=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2008/04/10/DDHO101MTQ= .DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, April 10, 2008 (SF Chronicle) Airline bankruptcies leave passengers few alternatives Ed Perkins Don't expect much help if you've arranged a trip on an airline that fail= s. Within less than a week, three small but important airlines folded, and the fallout is likely to be a sample of what you can expect in any future failure. Aloha, ATA and Skybus didn't just file for bankruptcy protection - they quit flying completely, with little chance of any continued operations. And given the cool response of the marketplace, these and future airline failures will probably be a lot harder on travelers than previous cases. Travelers holding tickets will have a hard time finding anybody willing = to honor failed lines' tickets or offer any meaningful help. Airline failure is a new ballgame, and one in which consumers are likely to fare poorly. With other U.S. airlines also in shaky financial condition, contingency planning takes on a greatly increased importance. In some previous airline failures - and all failures of "legacy" lines such as Aloha - a "white knight" entered the picture to: (1) keep the failed lines' planes flying by providing bailout financing or taking over the failed lines' routes; (2) continue to honor tickets issued on the failed line, including tickets on frequent-flier awards; and (3) absorb the failed lines' frequent-flier programs and honor members' accrued credit. Not this time. No white knight emerged to pump in some extra money or ta= ke over any of the failing lines. Their collapses were as complete as the collapses of several dozen startups over the past decades. Moreover, none seems to have enough cash available for refunds. The only travelers able to salvage their trips are those booked on flights code-shared with a surviving line: Southwest for ATA and United for Aloha. And Aloha's frequent-flier credit is now worthless. Surviving airlines are doing little to ease the burden: -- Hawaiian carried ticketed Aloha interisland and mainland travelers on standby, at no charge, for a few days, but that period is already over. Hawaiian added additional interisland flights, as well as a new nonstop from Oakland to Honolulu, and United announced "discounted" one-way fares, through the end of April. -- At this writing, Delta and Northwest have posted limited standby discounts for passengers with ATA tickets, and JetBlue and US Airways have similar offers for Skybus travelers. I didn't see anything from other lines. Failed-line travelers will find no help from the government, either. During the last widespread airline financial crisis, the federal government established a requirement that surviving lines carry a failed line's ticketed passengers, on a standby basis, for no more than $50 each way. That requirement expired two years ago, however, and has not been replaced. These small-scale bankruptcies foreshadow what might happen if one of the larger lines were to suffer the same fate. We seem to have run out of white knights: Total loss looms much larger than at any time in the past. Here's what you need to keep in mind: -- Salvaging your money is the easy part. If you buy a ticket with a credit card, you'll almost surely get your money returned. Don't even think about buying a ticket any other way - not even with a debit card, which does not carry the same protections. And if you buy your air travel through a tour operator, the tour operator is responsible for making substitute arrangements or giving you a refund. -- Salvaging your trip is tougher. Replacement seats will be scarce, and fares will probably be a lot higher than what you originally paid. Even if you buy travel insurance, all that gives you is your money back, not a substitute booking. Chances of new federal relief seem slim, and other airlines are likely to be stingy with replacement fares - at best, maybe waiving advance-purchase rules on some cheap tickets. Right now, I can't point to another airline likely to fail anytime soon. But most of them are in some financial distress, so anything can happen. =A9 2008 Tribune Media Services ----------------------------------------= ------------------------------ Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".