Memo Pad
Joe Sharkey, New York Times, 6/5/2007 (excerpted)
AIRLINE REPORT CARD: OUCH! The airline industry may be back in the black, but passengers are still seeing red, according to a Consumer Reports survey that will be published in its July issue. Over all, the industry's average score for satisfaction is lower than the scores for hotels and rental car companies and "better only than such perennials of frustration as wireless carriers, cable TV operators and computer tech support," the magazine reports. Here is how the top 18 major domestic airlines stacked up in customer satisfaction. JetBlue was rated best. Consumer Reports said the carrier's numerous flight delays in mid-February "seem to have had little effect" on the survey. In descending order, the others are Midwest, Southwest, Frontier, Hawaiian, Aloha, Alaska, Spirit, Continental, AirTran, Delta, American, ATA, Northwest, American Eagle, United, and America West and US Air, which merged in 2005 and recently combined all operations. In the Consumer Reports survey on hotels, Ritz-Carlton, a Marriott luxury brand, was chosen as top in overall satisfaction, while Homewood Suites from Hilton and SpringHill Suites from Marriott were cited as "excellent values." Ritz-Carlton was also ranked at the top of the Market Metrix hospitality index survey taken in the first quarter of 2007.
VIRGIN ALL-BUSINESS CLASS Virgin Atlantic Airways says it is planning a new all-business-class service between the United States and London starting next year. Since late 2005, several start-up discount all-business-class airlines have been flying trans-Atlantic routes, including Eos, MaxJet, Silverjet — all flying to London — and l'Avion, which goes to Paris. Virgin's current business-class service, called Upper Class, is highly regarded, and walk-up fares between New York and London can cost as much as $10,000. Virgin said the new service would not compete directly with its existing premium-class service but would offer a "better quality" product than existing all-business-class airlines at "the same or lower prices." Besides London, the new service will eventually include flights to Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Zurich and Amsterdam from New York and other United States cities that Virgin did not identify. Virgin said it was talking to aircraft manufacturers about buying aircraft suitable for the new service, and a Virgin spokeswoman said yesterday that the airline expected to pay about $700 million for 15 new aircraft. British Airways, Virgin's main rival on premium trans-Atlantic routes, has said it is considering adding all-premium-class routes, but has not decided yet.
YOU RENT, THEY DRIVE Avis customers can now rent a car equipped with a driver. The rental car company said yesterday that it had a new partnership with WeDriveU, a company that provides chauffeurs, to allow Avis customers to hire a chauffer along with the car. The rate for the driver is $30 an hour with a three-hour minimum, plus the regular rental car price. The service is available in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington for members of the Avis Preferred or other Avis loyalty programs. Avis said the driver can both pick up and return the car.