Travel News August 2005

France proposes airline tax to fight global poverty. French President Jacques Chirac said France will tax airlines starting next year and use the proceeds to fight global poverty. France chose airline tickets to tax in part because airlines benefit from globalization and paid low tax rates. The International Air Transport Association has criticized the proposal. Several countries are still debating the idea, and France is launching the pilot program to prove the idea can work. Aug 30, 2005

FAA initiatives help reduce summer flight delays. Changes to the way the Federal Aviation Administration controls air traffic during bad weather is alleviating flight delays, writes The Wall Street Journal's Scott McCartney. Controllers now delay flights throughout a region when bad weather strikes instead of just at large airports. The strategy results in many airplanes experiencing short delays instead of a few experiencing delays that last for hours. The FAA has also reduced the required distance between planes from 2,000 feet vertically to 1,000 feet. Aug 30, 2005

Storm forces flight cancellations, delays Airlines canceled flights to southern cities Tuesday and airports in New Orleans and Gulfport, Miss., remain closed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Disruptions are expected to persist through Labor Day weekend. Aug 30, 2005

Computer virus stalls processing for international passengers. Thousands of travelers were delayed after a virus struck the U.S. Customs computer system Thursday. The virus shut down the system used to process passengers arriving on international flights. The problem affected airports in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other large cities.

Aug 19, 2005

Controllers union blames staff shortages for California incidents. A union representing air traffic controllers is blaming staffing shortages for several incidents of jetliners flying too close together over California. The Federal Aviation Administration, however, said human error caused the incidents. Two of the incidents occurred in the last five days. Aug 18, 2005

Businesses look for ways to lower travel expenses. Many midsize businesses are trying to stem rising travel costs by using online expense reporting systems, Web booking tools and travel management companies, the Dallas Morning News reports. Thanks to travel management technology, "we're able to track very closely what we spend and use that information to secure the best travel opportunities out there," said Mark Jones of architecture firm HKS, which uses an American Express accounting tool.

Aug 15, 2005

How much of an impact did bombings have on London bookings?. Overseas visitors appear somewhat more hesitant about traveling to London in the wake of the attacks on the city's transit system in July, reports say. Though fears of mass cancellations haven't materialized, experts say future bookings could decline. Many adults in France, Britain and Germany are putting off travel to London, one survey found, but airfare comparison Web site Cheapflights said the city remains the fourth-most popular destination among U.S. users of the cheapflights.com site. Aug 11, 2005

More travelers discovering round-the-world airline tickets. Business travelers and baby boomers are discovering the value of round-the-world airline tickets, which can be cheaper than there-and-back tickets in some cases -- especially in first and business class -- and offer the chance to rack up frequent-flier miles. Experts say it's best to book such tickets through a travel agent because the itineraries can be so complicated. Aug 10, 2005

Ding your way to air travel deals. Ding, a software program pioneered by Southwest Airlines, notifies potential customers via an audio alert on their computer when airfares to and from chosen cities are on sale. With other airlines on the verge of implementing similar programs, some experts worry the software may one day be used to target specific travelers with individualized, and not always the lowest, airfares. Aug 9, 2005

Nearly one in five U.S. flights delayed this year. The U.S. has seen 17% of flights through June delayed at least 15 minutes. Tight schedules that allow little flexibility for crowded skies or bad weather have caused 36,000 more flights to be delayed and 10,000 more flights to be canceled, compared to 2004. Aug 8, 2005

Travel market for disabled underserved, report finds. Hotels, restaurants and transit providers are not doing enough to serve disabled Americans who travel, a new report says. About 21 million adults with disabilities traveled for business or pleasure in the past two years, and many say they encounter physical or customer service obstacles in hotels, airports, airplanes and restaurants. Aug 8, 2005

United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ended the possibility of a change to allow in-flight mobile phones for the time being. The FAA said it disagreed with the Federal Communications Commission's decision to possibly lift the 14-year-old ban. The administration argues that airlines will have to prove that the phones are not disruptive to airline navigation and are safe to use. http://www.faa.gov Aug 5, 2005