Source: Baltimore Sun
Author: Meredith Cohn

Some Call It The Perk That Will Never Go Away

Southwest's Katie Coldwell logged 243,000 miles, 44 states, 2 countries

But airline workers who get free flight privileges as a benefit have found it harder recently to cash in and go anywhere.

Record low fares have filled airplanes with paying customers and left little room for employees who for years have been able to fly standby.

Further changes to the industry have meant deep cuts to pay and benefits at some troubled carriers that have left workers with less time and money for vacations. Younger workers who are likely to travel more have been laid off. And many workers have seen their jobs move hundreds of miles away to other cities, and now use their free flights more for commuting to work than for fun.

To be sure, the benefit is still one workers say they treasure. Low-cost and traditional airlines alike say they won't take it away.

Industry experts and airlines say the reason is that costs are minimal: an inflight soda, a bit of extra worker time, a bit of fuel. Even so, some airlines, such as United Airlines, are tacking on fees to cover the costs.

Southwest Airlines, the leading carrier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, offers employees and their families free, unlimited travel and four "buddy" passes a year. The benefits are similar at US Airways and many others.

The tickets are standby only, although most airlines guarantee free seats for board members and executives. Except for international flights, most of the tickets are tax and fee free. Others have a flat $50-a-year charge or a fee based on mileage flown. It's generally extra for a seat in first class or on a competitor's plane.

Some airlines have left some longtime strings attached to the flights: At American Airlines, workers cannot wear blue jeans or open-toed shoes in the premium class seats, although jeans are allowed in coach.

In most cases, a more senior worker trumps a newer one for a seat on the same plane.

The perk is immediately bestowed on workers at some airlines and kicks in after six months at others. Families and buddies still enjoy the perk, as well as retirees with a certain number of years of service at many airlines.

Airlines say the benefit has been around for decades, although they can't or won't say if workers are flying more or less. Analysts say they don't track it because it doesn't cost much. And the Internal Revenue Service says airline workers don't have to pay federal taxes on the benefit, so it also doesn't know who uses it.

Some workers say they've figured out how to use it often.

Katie Coldwell, a 27-year-old Southwest Airlines worker, said it's the best thing about her job.

She has logged 243,000 miles in about five years. That's enough to fly around the world nearly 10 times.

"I'd been here a little over a year, and I told someone I'd never been to Las Vegas," she said. "She said I had to see the water show at the Bellagio. So, two other girlfriends and I hopped a plane Saturday afternoon, landing about 8 or 9 at night. We stayed up all night long and took the first flight home at 6 a.m. or so."

That was just the beginning for the Dallas-based communications employee. She has also been to New Orleans for lunch and home to Tulsa, Okla., for dinner. She's been to 44 states, and thanks to an agreement among the airlines for free and discounted fares, she has also been to Egypt and Australia.

She and others say they know the tricks to flying standby. Fly early and late, avoid Sundays and Fridays and carry on your bags. And, most importantly, have a backup plan.

AirTran Airways Chief Financial Officer Stan Gadek said he once gave his mother-in-law a free ticket, although she wasn't aware her seat wasn't guaranteed until she got to the airport.

"She made it on the plane, but there were a couple of phone calls to my wife," he said. "Now I buy her a ticket, which is OK. They're cheap."

Rayner Robinson, a 22-year-old AirTran customer service agent, always tries to get the first flight out.

She booked a ticket from BWI, where she's based, to Miami for a Mardi Gras-style party on Feb. 12. Robinson could see that only 43 of the 117 seats were filled on the 8:55 a.m. flight through Atlanta and thought she had a good chance of getting on the plane.

For fare-paying passengers, the price would have been $199 each way. Robinson was thrilled to save that money for other things, although she noted that paying customers get on the plane first.

She checked the Southwest schedule to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as a backup. "I'll check every couple of days," she said.

Robinson has been signing herself up for a trip about once a month in the past 2 1/2 years, often traveling with co-workers or her family, who can also fly free.

Charles B. Craver, a labor law professor at George Washington University, said young, single workers like Robinson and Coldwell probably use the benefit more because they have more flexibility and willingness to fly standby. He believes fewer take advantage of the perk now because layoffs have eliminated some of the least senior and youngest workers at many airlines.

AirTran and Southwest, two low-cost carriers that employ the women, have not had layoffs.

"It's a wonderful perk without a doubt," Craver said. "If you have a family, you probably can't use it that much."

Low fares have also helped fill flights, making it more risky to fly standby, said David Swierenga, an airline consultant and former chief economist for the Air Transport Association, the industry trade group. Plane loads of paying customers averaged more than 75 percent last year, up from recent years.

"If you're flying to meet a cruise ship or attend an event or you have kids, you've got to be there," he said.

Still, Swierenga predicts the benefit will remain in place because it cost the airlines so little to provide what could be worth thousands of dollars in travel a year to each worker.

To Kit Darby, the free flights means he can keep his paycheck. He flies once a week from his home in Atlanta to his job as a United pilot in Chicago.

"Getting to work would be extremely expensive and not doable without it," said Darby, who is also president and publisher of AIR Inc., a pilot career information service.

He said his Atlanta-to-Chicago commute requires planning, constant monitoring of flight schedules on the Internet and luck. Sometimes he flies on other airlines, for which United negotiated a reduced fare. Twice in 20 years, he hasn't made it because of snowstorms.

It helps that pilots, unlike other workers, are allowed to fly in cockpit jump seats, if they are available. Darby estimates that 50 percent to 60 percent of the nation's 95,000 pilots now commute to work in another city.

Still, Jack Stephan, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association and a US Airways pilot, says most pilots whose pension payments have been reduced at bankrupt airlines would gladly trade in their flight privileges to get their full pensions restored.

"Nothing is free. That so-called perk cost us $7 billion," he said.