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

July 21, 2004

Drunken Attendants Attack Passenger
Belligerently drunken passengers are the bane of flight attendants in Russia, but the tables were turned Monday night when drunken flight attendants attacked a passenger on an Aeroflot flight. The "man-bites-dog" incident occurred on a flight from Moscow to the Siberian town of Nizhnevartovsk, when passengers say three flight attendants, all men, got stumbling drunk and beat up a passenger who complained about poor service. The flight attendants were employees of the airline Aviaenergo, which is sometimes contracted by Aeroflot for domestic flights, Aeroflot spokeswoman Irina Dannenberg said. They started to cater to the passengers only 90 minutes into the four-hour flight and, according to passengers, were "visibly drunk," she said. Moscow Times | Posted 6:30 a.m.
• Reverse Air Rage On Russian Jet (BBC)
• Attendants Had Refused To Pour Wine (Bloomberg)

Well, what can I say? When man bites dog, it's news. This kind of thing has never happened in the States, to the best of my knowledge, although attendants can become difficult, as I observed a few years ago.

Hotels Copy Airline Pricing Strategies
Booking hotel reservations online isn't anything new, but the industry is betting that the biggest growth is yet to come from that segment. Hotels are also looking at ways to structure their pricing to yield the highest profits. Despite the ease of access to a hotel's Web site and the instant gratification available for a successful booking, most travelers still make their reservations the old-fashioned way, by telephone. Some hotel chains such as Hyatt Corp. will guarantee the lowest available rate for online bookings, if booked at the hotel's Web site. But this doesn't necessarily translate to more Internet sales. Business Journal | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Is Hotel Recovery Short-Lived?
Hospitality industry guru Bjorn Hanson delivered good news and bad news to meeting planners--and vice versa to hoteliers--in his keynote speech to attendees at Meeting World, the annual conference and trade show sponsored by MeetingNews and Successful Meetings. First the bad news: The market shift toward sellers will continue through next year. The good news: The market shift may proved short-lived, possibly only through next year or not much beyond. "We're in a truncated recovery cycle," said Hanson, global hospitality industry leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Meeting News | Posted 7 a.m.

Trash Talk at Air Show - What are the real chances of success for Boeing's new 7E7 jet? At the Farnborough Air Show, one can ask Boeing and Airbus in person. Squeezed into a tiny office in the noisy Boeing media building, Toby Bright, the company's top salesman, was low-key and matter of fact. He couldn't reveal too much about unannounced possibilities in his 7E7 sales-campaign books. But he was quietly confident. Seattle Times | Posted 7 a.m.

Tickets as Investments? Not For This Agent - Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt issued a cease and desist order Monday against Karen Hartstein of Chesterfield for offering unregistered investment opportunities. Hartstein claimed to be an independent travel agent who gave away free airline tickets and cruises in exchange for short-term investment notes. News-Tribune | Posted 7:05 a.m.

US Airways Cuts Pittsburgh Flights - US Airways plans to offer fewer flights to fewer destinations from Pittsburgh International Airport this fall, the airline said Tuesday after meeting with area officials. The airline's proposed schedule - which is still dependent on delivery of new regional jets and other factors - means US Airways could operate about 240 departures to 65 destinations. That's a decrease from about 370 flights now to 102 destinations. AP | Posted 7 a.m.

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• Off the Record... I'm evaluating the Delsey Helium Lite, a new bag that is lighter than conventional carry-on luggage. I must say, on first impression, that it really is considerably lighter than other bags. Smartly-designed, too. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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