ASTA is offering tepid praise for the $787 billion stimulus package, noting that the final version of the bill omitted a key provision to help restore small business lending. The provision, which was contained in the House-passed version of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would have provided travel agents and other small business owners with rapid access to much-needed capital without having to face the administrative delays posed by the current SBA lending process.

ASTA is offering tepid praise for the $787 billion stimulus package, noting that the final version of the bill omitted a key provision to help restore small business lending. The provision, which was contained in the House-passed version of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would have provided travel agents and other small business owners with rapid access to much-needed capital without having to face the administrative delays posed by the current SBA lending process.

The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines in November 2008 declined by 12.8 percent from November 2007, dropping by 7.9 million to 54.0 million in the largest decrease from the same month of the previous year since January 2002, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported in a release of preliminary data. November was the ninth consecutive month with a decrease in passengers from 2007.

The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines in November 2008 declined by 12.8 percent from November 2007, dropping by 7.9 million to 54.0 million in the largest decrease from the same month of the previous year since January 2002, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported in a release of preliminary data. November was the ninth consecutive month with a decrease in passengers from 2007.

The number of scheduled domestic and international passengers on U.S. airlines in November 2008 declined by 12.8 percent from November 2007, dropping by 7.9 million to 54.0 million in the largest decrease from the same month of the previous year since January 2002, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), reported in a release of preliminary data. November was the ninth consecutive month with a decrease in passengers from 2007.

Four of the world’s leading airlines have called for CO2 emissions from international aviation to be included in a new global climate deal. The agreement will be negotiated by world leaders at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Emissions from international aviation, which currently contribute around 2 percent of global CO2 emissions, were not included in the Kyoto Protocol commitments and are not currently managed under an international climate change treaty.