Homeland Security wants more access to data
Homeland Security wants more access to data — The Homeland Security Department is making another push to get personal data on airline passengers in an effort to keep terrorists off flights. The lobbying effort comes months after the House and Senate, concerned about invading privacy, gave preliminary approval to a measure that would ban the department from tapping into credit reports, court files, shopping histories and other personal information for one year. (USA Today)
Northwest weathers strike, busy travel day — Northwest Airlines coped with a significant number of flight delays at Detroit Metro Airport for a second day Monday, its busiest yet since 4,430 union mechanics and cleaners walked off the job early Saturday. But the airline canceled few flights and airport operations continued to run smoothly. (The Detroit News)
Most U.S. adults have taken or will take a vacation this summer
According to a new survey, two-thirds (66%) of U.S. adults say they have taken or will take a vacation this summer. For many, their summer vacations will consist of visiting family and friends while others will go to the beach or visit historical sights. (Hotel News Resource)
Higher gas costs, shorter trips — The hike of gasoline prices to $2.75 or more per gallon hasn’t forced Nancy and Al Mills to cancel plans to get away from Hammond each weekend in their motor home. It has, though, forced them to change their destinations. Nationwide, as fuel prices climb, RV trip distances tend to fall. (Northwest Indiana News)
Motor scooters gaining popularity in U.S. — As gasoline prices soar, the popularity of peppy, fuel-sipping motor scooters — most easily get 50 miles per gallon and some of the smaller ones get up to 80 mpg — is soaring. (AP)
Registration for Travel Domain Name Takes Flight — Encirca, an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar, announced today that it has begun pre-registration for travel and tourism companies that would like to adopt a dot travel (.travel) domain name. (PC Magazine)
Trinidad and Tobago airline passengers demand compensation — Hundreds of airline passengers who booked flights over the weekend to travel between Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Scarborough, Tobago, are now calling for compensation due to flight cancellations and delays by the airline. (Caribbean Net News)
Baby born in bathroom of Melbourne Pub — A baby girl has been born in a pub bathroom in Melbourne with the help of hotel staff. The infant who just wouldn’t wait was delivered safe and sound minutes before paramedics arrived at the Chelsea Heights Hotel in the bayside suburb of the same name. (AAP)
Looking for Friendly Skies? Stay on the Ground — Things are getting a little tense on commercial flights these days. And no wonder. As the busiest summer in the history of commercial aviation winds down, many crew members have reached a breaking point – making good customer service somewhat of a rarity. (The New York Times)
AAA: Labor Day travel to grow .9% — Good news for businesses that rely on tourists who drive: AAA said it expects no let up in Labor Day holiday weekend travel, despite record gas prices. (South Florida Business Journal)
Southwest to buy quiet jetliners for Boeing Field — Hoping to head off concerns from neighborhoods under Boeing Field’s flight paths, Southwest Airlines has committed to buying enough next-generation Boeing 737 planes to make its flights from the King County-owned airport in Washington as quiet as possible. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
BA caterer fails to resolve staff dispute — Caterer Gate Gourmet failed to firm up a new deal to supply meals to British Airways on Tuesday after talks with unions over a staff dispute broke down, threatening to send its UK operations into bankruptcy. (Reuters)
U.S. sets fuel-economy limits, categories for trucks — The Bush administration ordered automakers to boost the gas mileage of minivans, pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, the first overhaul of fuel-economy rules for vehicles purchased by most people in the U.S. (Bloomberg)
Crash airline ends Prague flights — A Cypriot airline canceled all its flights between Larnaca and Prague, saying the plane crash in Greece that killed 121 people forced it to rearrange its flight schedule, officials said Tuesday. (AP)
California takes 7 of nation’s top 10 car-theft hot spots — California’s dominance of the list is no surprise to the insurance industry and law officers, as auto thefts have climbed in the state during the past five years even as they’ve fallen 2.6 percent nationally last year. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Airline shows true colors — The fleet of the soon-to-be merged US Airways and America West debuted its new look today. A plane sporting the new color scheme — predominantly white, with a blue belly and a red and blue stripe — hopscotched the country today as part of a promotion. The blue is not as dark as US Airways’ current planes. There were concerns that US Airways’ old blue would be too dark for the summer heat in Phoenix and Las Vegas. (The Arizona Republic)
Skip Bowman, Carrie Charney, Christopher Elliott, Leslie Friedman, John
Frenaye, Charles Leocha, Marge Purnell, Valerie Schneider, Mary Staley,
Stephanus Surjaputra, Richard Wong.