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

March 9, 2004

Bank Robber Returns to US Airways
Abdur-Rauf Rashid is back on the job as a US Airways reservation clerk nearly three years after he was fired when his employers learned he had spent time in prison. The airline fired Rashid, a 17-year employee, in July 2001 after he published How To Survive and Excel in Prison (Within and Without) as a way to help the incarcerated and their relatives cope. The airline said he lied on his application by not disclosing that he spent 13 years in federal prison for armed bank robberies to support a drug habit. Federal arbitrator Margery F. Gootnick on June 23 ordered him reinstated to his $50,000-a-year job. Gootnick left it up to US Airways and the Communications Workers of America, Rashid's union, to negotiate the details. Dayton Daily News | Posted 6 a.m.
-- Star: ATA crewmember discrimination alleged

• No comment. US Airways has enough problems, already. Send us your comments.

Gas Prices Won't Stall Summer Travel
Gas prices inching toward record highs aren’t likely to scare many families into leaving their minivans and SUVs in the garage this summer, the head of the nation’s largest auto club said Monday. “Americans very seldom give up their planned vacations based on the price of gas alone,” AAA President and Chief Executive Robert Darbelnet said at a press conference. The average price of gas in Michigan already has risen 20.9 cents a gallon since the beginning of 2004, according to AAA’s weekly report. The statewide average is now $1.74. Increased consumption during the summer, rising crude oil prices, refinery closings and low reserves could push prices above $2 or even above the state’s all-time high of $2.10 a gallon, according to oil experts. Detroit News | Posted 6:20 a.m.
-- NBC: Record gas prices hit Virginia

Ottawa Hotel Fee Spat Continues
The president of Ottawa's tourism authority is willing to talk to hoteliers about using a portion of the proposed hotel fee to help fund the core operations of his agency. Jacques Burelle, president of the Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority, faces a possible 89-per-cent cut in funding. A final decision on cuts will be made March 24 with the release of the city's budget. Burelle said he would prefer to continue to receive city funding for core operations, while getting the province to legislate a three percent hotel tax for marketing purposes. Ottowa Business Journal | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- WI: Hotel tax leaves Pakistan proprietors hopping mad

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• And finally ... a debate is raging on the bulletin boards about airline legroom. Specifically, the question being asked is when you should lean your seat back. The answer: After you've asked for, and received, permission from the person behind you. Remember, it's a shared space. Posted 6:40 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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