For Amani Surges, picking a flight home for the holidays is all about cost and convenience.þThat is why she booked a flight over the Internet on Northwest Airlines out of Madison, Wis., to Baltimore.þþSurges, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, is heading back to York County to visit family and friends.þþAlthough Madison’s airport is small and doesn’t offer many direct flights, Surges would rather make a connection than drive two hours to Milwaukee.þþ“It’s a lot easier to go to Madison,” said the Craley native. “I’d rather spend the extra $30 to save five hours. It takes all of, like, two minutes to check in and go through security.”þþSurges is flying into Baltimore/Washington International Airport rather than Harrisburg International Airport because she says it’s easier and cheaper.þþBut getting home for the holidays this year might not be so easy for Surges or anyone else regardless of which airport they’re using.þþThe airline industry has bumped up against financial hard times and disgruntled employees. þþþAirlines struggleþþUnited Airlines, US Airways, Southeast Airlines and ATA are all in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings.þþOther major carriers, such as Delta Airlines, are struggling to avoid the same fate.þþDelta recently completed its agreements with GE Commercial Finance and American Express Travel Related Services Co. to obtain $1.1 billion in financing.þþThe legacy carriers, as they are often called, are having cash problems because of the competition from low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines.þþOlder, larger airlines in airports that also house JetBlue and Southwest Airlines have to slash the price of tickets.þþ“They’re selling tickets at prices that don’t even cover their costs,” said Rebecca Lutte of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Aviation Institute. At the same time, some of those same carriers are dealing with labor problems.þþEarlier this month, strike authorization ballots were sent to 21,000 United Airlines flight attendants. The ballots call for a potential nationwide CHAOS strike, which stands for “create havoc around our system.”þþWhat that boils down to is flight attendants, with no advance warning, could call in sick or take other actions that would disrupt services.þþ“It could very much cause a cancellation of a flight,” said David Kameras, spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants.þþA CHAOS strike would come into play if United Airlines or any other contracted carrier canceled its labor agreement with the Association of Flight Attendants, according to the union.þþSimilar ballots were sent in November to 5,000 flight attendants at US Airways.þþThose ballots are scheduled to be counted Monday, Kameras said.þþThe votes for United Airlines are scheduled to be counted Dec. 30.þþThe other condition that would make such a strike possible would be an adverse ruling against the workers in bankruptcy court.þþ“We’d be a giant step closer,” Kameras said.þþAlthough the judge could rule at any time, a decision isn’t expected until after the New Year.þþThe delay in the judge’s ruling could help divert a holiday strike.þþ“It looks less likely given where the court is going,” Kameras said. “I suppose, that is subject to change, of course.”þþDavid Castlveter, spokesman for US Airways, said the company is in active negotiations with the union. The company is hopeful it can reach an agreement.þþ“We don’t believe there is any legal authority to conduct a work action and it would be in nobody’s best interest,” he said.þþThe company’s lawyers did ask a bankruptcy court to give the company relief from its contracts with workers. The company argued that given its financial situation, if it did not get relief, it would have to start liquidating in mid-January. A strike might not be limited to United Airlines and US Airways. Other groups have signed on to support the flight attendants.þþ“We’re calling this a global strike,” Kameras said.þþA similar strike caused the cancellation of an Alaska Airlines flight back in 1991, Kameras said.þþEfforts to speak with United Airlines were unsuccessful. þþþHelping consumersþþUntil the airlines sort out their financial and labor troubles, travelers can take steps to ensure they don’t get scrooged during the holidays.þþ“Always buy your airline ticket with a credit card,” said John Hawks, executive director of Consumer Travel Rights Center.þþConsumers can argue to get that money back, he said, if for some reason their flights are canceled or the airline carrier goes out of business.þþUnder federal law, travelers using a credit card have 60 days from the date the charge shows up on their bill to make their case. That same protection does not apply to passengers who buy their tickets using a debit card.þþ“You may be able to go to your bank and apply for a refund,” he said. “It’s treated as cash.”þþGiven the financial uncertainty facing most airlines, consumers should shy away from buying airline tickets more than 60 days in advance.þþ“Don’t buy them now, no matter how good the deal is,” Hawks advised.þþHawks’ group does not necessarily anticipate any extra delays or problems because of the airlines’ financial difficulties over the holidays.þþHowever, travelers would be smart to go to their airlines’ Web sites and print out the contract of carriage and carry it to the airport.þþThat document contains the nitty-gritty, fine-print rules the carriers adhere to when they cancel a flight. One contract does not fit all. Different carriers, Hawks said, have different rules.þþThat was apparent to many travelers when their flights were canceled or delayed earlier this year because of the hurricanes in Florida. Many consumers, he said, made assumptions about what the airlines would do for them. They learned, he said, those assumptions were wrong.þþMany times, the airlines gave passengers a meal voucher, and the consumers had to put themselves up in hotels. The carriers were not bound to do anything.þþ“Print out those rules and take them with you,” Hawks said. “We’ve found a lot of gate agents don’t know what the rules are.”þþAnd with the rules in hand, holiday travelers are more apt to get the compensation they deserve.þþAirlines are not going to volunteer to do anything that is going to cost them more money such as getting a customer on a competing carrier’s flight, he said.þþAnother strategy travelers might want to employ over the holidays is booking an early morning flight instead of one in the afternoon. By doing that, Hawks said, travelers give themselves more options in case a flight is canceled or delayed.þþAll of this brouhaha, though, is not weighing heavily on Surges’ mind.þþHer focus is on her graduate school finals more so than her pending travel plans.þþ“If I am late,” she said, “it’s not that big of a deal.”þþ
Source: York Daily Record
