Improved performance at O’Hare helps American Airlines stay on time systemwide
American Airlines was busy this week digging into November operational data at the carrier’s hub at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and beyond to understand why the carrier’s on-time performance is starting to markedly improve. American Senior Vice President of Operations David Seymour in an employee memo called the results for November “great.” A closer look at American’s operational numbers for November at O’Hare, American’s third-largest hub, shows how the improvement is happening. Compared to November of 2018, American’s number of “D-0” departures at O’Hare improved 4 percent year over year. “D-O” refers to flights that push back from the gate at or before their scheduled departure time.
The news was just as promising in November on the on-time arrivals front.
American got 3.4 percent more of its flights to the gate at O’Hare on time than was the case a year ago, which meant 81.5 percent of American’s flights arriving at O’Hare last month were on time. The U.S. Department of Transportation considers a flight to have arrived on time if it reaches the gate within 14 minutes of its scheduled arrival time.
American’s A-14 result at O’Hare, however, was still below the carrier’s systemwide A-14 result of 84.4 percent for November.
American managed to get through 19 days at O’Hare without any cancellations on either mainline or regional flights. And AA notched 23 days in November without a single mainline cancellation at O’Hare. The overwhelming majority (95 percent) of AA flights at O’Hare that were cancelled last month were due to weather, not mechanical or crew issues.
AA flew 1.2 million customers out of O’Hare in November, a 6 percent increase year over year. AA also operated 809 more flights from O’Hare last month than was the case a year ago. Overall there were 310 fewer delayed flights and 182 fewer cancellations last month at O’Hare than there were in November of 2018.
Looking at the data at O’Hare and the rest of the American network, Seymour called the on-time results “an incredible accomplishment, especially with load factors exceeding 90 percent.” Load factor represents the percentage of seats filled with paying passengers.
The Río Cuale Market will celebrate 80 years
The Cuale River municipal market in Puerto Vallarta, celebrated its 80th anniversary on November 27, 2019. This marked the foundation of the market and 40th anniversary of the construction of its current building. Tenants and municipal authorities invited everyone to be part of a series of activities prepared for the occasion.
In a press conference, in which the director of Municipal Tourism, Ramón González Lomelí participated; Lucila Alcaraz Cisneros of the Economic Development area of the City Council; Josefina Ibarría Macedo, head of Municipal Markets and José Noé Luquín, president of the Board of Directors of the Municipal Market Río Cuale, announced the program and the list of festivities to take place.
The activities began in the afternoon and included live entertainment, a cake cutting, and a buffet meal. Various games and raffles were enjoyed followed by singers and a folkloric ballet, ending with the Christmas tree lighting.
Lucila Alcaraz, shared the story behind the municipal market; the history of the Rio Cuale Market began with the famous “Las Polleras”, who in the 1950’s were women who dedicated themselves to the harvest of dinner, with pozole, chubby chickens and delicious coffee sold in front of the main square, and that gave the guideline for what the current market is. The constant growth of marketing in Puerto Vallarta in the 1960’s would give way to the construction of the current facilities that were inaugurated on November 27th, 1979, by Governor Flavio Romero Velsaco. At that time the market was a traditional supply, butcher, fish shop, grocery and fruit stand and with the passage of the time it became a more tourist location in the 1980’s, selling souvenirs.
The director of Municipal Tourism, Ramón González Lomelí, thanked the city for carrying out activities that strengthen the arrival of visitors to the market, including the recently remodeled bathroom facilities, and review of options to create content for visitors such as musical presentations or dances.
He explained that work is also being carried out on the signage that will be installed on Guerrero Street, so people on Miramar Street can easily reach the market, as well as working closely with tourist guides and companies to carry out tours to the market, among other actions that will revive the activity of this important space.
How Los Cabos is transforming Luxury Tourism in Mexico
Modern luxury travelers are experiencing a fundamental realignment in their attitudes and desires. On the one hand, travelers still crave the traditional features that are once associated with high-end travel. Eternal values such as quality, comfort and the elegance.
On the other hand, this new generation of wealthy travelers also demands a new set of qualities from their companies and destinations. A 2018 Skift research study on wealthy travelers found that “… luxury travel has moved away from its traditional association with the most luxurious hotels and first-class flights, and towards specific, but still exclusive, experiences at the destination This evolution continues, and is becoming even more personal and subjective. ”
But although these seemingly contradictory desires have left some tourism companies struggling to adapt their offers, others, such as Los Cabos, are thriving in this new environment. Thanks to the new tourism campaign, “The Baja Way,” along with a wealth of authentic cultural experiences, design-focused hotels, world-class food, stunning outdoor landscapes and a focus on environmental sustainability, Los Cabos is becoming an innovative key in the rapidly evolving luxury tourism sector.
