Delta, United, Aeromexico add flights

By Joe Brancatelli

AIRPORT REPORT

New Routes, New Clubs, New Troubles for Clear: Delta Air Lines is resuming some intra-Florida flights it dropped last year. Thanks to a $1.5 million subsidy from Florida taxpayers, Delta's commuter operation will fly daily service from the state capital of Tallahassee to Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. The nonstop routes, using 32-seat turboprops, resumed April 1. … The commuter operation of United Airlines is adding two new routes from Chicago/O'Hare. Beginning June 4, there will be daily flights from ORD to Bismarck, North Dakota, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. … Priority Pass, the membership plan that allows travelers to access 600 airport clubs worldwide, has added a slew of new lounges. Among the new facilities: the Relax Lounge at LAX; lounges in Toronto/Pearson, Gothenburg, Sweden, and Manchester, England; eight TAM Airlines clubs in Brazil; a lounge in Chennai, India; three lounges in Indonesia; two clubs in South Africa; and two clubs in Vietnam. … Clear members take note: The troubled airport security "line cut" program has begun slashing operating hours at some of its lanes. Check the Clear Web site before assuming any facility is open at any airport.

INTERNATIONAL AGENDA

Aeromexico Adds More Cities North of the Border: Aeromexico is making a new move on cities north of the border. It has just launched daily flights between Mexico City and Toronto. On April 9, the carrier added twice-weekly flights between Mexico City and Montreal. As many as five U.S. cities will be added to the Aeromexico route map later this year, too. … Meanwhile, … Air Europa will launch daily Airbus 330 flights between New York/Kennedy and Madrid on June 1. … American Airlines has moved its Shanghai flights to Terminal 2 of Pudong International. … Several U.S. hotel brands have made their first appearances on the international scene. The first Four Points by Sheraton in Southeast Asia has opened in Kuching, Malaysia. Europe's first Hampton Inn has opened in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. And the first W Hotel in the Middle East has opened in Doha, Qatar.

NEED TO KNOW

On-the-Road Intelligence to Help You Travel Smarter: The government's on-time arrivals figures for January have been released and guess which carrier was not Number 1? US Airways, which has heavily advertised its 2008 on-time title and its worst-to-first comeback last year. In January, US Airways slumped to ninth place among the 19 rated carriers. For the month, in fact, US Airways was stunningly average, ringing up a 77.3 percent on-time rating, fractionally above the industry standard of 77 percent. … Virgin America now charges $15 for the first checked bag unless you are flying first class or have purchased a "main cabin select" fare.

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Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a non-commercial Web site for business travelers. Copyright 2009 by Joe Brancatelli. Licensed by contract for Orbitz use.

Tagged: Florida