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

August 18, 2004

Airlines Agree to Cut O'Hare Flights
Airlines operating at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport have agreed to cut flights to reduce delays that ripple across the country, sources familiar with the talks said yesterday. The agreements came after two weeks of negotiations with the government, which had warned carriers this month that it would impose a reduced flight schedule at O'Hare if the airlines did not cut flights themselves. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and Federal Aviation Administrator Marion C. Blakey were to fly to O'Hare as soon as today to announce the agreement, according to government and aviation sources who were not allowed to speak publicly about the issue. "We're optimistic we will have something to share very soon," Transportation Department spokesman Robert Johnson said yesterday. "This is all going according to plan. A voluntary agreement has always been our goal." Washington Post | Posted 6:30 a.m.
• Deal to Be Announced Today in Chicago (Tribune)
• American, United to Cap Flights (AP)

Looks like a band-aid on a gaping wound to me. It's as if the major carriers are saying, "We'll behave ... for now."

Bronner: End is Near For US Airways
If US Airways files for bankruptcy in less than a month, airline chairman David Bronner predicts that no one, including himself, will be willing to rescue the nation's seventh-largest carrier from oblivion. In the last 30 days, Bronner said only one investor has contacted him about a bankrupt US Airways -- and that was a foreign player interested only in the leftover piece of an airline that employs 28,000 people, including about 8,000 in the Pittsburgh area. "They don't want the whole thing," he said. Post-Gazette | Posted 6:35 a.m.

ATA May Also Default on Federal Loan
ATA, one of the smaller struggling US airlines, has warned that it does not expect to meet its cash obligations early next year and might also breach covenants on its debts, blaming high fuel prices and a weak revenue environment. The problems will pose another challenge for the Airline Transportation Stabilization Board, set up after September 11 to aid the industry, which is already in talks with US Airways about whether it will default on terms of its loan guarantee. FT | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Auto Safety Info Off-Limits to Public - The federal agency that oversees auto safety has decided -- based largely on arguments from automakers and their Washington, D.C., lobbyists -- that reams of data relating to unsafe automobiles or defective parts will not be available to the public. Specifically, the government has banned the release of car and truck warranty-claims information, customer complaints and early-warning reports about defects from dealers, automakers and rental car companies, even if media outlets or other groups push for it under the Freedom of Information Act. Free Press | Posted 7 a.m.

GPS Tracking Bill Headed to Governator's Desk - A bill to protect against 'Big Brother' tactics is headed to the governor's desk. It involves tracking devices and rental cars. Contact 4 has been tracking this stories since last February. We talked with dozens of people who came home from trips and found not only did their rental car bills cost them much more, but that the company had known exactly where they had driven. KRON | Posted 7:05 a.m.

Online Travel Takes Off - Online activity around the travel category is sky-high, according to independent research conducted by Feedback Research, a division of the Claria Corporation. Results indicated that consumers are searching online for their hotel, airline and car rental needs with 82% preferring to make travel arrangements online and 59% of total survey respondents citing they had purchased travel online in the past 90 days. Internet Travel News | Posted 7:10 a.m.

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• Off the Record ... most airports just give you a ticket when you park in the wrong place. Not Springfield-Branson Regional Airport. Norris Jim Henry, the mayor of Blue Eye, Ark., has accused officers of sprayed him with Mace and handcuffing him over a disputed parking violation earlier this year. The 46-year-old mayor is suing the city of Springfield, seeking actual and punitive damages for the incident. Posted 7:15 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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