Arnie Weissmann:
Mov
hot t
res
12
www.travelweekly.com
IN OTHER NEWS:
LAX to get $1.26B upgrade.
6
Travel apps hot on smart phones.
8
Flap over Fla. harbor pilots’ pay.
24
Richard Turen:
New ag
in
tr
61
Section 1 of 2
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
OCTOBER 26, 2009
Red ink, crude oil can’t blot out
the airlines’ visions of recovery
By Michael Fabey
To someone dying of thirst, every
cup looks half full, which helps
explain why airline executives last
week were brimming with hope
that air travel is turning around
even as they reported
losses or the slimmest
of profits for the third
quarter.
to ignore the fact that oil futures continued
inching upward last week as the carriers reported their earnings.
Still, it’s been nearly a year since airline
executives said they saw such promise in the
industry.
“We believe that the worst of the year-over-year decline in industry unit revenue appears
to be behind us,” Air Tran Senior Vice President and CFO
Arne Haak told analysts last
week as the carrier reported
a $10.4 million profit for the
third quarter.
“Our advanced booking continues to improve, and while the pace of the recovery is
uncertain, it is clear that so far this quarter,
we are seeing an improvement,” Haak said.
Air Tran Senior Vice President Kevin Healy
told analysts, “You are getting indications
See AIRLINES on Page 14
EARNINGS
Airline chiefs even talked about the possibility of capacity growth, revenue gains or
fare increases beginning as early as next year.
Their enthusiasm was tempered, though,
by the still-uncertain economy and their
eternal nemesis: fuel prices. It was impossible
[ WHO PAYS? NOT THE AIRLINES. ]
As Travel Promotion Act becomes law,
some devils emerge from the details
By Bill Poling
If the Travel Promotion Act works as planned,
the federal government will put up $100 million per year, the travel industry will kick in
$100 million per year, and a new nonprofit
corporation will spend it on the world’s biggest international tourism marketing and information campaign.
The objective is to vastly
improve the image of the U.S.
abroad and inject new life
into all segments of the U.S.
economy that derive benefits
from international travel, whether for leisure,
business or educational purposes.
That’s the theory, anyway.
The legislation, which has been approved
by substantial majorities in both the House
and Senate, needs to be approved one more
time in the Senate before it can go to the
White House for President Obama’s signature. The bill’s backers are confident that this
will happen soon.
Which means it’s not too early to start asking technical questions, such as: “How is this
going to work?” and “Where is the industry’s
$100 million going to come from?”
Nobody knows the answers to these questions better than Geoff Freeman, senior vice
president for public affairs at the U.S. Travel
Association. Freeman has been everywhere,
building the consensus that
has brought the legislation to
its current state — on Capitol Hill, in the trenches of K
Street, in innumerable meet-
ings, briefings and media appearances.
When asked how the proposed Corporation for Travel Promotion is going to work,
he has a one-word answer: “Effectively.”
But then he adds the Big If.
It will work effectively “if the industry
maintains its commitment” to making it
work. It is modeled on similar cooperative
See ANALYSIS on Page 62
ANALYSIS
