Most Fee Crazy Airlines:

1. U.S. Airways: Not only does U.S. Airways have the distinction of being the only US airline to charge for water, they were also the first to discontinue free snacks. They've also decided to do away with in-flight entertainment. So what will you think about while you're bored, hungry and thirsty? How about that $15 first checked bag fee, the $25 second checked bag fee, the $5-30$ fee to choose your favorite economy class seat, and the whopping $250 fee you paid to change your ticket. Oh, yeah, and remember when they made everyone crazy by charging a $5 fee to book a ticket... with their own website?
2. United Airlines: United is following U.S. Airways lead with a combination of cutting amenities and introducing fees. They've done away with snacks and are selling "snack boxes." Soon, United will be raising the prices for these items and economy class passengers will be expected to pay $9 for a sandwich. While you're munching on that overpriced nonsense, you can add up the following fees: $15 to check your first bag, $25 for the second bag, and $125 for the third. Then there's the $25 you paid to book your ticket over the phone, the $125 you paid for the privilege of traveling with your pet in the cabin, and of course, the $349 per year that you pay to be able to "stretch out and relax in comfort in seats located at the front of the Economy section,".."if available."
   
3. (tie) Delta Airlines & American Airlines: American was the first airline to charge for the 1st checked bag, and Delta has managed to resist that fee — but Delta's other fees are just so darn expensive that we had to call this one a tie. Ultimately, it costs more to check two bags with Delta than it does with U.S. Airways, United, or American. American currently charges $15 for the first bag, $25 for the second, and from $3-6 for snacks. Delta charges nothing for the first checked bag, but if you're thinking of checking two bags, get ready to pay $50 for the second bag, and $125 for the third bag. Ouch! Delta's snacks are complimentary, but they charge from $1-10 more for certain special items.

Least Fee Crazy Airlines:

1. Southwest Airlines: Southwest is the only major airline that isn't charging a fee to check two bags, and the third checked bag will only cost you $25. There is also no fee to change your ticket. Instead, you'll get a flight credit that is good for one year. They don't charge a fee to book over the phone or in person, and they don't charge a fee for an unaccompanied minor.
   
2. AirTran: AirTran has fees but they're lower than a lot of its competitors. For example, the 2nd checked bag is $10 and the third is $50. The ticket change fee is $75, and unaccompanied minors will only cost you $39, as opposed to $100 on Delta, United, etc. You will pay $6 for an advanced seat assignment and $20 to sit in an exit row.
   
3. JetBlue: JetBlue keeps threatening to go over to the dark side with new charges for things that used to be free (headsets $1, blankets and pillows $7) but they still have some of the more reasonable fees in the industry. There is no charge for the first checked back, and the second bag will cost you $20. Changing your ticket will cost you $100, and expect to pay from $10-20 more for their mini-business class "extra legroom" seats. Snacks and non-alcoholic beverages are plentiful and free, however. Love those blue potato chips.

If you're looking for an easy way to compare fees, check out this excellent PDF from the folks at SmarterTravel.com, Airfarewatchdog.com, and SeatGuru.com.

(Photo: Jenna Belle )

Here's Noah's letter:

I had read your articles on United Airlines for a while now, but always thought "that couldn't happen to me". In fact I've had positive United experiences over the years. Nevertheless, this current situation has me recanting any nice thing I've said about them. Here's the quick version:

1. Girlfriend and I are trying to make Thanksgiving holiday travel plans. I have a pair of vouchers for United, a $100 and $200, from a previous airline error where United stood up and took responsibility. We wanted to apply both of these vouchers for the single ticket, from Seattle to D.C.

2. The United website bizarrely does not let you enter voucher codes. You get a message telling you to call their reservations department and read numbers to them. As we'll soon see, this is not a foolproof system.

