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

June 21, 2004

Duluth Demands Jobs From Northwest
Northwest Airlines must create and maintain the jobs it promised to Duluth in 1991 when public money was used to help the company avoid bankruptcy. That's the gist of a letter Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson wrote to Northwest's CEO Richard Anderson. In his letter, Bergson reminded the Northwest chief executive officer that only 217 mechanics work at the Duluth International Airport maintenance base, 38 percent fewer than the 350-plus people Northwest promised to employ in Duluth in exchange for public financial assistance. "We're demanding those jobs back," Bergson said. "There's a lot of state, city and federal money in that project. We really need them to meet their obligation, to make good on their promise." News-Tribune | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- WXOW: Northwest plane lands at wrong airport
-- AP: Airline scales back pay cuts from workers

• Northwest's troubles remind me a lot of US Airways' tales of woe. The bumbling pilots (remember the owl that got hit last week?). The airport issues (can you say 'Pittsburgh'?) The difference is that Northwest's managers seem to be more capable of handling their problems than US Airways', at least to this observer. Send us your comments.

RV Sales Boom as Travel Heats Up
Recreational vehicle sales are booming, as people use them to avoid the hassles and worry of air travel -- and to take shorter vacation trips and weekend jaunts with less planning, often with family members. Forget the old 1970s image of an "RV'' as a clumsy, gas-thirsty retirement home on wheels that lacks broad appeal. That type of RV is long gone, as recreational vehicle producers cater to a younger, more demanding crowd -- and use cutting-edge construction techniques and materials to make RVs lighter, more spacious, better-equipped and more fuel-efficient. Even the controversial Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie use an RV while traveling through the country in their "The Simple Life 2: Road Trip'' television series. San Chicago Sun-Times | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Cruise Lines Aim For Younger Crowd
While there may be a significant group of closet "Love Boat" die-hards out there, the image of Cruise Director Julie McCoy is quietly fading away. Anyway, it would be kind of hard to spot her from the top of the rock-climbing wall. Or to hear her announcing the shuffleboard tournament over the noise of the helicopter flying you to the glacier for your ice-climbing excursion. "People always used to think cruises were for people older than them," said Dan Hanrahan, senior vice president at Royal Caribbean, the No. 2 cruise line. Even if you were 65, "you'd think it was for someone older." Washington Post | Posted 7 a.m.

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• And finally ... at long last, Aren's blog has been updated. The dust is finally beginning to settle on our latest move, so we took some time to post new pictures and narrative yesterday. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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