Asian Airports Top Traveler Satisfaction Survey

Seoul's Incheon International number one once again

On Monday, I wrote a post about The Daily Beast's take on 27 US airports, the best of which isn't all that great when compared with others on the world stage. The Beast called its post "Airports From Hell." Thanks goplantit.com for calling attention to a Business Week story called. "Why Asia Has the World's Best Airports." It reported on the results of the latest annual Airport Service Quality Survey  of some 200,000 international travelers conducted by Geneva-based Airports Council International. The top five are Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong and Halifax. Four in Asia, none in Europe and one in North America.

"Seoul's Incheon International Airport snagged first place in the ranking for the fourth straight year," wrote Business Week's Moon Ihlwan. "Two years before opening the $5 billion airport in 2001, airport administrators set up a task force that analyzed what some of the world's best airports were doing right. The task force looked at Singapore, Hong Kong, Denver and Atlanta. Then planners set about figuring out how the new Seoul airport could offer services that would outdo those hubs. The airport, which last June completed the $3 billion addition of a passenger terminal and runway, has earmarked $120 million for further upgrades in parking and other amenities this year."

Beyond improvements that run into the millions, Ihlwan wrote, "airports in the U.S. are widely viewed as public facilities, while those in Asia are seen as service-oriented businesses....To attract airlines and travelers, Incheon airport has cut down on waiting times. Administrators reassigned terminals for planes making a brief stop and reprogrammed computerized baggage handling systems. The result: Last year the airport reduced to 45 minutes from 55 minutes the minimum connection time for passengers who are traveling through Seoul to other destinations. The airport authority also spent around $7 million on a new 240-seat lounge, which opened last June for departing passengers and offers free showers, Internet connections and movies on giant-screen TVs."

State-of-the-art technology, efficiency and facilities to make travelers' experiences as seamless and pleasant as possible are the winning combination. The Business Week story and passengers' comments are illuminating. If US airport authorities could put just a fraction of these into practice, fewer American airports would be "from hell." Interestingly, even though Denver ranked far down on The Beast's list, it is one that Seoul officials deemed worth looking at.

Convention Volunteering - Second Day

Day 2 of the convention; Day 3 of volunteering

Here are some famous people whom I saw up-close while volunteering at the Democratic National Convention. Again, my photographic disclaimer is that I'm using a digital point and shoot with limited range to the built-in flash. As they walk along the hallway where the media volunteers hang out, Secret Service agents move most political VIPs along quickly and also keep people at a distance. The result, some blurry images.

Below, "Today Show" anchor Ann Curry, on her cell phone. When I looked her up online to make sure that she was Ann and not Anne, and Curry not Currey, I found out that her father was from Pueblo, CO. Maybe she was calling some kinfolk here in Colorado.

Below is Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley with some constituents he encountered at the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau information and hospitality booth (hizzoner is the short guy in the middle).

Below, retired NBA superstar and now television sports commentator Charles Barkley taking his leave from some fans (Barkley is the tall guy in the middle).


Here is Colorado Governor Bill Ritter being interviewed by a Denver television station.

And New York Governor David Patterson also gives a hallway interview:

Below, Senator (and Barack Obama's running mate) Joseph Biden moves quickly down the hallway.

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton arrive for Hillary's "unity" speech asking the entire Democratic Party to support the candidacy of her primary-season rival Barack Obama.

Before Bill Clinton entered this section of the hallway, Secret Service agents moved us all to one side, which they did for no one else. Agents, who by now are accustomed to his habit of shaking every outstretched hand, probably figure it's more efficient to organize a receiving line rather than have him dart back and forth along the route.

And here he is, strolling down the hallway, shaking everyone's hand (including mine just before this photo) as if he nothing else in the world to do.

Convention Volunteering - Opening Day

Convention draws political and media celebs, and they draw stares and applause

As a volunteer on the "media distribution team," my view of the Democratic National Convention is a narrow one. I am a very small cog in a very large wheel. I and more than a dozen volunteers on my shift pick stacks of photocopied speeches and deliver them to media pods all over the Pepsi Center and in the surrounding parking lots. Sometimes we hand them to individual media desks; sometimes we leave a stack at the press information centers (PICs) for reporters themselves to collect.

