The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight ------------\ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \----------------------------------------------------------/ Southwest Shifts Schedules August 24, 2004 JOE SHARKEY SOUTHWEST SHIFTS ITS SCHEDULES Southwest Airlines said it would cut 88 daily flights from its fall schedule to concentrate more of its planes on highly competitive markets like Philadelphia, the US Airways bastion where Southwest began service May 9. The schedule changes will trim flight frequencies in small and medium-size cities like Albuquerque; Kansas City, Mo.; New Orleans; Little Rock, Ark.; and Austin, El Paso and Lubbock, Tex. But big hub airports like Los Angeles International, Houston Intercontinental and Dallas-Fort Worth International will also lose a small number of daily flights, said Ed Stewart, a Southwest spokesman. "Philadelphia is certainly one of the places where we are growing faster than any of our other city openings in recent history," he said. Other city-pair routes on which Southwest will add flights include: Hobby Airport at Houston and Orlando, Fla.; Houston Hobby and Los Angeles; Baltimore and Nashville; Chicago Midway and Tampa, Fla.; Las Vegas and Tucson, Ariz.; and St. Louis and Oklahoma City. Joe Brancatelli, the publisher of the business-travel Web site JoeSentMe.com, said Southwest's move made sense. "It's what smart airlines do," he said. "Only in the airline industry is inventory management considered a radical proposition." UNITED AWARD MILES It just became easier to get a free mileage award on short hops on United Airlines. With business sagging on short-haul routes dominated by low-cost airlines, United said yesterday that it had reduced to 15,000 from 25,000 the number of Mileage Plus miles needed to claim a free coach seat - but only on nonstop round-trip flights of 750 miles or less each way. GAS MONEY With crude oil prices threatening to hit $50 a barrel and airline fuel costs doubling in the last year, some foreign airlines are rushing to add or increase fuel surcharges. Qantas Airways said last week that it was increasing its surcharge on international tickets to $22 from $15 a segment and to $10 from $6 for travel within Australia. This followed a move by Lufthansa, which said it would impose, effective today, a fuel surcharge of $8.65 for intercontinental and other long-haul flights, and $2.50 for each leg of European flights. Last week, British Airways raised its fuel surcharge on long-haul flights to $11.05 a leg from $4.60. British Air's surcharge of $4.60 for short-haul flights was unchanged. Faced with competitors who won't go along, many airlines in the United States have tried frequently, and so far unsuccessfully, to impose across-the-board fuel surcharges. DESERT STORAGE The rise in air travel means that fewer planes are being mothballed in desert storage areas in California and Arizona. SpeedNews, an aviation industry newsletter, said that 2,390 commercial aircraft were in storage in July, compared with 2,674 a year earlier. Narrowbody aircraft were the most popular types restored to service or otherwise removed from storage. There were 943 narrowbodies in mothballs in July compared with 1,214 last July, SpeedNews said. PITTSBURGH ON SALE Ratcheting up the fierce low-fare competition out of Washington Dulles International Airport, Independence Air is running a fare sale that includes a $29 one-way price for nonstop flights to and from Pittsburgh, which has been reeling from service cutbacks by US Airways. Tickets must be purchased by Aug. 30 and at least 14 days in advance of travel, which must be completed between Aug. 29 and Dec. 19. HOTEL LOYALTY Hotel chains spend millions of dollars a year to maintain guest-loyalty programs, but a recent study at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration questions whether they are getting their money's worth. The study found there was only "a weak connection" between guest satisfaction and loyalty. In addition, business travelers were among the least loyal customers, according to the authors, Judy A. Siguaw and Iselin Skogland. They found that the main factors affecting repeat business were hotel design, amenities and service. JOE SHARKEY http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/24/business/24memo.html?ex=1094358312&ei=1&en=63f1b077b7dd6224 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1&ExternalMediaCode=W24AF HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company