• What's elliott?
• About elliott
• Contact us

t o p i c s

• Business
• Commentary
• Destinations
• Help
• Leisure
• Technology
• Vault

Copyright Elliott Publishing. All rights reserved. For more information, call (305) 453-4781 or send e-mail to us.

E L L I O T T ' S TRAVEL NOTES
Travel news, opinion and analysis

Underwritten By Cheapflights.com — Compare sales, specials and cheap flights to any destination.

October 27, 2004

ATA Files For Bankruptcy Protection
ATA Airlines yesterday became the first major low-fare airline to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a move that immediately set off a bidding war for the company and its assets. The airline, a subsidiary of the ATA Holdings Corporation, said it would continue to operate normally, that all tickets would be honored, and that it would maintain a complete schedule of flights. ATA, the 10th-largest carrier, said it agreed to sell gates and slots at Midway in Chicago, LaGuardia in New York and Reagan National Airport in Washington to AirTran, a low-fare rival, for $87.6 million. AirTran is the nation's 12th-largest airline. New York Times | Posted 6:35 a.m.
• ATA Shrinks to Survive (Indianapolis Star)
• Where Did ATA Go Wrong? Nobody Knows (Sun-Times)

Looks as if even low-fare airlines aren't immune to bankruptcy. Maybe US Airways wants to rethink this whole low-fare thing, after all.

Woman Rams Indiana Airport Gate
A woman drove her car through a gate and onto the runway of Indianapolis International Airport on Tuesday, an airport spokesman said. The woman, identified by an airport official as Michelle Rodenbarger, was taken to a hospital. Her condition and other details were not available. No one else was injured, spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said. Airport personnel stopped the vehicle on a taxiway, and operations were not affected. "We were able to have the incident come to a peaceful end without any damage," Rosebrough said. A witness said the car was going 40 to 50 mph when it smashed through the gate. Sanitation truck driver Jason Archer noticed the woman after seeing her drive through a stop sign. Indianapolis Star | Posted 6:45 a.m.

Flamingo May Have Norwalk Virus
Health officials in Nevada suspect that a norovirus caused a flulike illness last week for about 60 people who got sick at the Flamingo, a hotel-casino on the Las Vegas strip. Clark County Health Department spokesman Dave Tonelli said hotel officials on Wednesday reported an unusual cluster of dozens of people complaining of stomach-flulike symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and headaches. The outbreak prompted interest from the Islands because of the resort town's unofficial status as Hawai'i's favorite vacation destination. Another norovirus associated with the California Hotel in downtown Las Vegas sickened nearly 1,700 people — most of them from Hawai'i — from last December to June. Star Bulletin | Posted 6:50 a.m.

----------

Shut Up! - The day is coming when the last vestige of serenity - the aircraft cabin - will become polluted with ring tones and annoying conversations. While making bothersome mile-high phone calls still requires approval from The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and The US Federal Communications Commission, it widely expected to come in 2006. That's almost enough time educate passengers on when to talk - and when to shut up. > All-new featured story from Travelcomment..com | Posted 7 a.m.

----------

Pilot Error Blamed For American Crash - The co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 587 caused the November 2001 crash that claimed the lives of 265 people, the staff of the nation's airline safety agency reported Tuesday. Investigator Robert Benzon of the National Transportation Safety Board staff said the copilot's response to turbulence, just seconds after the Airbus A300-600 plane took off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, was "unnecessary and aggressive." AP | Posted 7 a.m.

San Francisco Mayor Joins Hotel Picket Line - Mayor Gavin Newsom made good on his promise to join locked-out union members on the picket line Tuesday after a group of San Francisco hotels rejected his proposed 90-day cooling off period, extending a bitter labor dispute that has left 4,000 workers locked out of their jobs. Newsom shook hands with locked-out workers during a short visit to the Westin St. Francis on Powell Street and vowed that the city would boycott the hotels by not sponsoring city events in any of them, including renowned venues such as the Fairmont and the Palace. Chronicle | Posted 7:05 a.m.

Queen of the Sky is Grounded - A US airline attendant is fighting for her job after she was suspended over postings on her blog, or online diary. Queen of the Sky, otherwise known as Ellen Simonetti, evolved into an anonymous semi-fictional account of life in the sky. But after she posted pictures of herself in uniform, Delta Airlines suspended her indefinitely without pay. BBC | Posted 7:10 a.m.

>> Yesterday's Notes | Tomorrow's Notes <<

E-mail Elliott | Other bloggers | About this blog

Latest Travel Notes | Complete Archives