Passenger Bill of Rights Fraught With Flaws?
Looting Now Serious Problem at National Parks
Vote for Hottest Swiss Ski Instructor
Tips on Surviving a Plane Evacuation
Successful Airline Hedge Fuel Costs
PASSENGER BILL OF RIGHTS FRAUGHT WITH FLAWS? – Smarter Travel
It seems more likely that some version of federal air passenger bill of rights will be implemented this year, but some experts are concerned that these rights will only apply in rare circumstances. Some of these rights, moreover, may cause unintended consequences, and some of the more pertinent problems are being ignored by current proposals. For example, if airlines are penalized for long waits on the ground, the airlines will cancel the flights instead of waiting for clearances. Earlier this month, the first new passenger bill of rights became effective in New York state. Airlines that don’t comply with this bill may be fined up to $1,000 per passenger.
Link: Smarter Travel
LOOTING IS SERIOUS PROBLEM AT NATIONAL PARKS – USA Today
More and more U.S. National parks are suffering from visitors looting fossils and archeological relics, like Native American pottery, because the demand for these items is growing on the Internet and the world market. An average of 340 “significant” looting incidents have occurred each year over the past decade. It’s “a chronic problem that we simply have not even been able to get a grasp on,” says Mark Gorman, chief ranger at South Dakota’s Badlands National Park. A lack of manpower is the main reason for the looting problems.
Link: USA Today
VOTE FOR HOTTEST SWISS SKI INSTRUCTOR - Reuters
If you’re a 20-something, hopeless single who loves to ski, then vote for Switzerland’s handsomest instructor. One of the lucky voters will win a one-week hotel accommodation and ski lessons at a resort—but the lesson may not be with the contest winner … what a bummer! More than 300,000 people have voted thus far. The remaining three contestants are 27-year-old Andreas Belser, 23-year-old Emanuel Utiger, and 25-year-old Thierry Wenger.
Link: Reuters
TIPS ON SURVIVING A PLANE EVACUATION - Time
Many people don’t realize that emergency airplane evacuations happen quite commonly: According to a 2000 report by the National Transportation Safety Board, nearly one occurs every 11 days in the U.S. Last week, 136 passengers had to evacuate British Airways’ Boeing 777, and they used the eight slides at the plane’s exits. Although no fatalities occurred, it is likely that the people who suffered injures incurred them during the evacuation. When passengers evacuate a plane, they often make many mistakes, such as reaching for their overhead luggage, sitting—not jumping—at the top of the slide, and not getting out of the way once they land on the ground.
Link: Time
SUCCESSFUL AIRLINES HEDGE FUEL COSTS – The Wall Street Journal
As oil prices soar to ridiculous levels, jet-fuel has become the determining factor that separates the winners from the losers. On Thursday, Southwest announced that its fourth-quarter net income was $111 million, but it successfully earned $246 million from hedging jet-fuel costs. Some airlines paid an average of $2.61 during the fourth quarter, while other airlines managed to pay $1.87. Delta places more emphasis on the figure that excludes fuel costs because “management believes high fuel prices mask the progress achieved toward its business plan targets.”
Link: The Wall Street Journal
Want to see other recent Travel News Roundups? Click here.
Or, check out more travel news you can use in our main Travel News section.
