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

July 15, 2004

Beware of Summer Airline Delays
This summer is shaping up as the worst for flight delays since 2000, when nearly one in every four planes was late. The gloomy picture is due to the large number of people traveling - passenger loads have returned to pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels - and a weather pattern producing severe storms in some of the nation's most congested airspace. Yesterday, storms delayed flights to New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport by more than three hours. Other airports along the East Coast - in Baltimore, Washington, Boston, New York and Philadelphia - experienced delays up to an hour. During the summer of 2000, severe thunderstorms coupled with large passenger loads and work slowdowns led to massive delays. AP | Posted 6:30 a.m.
• Breakdown in Air Traffic System Imminent (UPI)
• People Left "High and Dry" at Airport (DMN)

Uh-oh, here we go again. Haven't I written this story before? No wonder the number of complaints to my ombudsman column is on the rise.

Tourists: The Field-Spotter's Guide
Most travelers aspire to get off the beaten track. Taras Grescoe spent a year doing the opposite: following the tourist herds on their most heavily trampled migratory routes. Along the way, he came to recognize these universal truths. Among them: Tourists are maggots, sheep, vandals, dogs, circus animals. And: The worst tourists are American. No, make that Israeli. No, maybe they're German. Come to think of it, they're English. Oh God, I don't know. Living Abroad | Posted 6:45 a.m.

WestJet VP Resigns in Data Scandal
WestJet Airlines vice-president Mark Hill, one of the airline's co-founders, resigned Wednesday amid allegations he obtained sensitive information about Air Canada's operations by accessing one of that airline's employee websites. WestJet announced late Wednesday that Hill decided it was in the company's best interest and his own to resign, given the ongoing scrutiny surrounding a lawsuit filed in Ontario Superior Court by Air Canada, which is claiming millions of dollars in damages. "WestJet is adamant that the information Mr. Hill obtained from Air Canada's website was neither confidential nor useful to WestJet in any respect," WestJet said in a statement. "However, in view of the current circumstances, WestJet has accepted Mr. Hill's resignation." CP | Posted 7 a.m.

Fare War No Bargain For United - As United Airlines cuts costs in its search for investors to pull it out of bankruptcy, a major fare war has erupted that threatens the carrier's revenues. Low-cost airlines last week dropped prices earlier and on more routes than usual for the typically slow fall travel season. And on Tuesday, East Coast discounter JetBlue Airways turned up the heat by putting a million seats on sale for up to half off its usual low prices. Chicago Tribune | Posted 7 a.m.

U.S. Apologizes For Strip-Search - The United States has apologized to former Indian defense minister George Fernandes for searching him when he entered the U.S. last year. A spokeswoman from the U.S. embassy in the Indian capital says some "diplomatic procedures" were not followed when Mr Fernandes entered the U.S. last year. However, she has denied claims that he was strip-searched. ABC | Posted 7:05 a.m.

Power Failure Causes Northwest Delays - A power failure delayed or forced the cancellation of scores of Northwest Airlines flights around the country. Airline spokeswoman Mary Stanik said the outage took place at a Northwest installation in suburban Eagan, near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. She said the power failure created a computer problem, but she would not give details. LA Times | Posted 7 a.m.

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• Off the Record... It's always gratifying when other news outlets like your commentary enough to publish it. And today's op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor, the image of travel: facts that don't fly, is no exception. At the risk of breaking my promise not to link to anything too self-serving, let me quickly wrap it up by saying, "thanks." While I'm at it, I'd like to also thank Doug Stallings of the Fodors Right This Way blog for a nice plug of my ombudsman column in National Geographic Traveler and on Triprights.com. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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