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E L L I O T T' S TRAVEL NOTES
Travel news, opinion and analysis

April 26, 2004

High-Cost Airlines Are History
There was an empty seat on the CEO panel at the annual Phoenix International Aviation Symposium last week. David Siegel, head of struggling US Airways, quit two days before the conference began and pulled out. It was probably just as well: The meeting turned into an obituary-writing session for big, high-cost airlines like USAir. The looming death of the old-line carriers, at least as we know them today, was proclaimed by industry executive after industry executive. America West Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker, who has led a huge drive to cut costs at the Tempe airline, predicted that the Big Six - United, American, Delta, Northwest, USAirways and Continental - likely will shrink to the big two or three. "The industry is in the midst of what is a major restructuring," he said. Arizona Republic | Posted 7 a.m.
-- Arizona Republic: Southwest CEO puts mark on airline
-- Business Times: US Airways is 'no better off'

• I hate to say this, but I told you so. And, as I observed in a commentary a while back, having fewer airlines isn't necessarily in the best interests of the flying public. Send us your comments.

Tour Company Owner is Indicted
A federal grand jury has indicted the owner of a bankrupt Anchorage tour company on criminal fraud charges. Jennifer Christensen, president of Ask Alaska Travel and Tours, is accused of defrauding customers and tourism vendors by improperly using credit cards, according to charging documents released by the U.S. attorney's office in Anchorage on Friday. She faces 20 counts of wire fraud and one count of credit card fraud, which together carry a maximum penalty of 105 years imprisonment and $5.25 million in fines, the US attorney's office said. Christensen is also being sued by the Alaska attorney general for civil fraud. Christensen's criminal defense attorney said that he had not yet seen the federal indictment but that it did not come as a surprise. Anchorage Daily News | Posted 7:10 a.m.
-- AP: Christensen also sued for fraud

Busy Airlines Face Higher Costs
Squeezed by rising fuel costs and price competition but blessed with improving passenger traffic, the major airlines are flying toward the busy summer travel season with mixed emotions. As evidenced last week when AMR, parent of industry leader American Airlines, reported a narrowed $166 million loss for the first quarter, the industry is, at the very least, in better shape than it was a year ago. AMR had lost $1.04 billion in last year's first quarter. For one thing, the industry didn't have an impending war in this year's first quarter, as it did a year earlier when the United States was preparing to invade Iraq. Nor is there a massive outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) overseas, which had a chilling effect on international operations last year. Newsday | Posted 7:25 a.m.

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• And finally ... this interesting news from The Calcutta Telegraph. A replica of Hong Kong's famous Peninsula Hotel has been built in mainland China. From the outside, it looks like the real thing. But inside ... well, you'll have to read the story. Posted 7:30 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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