Predicting Airline Crisis in Advance??

[Bill From PA]

Given the state of the airlines and the fact that I flew USAir out of PHL a week after their Christmas Luggage Disaster, I'd like to factor in possible airline woes into my choice of carrier next time. I'm pretty sure we'll be flying out of PHL early March 2006 on a direct early flight to capture the first day at WDW. So far AirTran and USAir are the only ones I'm seeing that will have us on the ground at MCO at 9am or sooner. That's the target. Is there a source of info where I can learn if there are any known problems in this time frame for these or other carriers? I realize that anyone can go belly-up anytime, cancel/change direct flights, etc. What I'd like to know is the status of labor problems or other predictable hitches around this date. I'd gladly do the research if pointed to a web site, trade magazine or other such thing.

Thanks,
Bill From PA

 

[CarolMN]

I think your best bet is a search on one of the finance websites such as www.cnnfn.com. for example, when I did that for U S Airways, I got several hits - here's the most recent one:

http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/31/news/fortune500/usairways.reut/index.htm

You could also call one of the larger travel agencies to get their take. I assume you would only buy using a credit card to have some protection if they suddenly quit flying.

Best wishes -

 

[safetymom]

I would also start reading on www.flyertalk.com That board is a wealth of information on the airlines.

 

[DebbieB]

March 2006? It's hard to predict which airlines will be around in 13 months, plus their schedules may have changed by then. Unless you can get a super rate when the flight schedules come up, I would hold off until closer to the date.

 

[helenk]

Southwest generally has a flight that leaves at 7:00 or 7:15 am, I do not think that they would be going belly up or anything, in the near future.
They only open up their flights a few months in advance so the schedule would not be available until December of this year.

 

[DonnaL]

Second that on Southwest....we just flew SW out of PHL on New Years Day returned on 1/9...first time I've flown them....customer service was great...flights were great and price was unbeatable....six of us flying was $820.00 rd trip...so, Bill from PA, even though I only live about 2 minutes from AVP I'll be making the two hour drive to PHL for most trips which is usually about twice a year! I prefer a later afternoon flight though since the day begins too early with the drive..we found the 3:05 p.m. flight was great..on the ground at MCO at 5:15 at Disney by a little after 6:00 p.m. DH went to
pick the rental car up and the rest of us waited at baggage claim ....piece of cake.

 

[dkrause716]

We have flown Southwest out of Philly 3 times over the past year. You can't beat them for price or customer service. They also seem to have more leg room--and my guys are tall! Southwest also allows you to change your ticket without that nasty penalty. I would truly stay away from US Air. My son just used them for a "quick" trip to Detroit. His flight home was delayed for 4 hours and then they lost his luggage! Never again!

 

[Mark P.]

Another plug for Southwest here from PHL...Pushed off promptly at the scheduled departure time of 7:05am, and after a pleasant flight, touched down just before 9:30.
(Same flight experience on the way home, too. There was a luggage snafu on their part, as these things do happen, but everything worked out fine in the end, as they were quick to remedy the mistake)

-Mark

 

[macnodos]

Bill,

Have pretty much used Airtran for all of our transportation needs . Except for one small problem about six years returning from Texas with layover (extended) they have been excellent. They did compensate us with two one way vouchers(roundtrip) each for our inconvenience. We used them last year for Disney at Easter and are using them again this Easter 3/25. You can also upgrade to Business for about $30.00 based on availabilty. Would have considered Southwest but their availability was limited. Good Luck.


k

 

[CarolA]

And if someone is able to predict these crisis, could you let me know? I own airline stock and would like to be able to predict the future. (Just kidding, hope no one is offended!)

 

[LukenDC]

A couple of weeks ago the travel industry forecasters were predicting doom for USAirways. The carrier, however, seems determined to rise above its current financial and PR challenges. USAirways is adding 50 flights to its DCA hub and hiring an additional 250 people to work in Washington.

Despite the renewed optimism at USAirways, I have decided that I will probably journey to Baltimore so that I can use Southwest. Southwest has a number of direct flights to MCO out of BWI and they appear to be on solid financial footing. Peace of mind is important to me when I travel and I do not want to take any chances with an unstable carrier.