Archive for May, 2008
BARBADOS (May 10, 2008) - High airfares are grounding the development of future air travelers, asserts a young travel expert.
A former Junior Minister of tourism from the island of Barbados laments the high cost of intra-Caribbean travel is hindering efforts to develop a youth travel market.
Javon Griffith, designated Junior Minister of Tourism of Barbados in 2004-2005, said the cost of travel is spiraling out of control and gone are the days when a round-trip between Barbados to Trinidad costs you US$140. “The continuing increase in the cost of travel is limiting the ability of the Caribbean to develop a youth travel market,” said Griffith who believes youth in the Caribbean need to be educated from an early age about the importance of tourism to an island’s economy.
“They need to understand that without the contribution of tourism to the Caribbean, the region would be rendered economically non-viable. Furthermore, they need to understand that this is why it is argued so often that the Caribbean is the most tourism dependent region in the world,” said the 20 year-old Griffith who completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management from the University of the West Indies this month.
Griffith, who works as a part-time server at the Fish Pot Restaurant in Barbados, said affordable travel options help to shape the youth’s world view and address their need to understand “the scope of tourism’s impacts, the level of job creation and the valuable foreign exchange to be earned from the sector.”
“Our young people need to understand the value of being employed in the sector - they should feel proud to know that they are making a contribution to the development of their country,” he said.
A member of the Barbados Environmental Youth Programme, Griffith will attend next week’s Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx) in San Juan, Puerto Rico (May 15 to 19, 2008) along with a number of youth delegates from across the Caribbean and North America.
“CMEx will help us understand tourism’s various impacts on the socio-cultural, environmental and economic spheres of the areas where it is developed. It will match the principles of sustainable tourism to the every day practices and act as a mouthpiece as well as an engine towards making tourism more sustainable in the Caribbean ,” he hoped.
At CMEx in San Juan, reporters, editors, young people, and marketing and development specialists will interact over four days with representatives of the hospitality sector, civil society and government to explore the theme “Embracing the Diaspora, Connecting Communities.” Key is examining how tourism can improve the health, wealth, environment and culture of destinations.
The upcoming CMEx meeting, produced by Counterpart International and hosted by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, is supported by Almond Resorts, American Eagle/Executive Airlines, Association of Caribbean Media Workers, The Barbara Pyle Foundation, Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Bay Gardens Resorts, Bermuda Department of Tourism, Black Entertainment Television (BET J), Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC), Caribbean World News Network, Choice Hotels International, Coco Resorts, Counterpart Caribbean, Harry Edwards Jewellers, Jamaica Tourist Board, La Concha - A Renaissance Resort, Mayberry Investments Ltd., Ruder Finn, SpeakEasy M.E.D.I.A., Spirit Airlines, Tourism Development Company Limited of Trinidad and Tobago, and the St. Lucia Tourist Board.
For further information, visit www.caribbeanmediaexchange.com.
ENDS
The world’s airlines are struggling to meet the impending deadline for the global switch to “paperless” tickets, a leading travel agency group has warned.
With little more than three weeks remaining until the International Air Transport Association’s June 1 deadline for 100% e-ticketing, Flight Centre Limited has warned of a number of outstanding concerns. Read the rest of this entry »
May 6, 2008
The US Federal Aviation Administration did not perform several recommended safety reviews at major carriers in recent years, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday, citing a recent evaluation by the agency.
The reviews, from those of flight crew training to aircraft de-icing, are meant to be completed at least once every five years, the report said.
Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell, responding to a query, said in a letter that in addition to Southwest Airlines, the FAA hasn’t performed dozens of five-year reviews at seven other major airlines, including American Airlines.
The Journal said it reviewed a copy of the letter.
American Airlines cancelled more than 3,000 flights last month over wiring systems problems on its MD-80 planes, leaving over 300,000 passengers stranded.
(Reuters)
May 4, 2008
If United Airlines parent UAL and US Airways Group merged, the pairing could result in massive cost savings for the new carrier as well as higher fares for the troubled industry.
