smalltown woes
A study by the transportation policy group Reconnecting America found many smaller airports continued to lose commercial airline service in 2003. Some-including Naples, Fla.; Lancaster, Pa.; Worcester, Mass.; and Stockton, Calif.—lost all passenger air service, the group noted. Between 2002 and 2003, commercial airline capacity plummeted 59 percent at Meridian, Miss.; 54 percent at Waterloo, Iowa; 68 percent at Columbus, Mo.; 57 percent at Brainerd, Minn.; 48 percent at Reading, Pa.; and 46 percent at Dubuque, Iowa. This in spite of the fact that the percentage of total flights operated by regional jets jumped from 14.3 percent in 2001 to 26.6 percent in 2003, the group said.

i'm not rude
Nearly half of all airline and travel personnel say they have witnessed a situation on the job "where disrespectful behavior (between workers and customers) threatened to escalate into physical confrontation," according to a survey by Public Agenda. Some 62 percent said they have seen fellow workers being rude, and half admit to being impolite to passengers themselve—although 56 percent say this was because they were provoked. A Travelocity survey of U.S. airline passengers, meanwhile, found that 65 percent consider rudeness to be a serious travel problem these days. And 54 percent said rudeness is a major cause of travel stress.

world report