen, FAA faces several challenges. Although FAA has taken several actions to improve its management of current air traffic control modernization efforts, institutionalizing these improvements will require continued strong leadership, particularly since the agency will have lost two of its key agents for change by September 2007," GAO says. "Costs are another challenge facing FAA as it addresses the resource demands that NextGen will likely pose, while continuing to maintain the current air traffic control system. Finally, determining whether it has the technical and contract management expertise necessary to implement NextGen is a challenge for FAA."

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TSA Launches Airport-Wide Security Surge

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced the first in a series of airport employee security operations to increase security measures at U.S. airports. The surge operation is underway at Orlando International, TampaInternational, Miami International, Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood Internationaland Luis Munoz Marin International (San Juan, P.R.) airports.

TSA has deployed 160 transportation security officers, aviation security inspectors, federal air marshals and other personnel to increase current employee and passenger security capabilities at these five airports. TSA began randomly screening employees working in secure areas of the airport approximately one year ago at 20 airports, and broadened the program early last fall. Now, roving groups of officers screen employees on a random and unpredictable basis nationwide, the agency says.

TSA was created to boost airport and airline security following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"TSA moves in a flexible, nimble fashion to address vulnerabilities with a layered security approach," says TSA Administrator Kip Hawley. "Every employee should have a reasonable expectation that they could be screened at any time, at any access point within the footprint of the airport."

TSA will conduct additional operations in other regions in the coming weeks and months on an unannounced basis. While there is no intelligence that indicates a specific threat to aviation in Florida or Puerto Rico, this mobilization illustrates TSA's ability to quickly and unpredictably deploy assets based on risk, the agency says.

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US Air Chief Defends Delta Merger

The head of US Air (LCC) defends its desired merger with Delta Air Lines as creating a stronger airline for consumers to rely on.

Others, including the head of Delta Air Lines, criticized the deal on Capitol Hill as a hostile takeover attempt that will hurt the traveling public.

"After the merger, 81% of US Airways/Delta passengers will have low-cost carrier competition at their local airports. An additional 13% will have access to such service within 100 miles," says W. Douglas Parker, chairman and CEO of US Airways Group.

The merger will, for example, allow the combined airline to lower fares in Harrisburg, Pa., enabling US Airways to recapture traffic that has been driving from central Pennsylvania to Baltimore for lower fares, Parker says.

"This phenomenon is repeated in communities big and small throughout the United States. The old US Airways would lose money on every ticket sold were it to have lowered fares in markets where it did not directly face low-cost competition, in places such as Harrisburg, Pa., Wilmington, NC or Huntsville, Ala. In sharp contrast, the new US Airways has a cost structure that permits it to lower fares and remain profitable, and indeed, we have to in order to competer with the growing low cost carriers," he says.

Parker also put forward several other assertions to defend the merger, saying:

1. Every U.S. city currently served by either airline will continue to have service from the new company.

2. On the labor front, we have made several commitments to the employees and unions of US Airways and Delta. We have committed to moving to the highest common denominator on labor costs for all employee groups. We have committed to not furlough frontline employees of either US Airways or Delta. Instead, we plan to manage the mainline operational employee reductions through attrition and other voluntary means, just as we did successfully in the US Airways/America West merger. We have committed to allowing Delta’s employees, the vast majority of whom are not represented by a union, to decide for themselves the question of union representation, and to do so without management opposition. And we have committed to honoring the terms of all labor agreements—including the Delta pilot agreement. Finally, and importantly, we will not close any hubs in either the current Delta or US Airways’ networks.

3. We expect that at the appropriate time the Department of Justice (DOJ) will fully investigate the merger. We plan to work cooperatively with DOJ during the investigation and have begun to do so already. We spent a lot of time prior to making our bid for Delta considering the many potential antitrust issues, and we believe that our transaction is beneficial for consumers, communities and a major step toward building a company that will provide stability for its employees over the long-term.

4. This merger is in the best interest of consumers. Our synergies are not predicated on raising fares. They are predicated on gaining efficiencies by cutting duplicative costs in locations served today by both US Airways and Delta. If we were planning, as our critics claim, to gain synergies by raising fares, that plan would fail in the long run, because low-cost carriers would come in and undercut the higher fares. The industry is brutally competitive today and will remain so even after this merger. Our model is based on a sustainable plan to serve markets at a lower cost, and thereby be able to compete with low-cost carriers on price.


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Message on Capitol Hill: Airliner Merger to Hurt Consumers

Experts, stakeholders and lawmakers alike rose on Capitol Hill to question the proposed merger of US Air (LCC) and Delta Airlines (DALRQ), saying the combination could cut competition and hurt consumers.

U.S. domestic airlines have lost nearly $40 billion in the last five years, but after intense restructuring among the major carriers, the industry may have turned a corner, notes U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that held a hearing looking at airline competitiveness.

Even conservative estimates suggest the airline industry will turn a profit of $4 billion in 2007, Inouye says. Despite the positive outlook, most industry observers warn that external factors or other negative business trends could dramatically impact any potential profits next year or beyond, Inouye adds.

"Aviation is vitally important to our nation’s system of transportation and commerce. We must be quite certain that the likely benefits of various merger proposals far outweigh any potential consequences," he says.

The airline industry has seen a pause in mergers in the past half-decade, as the airline industry restructured but that does not change concerns about anti-consumer and anti-competitive effects of mergers in the airline industry, says Mark Cooper, director of research, Consumer Federation of America.

"The elimination of competition and the reinforcement of dominant fortress hubs inevitably raise concerns about rising prices," Cooper says. "Competitive entry in the industry, to the extent it can discipline the abuse of market power, is highly restricted, limited to selective, high volume routes and markets. The so-called low cost airlines would leave more than half the country unserved."

Financial analysts generally agree that consolidation will be good for the airline industry because it will quickly ease problems of overcapacity, Inouye says.

"However, industry is just one part of the equation the Congress must consider," he says. "We must also weigh the extent to which consolidation is in the best interest of consumers, particularly since the impact of decreased capacity on travelers and local communities is less clear. "

Gerald Grinstein, chief executive of Delta Air Lines, also weighed in against the merger, which he likened to a hostile takeover on the part of U.S. Air Lines.

"We believe US Airways’ unsolicited and anticompetitive proposal does not meet antitrust standards, and would harm employees, consumers and communities. It would create a much weaker combined carrier that would threaten the future stability of our nation’s air transportation industry," Grinstein says. "It would reverse the remarkable progress Delta has made. Let me be clear – this is a hostile takeover bid; not a consensual merger."

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