3. I call the reservations department and speak to a nice fellow. I tell him the information on the flight I want and tell him I have two vouchers I'd like to apply. He says that two vouchers cannot be used on a single ticket. Fair enough, but I ask for an exception in this case. It never hurts to ask, and sure enough the gentleman puts me on hold for a few minutes, then comes back and says he can allow both vouchers to be used for the ticket. The process involves physically mailing the vouchers in(scary!), but they're not doing me any good in my apartment. I give him the credit card info to be charged, which he says will occur at the price quoted when United receives both vouchers. Both are mailed in.

4. A week later the credit card was charged, $100 higher than the price originally quoted. It was obvious only a single voucher was used. Annoyed but not overly so, I call customer service and explain the billing error.

5. No luck. Each person, supervisor or otherwise, goes through the same dance. They were very sorry for the misinformation I was given, the offending reservation agent will be swiftly disciplined, under no circumstances can two vouchers be used, and the credit card will not be credited the difference. Disturbingly, each department I speak with(reservations and customer relations) says the other department has the authority to make the change, but it comes to the same effect as no one does. I suggested that if policy prevents two vouchers from being used at once, they cancel the flight and issue a single $300 voucher. To this a supervisor lightly laughed, said the ticket was "confirmed", and could not be canceled or altered in any way without incurring heavy fees.

6. Undeterred, I fired off an EECB to four high ranked United executives. I talked about "rare missteps" and "working together", because after all, I had liked United and I presumed they liked me. The response came back not from any executive but from customer relations, again apologizing that the original rep had given me the wrong price, again saying he would be disciplined, again saying vouchers could not be combined, and (again) saying I was screwed.

7. I write a cathartic letter to the Consumerist.

I know some people would give up at this point, but my girlfriend and I are not wealthy people. $100 is not chump change to us. Also problematic is United having no accountability for outright lying to me about the price of an airline ticket. Confusion I can understand when two vouchers come in nominally against policy, but that does not give them the right to simply charge a credit card for more than the price quoted and hope no one says a thing. A call for clarification would have taken 60 seconds, and after no one would be in this mess.

Strangely for this kind of situation, United has admitted fault every single time I've interacted with an employee on this issue. They simply don't think their fault extends to, you know, doing something about it. Why in the world would I care that the ticketing agent is going to be disciplined, and why are you telling me about your company's internal employee policies anyway? I want the price we agreed to when I gave you two vouchers and a credit card. Take some responsibility for your agent's mistake. At the time anyway, he represented United Airlines, and was relied upon as such. Sigh.

Noah didn't give up after sending this letter to us. He kept corresponding with United until eventually they offered to refund his $100.

Noah says:

After receiving [another] letter and sending my response, I received a call today from an assistant to the VP of United. She again apologized for the employee's error and offered to refund $100 to the credit card, to match the price originally quoted. She did claim it was against policy, but "I had put in so much work" that it seemed fair. Well, whether it was the EECB or name-dropping consumerist.com, United eventually stepped up and did the right thing. Thanks for being such a good ace in the hole.

Congratulations, Noah!

For more information about launching your own EECB, click here.

(Photo: Travelin' Librarian )

The snacks, which include "fresh sandwiches, salads, snack boxes or snacks, depending on the length of flight," will be complimentary for travelers in Business Class and cost coach fliers from $6 for "shelf stable items" to $9 for fresh items such as salads or sandwiches. This price increase will go into effect in October, about a month after United discontinues free snacks in coach. Previously, Business Class customers got free warm meals.

Are you going to pay $9 for a United Airlines sandwich?

United Airlines to Charge Up to $9 for Snacks [WSJ]
United Tests Food Choices in Business and Economy (Press Release) [MarketWatch]
(Photo: pwrplantgirl )

The adjustments are outlined in an internal United Airlines memo that was distributed to flight attendants Monday and obtained by The Chronicle. The changes are all in the name of the "cost reduction and revenue-generating opportunities" United is focused on, the memo reads.

"In the wake of high fuel prices and a challenging economic environment, we must continue to examine every aspect of our business and find new ways to improve our day-to-day operations through efficiencies that still meet our customers' expectations," reads the memo, titled "Catering Changes Provide Value and Options."

