This week, the Air Line Pilots Association filed suit on behalf of 500 Spirit pilots, claiming the airline “unlawfully” changed their pay and working conditions.

Among the allegations in the complaint: Spirit has terminated a policy that gave pilots at least four days off for every four or five days of flying. According the lawsuit, ”the safety implications of depriving pilots of minimal necessary rest are obvious.”

In response, Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza said, “Each of the changes is permitted under the existing collective bargaining agreement. We understand that some of our pilots are unhappy about the changes but, in our view, the work rule adjustments are critically necessary in these challenging times for the well being of the company and our employees.”

I’m sure Midwest pilots can sympathize.

Continental is now joining most of the legacy carriers, in charging you to check a single bag: the fee will be $15. This will go into effect for tickets purchased for travel on or after Oct. 7.

And then there was one: Delta Airlines is now the only legacy carrier without a first checked bag fee. But there’s a catch - Delta charges you a whopping $50 for a second checked-bag.

Yes, there are other airlines out there that don’t charge you a dime to check a single bag - in fact, Southwest lets its customers check two bags for free - but, the “free” bag airlines are sadly dwindling.

If you do a lot of transatlantic flying or other long-haul trips, this may not appeal to you - but I thought it was fascinating: the chance to spend the night in a hostel - that’s actually a Boeing 747.

This 747, anchored to a spot at the Stockholm airport, was built in 1976, and has been converted into a lodging appropriately named, the Jumbo Hostel. It has 85 beds, configured mostly as 3 bunkbeds to a room (and thanks, Gadling, for the heads-up). As hostels go, it sounds fairly luxurious - while there are typically 3-beds to a room, they all have flat screen TVs, Wifi and more.

I can’t find any information about room prices just yet. But keep checking the hostel’s site - and note that they won’t start taking reservations until December.

I’d like to thank the folks over at Lipstick Getaways for highlighting our most recent newsletter tip, which is all about “The Best Days to Shop Online for Airfare Deals”.

As I told our newsletter readers, there is no “perfect time” to shop - but here’s a general rule:

The best time to start shopping is Monday at 3:00pm EDT - continuing on through Wednesday

And here’s why:

• Airlines typically file airfare sales Monday morning in the 10:00am or 12:30pm EDT airfare distribution
• Over the next 3 airfare distribution cycles, Monday at 8:00pm and Tuesday at 10:00am and 12:30pm, other airlines typically start matching the sale prices
• These sales tend to expire late on Friday, but even worse, airlines typically file airfare hikes (22 attempts this year) late Thursday, so shopping over the weekend is not the best idea

This is the kind of tip we’re going to be featuring in our weekly newsletter from now on - if you’re not a subscriber, sign up today (the sign up area is just below our “ticket search box”). You won’t want to miss out.

“Catastrophic news” - that’s what the Midwest Airlines pilots union rep had to say about the airline (perhaps best known for its warm cookies) using small jets piloted by Republic Airways to service some of its routes.

The problem, as Midwest pilots see it, is this will put more Midwest folks out of work. And the pilots are already reeling over cuts that took place when the airline was purchased by an investor group recently.

Midwest’s CEO cites this as one more “difficult decision” to be made in these difficult economic times. He also expects this to be just a temporary furlough, until Midwest can get its own smaller jets in place. However, that could take a year - long time to be on “furlough”.

Even as the airlines are cutting capacity, fewer passengers are filling their seats.

American Airlines reports the percentage of its “filled seats” (load factor) last month, was down 1.5% over August of last year.

And just reverse the digits for United’s decrease - down 5.1% this August, compared to last year.

These drops occur amid some capacity reductions already in place from the first of the year.

Good thing (for the airlines, anyway) that more capacity cuts are coming. Not so good for us, of course, so if you’re planning to travel over the holidays, start shopping now. And my apologies for sounding like a broken record (CD?).

A: When it misses hitting the offshore oil rigs.

Sure, Hurricane Gustav badly disrupted air travel over the crazy Labor Day weekend, but just the fact that it left all that oil infrastructure in the Gulf “relatively unscathed” as Forbes put it, provided “a welcome boost to ailing airline stocks. Many shares saw double-digit jumps.” At least initially.

Good news - but even better news was that the hurricane pulled its punch somewhat as it headed to land.

We’ve just learned we won the “gold” in Travel Weekly’s 2008 Magellan Awards.

Our category was “Online Travel Services/Blog” so I guess you could say FareCompare won with the help of my favorite blogs: RickSeaney.com, StandardUprightPosition.com, Deals and FirstClass. If you haven’t taken a look yet, please do - they’re all updated daily (and the blog you’re reading now is updated several times a day).