There are several outdoor routes to four pavilions (i.e., large air conditioned tents with plywood floors and partitioned or curtained-off "offices") that house most major and some minor print media. There are runs to individual network complexes -- ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox -- with trailers and satellite dishes. There are areas within for within the Pepsi Center for print, broadcast and online media: Radio Row, Radio Suites, Writing Desks, Bloggers Alley, International Media. I had my pedometer on and walked just shy of nine miles today.

En route to the convention center to pick up our day's credentials, my Boulder friends were delayed due to a couple of demonstrations. Marching placket-wavers took up street as well as sidewalks, causing the shuttle on the 16th Street Mall to run only intermittently, because protesters were blocking the bus lanes. One group chanted, "No We Can't!", but it was unclear as to whether they were disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters or were grinding some other ax. Another group waved signs with clearer messages that were both evangelical and homophobic -- and also predictable. Then, we veered away from the 16th Street Mall, which had ceased being energizing and fun and was just annoying.

In the Pepsi Center my friend Laurel shook Jimmy Carter's hand but didn't get a picture. I saw media stars Anderson Cooper and Donna Brazile and soul singer John Legend but didn't get pictures. Here are some famous people whose pictures I did manage to snap with my little digital point-and-shoot, which doesn't allow for the rapid sequential shots of the bigger SLR:

Here's Dan Rather in the hallway (too far for my camera's modest flash to reach):


Here's Senator Ted Kennedy, riding to and from the podium area, ailing but inspiring by his very presence on the podium, let alone finding the strength to speak. As he rode along, he blew kisses to onlookers (trust me; that's what he was doing, which might not be apparent from the expression I caught in the one picture I managed to snap):

Here's Michelle Obama (just behind the sleeve of someone who walked into the one frame I managed to snap), heading down the same hallway en route to giving her evening-ending speech (someone behind her was carrying a garment bag with that beautiful teal green outfit she wore):


Here's (I think) fast-moving Caroline Kennedy (in black and mostly blocked by a women in a white jacket) who introduced her Uncle Ted:

Here's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Happy Thanksgiving

Dem Convention Has Denver A-Buzz

Fifty thousand visitors, give or take, are taking in city sights

My travels this week involve nothing more than a daily commute via RTD bus to Denver, where I am volunteering at the Democratic National Convention. Short as my trips are, they are as thrilling as any I've every taken, because they are to an event that will never again occur so close to my home in my lifetime. The last time Denver hosted a convention was exactly a century ago, when the city was was trying to shake its cowtown image.

In 1908, Oklahoma had become a state just the previous November, and Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii were still be admitted to the Union. Delegates arrived at Denver's beautiful Union Station by train. Some stayed right near the station at the Oxford Hotel (1891), the Barth Hotel (1882) or now-gone hotels. Other delegates took a trolley ride to the the Brown Palace Hotel (1892), more than a mile to the east. The Oxford is a charming boutique hotel, the Barth houses low-income senior citizens, and the Brown remains a historic jewel. Word on the street is that former President Bill Clinton, wanted-to-be President Hillary Clinton and won't-be President John Kerry are staying there this time around.

The 1908 convention itself took place is the Denver Arena Auditorium, now remade into a part of the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The 2008 convention is taking place at the Pepsi Center (above right), where the NHL Avalanche and NBA Nuggets usually play. State caucuses and other activities take place at the huge Denver Convention Center. Two blocks from the convention center, the 16th Street Mall is festooned with banners. Vendors are selling Obama buttons, pennants, T-shirts, flags and other souvenirs. Yellow-shirted local hosts (above left) answer visitors' questions. Manyh downtown streets are blocked and more will be, in effect expanding the pedestrian zone. Still, despite the ponderous presence of in-your-face security, the general ambiance is upbeat and positive -- and there's a electricity in the air and a buzz everywhere.

I don't know what security was like in 1908, but it was probably fairly tight for the day, since President William McKinley had been assassinated just seven years earlier. In 2008, I've seen uniforms from the Denver Police, county sheriff, state police, various Denver suburban police departments, Colorado Springs police, private security firms and the Transportation Security Agency. Officers on foot and horseback keep an eye on the legions of earnest protesters of all stripes, from Pro-Life to End the War Now crusaders, in case anything gets out of hand, perhaps clashing with each other. Officers on bicycles cruise the 16th Street Mall. Helicopters fly overhead. SWAT teams drive around the city ready to quell any trouble that may arise. Squad cars are parked all over the place. There's a K9 unit standing by.