"These are difficult but necessary changes," said United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski, in Chicago. "We are looking at everything we need to do to offset fuel prices, which are still skyrocketing."

The memo also says that United plans to do away with complementary meals from Washington D.C. to Europe.

"We'll monitor customer feedback," said Urbanski. "The industry is changing."

Since they're so interested, we think you should let them know how you feel about this change. Is "buy-on-board" food a good way to offset fuel costs without raising fares?

United Airlines to drop free snacks (Thanks, Ari!)
(Photo: So Cal Metro )

• Holding $5,000 in tickets from a family for six months, then telling them the day before that the flight has been canceled;
• When confronted with the fact that the flight hasn't been canceled, telling the family that the reservation has been lost;
• Finally admitting that they've bumped the family from the flight and were lying about the cancelation and the lost reservation;
• Offering replacement seats on multiple planes and days, splitting the family up on different flights and depositing them at different islands;
• Offering to get them there 5 days into a 7 day vacation, part of which was scheduled to spend time with a family member who was dying in a hospice in Hawaii;
• Refusing to write a letter on the family's behalf so that they can collect their insurance payment on the house they rented but never used.

How could United mess up a trip so badly? The mother who arranged all of it, Anita Cabral, suspects it has to do with the bottom line:

Cabral has a theory for this shabby treatment: fuel prices.

Between January and June, as the oil industry mounted its historic shakedown of consumers, the price of those tickets tripled. The folks who paid the most got to fly.

The columnist who wrote about the Cabrals' problems said he called United directly for a response, and was never called back.

"Bad airline stories are nothing like this" [Sign On San Diego] (Thanks to Randy!)
(Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas)

The site also details operational improvements that the pilots want to make, (avoiding delays by using all the open gates at the United terminal, for example.)

The Chicago Tribune says that the pilot group feels Tilton has been distracted by the recent airline merger orgy.

Tilton neglected the airline's day-to-day operations over the past two years as he attempted to merge with Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines and US Airways, said Captain Steve Wallach, chairman of the United Master Executive Council, the leadership team of the Air Line Pilots Association.

"I think that there's been a lack of leadership, which is why our airline has been dragged to the bottom of the industry," Wallach told the Tribune. "Glenn's only plan outside of bankruptcy was to merge."

Glenn Tilton Must Go
United pilots call for resignation of CEO Glenn Tilton [Chicago Tribune]

When my family were ticketed for an overseas flight at Boston's Logan International, the clerk processed our tickets but then asked an unexpected question: "Would you like to upgrade to seats with more legroom?" When I asked how much that would cost, he responded "$231." I declined, since my flight was being paid for by my employer and the upgrade would have come out of my pocket. After a moment of discussion with another clerk, he processed our tickets. We received our tickets and proceeded to the gate for the first leg of our flight.

While waiting for the weather to clear at Dulles to continue our trip, I was attracted to a display from United Airlines that was playing on an LCD TV at the gate. United was showing off their "Economy Plus" seating option, which featured additional leg room in a specific section of the plane, in this case rows (Boeing 777) 17 through 26. (See http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/United_Airlines/United_Airlines_Boeing_777-200_2.php) I pulled out my boarding pass to check my seat assignments, and my entire family was seated in Row 18, within the "Economy Plus" area, even though I had declined to pay the additional fee.

At this point, I recalled the short conversation between the two clerks at Logan, which I had not paid much attention to at the time, but now made sense. My clerk asked the other clerk what "they are supposed to do when the traveler declines." The other clerk replied that "the company makes them ask, but if they say no he just books them anyway."

It is now clear to me that Economy was already full, and that additional Economy passengers were being seated in Economy Plus, whether or not they paid to upgrade, which means that the poor schmucks that were booked and ticketed weeks earlier (I made reservations only twelve days prior) for Economy Plus likely paid an upgrade price for the privilege, where I did not. Or, other passengers like myself who were being seated in Economy Plus anyway were subjected to an attempt by the airline to gouge us out of a few more bucks. That sure doesn't seem right to me.

Best Regards,

Joe S.

