So what did you have to do to go about getting paid for this?

Yeah, it was actually really easy.

There was a form right on the airline's website that I filled out with the original info from the flight that I booked for myself, along with uploading proof of purchase, uh, and my bank details, and they wired me the money a few days later.

The only thing to keep in mind, uh, if travelers are flying on airlines that are covered by these kinds of laws or on routes that are covered by these laws, the airline may not notify you that you're entitled to this, uh, [laughs] compensation.

And so it's really important to know your rights, uh, and to make sure that you file the claim yourself if you don't get some sort of notice from the airline.

So Zach, why don't we kinda try and go over the rules again about what we as Americans are and aren't entitled to as far as compensation goes, both in the US and abroad?

So let's use the example that I ran into as kind of, you know, or let's use the issue that I ran into as the example.

So I was flying from New York to London on a British airline.

The story's called Does Flying Only Get Safer After Something Almost Goes Wrong? All right, what did you look at here, Zach?

Yeah, so this was in the wake of a series of close calls at various airports around the country, uh, earlier this spring.

And I really wanted to ask the question, like, in a case where these close calls happen, is that something we need to worry about? Or is that a sign of the system working because it wasn't a disaster? Uh, and what I heard is, you know, aviation overall is very safe.

Um, but the FAA has come under some criticism about the way that it handles its data analysis.

Uh, and, um, there are still things that the agency can be doing to be more proactive.

And so I don't want anyone to worry about getting on a plane.

I fly all the time.

What are they?

That's not, uh, a word we often use with the aviation industry, proactive.

Right, exactly.

And I think that's part of the, the reason for that is because the ability to analyze data was previously constricted, uh, by technical capacity.

So before AI, uh, became broadly available, data analysis relied on less efficient computer programs, and even before that, on human analysts, which still have a role to play even in this new kind of paradigm.

But with AI, which is really good at analyzing large tranches of data, they're able to, instead of just responding to incidents and figuring out how to prevent the same thing from happening in the future, they're now able to look at the things that are going right, to analyze all of the flights that happen, you know, without incidents that get reported in the same way as major disasters.

Uh, and because of that, they're able to identify patterns, identify trends, and see how to encourage those things to continue happening.

What else, uh, seemed encouraging to you?

Yeah, I mean, I think it's also just like, you know, these gains in efficiency, but as I said, the humans still have a role to play in all this.

Mm-hmm.

But speaking in broader terms, so most airlines introduced the dreaded basic economy ticket as a way to compete with Spirit Airlines for the most price-sensitive customers.

But most of these mainline carriers, their core customers buy up from the basic economy ticket.

Mm-hmm.

It sounds like the protocols around that have been really strong and make it very unlikely for this to spread further within the US.

There are other forms of Hantavirus that are already endemic in the United States that are spread by rodent droppings.

Those aren't spread person to person.

So my impression from the reporting that I've done along with my colleagues is this really is very unlikely to be a factor.

But Wichter says that airlines are trying to raise prices in other areas than on the tickets directly.

Pretty much all of the airlines in the last month or two announced an increase in checked bag fees.

You saw Delta Airlines scale back on some of its in-flight catering on shorter flights.

These are all levers that airlines have to save money without impacting that base ticket fare because people, when they buy airfares, typically don't think about their all-in costs.

They really only shop based on those base ticket fares.

But we are likely to see ticket prices climb at some point, especially after the collapse of Spirit Airlines, one of the largest budget carriers in the country.

They had this effect across the aviation market of driving prices down because any market they went into, other airlines had to compete with them on price.

And so now that Spirit is gone, other airlines are going to have more leeway to raise their airfares because they won't have this ultra-low-cost competitor competing for the bucket of the most price-sensitive travelers.

Mm-hmm.

But speaking in broader terms, so most airlines introduced the dreaded basic economy ticket as a way to compete with Spirit Airlines for the most price-sensitive customers.

But most of these mainline carriers, their core customers buy up from the basic economy ticket.

Mm-hmm.

