Commentary

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This strikes me as bad. Very, very bad.

by Gary Leff on March 19, 2005

Mar 19 2005

A state representative in Texas wants to ban sexy cheerleading. Legislation filed by Rep. Al Edwards would put an end to “sexually suggestive” performances at athletic events and other extracurricular competitions. “It’s just too sexually oriented, you know, the way they’re shaking their behinds and going on, breaking it down,” said Edwards, a 26-year veteran of the Texas House. About the only redeeming thing in this idea is a middle-aged state legislator talking about young girls “shaking their behinds, breaking it down.”

Ruminations on Living Wage

by Gary Leff on March 15, 2005

Mar 15 2005

Further to my comments on rental car companies being subjected to San Jose’s ‘living wage’ rules, a reader writes: The main effect of raising car rental workers’ wages from $7.50 an hour to $9.66 an hour is that a certain number of honest working people, who are not on welfare and not on street corners selling drugs, will be making the princely sum of another $2.11 an hour — which will make it just a little easier for them to pay for their day care and their rent (although not enough to pay down their credit card balances). To me, that doesn’t seem like such a terrible thing. Why grope around for all of these abstruse and unproven second-order effects, plus make a guilt-by-association reference to apartheid, rather than focus on the main question —…

Minimum Wage Hike May Be Applied to San Jose Rental Car Employees

by Gary Leff on March 14, 2005

Mar 14 2005

Via Tripso Daily the San Jose Airport Commission has voted to recommend to the city council that airport rental car company employees be subject to the city’s ‘living wage’ rules. The average wage for the 700 or so employees is reportedly $7.50 an hour. Under the city’s living wage policy, the workers would make a minimum of $11.11 without benefits, or $9.66 an hour with benefits. The actual impact of minimum wage rules is always hard to predict. Increasing the minimum wage doesn’t always lead to unemployment as critics would suggest, often because the prevailing wage is already higher than the minimum wage. For instance, increasing the federal minimum wage to $6 wouldn’t have a tremendous impact on rental car employees at the airport, since their average wage is already more than that. At the…

How to destroy air travels and take away freedoms in one easy lesson

by Gary Leff on February 28, 2005

Feb 28 2005

Quick quiz: What does TSA stand for? (T)aking (S)cissors (A)way (T)housands (S)tanding (A)round (T)ourism (S)uppression (A)gency Before deciding, please consider that The Department of Homeland Security is drafting a rule that will require airlines to pass on passenger manifest information as much as an hour before the departure of international flights bound for the United States Requiring information to be submitted an hour before flight takeoff involves a full 75 minutes greater notice than currently provided. This will mean passengers turning up at the airport at least an additional hour in advance of flight time. Multiplied across all the passengers each day, that’s millions of lost productivity hours each year. The problem compounds itself for connecting flights. It’s as yet unclear whether a passenger will have to have arrived at a connecting airport before the…

My Point Blog

by Gary Leff on February 23, 2005

Feb 23 2005

Flyertalk welcomes a new blog, My Point by Joe Turner. Looks like posting has been going on for a couple weeks, though I just noticed it. Readers of this blog will probably enjoy that one. It’s also worth a mention that David Rowell has a new blog as well.

Customer Influence

by Gary Leff on February 23, 2005

Feb 23 2005

Keith Alexander, whose Washington Post columns I generally quite like, this week reviews the recent history of customer activism and their successes in changing the policies of travel providers. Last week, numerous complaints prompted Hertz to back off a plan to introduce a $2.50 reservation fee on all of its vehicle rentals in the United States. …Hertz acted on the reservation fee after several large clients organized an e-mail campaign and other regular customers posted a “boycott Hertz” message on FlyerTalk.com, a popular Internet message board made up of some of the nation’s most frequent — and influential — travelers. …In 2002, Delta’s frequent fliers were outraged when the airline reduced mileage awards on steeply discounted tickets. They created a Web site called SaveSkyMiles.com and raised money to send a truck-mounted billboard protesting the change…

Southwest and American Posturing in Dallas

by Gary Leff on February 23, 2005

Feb 23 2005

Arguments over the Wright and Shelby Amendments restricting flights out of Dallas-Love Field are reaching absurd proportions. For years Southwest, which is based at Love Field, has maintained official neutrality to the federal rules which limit flying out of the airport to contiguous states. It took years of litigation for Southwest to even be able to use the airport, which had otherwise been abandoned for the Dallas-Fort Worth facility. I’ve assumed that Southwest’s newfound desire to overturn these restrictions is mostly a matter of posturing. I don’t think Southwest really wants substantial new flying out of Dallas. There’s not much room for expansion out of Love Field. They’re pretty close to maxed out in their existing terminal space. New flights to further away destinations could certainly displace existing flights, and those might well be more…

Likely Offline Until Tuesday

by Gary Leff on February 17, 2005

Feb 17 2005

Uncharacteristically, I don’t plan to be online during my travels for the next few days. See you all Tuesday.

Tidbits from Joe Sharkey

by Gary Leff on February 16, 2005

Feb 16 2005

Yesterday’s Joe Sharkey column in the New York Times contained a couple of interesting tidbits. First, according to an American Express survey[M]ore than a third [of respondents] believe it is either “somewhat” or “quite” common for business travelers to submit expense accounts with “one or more completely false or bogus charges.” This does not surprise me in the least. Taxicab receipts are usually provided blank to travelers. Other receipts are easy to fudge. And travelers find it easy to justify ‘a little extra’ in their expense report as compensation for long days and time away from home. When oversight is poor, and there’s the expectation of insufficient scrutiny, even the best and most honest travelers may fudge. I see it every day. (One small part of my job is making sure it doesn’t happen where…

The sad state of airport security

by Gary Leff on February 8, 2005

Feb 08 2005

When India’s Minister for Civil Aviation can say with a straight face that India’s airports are more secure than US airports, I view that as a strong indictment of US security policy. Anyone who has traveled through a major Indian airport must shake their head, though more at the chaos than the security. And it’s true that there haven’t been major recent security incidents there that I’m aware of. But the US should be looking pretty hard at itself when claims like these are made openly. (Comments are open, feel free to flame away.)

Commentary

This strikes me as bad. Very, very bad.

Ruminations on Living Wage

Minimum Wage Hike May Be Applied to San Jose Rental Car Employees

How to destroy air travels and take away freedoms in one easy lesson

My Point Blog

Customer Influence

Southwest and American Posturing in Dallas

Likely Offline Until Tuesday

Tidbits from Joe Sharkey

The sad state of airport security

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About Gary Leff

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