Economy Plus Page [United]

The cancellation seems legit—the plane simply won't be there when it's scheduled—but because United is calling it weather-related, they don't have to compensate Jonathan or find him a seat on another carrier.

I bought tickets on United for my friend to fly from Boston (BOS) to Chicago (ORD) leaving last Friday and returning today. On the way out she was delayed nearly four hours due to mechanical and paperwork problems. At this point I was already expecting some form of compensation as a loyal United customer for years.

Yesterday United calls to say her returning flight has been canceled. She was supposed to leave at 8am to get a half day of work in, but apparently the next available United flight leaves at 1pm. That won't work, I explain, and ask for the ticket to be endorsed to another carrier that can meet our schedule. The customer service rep responds that the cancellation is weather-related and therefore not eligible for endorsement.

This sounded pretty fishy - a flight canceled a day in advance due to weather? I first check other United flights in the morning and hers is the only one canceled. How could that be if there’s bad weather? The rep explains the weather's earlier in the morning; the plane couldn't make it to Chicago for her flight. Same problem - only the one flight in from Boston was canceled. In addition, flights on other major carriers were all still scheduled. So at this point it's not weather in the early morning either.

I finally get a supervisor who explains that the bad weather was yesterday night, and United canceled a flight to Boston which would have positioned the plane to head to Chicago early today and finally back to Boston for our flight. To verify this new story I checked the FAA's airport status site, which said there were only delays of up to 45 minutes in Boston because of thunderstorms. And again, other United flights and carriers were making it into Boston, albeit with substantial delays. Doesn't sound like a forced cancellation to me.

United's claim to weather isn't the usual and understandable problem, then - storms between the endpoints during the flight. Nor is it even weather for the flight inbound, which is a bit of a stretch for me; if the skies are clear I feel it's up to the airline to find a plane. If other carriers can fly the route, it's not weather. United’s claim is bad weather the day before that seems to have selectively impacted them. No way does weather - which may not even have been cancellation-worthy - the day before, two flights before, justify this cancellation. I’ve heard stories of airlines stretching what counts as a weather-related delay / cancellation before, but this is a whopper.

Jonathan asks, "How would you suggest approaching an airline in future when they claim weather is a factor when you feel it isn’t? How would you frame a request to United for compensation? And what compensation do you feel it would be appropriate to ask for?"

Jonathan, you might want to try calling the FAA's hotline to ask them if there's any sort of regulation about this. You should also escalate this up to the executive level and demand some clarification about United's official "weather cancellation" policy. Finally, you may want to try contacting the travel writer/advocate Christopher Elliott at www.elliott.org—this is the kind of topic he might know more about, or he might be able to ask an airline representative on your behalf.

Readers, any suggestions? Do any of you know whether there's a statute of limitations on blaming weather for canceled flights?

(Photo: Getty)

United's spokesperson Robin Urbanski, says the airline found "between one and three" ticks on the flight, and that she wasn't sure what kind they were or how they got there.

"I don't know if we'll be able to find that out," Urbanski said. "When possible, we do try to look into those type of things, and hopefully try to look for its origin."

No ticks were found on passengers.

Ticks on a plane: insects delay United Airlines flight from Denver to Des Moines [Star Tribune]

An Open letter to All Airline Customers:

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers. Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem.

We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com.

They've sent you an EECB... how will you respond?

Airlines: Curb oil speculation [CNN]

Aaron writes to United Airlines:

On August 5th, 2007, I had a flight from Dulles Airport to Zurich. I was meeting my family there for an once-in-a-lifetime hiking trip. I boarded the plane without difficulties, when the plane experienced a series of mechanical difficulties. We were kept on the plane, during an especially hot D.C. summer day, without power, without air-conditioning for two hours. We were then told to de-board the plane. We sat at the airport for a while, then re-boarded the plane, sat on the plane for another two hours, then de-boarded again. We then waited again at the airport for an hour, when it became impossible to make the flight to Zurich without violating your union policies. So the flight was canceled six miserable hours after it was supposed to take-off. I completely understand how this could happen. I can only imagine how complicated those airplanes are and I certainly appreciate safety precautions taking precedence. Though I would have appreciated some more communication and coordination from the customer service agents, I understand that they had limited information.