The picture on the left is supposed to represent my happy staff. But they’re all much better looking.

July’s on-time performance by the airlines got better - better than the month before, and, better than it was a year before.

The reporting carriers (there are 19 of them) had an overall on-time rate of 75.7%, compared to 70.8% in June. And now, the “best” and the “worst”:

Highest On-Time Arrival Rates

1. Pinnacle Airlines (based out of Memphis) - 85.6 percent

2. Hawaiian Airlines - 83.6 percent

3. Southwest Airlines - 83.1 percent

Lowest On-Time Arrival Rates

1. Comair (based out of Cincinnati) - 63.3 percent

2. JetBlue Airways - 64.6 percent

3. United Airlines - 68.2 percent

So who had the “best” and “worst” record for cancelled flights? Keep reading, it’s coming right up…

In my latest ABCNews.com column, you’ll read all about how some of America’s most popular vacation spots are feeling the “squeeze” of route cut-backs. And they’re not the only ones hurting.

Too busy to read the whole column? Then let’s hit the highlights:

• Orlando will lose about 12% of its flights (including direct service to 8 mid-size cities including Allentown, PA)
• Las Vegas loses 12 flights from Southwest, and more than 70 from US Airways
• Gambling revenues were down in the first four months of the year, and hotels profits fell as well
• Metro NY loses direct service to Bangkok, Bucharest and Bologna and more
• Direct flights from NY to Tucson? Not this year

I also talk about how some smaller airports, like Kansas City, are fighting to keep their customers, by offering coupons for a day of free parking, and more. And hotels are experimenting with miles and discounts to hang on to their business.

File this under “Sign of the Times”: this weekend, I was watching some U.S. Open tennis and saw a Continental Airlines commercial where onlookers were cooing over the delivery of a newborn. The proud papa, of course, was a pilot and his offspring was a “newborn” jet — he explained he was taking delivery of a number of them this year (the jet appeared to be a 737).

It got me to thinking about the long awaited Boeing Dreamliner — a quick google took to me to a site I hadn’t seen before — and I was amazed at a graphic with dozens of tail liveries of the proud “papas” who will be taking delivery (livery = graphic design painted on the plane).

It wasn’t readily apparent that any U.S. based airlines planned on a 787 “newborn”, but after closer inspection it appears there are in fact 2 out of the dozens of “buyers” — Northwest and Continental. Conspicuously absent were most western European airlines who I presume are Airbus aficianados.

I suppose a lot has to do with the weak dollar, the price of fuel and the state of U.S.airline financials — I am wondering, however, how things will look in 3-4 years when oil is not an issue anymore and some of the “non-U.S. airlines” begin flying these spanking new, state-of-the-art planes to/from the U.S. — how easy will it be for U.S. airlines to compete?

You can play airline “Concentration” on this Boeing site (remember Concentration, that old TV game show?) by clicking on the interactive picture at left — simply click on a tail in the picture, and finding out exactly who is going to be “taking delivery” of these coveted newborns …

We reported earlier that United was trying an experiment: dropping the free hot meals for economy passengers on its Dulles to Europe flights. Apparently, these passengers were not happy about this, and made their feelings clear to management.

After getting what United called “direct, candid feedback” from its customers, the airline decided, okay, those free hot meals will stay.

For now, anyway.

Beginning a week from today (Sept. 9), Southwest will no longer take cash for things like beer or wine. What will they take?

• Credit cards
• Debit cards
• Drink coupons

Oh, and that can of Diet Coke? It’s still free on Southwest.

This just in: Cambria Suites is now offering triple airline and Amtrak rewards (through the end of the year). You simply present your frequent flyer number from one of seven airline programs, and you get triple the usual amount of points, and the same holds true for Amtrak’s “miles” program. Click here for details.

If you like to stay at Starwood Hotels, their miles program called SPG lets members book flights on hundreds of airlines with no blackout dates, beginning today. Click here for details on this program.

As you may have noticed, airline capacity cuts and route cutbacks have made it a bit difficult for some hotels, from big chains to Mom & Pop establishments - and besides rewards programs, there are some good lodging deals out there.

It’s that time of year again - time to shepherd your “baby” to college.

Unfortunately, it’s a heck of a lot more expensive than it used to be. A big question, especially for those who live far from their child’s school: fly or drive? I was quoted in a recent Boston Globe article as saying a lot of families are gritting their collective teeth and opting to drive.

But if you do decide to fly, here are some tips:

• If possible, fly an airline that allows each traveler 2 “free checked bags” and see our Airline Fee Chart for details (and parents’ belongings should be able to fit into a thimble)
• Don’t pack linens, pillows and other “space hogs” - build in some time for a trip to a “big box” store and buy all that stuff there. Microwaves, too.
• In the Spring, don’t lug all this stuff back home - find a storage locker and load it up for the summer.

