advertisement
The friendly skies are getting awfully crowded with lame ducks.
Late Wednesday, troubled Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines both filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which means that four of the seven major airlines -- including United Airlines and U.S. Airways -- are now under bankruptcy protection. Delta and Northwest both filed this week, in part, to beat an Oct. 17 change in bankruptcy laws that will force companies to either exit bankruptcy or liquidate faster.
What does this mean for the flying public? Here are some answers, and some tips from the experts on how to make the most of the upheaval.
Q: I've got a ticket for Thanksgiving or Christmas on Northwest or Delta. What should I do?
A: "Go and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas," says Terry Trippler, a travel expert who writes at CheapSeats.com. "The chances of your flight being changed or rescheduled are very remote," Trippler says. Other experts concur.
"There should be some minor schedule changes in the next couple of months but nothing that should be significant changes," says David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.
Delta has promised to honor all tickets, and Northwest says it will continue normal operations. Remember, however, that Northwest has been operating on a reduced fall schedule with more cancellations and delays than usual because of a mechanics strike that began in August. And Delta announced changes in its flight schedule before its bankruptcy.
Q: I need to buy an airline ticket soon. Should I avoid an airline such as Northwest or Delta just because it has filed for bankruptcy?
A: No, say the pros. Anyway, avoiding a bankrupt airline is increasingly difficult to do. With Delta and Northwest's announcements, about half of the capacity in the U.S. is now operating under Chapter 11, says Philip Baggaley, an airline credit analyst at Standard & Poor's.
Neither airline is going anywhere anytime soon. Neither filed Chapter 7 (which means liquidation), but both filed Chapter 11, which would give them protection from creditors while they get their financial houses in order. "It doesn't mean a lot these days" for the consumer, says Randy Petersen, editor of InsideFlyer magazine and FlyerTalk.com, of an airline bankruptcy. "Let's remember that United will be in bankruptcy for almost 3 years now."
To ignore Delta and Northwest could actually hurt a traveler. They "have some prime assets as airlines," says Petersen: Delta has more European gates than any other U.S. airline, and Northwest has more Asian gates than any other U.S. airline. "They've got a lot to offer people."
Q: OK, so the short term is pretty secure. But what about long-term effects?
Canceled flights and reduced schedules "don't happen so fast. But they will happen," says Petersen. "Whatever cuts are going to be made, will not be so bad as the cuts that were made immediately after 9/11. Instead of flying four times a day to some city, they might fly twice a day."
The experts' advice varies on this one, but they generally agree that buying a seat more than about six or eight months in advance starts to be a gamble -- not because the airlines might disappear (none of them think that will happen), but because the airlines will begin to tinker with their schedules to cut costs. The number of flights between cities may be cut; once-direct flights may now become indirect. The upshot? You may find that the flight you bought has changed times, or no longer exists.
Rate this Article
High