Maryland Business

The truncated work week didn’t keep The Daily Record’s business reporters from breaking some news in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

Also cracking the weekly top five for the first time is a recent installment in our new series, the Photo of the Day. The picture relates to air travel, hence the business peg, but mostly it’s just a very cool picture. Do check it out.

1. On the Move, 11/26: Northrop Grumman’s Edwards Veihoffer wins women engineers award

Debbie Edwards Veihdeffer, director of work-life integration at Northrop Grumman’s electronic systems sector in Linthicum, recently received the Work-Life Balance Award from the Society of Women Engineers.

She serves as the human resources focal point for three sector-level employee resource groups and is the project leader for two science, technology, engineering and mathematics educational outreach programs for teachers.

2. State suspends debt collection firm’s license

A collection company hired by payday loan firms was suspended by state regulators Monday because the loans were given by unlicensed companies who violated state usury laws.

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The week was dominated by politics and election news, as seen with The Daily Record’s five most-read staff-written stories.

Even a story on health care that cracked the list centers on health care reform — a galvanizing factor, pundits say, in many of the Republican victories across the country that resulted in the GOP taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A story on air travel, however, tops the list. Here are summaries and links.

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For a company called ExecuCar, it’s probably safe to say there’s nowhere to go but up.

That’s because the company, which bills itself as the “premier luxury sedan service in the U.S.,” offering airport transfers and business travel with professional drivers, announced its foray into the Baltimore market Tuesday. Baltimore was one of five markets ExecuCar added, bringing its total to 19 (and 30 airports).

Of course, many of the roads in Greater Baltimore are not suitable for motor vehicles of any kind, let alone luxury sedans, thanks to last weekend’s record snowfall — and more snow is on the way. Also, BWI Airport was still grappling with the snowy deluge. Both of its main runways were back open Tuesday morning, but airlines had started sending word of flight cancellations later in the day and on into Wednesday.

“We had a multiple city launch set up at the same time so we had to pull the trigger,” says Ken Testani, senior vice president of global marketing for SuperShuttle International, which operates ExecuCar. “Hopefully folks will start using us, when weather permits.”

So this week is a soft launch of sorts for Phoenix, Ariz.-based ExecuCar. The company, which also launched service in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Pittsburgh, and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., is offering a $5 discount on reservations made online.

Unfortunately, no snow shoveling is included in that discount.

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The luxury of a private jet, especially in the current economy, seems like an extravagance reserved only for music executives or real estate moguls.

However, K & R Aviation and Open Air provide a similar, but less extravagant, service to businessmen and women in the Greater Baltimore area.

Open Air wants you to pay a premium and travel in style — on a private plane. Sure, it seems like a waste of money, but Open Air provides specials that are catered to businesspeople of more traditional means:

• Their “empty leg special” in particular allows you to charter a flight at a lower-than-normal rate.
•  When someone sends a plane on a one-way flight, they will give you a discounted fare if you are flying from that destination back to Maryland.
• Also, several businesspeople traveling together can “car pool” a flight to and from a major city, like New York or Miami, and share the cost.  If you get enough of you together, the cost may even be below what you would pay in commercial airfare.

Depending on your destination, however, a private jet may not be the way to fly.

According to MarketWatch.com, last year, members of Congress criticized auto executives who flew on private aircrafts to Washington D.C. to request bailout money, calling it another example of “corporate excess.”

However, if you have the means, Open Air can provide the service. Who knows? On your next business trip you could be the one sipping champagne in a plush leather seat.

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Sometimes it pays to get a little worked up over things you can’t control in public. On our way back from an idyllic honeymoon in Barbados, my husband (!) and I found out that our connecting flight from Miami to Baltimore had been canceled.

In the movies, airlines always seem to pick up the tab for passengers’ hotel rooms when they cancel flights. In real life, not so much.

Despite the desire of more than 100 people to get back to Baltimore that night, American Airlines shrugged its shoulders and said, “Sorry, can’t do it.” How about that free hotel room? The response was the same.

Apparently weather cancellations are considered an “act of God” in the contract between the passenger and the airline, which means the airlines are not responsible for passenger hotel rooms.

