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

December 28, 2004

Government Investigates Airline Snafus
The Department of Transportation yesterday launched a formal investigation into the weekend's travel disruptions involving US Airways and Comair that left thousands of passengers stranded or separated from their baggage. The expedited probe will be the first step in what the agency's inspector general said would be a major audit of the airline industry's performance. With passenger volume and flight delays returning to levels last seen in 2000, Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead said it is time to review how the airlines treat their customers. (Washington Post) Posted 5:35 a.m.
• Troubles Could 'Do In' US Airways (USA Today)
• Airline is 'Closer to the Brink' (Tribune Review)

A group of US Airways' customers, FFocus, have called for the removal of the senior managers responsible for the customer-service meltdown. That seems reasonable.

Hopes Fade For Missing Tourists
Hopes are fading for tourists missing in some of Asia's most popular resorts, two days after a tsunami battered Indian Ocean coastlines, killing more than 26,000 people and stranding many more. The vast majority of victims in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives were local people but hundreds of foreigners, enjoying Christmas holidays in the sun, were also killed. The dead included 12 Britons. In Sri Lanka, the government said 200 foreign tourists were feared dead. Nearly 1,000 people died in Thailand and an official there estimated that between 20 and 30 percent of them were holidaymakers. (Reuters) Posted 5:45 a.m.

A Real-Life 'Midnight Express' Ends
The family of the Hollywood screen and television actor, Erik Aude, was celebrating his return home to Los Angeles yesterday from almost three years spent in a Pakistani prison for drug smuggling. The nightmare for Mr Aude, 24, ended as his plane landed at Los Angeles airport late on Boxing Day where he was met by his mother, Sherry Aude, and his manager, Richard Murphy. The actor, who had a part in the film, Dude, Where's My Car?, and a popular US sitcom, hopes to return to work shortly. (Independent) Posted 5:50 a.m.

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What's so Funny?
A passenger approached me in the back galley with a semi-smug grin. "I guess there's not much to laugh at in the airline industry these days, eh?" I just blew it off with a smile and a shrug of my shoulders. I didn't want to get into it at that moment, but the more I thought about it, the more I disagreed. Sure, times are tough in the airline world but there is always plenty to laugh at, you just have to look a bit harder. The following week, I made it my mission to find the humor of airline travel. This is what I came up with. (Travelcomment) Posted 5:55 a.m.

Notes on a Nutty Year
2004 was a year of peril for the airlines, that's for sure. Bankruptcies. Liquidations. Kate Spade uniforms on Song. There were fare wars, air rage, security tensions, body-cavity searches (oops, I'm getting a little ahead of myself - that's 2005), and of course the omnipresent "job actions." Now don't get me wrong, I think everyone is entitled to a fair wage, and that unions have a very prominent, important and useful place in our workforce. But, for those who support these "job actions," I have one question: Are you nuts? (Travelcomment) Posted 5:55 a.m.

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Car Rental Systems Must Second-Guess
My son looked at the minuscule trunk of the rental car, then at our stack of luggage—made larger than usual by an extra suitcase full of Christmas gifts, on their way to their place below the tree at his grandparents' house. Politely, but firmly, he said, "No way, Dad." And something was clearly wrong, because I knew that I'd reserved a bigger car than this. As it turned out, our car was actually in space A-3, not in C-3 where we'd been directed. (Eweek) Posted 6:05 a.m.

Borneo Hotel Guests Filmed During Sex
Local travellers have advised prospective holidaymakers going to Sarawak not to stay in budget hotels as "they may be secretly filmed by hidden cameras in their rooms". The finding that hidden cameras were installed in budget hotels in Sarawak was made by the police there when they crippled a syndicate that sold pornographic movies of hotel customers engaging in sexual intercourse. (Brudirect) Posted 6:10 a.m.

Las Vegas 'Monofail' Tries, Tries Again
When it debuted in mid-July, this city's sleek $650 million monorail was supposed to be the envy of the nation, a high-tech public transit system paid for without taxpayer money that would be so popular it could even turn a profit. But during a busy convention season, bits and pieces of the trains started falling off, potentially endangering anything below, and the system was shut down indefinitely for major repairs. By Thanksgiving, newspaper cartoonists and tourists alike were dubbing it "monofail" and deriding the futuristic cars sitting idle on the costly tracks. (Washington Post) Posted 6:15 a.m.

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