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

March 4, 2004

U.S.: Euro Carriers Can't Fly Domestic
The U.S. won't consider letting European airlines such as British Airways compete on domestic routes because Congress has outlawed the practice, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said. "It's not a subject for conversation,'' Mineta told a House panel in Washington. The issue "is off the table.'' Mineta was responding to European Union members who want permission for their carriers to pick up and drop off passengers on flights between U.S. cities. The 15-member EU wants to discuss the issue as part of talks for a treaty that will replace accords between the U.S. and individual European countries. Bloomberg | Posted 6 a.m.
-- Guardian: Open skies plan is "unfair."

• Congress needs to act fast to overturn its archaic cabotage laws. Certain union groups are sure to oppose such a progressive move, but as I mention in a recent editorial, it will be positive for air travelers. And long overdue. Send us your comments.

What to do About Pilfering Patrons?
As a longtime Las Vegas chef and owner of three restaurants, Gustav Mauler knows that a certain amount of pilfering by customers is just one of the costs of doing business. But even he seems a little surprised by this: "We have these wonderful oil-and-vinegar vessels on the table" at Spiedini at the JW Marriott, he said. "They look gorgeous. "People empty them into the glasses, and put them in their pocketbooks." A little messy, no? So they try to reduce the mess by wrapping the cruet in one of the restaurant's linen napkins -- stealing that as well. Across the valley, as across the nation, it seems that restaurant guests are not shy about walking off with a little souvenir of their dinners -- souvenirs not from the restaurant's gift shop, but from its dining room. Las Vegas Review-Journal | Posted 6:20 a.m.
<-- Mirror: Hotel guests steal dogs, swords, stuffed bears

Travel Industry Outsourcing More Jobs
A growing number of U.S. airlines and online travel companies are sending customer service jobs overseas to reduce costs, latching on to a broader economic trend as the industry strives for profitability. It's the concept of "outsourcing" — which has loomed large in the political debate over lost jobs in America. United Airlines has signed a contract with Electronic Data Systems to open a customer call center in Nova Scotia next month that will eventually employ 200, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. It is the first time United has outsourced such work, an arrangement worked out through the company's bankruptcy proceedings. Reuters | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- WSJ: Airlines outsource more maintenance duties

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• And finally ... as a travel reporter, I know a lot of the tricks of the trade. Like surfing over to FlyerTalk or Rec.travel.air when you need to find a "trend." (To date, I've never based any of my stories on the scuttlebutt on those forums - although the rumors have made it into the bottom part of this blog.) But I have to wonder when I see signatures that belong to well-known industry reporters, fishing for feedback on these boards. Couldn't they be just a little more discreet? Posted 6:30 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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