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

May 11, 2004

Summer Airport Delays Predicted
Air travel in the United States is expected to increase by 12 percent this summer, but fewer security screeners will mean much longer airports waits. Because Congress is pushing the over-budget Transportation Security Administration to cut costs, at least 5,000 fewer screeners will be staffing security-checkpoint sites. That's a 10 percent drop from last year, the Wall Street Journal said Monday. Airlines recently compiled a list of airports most at risk for lengthy summer security-screening delays. In the past two weeks alone, the list has grown from 15 airports to 25. They include some of the busiest airports in the country -- Atlanta, Las Vegas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York-Kennedy, and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. UPI | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- AP: Lines extended by half a mile at Hartsfield
-- Newsday: Lawmakers call on TSA to fix security

• The new security precautions aren't making us any safer than the old ones, according to a congressional study. So go ahead, cut the number of TSA screeners. It may delay us at the airport, but it won't make us any less safe. Send us your comments.

Delta, US Airways, Ponder Bankruptcy
Delta Air Lines, battling with its pilots' union over its effort to cut labor costs, said yesterday that it might have to seek bankruptcy protection unless it can obtain contract concessions. The disclosure, which sent Delta's stock tumbling, came three days after a similar warning by US Airways. Delta's disclosure, made in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, was its first acknowledgment that it might face a Chapter 11 filing. Advertisement Last month, the airline's chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, insisted that Delta could get through a lingering financial crisis without seeking bankruptcy protection. But in the S.E.C. filing, Delta said it "will need to pursue alternative courses of action intended to make us viable for the long term" unless it can make its costs competitive, start earning sustained profits again and get access to capital markets. The New York Times | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Hotel Chains Offer Best-Rate Promise
Much like car dealers and mattress salesmen, the big hotel chains now are vowing that they won't be undersold. In the past six months, Hilton and Marriott joined other big chains like Starwood and Cendant in guaranteeing that the best room rates on their Web sites will match or beat the best rates on popular travel sites. InterContinental, owner of the Holiday Inn brand, pioneered the concept in 2002. The chains adopted these best-rate guarantees after becoming fed up with seeing their rates undercut by the outside Web sites like Expedia and Travelocity. USA Today | Posted 7 a.m.
-- Triprights: A worst rate guarantee

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• And finally ... notes from the road. I'm filing this from a hotel room in New York, and although I expected I'd have a lot to complain about, I can only think of two things. The cabs are more expensive ($2.50 to just get into one), and the CD player in my Avis rental didn't work. That's what I'd call a pretty decent trip - so far. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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