Jeffrey R. Miller:
‘I no longer believe travel insur-
ance is a vacation staple’.
P. 69
www.travelweekly.com
TheTradeShow
In-depth coverage of ASTA’s
main event in Las Vegas.
Pages 4, 8, 9, 18 & 72
Arnie Weissmann:
‘T he TradeShow’s educational
se ssions were uneven at best.’
P. 12
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
SEPTEMBER 17, 2007
Airlines hear hollow threat
in FAA chief’s parting shot
By Andrew Compart
WASHINGTON — Consumers no doubt
took comfort last week in headlines trumpeting outgoing FAA Administrator Marion
Blakey’s parting shot at the airlines’ scheduling practices. But industry insiders said her
ominous-sounding warning of government
intervention was less of a threat than the tone
of her remarks might
have suggested.
In a Sept. 11 farewell speech, Blakey, the
outgoing head of the
Federal Aviation Administration, warned
the airlines they could
face FAA-imposed restrictions on the number of flights to some congested East Coast
airports if they failed to make the changes on
their own.
The problem, several industry officials told
Travel Weekly in response to her remarks, is
that the airlines are prevented by antitrust
laws from collaborating on flight reductions and by market realities from making
unilateral reductions. Thus, even a couple
of airlines have recently suggested that government intervention is the most reasonable
solution to the snowballing problem of flight
delays.
Even with other measures the FAA is taking to try to reduce
delays, Blakey told the
Aero Club of Washington just two days before her five-year term
as administrator ended, “I predict passengers will continue to be
fed up with delays, and that’s got to be taken
more seriously by our airlines. No, you can’t
control Mother Nature, and our air traffic
control system I’ll address in a minute, but
airlines can control their own schedules.”
Continued on Page 71
In the flight-delay blame
game, bad weather is
always the last bogeyman
standing. See story, P. 6
[ BATTLE FOR EUROPEAN CRUISE MARKET ESCALATES ]
Sacré Bleu! RCCL plans to invade France
By Michelle Baran
Having already established a beachhead
in Spain earlier this year, Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd. last week escalated its invasion of
Europe with the announcement that it would
be the first North American cruise company
Waikiki Beach
Walk at center
of Outrigger’s
renewal.
P. 41
Tracking stars
at Acapulco’s
elite and
elegant hotels.
P. 52
Curtain goes
up on tourism
in the Slovak
Republic.
P. 57
to create a brand for the French market.
The brand, to be known as CDF Croisieres
de France, will be devoted exclusively to the
French source market.
“The reason why we created this concept is
because it doesn’t exist in France, and there’s
room for it,” said Brigitte Tissier, who was
brought on by RCCL several months ago as
the general manager of Paris-based CDF.
“Our concept will be a 100% Francophone
cruise, compared with what is in the market
— cruise lines [that host passengers from]
five or six nationalities. And the all-inclusive
package in the cruising business does not exist” in France, she said.
CDF will launch its first sailing with the
Holiday Dream, a ship reassigned from
RCCL’s recently acquired Spanish brand,
Pullmantur. The 752-passenger vessel will be
renamed the Bleu de France.
According to Tissier, CDF plans to add
more ships to its fleet within the next two to
Continued on Page 70
ILLUS TRATION B Y JC SUARES
Cou rting
P
a ssport
Virgins
U.S. travel rules used to make it easier to vacation
in the Caribbean than in other destinations. WHTI changed all that,
and suddenly European destinations are sporting come-hither looks.
BY HARVEY CHIPKIN PAGE 22
