Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.travel From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: travel Mon, Mar 30 1992 Date: Mon, 30 Mar 92 05:43:33 EST Message-ID: 03-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Travel USA TODAY Update March 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CRASH PUTS RUNWAYS IN SPOTLIGHT: Twice in 2 1:2 years, jets have plunged off La Guardia runways into the water, but it's not the only airport with inadequate safety zones. Researchers are looking at running jets into beds of foam to stop them safely, and Boston officials will replace plane-breaking seawalls with gravel-covered slopes. At many airports, "if you go off the end, there's no hope," says a consultant. (For more, see special Runway package below.) UAL PAY IS LESS: UAL Chairman Stephen Wolf, who earned $17 million in 1990, took in less than $1 million last year. The 1992 proxy statement for United Airlines' parent company shows Wolf collected just $575,000 in 1991, the same salary he got when he came to United in 1988. He declined a bonus, didn't receive any restricted stock and didn't exercise any stock options. NO ONE GETS BONUS: Stock options boosted UAL chairman Stephen Wolf's pay in 1990. At that time, UAL's stock was flying high in anticipation of an employee takeover that fell through. UAL's proxy statement says no executive bonuses will be paid in 1992 because of UAL's abysmal 1991 performance: a net loss of $331.9 million, the worst of the major airlines. EXPANSION AT MIDWAY CONTINUES: Southwest Airlines' long-planned expansion at Chicago's Midway Airport is nearing takeoff. The Dallas-based discount airline agreed Friday to take over 18 gates now leased by Northwest Airlines. Approvals are expected from the Chicago City Council and federal regulators. Southwest, with six gates already at Midway, plans to expand its daily departures from 53 to at least 100. SHUTTLE CHANGE OF COMMAND NEAR: USAir could be running developer Donald Trump's airline by mid-April. The Department of Transportation Friday approved the transfer of the Trump Shuttle's operating certificate to a new company that will be managed by USAir and owned by Trump's bankers. USAir says it's still negotiating a final agreement with Trump's lenders for the commuter airline. LEACH HIGHLIGHTS COSTLY CLUB: Exclusive, extravagant and inaccessible. That's how Robin Leach describes the new $1,500-a-night K. Club on the island of Barbuda, near Antigua in the Caribbean. A video visit to the club is one of the highlights of Leach's splashy two-hour special, `The Rich and Famous 1992 World's Best.' The two-hour show airs in syndication Monday through April 26 (check local listings). COMPUTER USERS, CHECK WITH HOTEL: The Association for Computer Training and Support suggests travelers check with a hotel for information on in-room dataports before arriving. Also, carry a kit of screwdriver, phone extension cord and alligator clips to adapt phones if needed. Write ACTS, 27 Sagamore Road, Raquette Lake, N.Y. 13436 for a copy of "Traveling with a Laptop." Include a stamped, addressed envelope. RED SEA ADVENTURE OFFERED: Rothschild Travel Consultants has introduced a nine-day "Red Sea Scuba Adventure" centering on waters off the Sinai Peninsula. Underwater visibility in the diving region is said to be up to 150 feet. The package includes roundtrip New York-Jordan airfare on Royal Jordanian; eight nights' accommodation; 10 boat dives; and hotel taxes and service charges. Cost: $1,660. Call 1-800-359-0747. PARK ROADS OPEN EARLY: Some roads at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming are opening earlier than usual this year because of a mild winter in the region. The park's west entrance to Madison Junction to Norris Junction opened on Saturday. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON RUNWAY: FOAM BEDS RESEARCHED: USAir flight 405 veered off the runway last week at La Guardia and plunged into Flushing Bay. After a 1984 accident at Kennedy Airport, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Federal Aviation Administration began researching whether beds of plastic foam could be put at runway ends. The FAA will run a Boeing 727 into foam at 80 mph during planned fall demonstrations. AIRPORTS PREDATE REQUIREMENTS: An airport like La Guardia doesn't even have the 600 feet or so required for foam beds. La Guardia, like most airports, was built well before the FAA began requiring 1,000 feet of overrun space at the end of runways. LaGuardia's Jim Muldoon says a $40 million landfill project will extend the overrun area to a total of 560 feet. But two other runways are built on piers. WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE: Part of the Potomac River was filled in in 1985 to create a longer overrun at one end of Washington National Airport's main runway. Two runways in San Francisco end with berms at the water's edge, but filling in the bay to build overruns is not an option because of environmental opposition, says airport spokesman Ron Wilson. (End of package.) 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Weather Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Travel Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM