US Air collapse ‘imminent’
Collapse of US Airways ‘imminent’ — Every January, Vaughn Cordle, chief analyst with Airline Forecasts of Washington, D.C., issues his prediction of the industry’s 10 biggest stories of the year. No. 1 on his 2005 list: the liquidation of US Airways. “I think we’re on the verge of the collapse of US Airways,” Cordle said. Aviation analyst Michael Boyd, of Evergreen, Colo., agrees. “Stick a fork in them. They’re done,” he said.
Who’s going to pay for new ships? You will — Since the beginning of 2000, cruise lines have spent — give or take a few nickels — about $20.3 billion to build 55 gleaming new mega-ships to get you to ports in Alaska, the Caribbean, Mexico and beyond. It seems 2005 will be the year you get to pay for them.
Airline bankruptcy-as-usual? Not this time — Even in an industry accustomed to financial turbulence, events last week laid down a marker: Airlines face the kind of pressures that a bankruptcy-as-usual approach won’t resolve. For the first time in aviation history, judges threw out two union contracts to help some of the largest and oldest carriers cut costs.
Virus sickens Royal Caribbean passengers — An outbreak of Norwalk-type virus sickened 112 Royal Caribbean passengers and crew members during a five-night western Caribbean cruise that ended Saturday at Port Everglades, a cruise line spokesman said. The outbreak aboard the 1,950-passenger Enchantment of the Seas left 104 passengers and eight crewmembers with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Runway wait times take off — In an ominous sign that pre-9/11 congestion has returned, U.S. air travelers waited on the runway for take-off longer last year than any time since 2000. Bureau of Transportation Statistics data for the January-October period show that the average taxi-out time  time between leaving the terminal and takeoff  rose to 16 minutes, 12 seconds.
Man jumps from cruise ship — Police today named a 24-year-old Victorian man feared dead after he jumped from a cruise ship off Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on Saturday. Andrew Mark Gready, from Stawell, had been travelling with his family when he jumped from the stern of the Pacific Sky at 2.10am on Saturday morning.