• What's elliott?
• About elliott
• Contact us

t o p i c s

• Business
• Commentary
• Destinations
• Help
• Leisure
• Technology
• Vault

Copyright Elliott Publishing. All rights reserved. For more information, call (305) 453-4781 or send e-mail to us.

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

Underwritten By Cheapflights.com — Compare sales, specials and cheap flights to any destination.

September 15, 2004

Radar Failure Affects 800 Flights
As many as 800 commercial airline flights bound for Southern California were diverted and all takeoffs from the Southland's major airports were halted after radio and radar equipment failed for 3½ hours at a major air traffic control center in the Mojave Desert on Tuesday. The diverted flights landed at airports in Northern California and other states, officials said, creating a massive air traffic snarl that was expected to last into today. Planes scheduled to take off for Southern California were held on the ground at airports nationwide. A computer glitch at 4:40 p.m. apparently caused the radio and radar failures at the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale, which handles cruise-altitude air traffic across Southern California and most of Arizona and Nevada, an area of about 178,000 square miles. Los Angeles Times | Posted 6:30 a.m.
• Outage Occurred Between 4:40 p.m. and 9 p.m. (Chron)
• No Safety Incidents Said to Occur (Reuters)

I've been noticing a lot more flights affected by computer problems, including a virus incident earlier this year. Just goes to show how dependent we are on technology.

Privacy Suit Against Airline Dismissed
Northwest Airlines did not violate its own privacy policy and did not mislead customers when it shared passenger records with the government as part of a secret airline security project after the terrorist attacks in 2001, the Department of Transportation has ruled. The department dismissed a complaint filed this year by a Washington privacy rights organization, Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union alleging that the carrier committed unfair and deceptive trade practices in sharing the information with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration without informing its customers. Washington Post | Posted 6:35 a.m.

Cayman Islands Hit Hard By Hurricane
Hurricane Ivan has smashed apartment complexes to bits, washed away many homes and damaged nearly all the roofs in the Cayman Islands, residents of the battered Caribbean offshore finance hub say. Ivan, churning through the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday toward U.S. shores, has killed at least 68 people and left a trail of devastation in the Caribbean. It reduced homes to rubble as it inflicted a near-direct hit on Sunday on the three tiny islands that make up the British territory of 45,000 people. No deaths were reported. Reuters | Posted 6:45 a.m.

US Airways Liquidation Will Affect Taxpayers - Should we care whether US Airways goes under? Yes, but not for the reason you might think. The embattled airline's return to bankruptcy this week is a wrenching event for workers, whose salaries, benefits and job security all are now, even more than before, up in the air. Inquirer | Posted 7 a.m.

Government Denies Airlines Aid - When the nation's airlines came to Capitol Hill three years ago seeking financial aid to recover from terrorist attacks, Congress provided $5 billion in grants and an additional $10 billion in loan guarantees. Today, with the industry's financial crisis deepening, some airlines again want Congress to act. But this time, lawmakers are giving them only a cold shoulder. "We have no intention of providing funds or assistance," Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, said Tuesday. Cox News | Posted 7:05 a.m.

Alitalia Seals Deal With Pilots - Amid around-the-clock negotiations with unions over a crucial rescue plan, Alitalia has sealed a deal with pilots that increased the airline's hopes of averting collapse. The deal, signed late on Tuesday at the company's Rome headquarters, was a breakthrough in talks over the rescue plan. It came just hours before the Wednesday deadline set by the company for the approval of the plan. AP | Posted 7:10 a.m.

-----------------------------------

• Off the Record ... Joel Widzer is one of the most outspoken travel contrarians, and in a just-posted column, he takes on the conventional wisdom again. In it, he suggests that new airline booking fees are actually a good thing. Why? Read it for yourself. And ... remember that US Airways op-ed I posted on Monday? It's in this morning's Newsday and Philadelphia Inquirer. Posted 7:15 a.m. | Send us your comments.

>> Yesterday's Notes | Tomorrow's Notes <<

E-mail Elliott | Other bloggers | About this blog

Latest Travel Notes | Complete Archives