But back in Baltimore, everyone said the storms had come and gone. Another American flight going to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was still scheduled to take off.

I didn’t want have a hissy fit, but I decided to ask about the hotel room again since the weather seemed fine in Baltimore.

That’s when the woman helping us reluctantly said she could give us a voucher (similar to the meal voucher above) for a discounted rate at a few nearby hotels. Bingo.

My tenacity got us a room at the Hyatt for $79 instead of the $129 rate charged to other customers. So what if in the eyes of American Airlines I’ve been branded a “distressed passenger.”

Next time “weather” gums up your flying plans, I suggest you act the damsel in distress.

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I’ve heard nothing but complaints about airlines recently, mostly about the extra charges for checked luggage, pillows, blankets and a seat. But supposedly a new study shows that airlines are doing a better job with customer service.

University of Michigan found that passenger satisfaction rose over 3% in the first part of 2009. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s the first time in six years that customer satisfaction has risen.

(Regardless of their “satisfaction,” the number of passengers has dropped and airlines are cutting back their routes.)

Southwest Airlines, a favorite of local business travelers (based on my cursory poll), had the highest score. Continental and US Airways both improved by more than 9%; United Airlines bucked the trend, remaining unchanged at dead last.

So far this year I’ve flown on AirTran (one aisle behind Michael Phelps!) and US Airways, with pretty typical experiences. Have you had better ones?

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Wish a happy 15th birthday to Southwest at BWI!

Unless you plan on flying to Chicago Midway Airport; Denver; Detroit; Hartford, Conn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Louisville, Ky., Manchester, N.H.; Nashville, Tenn.; Phoenix; San Diego; St. Louis; Tampa, Fla.; or West Palm Beach, Fla.

If that’s the case, your options are about to get a bit more limited.

That’s not to say Southwest isn’t a huge part of Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport. The airline did carry more than 3.9 million Customers from Baltimore/Washington in 2007, and has 162 daily nonstop flights leaving the airport.

And that’s not to say the airline is dropping a big number of flights. It’s actually only 11. Still, I find it funny that Southwest’s call for celebration comes less than a month after it cuts its presence at BWI.

Personally, I’d be all in favor of fewer flights if that meant the use of larger planes. Sure, that would limit departure options, but airlines could probably carry as many people overall, and without forcing us into some of the most uncomfortable positions know to humankind.

I flew on three flights over the weekend — not Southwest, so you know — and two of them I spent in a window seat trying to curve my spine in such a way that I didn’t constantly crack my head against the curved wall/ceiling. And I’m 5 ft 9in. And obviously at no point was I able to use my own armrest.

So I welcome continued flight cuts — as long as I can get a little more breathing room.

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

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I visited Baltimore Washington International Airport on Wednesday, and got a chance to check out a new feature that the airport just added. BWI has installed several monitors that map where arriving and departing flights are, and what the weather is like around the country—perhaps where you are getting ready to go.

This could be a cool way to pass the time as you wait to pick someone up or for your flight to take off. You can actually see how far away a plane is on a map of the eastern United States to verify those estimated delays.

Has anyone seen these yet? Apparently they’ve only been around for a week or so. They’re attached to the monitors where you can look up your flight status.

ANDY ROSEN, Business Writer

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Half of families embarking on an upcoming spring break trip will be gone only four days or less, according to a new survey by FastPark, an off-site airport parking company that has two lots at BWI airport.

The survey found that 49 percent of people were traveling for fun; 42 percent were visiting family and friends; 7 percent said their trip was educational and 1 percent were traveling for a philanthropic reason.

The most popular departure date was the Friday or Saturday prior to the start of their child’s spring break.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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According to FAA figures, BWI was the nation’s 33rd busiest airport in 2006, climbing three spots from its 2005 ranking. The Baltimore Examiner reports that even though there were fewer flights in 2006 vs. 2005, a record number of passengers traveled to and from Baltimore.

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport again ranked at the busiest. Dulles fell to No. 14 (previously at No. 10) and Reagan National ranked No. 41.

JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor 

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