Ar nie Weissmann:
‘Story line of human slaughter
is depressingly repetitive.’
MORE NEWS: Niche air carriers fight
stigma of Maxjet failure. P. 6
Richard Turen:
‘TripAdvisor’s 2008 travel trends
survey is worth pondering.’
www.travelweekly.com
T HE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
JANUARY 7, 2008
[ AIRLINES APPEAL JUDGE’S RULING ]
N .Y.’s pax rights
i nspiring actions
b y 2 other states
B y Andrew Compart
Legislators in Rhode Island and
A rizona plan to introduce passen-
g er rights legislation modeled on
t he New York law that just survived
a federal court challenge by the air-
l in e industry, even as the industry
a p peals the judge’s decision.
T W ILLUS TRA TION B Y THOMAS R. LECHLEI TER
Eight Travel Weekly
r eporters offer their best
info rmed guess es about
what lies ahead for the travel
industry in the coming year.
PAGE 20
Cruise players slam U.S. on 48-hour port rule
By Johanna Jainchill
and Michael Milligan
Cruise lines, local governments,
destination officials and travel
sellers have voiced overwhelming
opposition to a proposal by the
federal government to tighten the
guidelines governing the types of
itineraries that foreign-flag
cruise ships can offer from
U.S. ports.
At issue is a suggested change to the
interpretation of the Passenger Vessel
Services Act proposed last month by
Customs and Border Protection, a unit of the
Department of Homeland Security.
Among other things, it would require
some calls at foreign ports that are currently
scheduled for 24 hours or less to be expanded to 48 hours.
The proposal elicited more than 400 written comments from cruise lines and other
affected parties, including scores of travel
agents and denunciations from the governors
of Florida, California and Hawaii.
The proposal was triggered by an apparent
increase in cruise itineraries that go to Hawaii from the U.S. West Coast and stop for
only a few hours in Ensenada, Mexico. CBP
‘These changes would serve to disrupt
the entire North American market
to protect one market.’ - Michael Crye, CLIA
said such token stops at a foreign port are
not in keeping with the spirit and letter of
the Passenger Vessel Services Act, which generally prohibits foreign-flagged ships from
transporting passengers between U.S. ports.
Such operations, CBP said, threaten NCL
America’s U.S.-flagged cruise business in Hawaii.
CBP’s new interpretation would require
any foreign-flagged vessel on such an itinerary to spend 48 hours in Ensenada or another Mexican port; in addition, the cumulative
time spent in foreign ports would have to
equal at least 50% of the time scheduled in
U.S. ports. Passengers would also have to be
able to go ashore at the foreign port.
However, the new criteria is not limited to U.S.-Hawaii cruises; it would apply to all cruises that originate and end
in the U.S.
The Cruise Lines International Association, on behalf of its 24 member
cruise lines (including NCL), blasted the
proposal as “arbitrary and capricious,” saying
the industry had not been given sufficient
See PORTS on Page 46
The New York law, which took effect Jan. 1,
r e quires airlines to provide “adequate” food
a n d water as well as fresh air and lighting
t o passengers who are stuck on the ground
onboard a departing aircraft for more than
three hours.
The New York law also requires that airlines remove waste from the holding tanks
for onboard rest rooms so the facilities remain usable.
The airlines risk a $1,000 fine per violation
per passenger if they fail to comply.
In Rhode Island, Democratic state Sen.
Leonidas Raptakis said he was going to introduce an Air Passenger Bill of Rights modeled
on the New York law.
“States have the right to take action to
protect public health and safety, and this legislation will allow us to join New York and
the other states, which are seeking to protect
their citizens and ensure that delays don’t
turn into nightmares for airline passengers,”
Raptakis said in a statement.
See RIGHTS on Page 47
WORLD BEAT
Relaxing in TUI to use Le Perfect
style at the Boat name for Itinerary:
Spice Island self-drive ves- A concert trip
Beach Resort. sel business. to Sydney.
P. 31 P. 34 P. 41
