Arnie Weissmann:
Is the China syndrome full
of profit or just a folly?
P. 12
www.travelweekly.com
★
HAWAII LOVES TRAVEL AGEN T S Up, up a nd a way:
Finding the right waves, the right Branson shows off Virgin Galactic’s suborbital
audience, the right activities. ship to agents and clients.
P. 35 P. 8
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
JANUARY 28, 2008
★
The Transpo
m e r i ca
F o r tress
★
A
rtation Security Administration’s job is to thwart terrorism, and it is
instituting new programs that aim to do a better job of that. But the TSA must balance
that objective with economic, technological and privacy concerns.
BY MICHAEL MILLIGAN PAGE 18
[ ATA ARGUES AGAINST ON-TIME INFO REQUIREMENT ]
Parts of passenger-rights plans
are a waste of time, airlines say
By Andrew Compart
Cruise biz shockwave, as
Freed leaves CCL for Royal
By Johanna Jainchill
The U.S. airline industry’s biggest
trade group is opposing passenger-rights proposals from the Bush administration that would require airlines to post on-time performance
for all their flights on their Web sites
or to adopt legally binding contingency plans for long tarmac delays.
But some consumer groups and lawmakers
are backing those proposals or even calling
for them to be toughened, setting the stage
for a battle over what the administration ultimately decides to do.
The proposals were part of a package of
consumer protections the department issued in November in an Advanced Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, essentially a request
for comments on various options that could
be incorporated into new regulations. The
deadline for comments was Jan. 22.
Under the DOT’s
on-time disclosure
proposal, when consumers inquire about
specific flights, airlines and operators
of online reservation
services would have to
display the percentage of flight arrivals
that were on time,
arrived more than 30
minutes late and were
canceled. They also
would have to provide
“special highlighting”
See RIGHTS on Page 57
the face of the line to travel agents.
Freed last week assumed the role of senior
The cruise industry was stunned last week vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean,
by the news that Vicki Freed, Carnival Cruise its top sales position, four days after inform-
Lines’ longtime head ing Carnival that she was leaving.
of sales, was defecting The move created an avalanche of specu-to Carnival archrival lation among travel agents and the close-Royal Caribbean In- knit cruise industry as to what could have
ternational. prompted Freed to leave after almost 30 years
Freed, one of the with Carnival, including 15 as one of its most
m o s t w e l l - s enior executives.
k n o w n e x - “She’s been an enor-ecutives in Vicki Freed is In m ous asset, and Car-the cruise the Hot Seat, P. 4 n ival must be disap-business, had pointed they lost her,”
spent three s aid Richard Sasso,
decades with Carni- president and CEO of MSC Cruises USA.
val, and along with “Royal Caribbean must be thrilled.”
form er CE O and Only six months ago, Carnival’s top ranks
president Bob Dick- were stocked with executives who had been
inson, she had been See FREED on Page 56
WORLD BEAT
Hawaii gov.: Finding the Bellissimo:
It’s ‘essential’ spiritual sites Riding in style
for state to buy of Montreal. on the Orient-Turtle Bay. P. 50 Express.
P. 9 P. 28
