EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT 04/11/05 Welcome to EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT for the week of April 11, the weekly e-mail of essential business travel news! To sign up for the e-Alert, click here. U.S. plans to tighten borders for intra-North American travelers World airline group wants universal e-ticketing American Eagle adding many new non-stops in June Former ATA commuter airline may revive in Indianapolis JetBlue repeats as winner in annual airline quality rankings New flight options to India opening up FAA/SECURITY U.S. plans to tighten borders for intra-North American travelers Plans announced last week by the Bush Administration call for the imposition of new passport requirements for both U.S. and foreign citizens entering the U.S. from nearby countries, including Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean - controls that raise the possibility of retaliatory measures by the governments of those countries. Effective at the end of December, 2005, the State Department's proposed new rules would require a passport for all travel by air and sea between the U.S. and the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Central and South America. By the end of 2006, the passport requirement would extend to all air and sea travel between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico; and by the end of 2007, passports would also be required for land border crossings between the U.S. and its northern and southern neighbors. Currently, a driver's license is usually sufficient for many of these trips. The changes were proposed as part of a larger effort to tighten border controls for security reasons. But some critics say the changes will simply reduce overall tourism in both directions, and may draw similar rule changes by other nations, especially Canada, for Americans who want to enter. AIRLINES World airline group wants universal e-ticketing Predicting that the world's airlines will collectively lose $5.5 billion in 2005, the head of the International Air Transport Association last week called for faster changes in passenger processing technology in order to cut costs. Speaking in New York, IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani called on airlines worldwide to eliminate all paper tickets by the end of 2007; doing so, he said, would save the industry $3 billion a year, since only about a third of all tickets are currently electronic. He also suggested that the industry should adopt standardized electronic boarding passes and self-service check-in machines at airports, and switch from bar-coded baggage tags to wireless RFID (radio frequency identification) tags to reduce lost luggage problems. Meanwhile, United Airlines CEO Glenn Tilton last week urged the U.S. to change current laws that restrict foreign control of U.S. carriers to no more than 25 percent. He wants the limit raised to 40 percent as a first step, claiming that U.S. airlines are at a disadvantage compared to their foreign counterparts in accessing global capital for new investment. American Eagle adding many new non-stops in June American Airlines' regional affiliate, American Eagle, has set a major service expansion for the summer, with the biggest piece coming at Miami International Airport. On June 9, American Eagle will inaugurate new daily non-stop service from Miami to Charlotte, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, Memphis, Nashville, Norfolk, Pittsburgh and Richmond, as well as weekend flights between MIA and Cincinnati. At Chicago O'Hare on June 9, Eagle will add new daily non-stops to Jacksonville and Pensacola. And at American's Dallas/Ft. Worth hub, new daily Eagle service will debut June 9 to Evansville, Ind.; Green Bay, Wis.; and Toledo, Ohio. The regional line will also boost DFW-Buffalo service to two flights a day. Most of the new routes will use 44-seat Embraer regional jets. Former ATA commuter airline may revive in Indianapolis A new investor has won approval to buy Chicago Express, the grounded commuter airline that formerly served as bankrupt ATA's feeder partner at Chicago's Midway Airport. The airline, owned by ATA's parent company, shut down in late March, but now a bankruptcy court judge has approved the purchase of Chicago Express by Okun Enterprises, an Indianapolis real estate firm, for more than $3 million. According to Indianapolis newspaper reports, Okun plans to put the airline back into service as soon as next month, this time out of Indianapolis, flying to smaller cities in Indiana. But first Okun will have to win FAA approval, hire back its employees, and maybe find a partnership deal with a large airline. Chicago Express' fleet consists of a handful of Saab 340s. JetBlue repeats as winner in annual airline quality rankings JetBlue once again captured the number one spot in the Airline Quality Rating, an annual study conducted by the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University in Kansas. AirTran ranked second, followed in order by Southwest, United, Alaska and America West. Rankings for the remaining airlines covered in the study were: 7) Northwest; 8) American; 9) Continental; 10) ATA; 11) Delta; 12) US Airways; 13) American Eagle; 14) SkyWest; 15) Comair and 16) Atlantic Southeast. The rankings are based on a number of measurable criteria, such as on-time performance, number of lost bags, customer complaints, denied boarding statistics and so forth. The researchers noted that the overall score for the industry declined from 2003 to 2004, especially in on-time performance. INTERNATIONAL New flight options to India opening up Business travelers will soon have a couple of new ways to get to destinations in India. In fact, one has already started: Virgin Atlantic inaugurated service from its London Heathrow base to Mumbai, operating eastbound on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and westbound on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Virgin also has daily LHR-New Delhi flights. Meanwhile, Continental Airlines plans to launch daily non-stops between its Newark hub and New Delhi beginning October 31. Continental said the new non-stop route will reduce travel time between the New York area and New Delhi by at least two and a half hours vs. existing services. Continental will use a two-class 777 on the India route. AIR ROUTES DETROIT (DTW). Spirit Airlines has introduced daily non-stop service from Detroit to Cancun. LAS VEGAS (LAS). ATA Airlines has started new daily non-stops between Las Vegas and Honolulu, originating in Indianapolis; it uses a two-class 757. WASHINGTON DULLES (IAD). Independence Air on April 14 will begin operating one daily roundtrip between its Dulles hub and San Diego. THIS WEEK'S DEALS AND SPECIALS FOR BUSINESS TRAVELERS Pan Pacific Hotels (800-327-8585; www.panpacific.com), with properties around the Pacific Rim (including San Francisco and Vancouver), is offering a 50 percent discount off rack rates to American Express Cardmembers who pay with the Card - as well as a third night free. The offer applies for bookings made by June 30, and stays through November 30. United's Mileage Plus program has now extended to all its elite members (1Ks, Premier Executives and Premiers) the option of redeeming miles for hotel stays an car rentals. Members can claim their lodging and car awards through www.united.com's Awards Redemption Center; they'll receive award certificates to present to the vendor. Participating suppliers include Marriott and Radisson hotels, as well as rental firms Alamo, Hertz, National and Avis. For full details, go to www.united.com/redemptionterms. AirTran Airways (800-247-8726; www.airtran.com) last week kicked off a fare sale that's valid for bookings through April 19, and travel through October 5. The sale fares aren't available for Friday or Sunday travel, and require a 14-day advance purchase. Sample one-way sale fares: $59 from Akron to Boston; $129 from Charlotte to Los Angeles; $99 from DFW to Los Angeles; $59 from Atlanta to Indianapolis. For links to other websites where you can search for bargains, click here: www.executivetravelonline.com/reference/deals.html By Jim Glab To sign up for the e-Alert, click here.