It sounds like the protocols around that have been really strong and make it very unlikely for this to spread further within the US.

There are other forms of Hantavirus that are already endemic in the United States that are spread by rodent droppings.

Those aren't spread person to person.

So my impression from the reporting that I've done along with my colleagues is this really is very unlikely to be a factor.

Zach, set the scene.

British Airways, uh, which is rolling out Starlink high-speed wifi across its fleet, uh, is the first airline that will allow, or at least the first airline that I'm aware of that will allow calling, v- voice and video calls over its onboard wifi.

And in some ways, this makes sense, right? We are seeing more capable wifi on airplanes.

There, uh, is higher bandwidth.

Uh, it has the technical capability to support these kinds of calls.

But what I looked at in the column is, is this really a customer-friendly move? Uh, and it remains to be seen, you know, what kind of feedback British Airways gets on this, and if other airlines that are also installing, uh, Starlink wifi follow in their footsteps, because they may be technically capable of doing this, but is it something that people actually want?

How about just some etiquette here? I mean, what do you recommend if you're gonna be one of those people that picks up the phone during a flight?

Yeah.

That's S-C-R-I-B-E.how/F-I-X-E-D-I-T.

Yeah.

So, um, Spirit had a really unique place in the industry.

They were one of the really...

I mean, they were kind of the main ultra-low-cost carrier in the US.

And so their competitors are really happy to see them exit the market for a couple reasons.

First of all, in the immediate aftermath, there's now this extra demand on the table.

Are we gonna see incredibly expensive, um, airline prices moving forward, and that just be the new set standard where you're paying, you know, triple the amount that you would've a year or two ago because of the loss of Spirit, but also the impact of gas prices? And is that going to just be the, that new normal over the next coming, you know, five, 10 years?

How much is that adding pressure to the entire airline industry right now?

So it is adding pressure to the airline industry, but that pressure isn't totally even across the industry.

So obviously, the war in the Middle East in terms of routing isn't affecting domestic flights within the US, so we're not gonna see a huge impact from that on domestic summer travel.

But for American travelers who may be heading farther afield this summer, maybe they're going to Asia or Africa, the Middle East was a really major transfer point for a lot of travelers.

There are some major global airlines with hubs there.

Uh, and while most of them have gotten close to restoring their full pre-schedules as they were before the start of the conflict, they're not still 100% back to where they were.

Uh, and as a result of the conflict, you know, a lot of airlines are avoiding airspace in that region.

It feels like an obvious example, but are there others?

Zach, your take here.

I mean, as the headline says, I have in the past had some credit cards that gave me access to airport lounges on any trip that I took essentially.

But as those credit cards got more expensive, I just kind of felt like it was diminishing returns for me personally.

And to be clear, credit cards like the American Express Platinum card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, they have other benefits as well.

But for me as a traveler, The lounge was really the big appeal and the benefit that I took the most advantage of.

And I really just found that I wasn't getting the value for the money of those annual fees if that was really the only reason I was using the cards.

Like, especially as lounges get more crowded, you know, more and more people are getting these cards, more and more people are visiting the airport lounges.

So what are you doing instead if, say, you wind up with a significant delay?

Set that scene out because it seems like everybody's on board right by increasing the fee.

Yeah, that's right.

So the first airline to announce that they were increasing their bag fee a few weeks ago was JetBlue.

And as soon as I saw that announcement, I thought to myself, A, history is repeating itself, and B, all of the airlines are going to do the same thing before too long.

And I was proven right on both counts.

So we see this all the time.

Whenever one airline raises a fee or introduces a new kind of ticket like Basic Economy or something like that, the US airline industry is small enough and consolidated enough that they all kind of follow each other's lead.

Right.

Zach, what's new?

American Airlines in March updated its app and the way that it provides notifications on its website and through email to provide more information about the reasons that passengers' flights are delayed or canceled.

And this follows a move that United Airlines made all the way back in 2018 to give similar information to its customers.

And honestly, I'm surprised that it took American and other airlines as long as it has.

