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

June 29, 2004

Air Travel is Up - Way Up
The International Air Transport Association said Monday air travel is increasing once again for the first time since 2000. The Geneva-headquartered association says worldwide passenger air travel is up 38 percent from a year ago, while the number of Asian travelers has increased 108 percent from the previous year. "Traffic growth for the first five months of 2004 is testimony to the resilience of air transport. Not only have we fully recovered from the impact of SARS and war in Iraq, all major regions of the world are reporting traffic levels above those of 2000 -- the last normal year for our industry," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general. UPI | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- BBC: Worldwide growth put at 3.6 percent a year
-- FOX: Growth despite higher fuel prices

• So let's see, now. Air traffic is bouncing back. Business is good. Why are so many US airlines - Delta, United, US Airways come to mind - struggling? Will someone please offer us an explanation that makes sense? Send us your comments.

United Loses Final Loan Application
The government yesterday rejected United Airlines' third and final bid for a loan guarantee, causing the carrier to say it was moving forward to try to secure financing on its own to exit bankruptcy protection. Industry experts agree the decision by the Air Transportation Stabilization Board on United's $1.1 billion application will significantly delay the Number 2 airline's departure from Chapter 11, which has been pushed back several times already. The company sought the industry's largest loan guarantee to back most of the $2 billion in bankruptcy financing it arranged on the condition it could obtain federal assistance. The three-member stabilization board rejected the carrier's initial $1.8 billion application in 2002, citing shortcomings in the company's business plan. That decision triggered the largest airline bankruptcy in U.S. history. Toronto Star | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Spending Tight On Summer Vacations
As Americans prepare to travel over the Fourth of July weekend, a survey released Monday by Visa USA, Inc., of Foster City, indicates most travelers will be taking low-cost road trips to visit family this summer. Despite high gas prices, car travel was selected by 65 percent of respondents planning summer vacations this year, nearly double the number of vacationers planning plane trips (33 percent). The survey revealed that other popular destination options for the budget traveler were beach and camping trips. Further, 80 percent of travelers say they have travel budgets to keep an eye on the household bottom line. San Jose Business Journal | Posted 7 a.m.

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• And finally ... we have learned that one of our fellow bloggers, Kevin Mitchell, will start charging for his excellent Travelogue next month (here are the details). I've always believed that everything on the Internet should be free, but also understand that you can't live off accolades (though, truth be told, if anyone could, it would probably be Kevin). He is not the first content provider to take his content behind a firewall. Terry Trippler's newsletter isn't free; neither are Joe Brancatelli's columns. To me, it's just unfortunate to see access limited to such quality content. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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