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

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October 12, 2004

Congress Asked To Protect Travelers
A group representing business travelers is expected to ask Congress today to draft plans in the event that several major airlines are forced to liquidate. The Business Travel Coalition said in a statement that the country must be prepared for a "catastrophic failure" of the industry and urged lawmakers to authorize the National Academy of Sciences to develop policies that could be put in place should the industry reach such a crisis point. Without action now, the federal government could be overwhelmed by the demands of airlines, their unions, investors, airports and others affected by the industry's crisis, said Kevin P. Mitchell, chairman of the group, which represents corporate travel departments and travelers. The New York Times | Posted 6:35 a.m.
• Odds Of Passage Are Good (USA Today)
• Wyden Amendments To Increase Privacy (Bend.com)

If the provision allowing ticket transfers is allowed to expire, there will be a lot of stranded travelers early next year when US Airways liquidates.

US Airways: Whose Ox Gets Gored?
When U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Stephen Mitchell considers US Airways' request for an emergency 23 percent pay cut for workers again this morning, he will face an Alexandria, Va., courtroom divided over the issues of survival and inequality. Bruce Lakefield, US Airways chief executive officer, said he would give up his $425,000 annual salary if he though it would save the airline, but added, "It's a pimple." US Airways' case -- and the take-home pay for thousands of employees in the Pittsburgh area -- hinges on a few basic questions. Does the bankrupt airline need the temporary pay cut to survive into 2005? Or is the company overreaching, asking workers to make sacrifices that are unnecessary and unfair? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Audits Of Travel Expenses Take Off
One-third of business travelers say their expense reports have been subjected to a computerized audit during the last year, according to a new survey by IAG Consulting in San Diego. Of the respondents who said they had been flagged by a computer program, 54 percent reported that the number of such reviews increased in 2004. "Not only are corporate travelers who violate their company's travel policies more likely to be tagged by a computer," said Addison Schonland, IAG's chief executive, "because of the continued cost-cutting efforts by companies, they're also more likely to have their expenses rejected." The New York Times | Posted 6:50 a.m.

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In-Flight Survivor - What if you had to live on airplane food for a full year? Sound like a fate worse than death? I know of one crewmember who tried. Alice was a flight attendant who was always passionate about issues such as recycling. She was in her mid-fifties and around 40 pounds overweight. She was on a layover with her friends when one of them challenged her to do something about her passion. It was then the dare took shape. Featured all-new story from Ticked.com | Posted 7 a.m.

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Air Attack Starts In Online Travel War - Will the airlines follow the hotels' example, now that Orbitz is gone? I think they will. I think they will redevelop their own sites to compete more directly with Orbitz, Sabre's Travelocity and IAC/InterActiveCorp. Worse, I think that the days of Yahoo! sending customers to those sites might be numbered. I believe Yahoo!'s going to try to keep that traffic for itself, and that that's the reason it has been making acquisitions in the space. TheStreet.com | Posted 7 a.m.

Big Air: Down, But Not Out - Despite low-fare competition, bankruptcies and threats of liquidation, the biggest players in the airline industry still could strike back. That's a key message this week at the 9th Annual Boyd Group Aviation Forecast Conference, which attracted several hundred airline executives and airport officials. Conference host Mike Boyd said he sees signs of hope for the top hub-based carriers, even though they've had their lunches handed to them by point-to-point discounters. Dallas Morning News | Posted 7:05 a.m.

Virgin Introduces Premium Double Beds - Virgin Atlantic has announced the introduction of double suites for passengers traveling in its Upper Class Suite. The airline has fitted four pairs of double suites onto two of its Boeing 747-400 aircraft, giving passengers traveling together 2 square meters of space to enjoy their flight closer together. Skytrax | Posted 7:10 a.m.

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