When the flight was canceled though, that is when the proverbial shit hit the fan. All the customers on the August 5th flight became to clamor to reschedule their flight for the next day. There were only two agents to handle the entire flight. I waited in line for another two hours and they had barely made a dent in the line. So I called a travel agent and had her book me on the next flight. I consider myself lucky to get that one.

At the front of the line they were handing out taxi and hotel vouchers. I live in DC, but it is about a $70 taxi to the airport. I approached the front of the line to ask for my taxi voucher and was told, quite rudely, to stay in line. So I called United Customer Service. They told me that if I took a taxi and saved a receipt I would be refunded the next day when I returned. So I paid for the taxi out of pocket, returned home, and then returned to Dulles the next day. Upon arrival, I checked in, and tried to turn in my receipts. The agent at the counter told me that they would not reimburse me. After explaining what happened the day before, she eventually agreed to give me $200 voucher. I thought this was more than fair. I had only spent $140 on the taxis so this seemed more than fair.

I got on my flight and made it to Zurich. My family was waiting for me in Zurich, and because of the schedule we ended up having to cancel a major portion of our trip. I flew home without incident.

I know that airlines are required by law to compensate their customers when flights are canceled for mechanical problems. Upon returning home, I stopped at the United desk at the airport to ask how we were being compensated for the previous day's fiasco. At first I was told that I had received a $200 voucher, and that was my compensation. With much ado, I finally spoke to a manager who gave me a Systemwide Upgrade and another $100 voucher. I was thrilled with this deal. I was planning on a major international flight the next year and I couldn't wait to fly business class on the flight.

In September I had to fly to Chicago. I went online to buy my flight and found a great deal. Having never used a voucher before, I was surprised to find there was no place on the website to enter the voucher code. I called United Airlines once again. They told me that vouchers could only be redeemed at the time of purchase at the airport.

Let me just take a minute to explain to you how idiotic this is. No one buys paper tickets anymore. No one. The only reason to have paper vouchers that must be redeemed at the airport is to make them impossible to use. But the whole point of vouchers is to make unhappy customers happy. By making the vouchers impossible to redeem you only frustrate the unhappy customer more. This stirs up all the reasons they were unhappy in the first place. This is the internet age. There is NO logical reason not to offer vouchers that can be redeemed online.

Anyway, I went to the airport to buy my ticket. The ticket at the airport was $125 more than online, and then they had the nerve to charge $25 for booking in person. So my $200 (reimbursement) voucher became a $50 pain in my ass.

Fast-forward to early May 2008. As I said before, I've been planning a major trip to Kathmandu, Nepal in early August 2008. I was excited to use my upgrade and voucher on this flight. I started looking at tickets. The cheapest flight from another carrier was $2000. United's cheapest flight was $3000. But I was excited to use my upgrade and at the time I considered the $1000 premium worth it. I called United to book, and was told once again that I needed to go to the airport to redeem both vouchers and upgrades. Fine. So I traveled to the airport to book the flight. At the airport, I'm told that I actually have to mail in my upgrade. I argued for a while, but they were unsympathetic. I asked how long it would take to upload my upgrade to my account and they say a week.

I go home and mail the upgrade immediately to a P.O. Box in South Dakota. FedEX doesn't deliver to P.O. Boxes so I send it Priority Mail. A couple days later it arrives. I still have the tracking receipt. But the upgrade never posts. Meanwhile the cost of the flight keeps inching upward.

Three weeks later, I call Customer Service. I need to book this flight. I spend three hours being routed to different people at different agencies and different people. Much of the time is spent on hold. Your music is awful by the way. The answer I finally get from a manager is that they have no record that I was ever issued an upgrade, and that there is nothing they can do. I ask to be reissued the upgrade, but they refuse.