“You have exactly that in Los Cabos,” Virtch Upchurch said. “We are looking for new areas and quality continues to grow.”
What exactly is “The” Baja Way “and why does it fit so well with the changing attitudes of today’s luxury traveler? To discover it, it is worth seeing more closely the values that drive this redefined mentality in the tourism market.
Why “The Baja Way” is perfect for today’s evolving luxury traveler?
It is true that Mexico has long occupied an important position in the list of luxury travelers. But unlike previous luxury experiences, today’s rich vacationers look for something completely different from their experience. In the past, a gated complex with beach and pool may have been enough to satisfy luxury consumers. But today’s rich vacationers want all that and much more from their trip to Mexico.
This new impulse is perfectly aligned with “The Baja Way”, a new destination positioning that seeks to show the wealth of luxury services available to Los Cabos luxury travelers. “The Baja Way” is the encapsulation of this new set of values and luxury tourist services, managing to show both the sophistication of the luxury travel experience of Los Cabos together with the relaxed, natural and focused environment in the local destination.
“The Baja Way” also fits especially well because the concept is designed to resonate with the values of today’s multifaceted luxury traveler. An example is the growing interest in more local and cultural experiences. Instead of isolating within a high-end complex, the current traveler from Mexico wants to immerse themselves in the cultures of the destinations he visits. According to a Skift investigation , 56 percent of wealthy travelers said it was important to “meet and identify with the locals while on vacation.”
One way that Los Cabos is bringing this to life is through a new excursion to Todos Santos, a colonial town that has become an emerging artistic center in the region, where guests can interact with local gallery owners and artisans.
Luxury travelers are also subject to their demand for travel and destination businesses that take environmental sustainability seriously. “Sustainability is a perfect example … of many of the things we had not seen before from a luxury perspective, and now we have to really evaluate those options and how we are providing our experiences and our comforts to our guests,” said Mitzi Gaskins, The world’s leading brand for the Marriott’s JW Marriott and The Luxury Collection brands, in a 2019 interview with Skift .
Here, once again, Los Cabos led the way in terms of sustainable tourism initiatives. Consider that 42 percent of Los Cabos is determined as a protected area , or has 19 blue flag beaches , coastal areas that have been evaluated based on a strict ecological certification process to classify local water quality, the security and efforts to preserve the local ecosystem.
Melia Hotels & Resorts removes single-dose containers from bathrooms to use 75% less plastic
Thanks to its new amenities by Rituals, 50 Melia hotels in Spain and EMEA will reduce plastic use by over 45,000 kilos within a year.
This spring, Meliá Hotels & Resorts, the flagship brand of the Meliá Hotels International group, announced a new agreement with the cosmetics brand Rituals by which it became the new supplier of bathroom amenities to group hotels in Spain and EMEA. As a result of this partnership, all single-dose plastic bathroom amenity containers have now been removed and replaced by 300ml eco-pump dispensers containing around ten times more product and using much less plastic. This project forms part of the environmentally responsible activities of the Meliá group and the brand’s commitment to the well-being of guests.
The 52 hotels that have already installed the Ritual dispensers will reduce plastic use by at least an estimated 45,000kg per year in bathroom amenities, 75% less than required for single-dose containers, thus avoiding the emission of more than 29,000kg of C02 into the atmosphere.
Other bathroom articles (brushes, combs, etc.) have also been replaced by ecological alternatives made with 100% organic and compostable materials and packaging made from recycled cardboard. These products are provided on request from guests should they wish to consume more responsibly.
“We want to improve the experience of our guests with top quality products which at the same time help us reduce our environmental footprint,” – says Susanna Mander, Marketing Director of the Meliá Hotels & Resorts brand – “and that’s why this partnership with Rituals has been driven by their innovative spirit and environmental commitment, which together meet two fundamental criteria for our company: sustainability and excellence.”
Rituals has designed a range of exclusive products for Meliá hotels based on the “Ritual of Dao” collection, containing soothing ingredients such as White Lotus, a symbol of purity and spiritual growth in the Far East, and Yi Yi Ren, which has been used for centuries in China for its nutritional and medicinal properties.