Call to lift sanctions on Myanmar
DILI, 17 November 2010 – East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta on Monday urged the United States and Europe to lift sanctions against Myanmar after the junta released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ramos-Horta also expressed his happiness over Saturday’s release of his fellow Nobel laureate from house arrest in Yangon, where she had been held for 15 of the past 21 years.
Philippines hopes to get off blacklist
MANILA, 15 November 2010 – The Philippines hopes soon to be removed from blacklists of countries deemed to have unsafe aviation, paving the way for its flag carrier to add US flights and return to Europe, a regulator said last Friday.
Philippine airlines were stopped from expanding services to the United States in 2008 and banned from Europe in March this year over concerns airline safety was not being overseen according to international standards.
US airports check Sikh turbans
WASHINGTON, 9 November 2010 – Sikh Americans are protesting at what they say is a new policy at US airports to screen their turbans systematically, voicing fear the move would further stigmatize their faith.
US officials have not confirmed a change in policy and insisted they respected religious beliefs. But they said security measures necessitated checks on “bulky” clothing such as turbans, which Sikh men are required by faith to wear.
Envoy slams Myanmar elections
UNITED NATIONS, 8 November 2010 – Sunday’s elections in Myanmar were not free or fair, the top US diplomat at the United Nations said Sunday.
“Today’s elections in Burma were neither free nor fair, neither credible nor legitimate,” said US Ambassador Susan Rice, using Myanmar’s alternate name.
“Yet again, the Burmese regime has missed a critical opportunity to move toward democracy and improve the lives of the Burmese people,” she said in a statement.
Tough talk from Republicans
WASHINGTON, 8 November 2010 – The top Republican senator urged US President Barack Obama on Sunday to reject the “mockery” of Myanmar’s first election in 20 years and renew his backing for democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
“Although the Burmese junta will trumpet the theatre performed today as an election — an exercise only the SPDC considers meaningful — November 7, 2010 will be just another day in Burma marked by government oppression and hardship for its people,” Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
PATA canvasses for a new CEO
BANGKOK 13 October 2010 – Pacific Asia Travel Association posted a situations vacant for the CEO job, Tuesday, saying it will make a final selection on the winning candidate by the end of the year.
The current CEO, Greg Duffell, tendered his resignation at the September executive board meeting held in Macau at the close of the annual PATA Travel Mart. He will vacate the post officially February 2011. He was exactly halfway through a three-year contract that also offered a two-year extension clause.
However, Mr Duffell cut short his association career saying he wanted to return to the cut-and-thrust of commercial enterprise and had been stymied by political games played out in a 76-strong board. Under new by-laws, that came into effect earlier this year, the larger board’s fiscal duties have been taken over by a 12-person executive board. It faces the challenge of owning up to a litany of errors that diminished the value and financial stability of the association.
Founded in 1951 in Hawaii and subsequently registered as a non-profit organisation under Californian law, the association moved its head office to Bangkok 10 years ago. However, since that relocation the association declined considerably in stature. It inaccurately claimed membership of “around 2,000” for a good part of those 10 years and only recently recognised a decline to slightly less than 800 by 2008. If every member pays their dues this year it will have 1,155 on the books. At the September board meeting it was estimated that 30% of the members had still to pay their 2010 dues.
PATA’s communications director issued a statement, Tuesday, calling on PATA members to recommend anyone who might be interested in taking up the CEO challenge and accepting what has been described as a “thankless task” fraught with pot holes and snares.
The CEO is an officer of the association and responsible to the 12-person executive board of directors elected by their peers in the larger PATA board. Candidates for the CEO post will recognise the classical snare that too many cooks spoil the broth. In this case the cooks are 12 hobby strategists, who must bear most of the responsibility for mismanagement that has blighted the association for close to a decade.
PATA’s CEO search announcement affirms that applications will remain confidential, a promise that the board failed to keep during the process that selected Mr Duffell in late 2008.
At that time a short list of 25 candidates circulated freely through email contacts and this publication received the short list of six candidates before they were invited to attend interviews in Bangkok.
PATA’s executive board faces heightened criticism for sweeping under the carpet failures in governance and financial oversight that Mr Duffell identified during his first year in office. It is understood his actions upset the association’s old-guard, resident mainly in Bangkok and Australia. They made vicious attacks on his qualifications and attempted to undermine his leadership by “nit picking” at a comprehensive 40-page business plan and financial reports. In the past, these same executives calmly approved “one-page” business plans and sketchy financial statements that were described by a PATA insider as “pedestrian efforts at management.”
A reliable source close to Mr Duffell told TTR Weekly that PATA members have not been fully briefed on the extent of financial and management indiscretions since the association moved its head office to Bangkok.
Various executive committees and boards failed the membership by not providing detailed reports on a slew of allegations concerning poor decision making. Ultimately, members footed the bill for sins of omission and commission out of their annual dues. The concept that there should be accountability to members is not fully understood by the PATA board or the new executive board. They have chosen to ignore their obligations that came with their appointments. Yet members, too, failed to understand their rights under US law to demand accountability from the 12-member executive board and possibly their resignation if there was evidence that board members failed in their custodian duties.
