<B> Washington Wire</B>
By Barbara Cook, Washington Correspondent
<B>DOT To Hold Hearings</B>
The U.S. Department of Transportation will hold a series of public meetings during November in cities around the country to discuss the broad topic of airline competi-tion, according to a DOT spokesman.
DOT secretary Rodney Slater told an airline competition forum last month in Des Moines that one session, to be held in that city, will focus specifically on rural aviation issues. He said the purpose of the meetings was to generate ideas on preparing for "the aviation system we'll need for the 21st century." Slater said the country is witnessing signs that airline competition is on the decline in many areas, threatening to offset the benefits of deregulation. "It's been more than two years since a new airline tried to start up service. In markets without competition, business and short-haul fares have risen substantially. There are states and communities whose consumers are not benefiting from deregulation," he noted.
DOT has received 5,500 public comments on the proposed airline competition policy, and Slater urged the public to take part in the dialogue, saying that "it's important that we hear from everyone with an interest in accessible, affordable air service."
<a name="2"><B>DOT-Travel Industry Meeting Made Public</B>
DOT has released a summary of a meeting between its top staff members and airline and travel industry officials to discuss the department's planned airline competition policy. Held in late August, the meeting included representatives of the National Business Travel Association, Woodside Travel Trust, the Air Carrier Association, several state attorneys general and congressional staff.
DOT assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs Charles Hunnicutt told the industry group that the proposed policy is DOT's first step in addressing problems with competition, and agreed that the pricing and capacity strategies adopted by some major airlines are not the only challenges faced by new entrant airlines.
NBTA representatives advised DOT to make the policy statement "legally unassailable," saying this quality is more important than precision wording, and noted that fares for business travelers are "excessive and rising." Woodside Travel Trust argued that unfair exclusionary practices have evolved since deregulation "due to the department's continual failure to take appropriate enforcement action." Woodside cautioned that if the major carriers are permitted to implement their planned alliances, the result will be an erosion of competi-tion. The consortium said it is less concerned with the proposed policy per se than with how DOT views its ability to take action against unfair competitive practices.
A representative of New York's attorney general cited upstate New York as a region where airline concentration has resulted in high air fares, while a representative of Iowa's attorney general described Des Moines as the "poster child" for unfair exclusionary practices. The Iowa official said attorneys general from several states are eager to work with DOT in its enforcement efforts against predatory airlines.
<a name="3"><B>New Federal Budget Funds Y2K Projects</B>
Part of that 40-pound omnibus bill that President Clinton recently signed to fund the bulk of the federal government over the next year contains $3.35 billion in an emergency fund to aid federal agencies in solving Y2K computer problems. Of that $3.35 billion, $1.1 billion is earmarked for the Defense Department.The emergency fund is in addition to the $1 billion already appropriated to re-program government computers for a seamless switchover to the year 2000.