Happy Labor Day.

I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy this day off, with family and friends and fun — and lots of great food.

But, unfortunately, I know that won’t be the case for everyone — not for the folks who’ve had to be evacuated from their homes along the Gulf coast.

We are watching the coverage of Gustav, and thinking of you.

As they say, better days are coming.

The airfare hike initiated by United Airlines late Thursday is starting to fizzle out.

In fact, the fizzling was also initiated by United; now UA has rolled back its hike, since only one legacy carrier joined in on it - Delta.

We’ll let you know if and when Delta bails.

UPDATE: As of Friday night, Delta matches United’s airfare hike.

EARLIER: We had almost 2 months of calm from system-wide legacy airline hikes, until last night - when United Airlines initiated the 22^nd attempt of 2008.

The carrier increased airfares up to $20 roundtrip, on the bulk of its route system, affecting both leisure and business travelers. Curiously, the increase comes amidst 3 weeks of very active leisure ticket discounting for travel through mid-November.

Capacity cutbacks begin in earnest starting after Labor Day and I had expected to see some hikes a bit earlier to correspond with these cuts - it appears however that consumers benefited from the drop in oil prices from $147 to $115 a barrel since early July. But that’s changing.

Our laboratory beta “Best Time to Buy Technology” showed the following United price graph comparing the cheapest roundtrip prices at noon Thursday, to the newly hiked prices of last night between the top 50 cities (1200 markets):

Note the graph highlights United pricing behavior:

• Cheaper prices through end of October
• Price increase for Thanksgiving Travel in Mid November
• Price increase for Christmas Travel in Mid December
• Huge price increase for those that book outside the Southwest airlines booking window which ends in early March.

NOTE: Air travelers should not procrastinate on holiday travel this year as we are likely to see a few more hikes before the end of the year.

And for a look back at the year’s hikes by all the airlines, see our 2008 Airfare Hike Timeline Chart.

If you will be traveling in the Caribbean, Louisiana, Mississippi or any region that may be affected by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Gustav (the definition keeps changing), contact your airline.

Many are waiving “change” fees for those that have to make other plans.

For a list of all the airlines and their contact info, just click here. And stay safe.

UPDATE: The strike is over — LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has brokered a 3 week “cooling off” period

EARLIER: If your Labor Day travel plans include Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), you might be in for a spot of inconvenience.

Several hundred airline service workers of the Service Employees International Union (Local 1877) — which includes baggage handlers, skycaps, aircraft cabin cleaners, security personnel and the people who push wheelchair-bound passengers – went on strike yesterday.

The affected terminals include the Tom Bradley International Terminal and terminals serving American, United, Southwest and Northwest airlines.

As of now, there is nothing about the strike on the airport’s website, and the LA Times reports that contract employees and execs are filling in for the striking employees.

“Airline and airport officials said the strike had not disrupted operations or delayed flights, but they cautioned travelers to arrive at the airport two hours before their departures for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights.” — Airport, airline officials, Los Angeles Times

The striking workers are seeking a wage increase and health benefits.

Do you ever wish you could get the flight attendants to skip that boring “here’s how to use the life vest/life jacket” part of their safety presentations? Well, according to a report on ABCNews.com, that won’t be a problem on Air Canada’s regional carrier, Jazz.

Yes, Jazz is removing life vests from all its planes to save weight (and thereby, saving fuel).

Now, it should be noted that Jazz does not fly over the ocean - but it does fly over the Great Lakes, and it seems to me they could qualify as mini-oceans. But not to worry: a Jazz spokesperson says, you can still use your seat cushion as a “flotation device”.

You’re probably wondering what these vests weigh: well, we know a commercial vest weighs about half a kilogram — which is a little more than a pound.

Okay, readers - sound off!

The founders of the discount carrier said today, that they had “left no stone unturned to secure a re-financing package that would have kept our aircraft flying.” Apparently they couldn’t find a stone with deep enough pockets.

I’m sorry to see them go, but not as sorry as folks that purchased airfare for future flights on Zoom. If you are one of the unlucky ones holding now useless tickets, the airline’s website has some information on who to contact, but the smart ones will get on the phone with their credit card companies, right away.

Every Thursday, I like to point out some of the better deals we’ve posted on our Deals Page - and do check out this page everyday - we’re contstantly updating it.

Here’s a sampling of some great deals (click on the airline name for details):

• Virgin America’s Fall Sale - San Francisco to LA, $59+ one-way
• Continental’s THIS WEEKEND Sale - NY to Montreal, $128 roundtrip

Both airlines have lots more flights all over - time to start making plans.