How the President Wants to Fix the Air Travel Mess
VELSHI: I don't have to drive too far this Thanksgiving; I'm going to go 15 miles to a shopping mall because I am going to be there on Black Friday. So I am dodging the holiday traffic.</s>ROMANS: But I'm having 17 people and 7 children fly in from various parts of the country that are dealing with the airport hassles and plane delays, I hope they get there in time for the turkey.</s>VELSHI: They'll be steaming mad.</s>ROMANS: But interestingly enough the president of the United States this week announcing some measures to reduce congestion and delays at airports he seems to know that this commercial situation, something has got to give.</s>VELSHI: Stephanie Elam is here with that and other travel stories in this very busy travel week. Stephanie.</s>STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right. This is the busiest travel week of the entire year. It is estimated that most of the people this weekend were on track to actually have this be the most traveled year in 2007 as far as air travel is concerned. If you look at the airports, it's not just that the terminals are too crowded but also the air space. On Thursday President Bush announced the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration will work together to open unused military air space to commercial flights. This move will work to reduce delays caused by holiday congestion and bad weather. The FAA would reroute air space, still unused space in the air and on the ground and find more precise routes for takeoffs and landings. As for the D.O.T., it says it will also propose boosting that $200 bump fee. This is one that a lot of fliers would like to hear about. Airlines have to pay travelers who find themselves with a ticket but without a seat. Well, now, they're saying they'll boost it to more than $600. That's a great thing. That needs to happen a long time ago. Another possible role would categorize a flight that is more than 15 minutes late over 70 percent of the time as an unfair and deceptive practice. Airlines would then get slapped with fines and I don't think you'll find any traveler against that plan.</s>ROMANS: That is a fantastic idea. In terms of the lines at the actual security, I was appalled this week at GAO reports, Government Accountability Office, finding that you while I get stopped for my keys, I complain about this all the time, I could take bomb components on with no trouble.</s>ELAM: This is one story that upsets people and one that people always think about. If you look at it involving security, undercover federal investigators were able to get through security checkpoints at 19 different airports with bomb parts, according to the report from the Government Accountability Office. The reports said TSA officers followed procedures in most cases, but the investigators managed to get the items, the components of which they bought at local stores and over the Internet for less than $150 bucks on to planes by taking advantages of weaknesses in the system. At a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday lawmakers from both parties grilled TSA chief Polly who downplayed the report. He called the TSA screeners the world's best and he said that some of the liquid explosives and detonators that investigators smuggled past security were not strong enough to blow up a plane.</s>ROMANS: I'm not sure that makes me feel better.</s>VELSHI: The little bit of shaving cream I'm sneaking on the plane.</s>ELAM: If you have lotion in your purse, they'll find that. I think the point here is that they are saying that you have 19 layers of security at the airport, before you go through security, once you're in security and afterwards before you get on the plane. So, they're saying this is not likely just showing where weaknesses are and how they can address them.</s>ROMANS: One weakness at one level does not show the 18 other layers that would have caught it before or after.</s>ELAM: They're checking. They are looking to see where the weaknesses are.</s>VELSHI: That takes care of air travel. There will be a lot of drivers this weekend and once again, we're looking at now we're approaching record gas prices again.</s>ELAM: I believe 80 percent of travelers who are going more than 50 miles away from their home will be driving for Thanksgiving. That's according to AAA. For those of you who aren't taking to the skies, obviously, more important to you because gas is so expensive right now. A study from the Oil Price Institute found that lower-income drivers pay eight times more on filling up then the wealthier Americans do, as well. The five most painful places to fill up, Alabama, Mississippi and Kentucky. Residents of Wilcox, Alabama for example, they spent 13 percent of their income to fuel one vehicle. People in Huntingdon County, New Jersey for example where the median income is four times what it is in Wilcox spent just 1.5 percent of their income on gas. For this study the oil price information report used 2002 as its starting point when gas was cheap and wages were high. Since then wages have been stagnant while gas prices soared. So basically when you look at this right, if gas prices are going up and your income is not and you're making just $20,000 a year, someone else making $150,000 a year the percentage that they're spending is more painful for someone in Wilcox.</s>ROMANS: For the holidays, if you're going to grandmas, you're going to grandmas whether or not gas prices are going up. You still have to figure out.</s>ELAM: Also the other thing is a lot more people drive in some place like Alabama than they do in New York City because of better infrastructure for public transportation. That factors in on how much they spend on gas.</s>VELSHI: You go it Chicago a lot that was on United.</s>ROMANS: Where your airline options might soon be diminishing. The U.S. airline industry continues to struggle, reports surfaced that Delta and United were talking about a major merger and they are not alone. While Delta Airlines denied reports of merger talks with United some industry experts see eventual mergers creating three mega airlines carrying more than 70 percent of the nation's air traffic.</s>VELSHI: Really big week for air news. This week the Dubai Air Show saw the largest ever aircraft order for civil aviation, Emirates which is the largest airline in the Middle East placed a $34.9 billion order with Airbus for 93 aircrafts and took an option for 50 more. You may not have heard of Emirates but it is one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world. It is growing at 20 to 25 percent a year, could be the biggest airline in the world in a few years. It was started in 1985 with two just planes and now has more than 100. I spoke with executive chairman Maurice Flanagan and he said Emirates is flourishing because Dubai is a convenient connection for many travelers.</s>MAURICE FLANAGAN, VICE CHAIRMAN, EMIRATES: You've got the Americans on one side and China, Japan, Australia, well, that's where the world works. The Pacific is too big for it to work. The center of that is Dubai.</s>VELSHI: Interesting way to look at it. If you take the world and flatten it, Dubai is in the center. You can connect any two cities in the world by stopping in Dubai, which, by the way, has good shopping. So they are benefiting form that.</s>ROMANS: Any two cities in the world can be connected with one stop in Dubai.</s>VELSHI: It is a good marketing tool. You can connect any two cities from any city in the world. But Dubai wants to be the hub, right now Emirates flies to 90 destinations around the world. There you go.</s>ROMANS: Coming up right after the break. Taking a look at why your 401(k) more funds doesn't necessarily mean more diversity.