Here are some of the allegations that require a board explanation to over 1,000 members:
1. The PATA CEO was forced to work for the association illegally without a work permit during his first year. At any time during that year he could have faced arrest under Thai labour law and the association would have faced expensive fines and legal costs as a result. Why did the executive board condone such an exposure to damage?
2. It is understood that PATA could have fast-tracked work permits under the category of an “association”, but instead opted to apply under the more difficult category of a non-government organisation. Other expatriate executives in PATA may face the same plight including the new CEO.
3. It alleged that PATA’s executive committees (now called executive board) failed to recognise during the 10 years the head office has been located in Bangkok, that under US law it did not need to maintain an expensive office in the US to remain eligible for a valuable tax exemption under US Non-Profit Organisation law. Mr Duffell downgraded the US office presence, earlier this year, from a spacious office space (enough for 10 people that was occupied by just a single person), to representation in a lawyer’s office with a single part-time staff. The move has saved PATA an estimated US$250,000 a year. It took 10 years to work that out?
4. There are claims that PATA executives rolled over annual paid leave in its entirety, contrary to contractual arrangements that stated they were entitled to roll over just 50% of unused leave.
5. Allegations that foreign currency fluctuation were used incorrectly to pad out salaries.
6. Allegations that the US office, without prior approval of the executive board or treasurer, was using a third party agency to issues US$ dollar payments to PATA suppliers. The company went into receivership and PATA was forced to make good payments to suppliers of around US$60,000.
7. A payment item identified in the official 2008 US tax exemption statement indicates the executive board approved a “loyalty reward” of US$300,000 on top of salary payments due to an executive who had tendered his resignation. The base salary was slightly more than US$394,000 a year.
8. PATA failed to make its US Tax Exemption Form 990 available for public inspection in direct violation of disclosure rules and its own written affirmation to the US Revenue Department that indicated the financial statement was posted on its website under “About Pata.” A check Wednesday on the www.pata.org indicated the association has failed to meet its “public inspection” obligation.
9. Alleged inconsistencies and cronyism that controls the awards system particularly “life member” awards. It’s a closed shop affair that has deliberately ostracised board members, including a former chairman, who spoke out against financial and management failures.
Under Mr Duffell’s watch detailed financials are available for the first time to members on a Members Only section of the website. See Intelligence, Resources. Members can read the business plan, action plans and check the financial statements including the financial targets for this year.
In the past, this information was available only to the executive committee and board members who attended meetings and picked up the printed documents. They were not available on the website until Mr Duffell took office.
It is very likely that the new CEO will face considerable pressure from the old crony element on the PATA board and executive board to return ownership of the association to the inner circle rather than open it up to the wider grassroots membership.
The vast majority of paying members who are never given an opportunity to serve on the board recognise that in the broader context of business networking, cronyism will be the death of Pata and not too long after it celebrates its 60th anniversary.
Recovery depends on the commitment of the executive board to good governance and the election of officers through a demoncratic process involving all members, ideally through an online process. If they continue to sweep errors of poor management under the carpet then members will declare PATA has gone past its sell by date and no amount of talking and posturing will save it .
United, Air Canada in revenue share
October 8, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
CHICAGO, 8 October 7, 2010 – United Airlines and Air Canada announced plans Thursday to form a revenue-sharing joint venture for flights between Canada and the United States.
Already partners through the Star Alliance, the airlines said the joint venture would lead to lower fares and better services.
It comes a week after United completed a merger with Continental Airlines. Read more
Europe faces persistent terror threat
October 8, 2010 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under News
LUXEMBOURG, 8 October 2010 – A top US security official warned Europe on Thursday that it faced a persistent terror threat, EU ministers said, as France cited US intelligence claiming EU-born militants could strike European targets.
US Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Jane Holl Lute was invited by European interior ministers to Luxembourg to provide more details on a recent US travel alert on a potential terror strike in Europe.
But ministers said the senior US official provided no fresh details on the alert, including the name of countries that are threatened. Read more
Germany criticises Al-Qaeda travel warnings
BERLIN, 7 October 2010 – Germany’s interior minister hit out Wednesday at travel warnings for visitors to Europe issued because of the risk of Al-Qaeda attacks, saying such tactics helped “terrorists” spread fear.
“We are taking things seriously. But public accompanying music is also something that terrorists use, because they want to spread fear,” Thomas de Maiziere told radio station Deutschlandfunk.
“We are working without talking a lot.”
Europe on alert after terrorist warning
PARIS, 5 October 2010 – Japan on Monday became the latest country after Britain and the United States to issue a travel alert for its citizens amid growing fears of a major Al-Qaeda attack on landmark sites in Europe.
Tokyo joined Washington and London in issuing an alert warning of “possible terrorist attack” by Al-Qaeda and affiliated groups against their citizens travelling in Europe.
