Heading for Europe Soon? Expect Flight Delays

A nationally recognized reporter, writer, and consumer advocate, Ed Perkins focuses on how travelers can find the best deals and avoid scams.

He is the author of "Online Travel" (2000) and "Business Travel: When It's Your Money" (2004), the first step-by-step guide specifically written for small business and self-employed professional travelers. He was also the co-author of the annual "Best Travel Deals" series from Consumers Union.

Perkins' advice for business travelers is featured on MyBusinessTravel.com, a website devoted to helping small business and self-employed professional travelers find the best value for their travel dollars.

Perkins was founding editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, one of the country's most influential travel publications, from which he retired in 1998. He has also written for Business Traveller magazine (London).

Perkins' travel expertise has led to frequent television appearances, including ABC's "Good Morning America" and "This Week with David Brinkley," "The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," CNN, and numerous local TV and radio stations.

Before editing Consumer Reports Travel Letter, Perkins spent 25 years in travel research and consulting with assignments ranging from national tourism development strategies to the design of computer-based tourism models.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Perkins lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife.

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Starting tomorrow (Tuesday), air traffic controllers in France plan to go on strike. And unions in other countries may join the strike in coming days.

Although European airlines may have to cancel lots of flights, they’ll probably drop mostly short-haul trips, so your flight to Europe is likely to operate with a minimal delay. But if you’re going to fly on beyond your arrival hub, you’d better start thinking about a Plan B.

The strike is a double affront to air travelers. First, of course, is the delay and confusion over the few days of the actual strike. But what the workers are striking about is a grave long-term problem: They are opposed to the plan to modernize Europe’s fragmented air-traffic-control system into much more efficient multicountry operations.

The current system costs airlines some five billion euros a year in inefficiencies and delays, and just about everybody except the strikers believes that upgrading is vital to the future of the region’s air travel. No matter what your politics, this is one strike you should hope the controllers lose.

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