You know, most other major US airlines still aren't providing this kind of information.

But as travelers, you and I both know, if your flight is delayed or canceled, you often don't get a lot in the way of explanation as to why that's happening, and that can be even more frustrating than the delay itself.

Being left in the dark makes you feel kind of powerless, and that is not a fun place to be when you're already stressed in the airport.

accommodations

Yes, the air in an

airplane is dry and you might feel a little dried out.

But really, all you have to do is keep yourself hydrated and do some like spot moisturizer if you're really feeling dry.

It's not worth it to go crazy because you're not on the plane that long.

You really don't want to experiment with new products while you're traveling in case you have some kind of reaction.

Do experts' recommendations change when it's a really long flight? Like, does that affect your skin even more? I

mean, obviously, the longer the flight is, the more likely you are to get dried out.

But it really doesn't change.

What are they saying makes a good flight nanny?

Yeah, I mean, so you want to make sure that your flight nanny has the appropriate certifications.

I think the USDA might license some of them and there are other organizations that sort of ensure that they have the correct certifications.

professional qualifications.

And typically, you know, these are people who have done this before.

It's kind of a career for them or something that is a longstanding side gig.

And so make sure that you're kind of familiar with the person that you're hiring to do this, check out their reviews, that sort of thing.

Talk to me a little bit about the communication that should be expected with a flight nanny during their service.

global events that can affect things.

Yeah, I think probably one of the best illustrations of that right now is the way that the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia is affecting flights.

And so essentially, because of that conflict, Russian airspace is closed to US airlines and to most Western airlines, partly because US regulators don't think it's safe for US airlines to be flying over that airspace, but also because Russia has rescinded the overflight rights of many Western airlines.

And so as a result of that right now, US carriers that have flights to, say, Asia, have to go over a different route, which can sometimes be longer, which means that the flights are longer.

They burn more fuel.

Ticket prices might be higher.

You know, one of the typical ways prior to the conflict starting that flights from the US would go to Asia is to sort of go over the pole, over Russian airspace and then down into Asia.

we're speaking with zach wichter he writes the cruising altitude column for usa today this piece is called your flight isn't immune to world events politics can make it longer and pricier um explain to i guess uh maybe when something happens last minute and we've got a flight planned and that has to change in some way shape or form do we as as passengers have any recourse here or rights

Zach, what have we seen?

Since the war in Iran started, we've seen some pretty significant disruption to major flight routes.

And the key thing to remember is that there is some really major connecting hubs in the Middle East.

I think that probably almost none, if not literally none of your listeners are trying to go to Iran in the near future.

But Iran's neighboring countries like the UAE and Qatar have these major connecting airlines.

So Emirates and Etihad in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which is based in Doha, Qatar.

are big airlines that people take to places in other parts of the Middle East or to Asia and Africa from the U.S. And so we've seen a lot of U.S. travelers whose plans were disrupted because those airports closed or the airlines had to cancel or reroute their flights.

So what do flyers need to keep in mind here? Because this is not the same as, I don't know, you getting disrupted on your flight to Disney.

So I was going to ask, are we checking more bags by choice or because maybe the airlines are mandating it?

If you have an overhead bin sized bag that like will fit in the overhead bin and your boarding group comes up, you're at the end of the boarding process, there's no more space.

Airlines will typically check those bags for free.

I'm sure if you've flown recently, you've heard the announcement, something like we're expecting this to be a completely full flight.

We will run out of overhead bin space.

We'll let you board early if you agree to check one of your carry-on bags.

So those checked bags are typically free.

Give us some tips here, I guess, if we're going to check a bag.

So the two biggest ones you referenced, the Super Bowl experience at the Moscone Center, and then there's this live San Francisco fan zone.

Yeah, so those are kind of connected, the San Francisco Fan Zone and the Super Bowl experience.

And those are the official pop-ups from the NFL and then the Bay Area host committee, which is the organization that's organizing all of these events.

And so those are where kind of the most official activities are going to be, the Fan Zone, the is ticketed at a nominal fee.

