United will now charge passengers $50 for their second checked bag.   That means checking 2 bags on United on a round trip flight will cost you $130 dollars.   Delta is already charging $50 for a second bag (but they’ll let you check the first one for free). 

So, with two of their biggest competitors at the $50 mark, will American airlines match that fee?  Here’s what AA spokeswoman Andrea Huguely tells me:

“We’ve not made a change to our bag fee.  As you are aware I cannot discuss what may or may not happen in the future, but as always, we do keep a close eye on the market.”

My guess is we’ll see $50 at AA soon.  Airlines love these fees because they’re money makers in two ways: they bring in extra cash, and they encourage people to pack less, making airplanes lighter and using less fuel.

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is probably the biggest hospital – closest to where the storm will hit.  They’ve got their own blog up and running for staff who’ve been evacuating patients. 

http://www.utmb.edu/alert/

A small number of staff will stay behind to ride out the storm and keep the hospital’s Emergency Room open.

American Airlines is planning to use smaller planes on more of it’s international routes, as the airline looks for ways to save fuel.

An American media representative tells me today that the airline will re-configure 18 of it’s 757’s for use on flights between the US and Europe starting next year.   The 757’s are smaller and more fuel efficient that the A300’s, 767’s and 777’s that AA uses currently on most of it’s European flights. 

The planes will get flat-bed seats in business class, upgraded entertainment systems, and new coach cabins before they start flying those routes sometime in 2009. 

Right now, the planned routes for those planes are JFK-Barcelona, Boston-Paris, and Chicago-Dublin and Manchester, UK.

The NTSB says an engine used on some Boeing 777’s could ice-up at altitude, potentially leading to more incidents like the crash landing of a British Airways 777 in January.

An investigation by British authorities found both of the plane’s engines lost power because of, “an accumulation of ice within the engine fuel feed system”, according to the NTSB.  The agency says, ”The ice is likely to have formed from water – which naturally exists in the fuel.”  The British Airways plane made a sudden drop the ground as it approached the runway in the final minute of the flight.

American Airlines uses that same engine, the Rolls Royce Trent-800, on its 777’s, and a joint American-Rolls Royce repair facility in Ft. Worth is the major North American service center for that engine. 

Today American spokesman Tim Wagner told me, “As the lead U.S. airline for Boeing 777’s with Rolls Royce Trent engines, American Airlines is working with Boeing and Rolls Royce as they address this issue.”

There are reports tonight that the FAA and Boeing will take quick action to remedy the problem, even recommending that pilots change altitude more often to prevent icing in cold weather:  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aJRdsqtHA6Kw&refer=uk

More details on the London crash landing:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/01/17/heathrow.incident/index.html

All P.R. people know the time to put out a downbeat story is on a Friday night – especially before a holiday weekend.  That’ll bury it.

So, on the Friday before Labor Day, with a major hurricane headed for the gulf coast, and gobbling up media attention everywhere, American Airlines announced it’s putting it’s plans for a non-stop flight to Beijing on hold.  http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D92UP4A00.htm

Yes, this is the same China route that AA fought to for two years to get.  Remember all the signs at DFW airport urging you to support American’s bid for the China business?  Remember the rally the airline held complete with Chinese dancers in 2006 when it first announced the bid?

American lost the first round in the fight to get the China route, beat by United Airlines’ bid to fly capital to capital from Washington D.C. to Beijing.  But they got it one year later, after bidding to fly Chicago-Beijing instead of DFW-Beijing.  The DFW route became entangled in a contract dispute between the airline and its pilots.

So what happened in two years to take the China idea from top of the charts to bottom of the barrel?  The answer is fuel prices.  It’s a long and expensive flight to operate and it’s just not a time when airlines feel like they can take that kind of risk.

Ding!  You are now free to leave your singles at home.  Starting next week you won’t need cash to buy a meal or a drink on a Southwest Airlines Flight. 

The airline announced today that it’s joining the growing list of airlines that only accept credit or debit cards on board.  Less hassle for the flight attendants counting change, and no need for passengers to remember to bring cash when they fly.

Here’s the official announcement today from the airline:  http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/press/prindex.html

One benefit the airline notes, “no more in flight announcements asking who has change for a 20-dollar bill!”

  Deborah Ferguson and Ken Arnold brought us some great live coverage of Nastia’s big homecoming this morning on NBC5 Today.  The Olympic gold medalist rode in a pink Saab convertible.

 So what’s next for Nastia?  Her agent recently told the Sports Business daily that she can be bigger than Mary Lou Retton on the endorsement circuit.  She already has deals with companies including Cover Girl and At&T. 

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/beijinggames/entries/2008/nastia-liukin-s-agent-she-can-be-bigger-than-mary-lou

She’s also planning to take part in a mulit-city gymnastics tour.  And, she has her own theme song now — check it out on her website:

http://www.nastialiukin.com/

I had to laugh a little, talking to a passenger tonight who was on one of the flights caught up in the FAA flight planning computer crash that happened this afternoon.

Trapped on a plane for three hours on the ground in the Atlanta heat, she explained how finally when they took off they could get some snacks and a can of soda.  She told us it wasn’t enough food after all those hours cramped in her seat — but at least it was something.

She’s lucky she wasn’t flying United.  That snack might have cost her $6 under the airline’s new “no free snack policy”….  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121928635607759283.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

This was one day when six bucks would have felt like $100 if you were forced to fork over some money for cookies and pretzels after a long hot afternoon sitting in a long line of planes.

In May, we first reported the concerns surrounding the use of high speed tugs on the airport runways at DFW.  American Ailrines bought them to save fuel, by pulling planes from gates to maintainance bays without turning on the plane’s engines.

But, when one plane was accidently pulled into the path of another plane coming in for landing, the FAA started to question the safety of the program.  Air traffic controllers added more concerns about planes being towed across runways at night without any lights.

Now, in a letter we obtained, the FAA seems to be saying the fuel saving measure may not be worth the risk to passengers.  FAA inspectors recommend the airport re-evaluate the necessity of the program.   I wanted to insert the full letter here – but the old blogging tool wouldn’t cooperate tonight — so look at the next posting below this one on my blog and you can see the full copy.

The really interesting unanswered question here is:  why couldn’t the tug drivers stop in time to avoid that near miss.  Mechanics at AA tell me privately that they question whether a 777 loaded with fuel is just too much weight for the tug’s brakes to handle.  Others have suggested the brakes didn’t work the way they were designed.  We’ll see.  The tug involved in the April near miss is now at the manufacturer in Germany for tests.  AA, DFW and the FAA are all waiting for the results to decide if hgih speed towing across runways is really a good idea.