<B> Washington Wire</B>
By Barbara Cook, Washington Correspondent
<B>Airport Renovations Delayed</B>
Airport construction projects totaling more than $200 million at Washington Dulles International and Reagan Washington National Airports will be delayed due to provisions in the omnibus fiscal year 1999 spending bill just signed by President Clinton. The funds were blocked due to the dissatisfaction of Senate Commerce Committee chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) over aviation programs he was unable to add to the bill. McCain was especially unhappy that Congress failed to go along with his plans to add landing slots at Chicago O'Hare, Reagan Washington National and New York's LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports. McCain also wanted to expand the perimeter rule at Reagan National for a certain number of flights each day. The perimeter rule restricts the distance that nonstop flights may operate from the airport and is designed to ensure that long-haul traffic flies out of Dulles.
Three projects will be delayed at Dulles due to McCain's action. These are a new passenger tunnel with moving sidewalks to replace the mobile lounges that now transfer passengers from the main terminal to Concourse B, an expanded baggage handling facility and an expansion to the main terminal to add more passenger waiting rooms and retail space. At Reagan National, the funding freeze will impact the overhaul of the old terminal and addition of a connector between the airport's two main terminals.
<a name="2"><B>TIA Survey: Travel Taxes Don't Pay For Travelers</B>
A new survey by the Travel Industry Association reveals that travelers are paying more than $71 billion annually in travel taxes levied by the top 50 U.S. destinations. While cautioning that it does not oppose travelers paying some local taxes in the cities they visit, TIA noted that some cities "are doing a much better job" than others of reinvesting this special tax income in programs that benefit travelers. In every city surveyed, at least some of the money collected through travel taxes goes into the community's general fund, TIA said.
Twenty-seven cities funnel some tax revenue to the convention and visitors bureau and 27 dedicate revenue to a convention facility. Eight cities dedicate funds to the state tourism office, 13 to sports complexes and nine to local arts, history or cultural organizations. All 50 cities set aside an average of 36.6 percent of their hotel tax income to tourism-related needs, a gain of 4 percentage points over the 1995 reported level.
The average hotel tax in this country is 12.36 percent, an increase of 2.7 percent since the last survey in 1995. The average restaurant tax is 7.29 percent, a gain of 0.4 percent since 1995. The report also found that 32 of the top 50 cities have added new airport concession fees on car rentals, with the average concession fee reaching 9.75 percent. This fee is the expense that the car rental company pays for the right to operate on airport property. Only within the last year have auto rental firms passed some of these airport concession fees on to the consumer by charging an additional 9 to 10 percent of the base auto rental cost, TIA said. According to the survey, the average off-airport tax rate is 7.91 percent while the average off-airport flat fee tax is $2.43.
<a name="3"><B>DOT To Fold Online Complaints Into CRS Review</B>
The U.S. Department of Transportation has agreed to fold complaints that airlines are discriminating against online travel services into its ongoing review of its computer reservation system rules. The move follows a recent meeting between DOT and the Interactive Travel Services Association, which represents online travel businesses.
A DOT spokesman said the group, among other things, complained that the companies are paid lower commissions than traditional travel agents. DOT launched a review of the current CRS rules in August 1997 by issuing an advance notice of proposed rule making, which continues the current rules until final action is taken. The investigation is not on a fast track, however, partly because the department's rules division is concentrating on the higher-profile effort to publish airline competition policy guidelines.
<a name="4"><B>Clinton Creates Antitrust Exemption For Y2K</B>
President Clinton has signed legislation to encourage businesses and organizations to share information on Y2K compliance by creating a specific antitrust exemption for Y2K preparation activities, and by requiring the government to develop an Internet Website containing information on Y2K solutions. Congress developed the legislation in response to corporate concerns that they might face lawsuits if they shared information with their competitors.