American Airlines to ease ticketing rules in crisis
Advertiser Staff and News Services
American Airlines Inc. joined its major competitors yesterday in relaxing ticketing rules in the event of military action or terror alerts.
Associated Press
In some ways, the carrier, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is giving travelers more flexibility than other airlines. If war breaks out or if the government declares a "Level Red Alert" — the highest terrorism awareness code — American will let customers change their tickets without paying the standard $100 fee.
American Airlines said that in the event of war or a "Level Red" terrorism alert, it will waive its $100 fee for fliers wanting to change tickets. The policy applies to domestic and international flights within 60 days of the start of either event.
American's policy extends to domestic and international tickets for travel beginning within 60 days of the start of war or the terrorism alert. Any changes must be made within 30 days of the start of war or the announcement of Level Red.
Some carriers are extending their flexibility only to trans-Atlantic tickets — not to all international flights — and some aren't including domestic tickets in their program.
Aloha Airlines announced this week it is waiving change fees in the event of a war or a Code Red advisory.
Anyone with reservations for flights within 90 days of the start of a war or a declaration of the highest national security threat will be able to change itineraries without a fee.
American customers will be able to change their travel plans once without penalty to any date up to Dec. 31, 2003. Other carriers allow less time for rebooking under policies announced this week.
Customers will pay a differential if they reticket in a more expensive travel period. Also, rebooking has to take place before the originally scheduled flight.
Airlines are extremely concerned that they'll lose bookings as war approaches, and have promised to relax rules in hopes of comforting travelers who are afraid to buy.
International flights have been one of the industry's few bright spots of late, and a falloff in demand couldn't come at a worse time. Continental Airlines said this week it expects its load factors for trans-Atlantic flights to drop 15 percentage points because of the decline in demand.
Airline analyst Samuel Buttrick of UBS Warburg said yesterday he believes airline revenues will decline 9 percent over an eight-month period, worse than the revenue shortfall experienced in the first Gulf War.
Buttrick had a dim view of the major carriers' future, saying they all would be bankrupt in two years absent significant labor concessions. United Airlines Inc. and US Airways Inc. are already in Chapter 11 protection; American said it would join them unless it gets concessions from its unions.
In a note to investors, Buttrick said the order of bankruptcy would be American, Continental, Northwest and Delta.
"2003 should be the year in which labor costs are rolled back — because it's the only math that works," he said.
Shares of American parent AMR Corp. rose 25 cents to $2.81.
