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

July 6, 2004

Airport Screeners Making a Comeback
After suffering sharp ridicule from the public and near extermination by the federal government more than two years ago, the airline screening industry is seeking a comeback at U.S. airports. The federal law passed after Sept. 11, 2001 that banned private companies from airports allows them to return by 2005 if they are approved by the government. The provision has led a few security firms -- many of them new to the business -- to begin pitching themselves to undecided airports as a class above the old guard of airport screening companies such as Argenbright Security Inc., which took the brunt of criticism after 9/11. "The business prior to 9/11 didn't have the best reputation," said Nancy Montgomery, vice president of strategic accounts at Barton Protective Services Inc., a company that employs security guards at office buildings and would like to get into the airport security business. "It's a very different program now." Washington Post | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- Sentinel: "More danger to the flying public"
-- Herald: Screeners charged with looting luggage

• So now it's back to the future? After some of the shenanigans that have been reported recently, I'm not surprised. Maybe we would have been better off taking my advice in 2002 and defunding the TSA. But that would have probably been too easy. Send us your comments.

Flight Delays Are On The Rise
More than 400,000 flights have been delayed or canceled so far this year, more than one of every five that take off, according to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Delayed flights - defined as those reaching their destinations more than 15 minutes behind schedule - have increased 34 percent so far this year from the corresponding period of 2003. That reverses a two-and-a-half-year trend of fewer delays set in motion as airlines cut back service and passenger traffic fell sharply. Weather, as always, is a major reason for delays and diversions, but the Federal Aviation Administration says that reviving air traffic and a shift toward smaller planes are also contributing to the problem. The New York Times | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Continental: Little Airlines, Big Trouble
Over the past year, the airline industry has been buffeted by the winds of war, the travel bans of SARS, and the gushing of jet fuel prices. But Continental Airlines says the biggest challenge to the major airlines is the change wrought by discount carriers. "These changes were brought on by the significant growth of low-cost carriers, which further eroded the business fare structure and a significant reduction in labor costs at American Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways as a result of their being in or facing bankruptcy," Continental CEO Gordon Bethune and President Larry Kellner say in their 2003 annual report. Business Journal | Posted 7 a.m.

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• And finally ... is there a winner in the "veepstakes"? The scuttlebutt is that John Kerry's 757 was in a hangar, being fitted with "John Edwards" VP decals. We may find out later today how reliable that information is. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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