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

July 13, 2004

Beleaguered Agents Take It Home
In the past 10 years, 20,000 brick-and-mortar travel agency locations have closed their doors — that’s 44 percent of locations nationwide, according to the American Society of Travel Agents. The primary reason for the decline: Commissions from the sale of airline tickets — once 70 percent of an average travel agent’s revenue — are now virtually nonexistent as travelers increasingly book directly through airlines or online. That has caused travel agents to change how they do business, now relying on service charges from travelers and the lower cost of working from home to help make it financially. Detroit News | Posted 6:30 a.m.
• Travel Agent Indicted in Scam (Star-Ledger)
• Virgin Blue to Scrap Travel Agent Fees (The Age)

It is tempting to stop using a travel agent altogether, but as John Frenaye pointed out in a recent column on Travelcomment.com, there are instances when you absolutely can't do without a pro - even today.

O'Hare Loses Power After Explosion
An electrical explosion Monday at O'Hare International Airport knocked out power to two terminals, delaying some flights and injuring two workers who had been upgrading the electrical system, officials said. Chicago Aviation Commissioner John Roberson said the outage did not affect the air traffic control towers but some flights were delayed because electricity was cut to many security checkpoints, forcing workers to manually screen passengers and baggage. "Security was never compromised in any way during this time," Roberson said. He said he didn't know how many flights were delayed. The explosion happened around noon when a subcontractor performing maintenance on part of the airport's electrical system inadvertently separated some wires, Roberson said. Two workers were taken to a hospital with first- and second-degree burns. AP | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Early Sales Threaten Airline Profits
The airline industry was already dreading the prospect that a strong summer for air travel would wither by Labor Day. Now, an aggressive and unusually early round of fare sales by the low-cost carriers is threatening to wipe out any chance of profits for the industry in the autumn. JetBlue Airways plans to announce today that it will cut its prices by as much as half on one million seats from Sept. 7 to mid-December, with one-way fares of $29 to $99 if tickets are bought by July 29. The period around Thanksgiving is excluded.The announcement from JetBlue, whose main hub is Kennedy Airport, comes a week after Southwest Airlines, the leading low-fare carrier, announced a wide-ranging package of $39 to $99 fares for late summer and early fall flights, reducing prices by as much as 65 percent. The New York Times | Posted 7 a.m.

FBI Won't Charge N.M. Checkpoint Evader - The FBI will not pursue criminal charges against a man who walked through the exit side of the Albuquerque airport security checkpoint Sunday, causing 1,800 people to be delayed on takeoff. The man made his flight and took off before the FBI could question him. He flew to Salt Lake City, was interviewed by FBI agents there, and released after his arrival in Utah. AP | Posted 7 a.m.

US Airways Union May Go to Court - A labor union representing almost 600 gate and ramp workers at Pittsburgh International Airport may go to federal court as early as today to stop US Airways' subsidiary PSA Airlines from unilaterally stripping workers of seniority rights used for job assignments. Lawyers for Teamsters Local 926 were preparing to file a request for a temporary restraining order either today or Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Charles Burns, the union's secretary-treasurer, said late Monday. Tribune-Review | Posted 7:05 a.m.

United Settles Hazardous Waste Violations - United Airlines Inc. agreed to pay $850,000 to resolve hazardous waste violations at its aircraft maintenance facility at San Francisco International Airport, federal officials said Monday. Inspectors with the Environmental Protection Agency found "widespread violations" at the United facility in 1999 and 2001. The site employs about 5,200 people, according to the EPA. AP | Posted 7 a.m.

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• Off the Record... Travel Notes by e-mail now has nearly 600 subscribers. No, I can't believe it either. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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