The only conclusion I can come to from this ordeal is that you have designed your customer service to piss off your customers. Rather than make travel bearable, you antagonize them at every step of the way. Agents lie in order to pass the buck to someone else in the hope that the customer eventually tires and goes somewhere else. Well that's exactly what I'm doing. I am tired of arguing with your agents. I'm tired of being passed from agent to agent. I would rather spend another six hours waiting on a hot tarmac in dark plane with no air-conditioning than deal with another minute of your customer service. That is why I am leaving United, and never coming back.

As a final note, I would like to remind you that I have yet to receive any compensation as required by law for the canceled flight on August 5, 2007. I expect this compensation to the address I have included below promptly. I will not accept vouchers or upgrades. Only cash or check will be accepted. Also, remember that I am concurrently filing this letter with various government agencies, so this letter should serve as notice.

Hopefully this letter will prompt some changes with customer service, but as you can imagine, I'm not holding my breath.

Sincerely,

Aaron

You probably are already aware of this, but because you were flying to Zurich, it's likely that you are entitled to more compensation that your typical hapless domestic traveler. The EU (of which Switzerland is not a member, but does participate in occasionally) has much better traveler's rights laws than we do. Check them out.

Be prepared, however, for airlines to try to weasel out of it.

(Photo: Zonaphoto )

Some tips on carry-on bags:

Embrace the middle seat
Often, there is more space for your carry-on under the middle seat, however, sometimes airplanes have equipment stored under them. You can usually find information on which seats to avoid in the airline's carry-on bag restrictions or in their policy section on traveling with pets.

Board Early
To get that precious overhead-bin space, get familiar with how your airline boards the plane. "Most carriers allow passengers with disabilities and elite frequent fliers to board first. Northwest offers open boarding in no particular order, while Delta often starts with the window seats in the back. "

Be aware of carry-on limits
For example, American Airlines limits carry-ons to 45 linear inches (length+width+height) and 40 lbs. They also allow one small personal item like a purse or briefcase.

Some tips on checked bags:

Check airline exemptions
"American and United waive first-bag fees for first- or business-class passengers and elite frequent fliers. All major carriers still allow two checked bags for flights with an international leg. You might also be exempt if you bought your ticket before the new fee goes into effect. US Airways won't charge those who purchased tickets before July 9. Consider planning future trips on an airline that hasn't yet announced a first-bag fee."

Note item exceptions
Usually strollers, child car-seats and wheelchairs are free of charge. Since each airline has different restrictions regarding weight and dimensions, make sure you review the policies on the airlines you plan to fly.

Start small
If you start with a large bag you will tend to stuff more inside increasing your bag's chance of being overweight. As a rule of thumb, don't check a bag bigger than 24 inches if you want to stay under weight limits.

Look for a cheap light bag
Unless you are a frequent traveler, it is advantageous to go with lighter luggage which only needs to withstand a few trips a year. High end luggage is obviously more durable but weighs a good deal more.

How to Avoid Paying Airline Baggage Fees [SmartMoney]
(Photo: Getty)

United's pilots are understandably pissed that management is saving costs by axing 1,600 employees while simultaneously funding a $130 million executive cash bath. As a form of Ghandi-esque protest, the pilot's union has asked its members to take off their hats in management's presence—which seems counterintuitive, since we always thought taking your hat off was a sign of respect, not a way to flip a finger to The Man.

Anyway, this poor pilot KEPT HIS HAT ON! He was busted by another flight crew, and was so bent out of shape by the ensuing "interpersonal confrontation" that he decided to cancel his flight—which is much better than flying angry, because you really don't want your pilot cutting off other planes or tailgating.

United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said in an e-mailed statement that the flight was canceled according to company procedures designed to ensure flight crews are prepared to fly. The airline re-accommodated its customers on other flights and will give them "goodwill gestures," which may include miles and travel certificates, she said.

Urbanski declined to identify the pilot or provide details of the incident, but she did not dispute the passenger's account.

"We will conduct a full investigation of the events leading up to the cancellation and take appropriate, necessary action," she wrote in the e-mail.