I think it's something like $70 to enter.

And then there are all kinds of activities for football fans to do there.

And then the live exhibit that you mentioned is connected to that.

And it's not just Super Bowl Sunday, right? I mean, stuff is going on pretty much most of the week.

Not that you want to be doing their job necessarily, but I don't know, is there an appropriate time or not appropriate time to do this?

Well, this is the thing.

I don't really think it is their job to do it.

I think it is actually the traveler's job.

Like if you leave your bin there and the TSA agent has to deal with it, like that's taking them away from their ability to screen other passengers.

Like I compared it in the article that I wrote to returning your shopping cart at the supermarket.

People, some people do leave them out in the parking lot, but that's not really what you're supposed to do.

There just needs to be some clarity at the airport.

[laughs]

... like that fancy or exciting.

Um, but I learned a lot in those jobs that, and, you know, it served me really well coming to where I am now.

Um, and after Dateline, so I was on a contract there that wasn't being renewed, um, and I was just looking for somewhere to go, and I wound up getting an assistant job at The New York Times.

And the way that the assistant program there works is you sort of bounce around to different desks, and ultimately I wound up assigned on the business desk.

And at that time, The New York Times did not have a full-time airline reporter.

Mm-hmm.

Um, because if you have people who are doing it for a long time as opposed to-Working there for five or six months and then moving on to do something else, like their training will come in, they'll figure out better ways to do it, and they'll probably develop like more compassion and familiarity with how to interact with those passengers.

Not that you want to be doing their job necessarily, but I don't know, is there an appropriate time or not appropriate time to do this?

Well, this is the thing.

I don't really think it is their job to do it.

I think it is actually the traveler's job.

Like if you leave your bin there and the TSA agent has to deal with it, like that's taking them away from their ability to screen other passengers.

Like I compared it in the article that I wrote to returning your shopping cart at the supermarket.

Some people do leave them out in the parking lot, but that's not really what you're supposed to do.

There just needs to be some clarity at the airport.

Zach, help us out.

Yeah, so I think that this kind of comes around every year.

Americans famously have extremely limited paid time off in most of our jobs.

And so people really need to be strategic about the way that they use those paid vacations to maximize their actual time off.

And the best way to do that is to pair your paid time off with federal holidays when your company may already be closed, because then you're going to be able to use a limited number of vacation days to get a longer break.

For example, let's say Martin Luther King weekend is coming up in a couple of weeks.

And so if you take off the Friday before Martin Luther King weekend, then you're going to have a four day weekend instead of a three day weekend.

Yeah.

Zach set the scene.

Yeah, so I think that this kind of comes around every year.

Americans famously have extremely limited paid time off in most of our jobs.

And so people really need to be strategic about the way that they use those paid vacations to maximize their actual time off.

And the best way to do that is to pair your paid time off with federal holidays when your company may already be closed, because then you're going to be able to use a limited number of vacation days to get a longer break.

For example, let's say Martin Luther King weekend is coming up in a couple of weeks.

And so if you take off the Friday before Martin Luther King weekend, then you're going to have a four day weekend instead of a three day weekend.

Yeah.

Zach, what should we know?

It's a busy time for people to be traveling.

And a lot of people are traveling during the holidays who aren't, you know, seasoned business travelers.

This may be one of their only trips of the year.

They're going to see family.

There are people who aren't super used to going through the airport.

None of this is a knock on folks who are traveling.

What can we keep in mind or how do we help ourselves here?

Do the airlines sometimes have different guidance from the airports when it comes to times you should be arriving for your flight?

Yeah.

So I would say airlines and airports kind of work together on this.

So your best bet is going to be to check with your airline first to see what they recommend for your specific itinerary, but also check the airport's website, see if they have information about how long the security lines are on the day of your travel check for any, you know, construction updates or anything like that, that may affect what's going on at the airport.

And certainly if you're driving, make sure that there isn't any road construction that could affect your trip.

How here, Zach?

Yeah.

I mean, we see this every year during the holidays.