Executive Travel : Business Travel Notes

Air L.A. Leaves Town: The airline will discontinue flights to and from Los Angeles and five other cities effective today. It had been flying between Bakersfield, Fresno, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Stockton and Tijuana.

“Passenger loads are insufficient to justify any further continuation of the service in the local market,” said Air L.A. President Bill Hirsch. Service will continue between Phoenix and Hermosillo, Mexico, and between St. Paul, Minn., and Chicago’s Midway Airport.

Passengers who have purchased tickets from travel agents for future flights on discontinued routes can obtain refunds through the agents. Passengers who purchased tickets for such flights directly from Air L.A. should mail their tickets to Air L.A. Refunds, 5933 W. Century Blvd., Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

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Limits on Rental Miles: Ford’s Hertz Corp. and Avis Inc. are trying to reinstate mileage fees, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper said the rental car companies have begun imposing mileage fees on some renters in certain markets five years after both firms dropped the practice.

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American Express Buys Brazil Agency: The largest travel agency in the world acquired Bel Air Viagens, the largest business travel agency in Brazil. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

American Express expects the purchase to boost its business travel sales in Brazil by 50% to more than $100 million this year. The company expects an imminent travel boom in South America, driven by free-market and open-trade policies in the Mercosur free-trade area, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Over the last two years, American Express has also bought travel services in France, Germany and Australia.

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MarkAir Judge Holds Off IRS: The federal judge has denied a move by the Internal Revenue Service to liquidate MarkAir Inc., saying he needs more time to decide whether the financially strapped Anchorage-based carrier has a viable future.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Herbert Ross denied the IRS motion this week but said it could be brought up again later this summer after MarkAir produces financial data from the busy travel season.

An attorney for the IRS and attorneys for some other creditors argued that liquidation would be better than prolonging MarkAir’s reorganization.

MarkAir’s woes began after it launched service in late 1991 to Seattle and other cities in the Lower 48, starting a fare war with Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, its former marketing partner.

The airline first declared bankruptcy in the summer of 1992. It emerged from that bankruptcy last year. The latest bankruptcy petition was filed April 14. After that, the company ceased its Alaska jet service and shrank to a six-jet operation based in Denver.

MarkAir got approval from Ross for a cash plan worked out with Seattle First National Bank that allows it to continue operating through Aug. 31. The airline was granted permission to schedule auctions this summer to sell ground equipment that is no longer needed in Alaska.

MarkAir Express, a commuter airline that serves rural Alaska with smaller planes, is still operating in the state.