Planes fill up during spring break, but profits still sag By Marilyn Adams, USA TODAY Major airlines may be losing millions of dollars daily, but you'd never know it from the packed planes at spring break. Holiday flights have been fuller for a more sustained period than any time since last fall's terrorist attacks. Many flights to vacation spots such as Florida, Arizona and Europe are overbooked, forcing gate agents to dangle travel vouchers worth hundreds of dollars to volunteers willing to fly later. Travelers who wait until the last minute often find they can't book a seat or have to pay a fortune to get one. Those who check in late risk getting bumped. The spring break crunch is a result of airlines' schedule cutbacks after Sept. 11, coupled with fare sales by virtually every carrier. Leisure travelers are scooping up seats, but there are fewer planes flying. "Off the charts" is how Delta Air Lines President Fred Reid describes traffic to Orlando now. Flights there have been running more than 90% full, he says. Delta flights from New York's JFK to Rome on a recent day were 96% full, airline figures show. But Delta, which is offering 12% fewer seats than a year ago, has warned it will lose at least $350 million this quarter, although it may be profitable by year's end. Last Thursday, US Airways also warned of a "significant" first-quarter loss. Most airlines are expected to post losses for the quarter. "The truth is, fewer people are still traveling than a year ago," Reid says. "All those fewer people are business travelers." Business fliers tend to book at the last minute, pay high fares and supply the bulk of most airlines' revenue. Recession-related budget cuts and airport security delays are keeping many business travelers home. At America West, "these are some of the highest (passenger) loads we've seen since Sept. 11," says Executive Vice President Scott Kirby. Flights on America West, which has hubs at Phoenix and Las Vegas, two popular vacation destinations, have been running more than 80% full. Flights from Phoenix to Florida have been more than 90% full, he says. "We believe leisure demand is recovering," Kirby says. Chicago-based frequent flier Bob Schmieder got a shock last week when he had to fight for a parking space in a distant lot before boarding his American Airlines flight to New Orleans. "It was amazing," says Schmieder, a sales consultant who often visits trade shows. "Not only was each of the flights completely full, but parking at O'Hare was so full that remote parking was almost gone at 10 a.m." The schlep from the remote lot to the airport added almost half an hour to his trip. "This tells me that the low fares are getting the vacation traveler, and some of the fares are fabulous," Schmieder says. He flew Chicago to London on American for $350 round trip. "But I travel to a lot of trade shows, and attendance there is still way down. The business fliers aren't there." The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (DMPI) http://www.paninstitute.com/ (Diego Martin Pan Institute) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************