David Kelly, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents United pilots, said the union won't comment on the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it's up to the airlines to determine when and how pilots can walk away from the cockpit if they feel unfit to fly. "But we'd expect that if the pilots aren't fit to fly, they would not fly," said FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette.

And now we know how airline labor negotiations can directly impact customer service.

United flight canceled after upset pilot refuses to fly [USA Today]
(Photo: Getty)

"[Business travelers will] push back big time," said Mike Boyd, a Colorado-based aviation consultant. "It's one thing to simply raise fares. It's quite another to do it by imposing restrictions that appear to make it harder to conveniently fly."

Major carriers scrapped most minimum-stay rules - put in place largely to discourage big-budget corporate travelers from snatching up the cheapest seats - at the start of the decade, although United and other airlines recently started bringing the overnight rules back piecemeal.

Friday's changes are far more sweeping because they also apply to highly competitive routes where United goes head-to-head against lower-cost rivals such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways.

"What we did this week was almost across the board," [United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski] said. "At the end of the day, it's all about improving our profit as we combat these record high fuel prices."

We previously suggested that travelers evade overnight requirements by buying back-to-back one-way fares, which can be cheaper than a round-trip ticket with a hotel stay.

In related news, United also raised the price of one-way tickets.

United Airlines to require minimum stays from Oct. [The Canadian Press]
PREVIOUSLY: Airlines Revive Hated Minimum Stay Fares
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Circling the winged wagons, United Airlines and Continental announced they're partnering up into something just shy of a full merger. Continental will try to join the Star Alliance Network and the airlines will begin code-sharing on some routes. Travelers will be able to spend frequent flyer miles earned with one on the other. Might want to avoid flying them for a while until we see how well they two manage to integrate their systems, because, if there's one thing airlines are good at, it's screwing up.

United, Continental Form Broad Marketing Alliance [WSJ]
Continental Airlines and United Airlines Announce Comprehensive Plan for Global Cooperation; Continental Plans to Join Star Alliance [Press Release]

(Photo: So Cal Metro)

Price declined as the most frequently reported reason for choosing a carrier in 2008, down to 39 percent of survey respondents.

The fact that consumers claim to value good customer service, but routinely choose to give their business to the carrier with the lowest fare, is usually blamed for the current trend towards higher fees and awful customer service. J.D. Power & Associates concluded that airlines should invest in their employees to improve customer service before its too late...

“Across the airline experience, from check-in, to the flight, to deplaning, passengers are being affected by the ramifications of carriers making staff cutbacks and have expressed that performance and attitudes of airline staff are suffering,” said Sam Thanawalla, director of the global hospitality and travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “In this unstable industry environment, it is critical that airlines invest in their employees as a means to enhance the customer experience, as there is a strong connection between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Those airlines that focus on keeping their employees informed and motivated will be better able to change negative consumer sentiment and truly differentiate themselves.”

Can an airline's service get bad enough to make you pay more to avoid a certain airline?

In other news, JetBlue ranked highest overall in their survey for the third straight year.

Overall Satisfaction in the Airline Industry Declines to a Three-Year Low Primarily Due to People Factors, Rather than High Prices [JD Power]
(Photo: whatatravisty )

They've also raised the fee it charges to check three or more bags, overweight bags or items that require special handling to $125 from $100, or to $250 from $200, depending on the item, says Yahoo!

United wasn't shy about the fact that they're twisting arms.

"With record-breaking fuel prices, we must pursue new revenue opportunities, while continuing to offer competitive fares, by tailoring our products and services around what our customers value most and are willing to pay for," John Tague, UAL's chief operating officer, said in a statement.

United Airlines to charge fee to check single bag [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Kevin!)
(Photo: Balmes )

In all, the Chicago-based airline will cut 70 planes from its fleet and shed 1,100 jobs.

Farewell, Ted. We hardly knew ye.

United to Cut Fleet, Shut Low-Fare Unit, Person Says (Update3) [Bloomberg]
(Photo: Flying Photog )