But, in order for a merged airline to win those benefits through consolidation, the two carriers — reported to be deep in merger talks — would have to take on the painful tasks of closing hubs, grounding planes and slashing jobs where United and US Airway overlap.
“There’s definitely the potential for it,” said Stuart Klaskin at KKC Aviation Consulting. “What I question is whether those two airlines will have the political will to actually do that.”
Industry experts say the prime benefits of consolidation come from reductions in capacity — the number of seats for sale. Less capacity lets carriers charge more for tickets.
In the last two years, major carriers have removed capacity from less profitable domestic routes and bolstered lucrative international routes. The strategy has led to higher ticket prices and stronger airlines.
Fare increases, however, have not kept pace with rising fuel costs, which are directly linked to the price of oil. As a result, airlines posted big losses in the first quarter, and pressure is mounting on carriers to merge.
“Absent the removal of meaningful capacity reductions from the domestic airline industry, you don’t get substantial consolidation benefits,” Klaskin said. “That’s the ugly, sad truth.”
Klaskin said a United/US Airways merger could lead to a 25 percent reduction in their combined capacity. But he predicted capacity cuts closer to 10 percent.
Sources said last week that United and US Airways could reach a merger deal soon. An agreement would come on the heels of one announced last month by Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, which are planning to form the world’s largest airline, to be known by Delta’s name.
The Delta deal features cost savings and revenue improvements amounting to about USD$1 billion a year. But the proposal currently offers no capacity reductions as the two airlines’ operations have little overlap.
While Delta and Northwest may be depriving themselves of hefty cost savings, their pairing may have a relatively easy time winning approval from the US Justice Department, unions and travelers.
United and US Airways, on the other hand, could face higher antitrust hurdles resulting from the strong presence of both airlines on the East Coast, especially in Washington DC. They also would risk customer backlash if they cut service or raised fares in popular markets.
“The consumer won’t like it. But the fact of the matter is the consumer won’t like all these airlines going out of business either,” said airline consultant Robert Mann.
Since March, four small airlines — Aloha Airlines, Champion Air, ATA Airlines and Skybus Airlines — have shut down amid increasingly hostile industry conditions.
Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines, meanwhile, filed for bankruptcy protection but said it would continue flying during its reorganization.
Experts say the industry desperately needs consolidation, but the jury is still out on what mergers make the most sense.
Although UAL Chief Executive Glenn Tilton and US Airways CEO Doug Parker have long advocated consolidation, their airlines may be particularly unenticing merger partners.
United, which completed a massive bankruptcy reorganization in 2006, suffered the largest first-quarter loss of the major airlines this year. The carrier still faces ill will from its labor groups, which made steep sacrifices to save the carrier.
US Airways, itself the product of a 2005 merger of America West Airlines and the former US Airways, still operates with two separate labor forces. The integration of a third labor force would present further complications, although experts generally believe labor issues would not torpedo a merger with United.
“It’s not the most attractive pairing, but any kind of consolidation is good for the industry,” said Jim Corridore, analyst at Standard & Poors.
(Reuters)
May 2, 2008
American Airlines is poised to say in a report to be delivered on Friday that it wouldn’t have had to cancel over 3,000 flights last month if a tentative agreement it had with local aviation officials hadn’t been overruled, according to a newspaper.
The Wall Street Journal report will say that the carrier thought it had a “hand-shake” pact with regional Federal Aviation Administration managers, through which it meant to repair wiring systems on its MD-80 planes on a schedule that would not have forced it to cancel flights, which left over 300,000 passengers stranded last month.
But FAA headquarters overruled those local officials and pressed forward with a tougher enforcement plan literally overnight, the report said, according to the Journal.
The report, to be delivered to the US Department of Transportation, is also expected to say that FAA officials did not check any of the affected planes or raise doubts about the initial wiring work until March 2008, the Journal reported.
The FAA and American Airlines were not immediately available for comment.
(Reuters)