Security people are posted at every entrance to every place, and within the agggressively fenced-off convention complex itself, your badge better be the correct side out. If it has flipped over backwards, someone in a uniform will ask you to turn it over so they can see the front with its distinctive hologram. The place is crawling with Secret Service Agents, some wearing serious dark suits and facial expressions to match, and others clad shirts that prominently say "Secret Service," which doesn't seem secret at all. The TSA has been enlisted to run the screening processes to get into the convention itself, just as they do at airports.

The Pepsi Center has been transformed, both backstage and in the arena (below left). The centerpiece is a soaring podium backed by a "gigantimus" video screen (below right). I'm a volunteer on the "press team. I have completed two afternoons of orientation, training and volunteer briefings, which is why I've seen the Denver scene, so to speak. The real work starts tomorrow.

The buzz is building daily, and by tomorrow, it will be full-throttle excitement and adrenalin for the tends of thousands of delegates, media, DNC staff and volunteers, Republican war room warriors ready to spin the slightest Democratic verval misstep, and squadrons protesters (who I hope stay cool) and security forces (which I hope will have proved to be unnecessary).

"What's the biggest problem facing the travel industry?"

Chris Elliott wants your thoughts

That's the question traveler consumer advocate Christopher Elliott is asking readers of his award-winning website. He has declared today as "open-mic Tuesday," and he wants to hear from you. If you've got a gripe or, more productively, a practical suggestion on how to solve a general industry problem that you have identified, drop him an E-note at elliottc@gmail.com, including your full name, occupation and city/state. Besides the opportunity simply to vent, something might come of this, because when Chris Elliott speaks, the travel industry listens.

Fewer Airplane Seats + Overbooking = More Bumps

Nearly 350,000 passengers bumped in the first half of 2008. That carries a cost for airlines -- and ultimately for the flying public

Put these random thoughts together any way you choose, and draw your own conclusions of the sort of mess American air travel is in:

• According to "More Flights Are Overbooked, but Payoffs Are Rising" in today's New York Times business section, "about 343,000 passengers were denied seats on planes...out of 282 million passengers. Most of those people volunteered to give up their seats in return for some form of compensation, like a voucher for a free flight. But statistics also show about 1.16 of every 10,000 passengers had their seats taken away outright because of overbooking — which may sound like a low rate, until your name is called."
• The article continued, "Back when most tickets were refundable or easy to change, and the airlines offered multiple daily flights to many cities, carriers used to routinely overbook about 15 percent of their seats. Passengers who missed their plane could simply catch a later flight. Rules are tighter now, and passengers with nonrefundable tickets can only expect a credit for an unused ticket, often minus a hefty fee, if they change their flight. That means they have more incentive to show up. But airlines still overbook."
• Compensation to bumped passengers is up. Times reporters Micheline Maynard and Michelle Higgins wrote, "Travelers can now receive up to $400 if they are involuntarily bumped and rebooked on another flight within two hours after their original domestic flight time and within four hours for international. They are eligible for up to $800 in cash if they are not rerouted by then. The final amount depends on the length of the flight and the price paid for the ticket....Compensation must be paid immediately in cash, or with a voucher if the passenger accepts it, and the airline must offer a choice of a refund, a return flight to their departure city or an alternative flight. Volunteers also receive compensation, which they negotiate with the airline. Passengers are learning, however, that if an airline does not get enough volunteers at a lower figure, they might be able to bid up the offer, and also obtain sweeteners that include vouchers for meals, hotels, transportation and even plane tickets."
• Passengers flying free or using a voucher are cutting into airlines' direct revenue streams.
• US carriers have announced plans to cut routes they claim are unprofitable. Airlines have imposed fuel surcharges and miscellaneous other fees. Despite these additional charges along with service reductions, planes are quite full and will be fuller come fall.
• The annoying, arbitrary and ever-changing Transportation Security Agency screenings add to the unpleasantness of domestic air travel today.
• With frequent-flier awards increasingly difficult to redeem (and now costly to redeem), miles have stacked up, adding to the liability on airlines' balance sheets.
• The recession in which the US finds itself, but is loathe to call by that name, is cramping many Americans' travel styles. Like it or not, "staycation" has become a word in the travel vocabulary.

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 let airlines chart their own operational courses and set (and change) air fares at will. Three decades later, in a very different world in terms of fuel costs, technology, sheer numbers of flyers and travelers' expectations, the airline industry in the US has broken, and no one seems to be taking much interest in fixing it.