WAV Travel News - Friday Editon
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 795-5912 (Office & Facsimile)
(561) 318-9089 (Cellular)
Hotel searches soar for pot-legal states
Searches have skyrocketed for hotels in U.S. states where marijuana possession for recreational use is legal or soon will be legal, reported Hotels.com.
Colorado hotel searches rose 51% last year, while searches for Washington State jumped 61% during the second half of last year, Hotels.com said. Both states legalized marijuana possession beyond medical purposes last July 1.
Meanwhile, Oregon will legalize recreational marijuana possession this July. Room searches for stays between July and September have jumped 25%, while travel searches for Portland are up 64%.
Last year, Denver hotels’ revenue per available room (RevPAR) jumped 16% form a year earlier, the second-largest jump among the largest 25 U.S. markets, according to STR (Nashville had the largest jump). Seattle hotels’ 2014 RevPAR was up 13%, outpacing the U.S. RevPAR increase of 8.3%.
Hurricane forecast released: Will it be a busy season?
Two Colorado State University forecasters expect the 2015 hurricane season to be one of the quietest since the mid-20th century, according to a report released Thursday.
Philip Klotzbach and William Gray predict seven named storms, three hurricanes and one major hurricane, the report said. The historical averages are 12 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
The report places the possibility of a major hurricane hitting the East Coast at 15 percent, lower than the historical average of 31 percent. The probability of a major hurricane hitting any portion of the United States’ coastline is 28 percent, down from the average of 52 percent, the forecast says.
Klotzbach and Gray also predict only 30 named storm days and 10 hurricane days, both less than 50 percent of the averages.
A major hurricane is a Category 3, 4 or 5 storm with wind speeds of at least 111 mph on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Future hurricane warnings could come before storm even forms
“The tropical Atlantic has anomalously cooled over the past several months, and the chances of a moderate to strong El Niño event this summer and fall appear to be quite high,” Klotzbach said. “Historical data indicate fewer storms form in these conditions.”
El Niño is a periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean waters that often helps suppress Atlantic hurricane activity.
The report also notes that it is impossible to predict the season each year with perfect accuracy.
Despite the quiet forecast, Klotzbach and Gray said that people in hurricane-prone areas should stay vigilant.
It just takes one hurricane making landfall to cause catastrophic damage. Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, ripped through Florida in an otherwise quiet season.
Last season yielded eight named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes. The Colorado State prediction was for nine named storms, three hurricanes and one major hurricane.
The Atlantic is still technically in an active hurricane phase, which shifts about every one to three decades. This active era started in 1995, but at the National Hurricane Conference last week in Austin, Texas, Klotzbach theorized that the phase could be shifting.
“It’s hard to get, maybe, three quiet seasons in a row in an active era, so perhaps we are moving out of this active period,” he said.
Gray, who has been working on the seasonal forecasts for 31 years, said he is turning over the operation completely to Klotzbach, who joined the team in 2000. Gray said he will stay on in an advisory role but will be spending most of his time working with climate change.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release its 2015 hurricane season outlook in May.
Federal Railroad Administration confirms FEC horns aren’t too loud
The Federal Railroad Administration confirmed Thursday that horns on new locomotives being used by Florida East Coast Railway are sounding well within required guidelines at 103.6 decibels.
Engineers from the Federal Railroad Administration performed tests on the horns this week following dozens of complaints from residents living along the FEC corridor that train horn noise has increased with the addition of 24 new GE locomotives to the line in December.
Federal regulation requires train horns to be between 96 and 110 decibels.
FEC announced the 103.6 decibel level on its website, but did not respond to questions about the level of noise produced by the company’s older locomotives. Palm Beach Post public records requests to FRA for its decibel level report and noise complaint information have not been filled.
“I think we’d like to see an independent study from a third party,” said Brent Hanlon, general manager of the exclusive Loblolly community in Hobe Sound, which is adjacent to the FEC tracks. “We’re getting complaints from longtime residents about the increase in noise, and FEC should find a way to make it more tolerable.”
While the new locomotives are more fuel-efficient, railway officials have acknowledged that their horns may sound different because they have five chimes instead of the three that were on most of the older locomotives. The horns are also in a different location on the engines and have a different pitch and frequency.
FEC officials said in a train horn update posted last week that mitigating the noise is expensive and may not be effective.
“FECR investigated what modifications could be made to the horns to soften the sound and still meet the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) requirement for decibel level,” the company said on its website. “The cost of parts, modification, rerouting of air lines and re-certification of the horns is significant with no guarantee the modification would mitigate the noise.”
In lieu of mitigation, FEC suggested that communities lobby for quiet zones, which have been guaranteed from Hallandale Beach in Broward County to West Palm Beach with the addition of the All Aboard Florida passenger rail project.
But quiet zones could be two years out under All Aboard Florida’s timeline. Residents would like to see a solution in the interim.
Renee Zarro, president of the Grandview Heights Neighborhood Association, said residents aren’t the only ones affected by the train horn blasts. Businesses may also suffer losses.
“They are asking us to be good neighbors and get behind their railroad,” Zarro said. “This is an opportunity for them to be good neighbors. I would imagine they could figure out a way to address this issue.”
Rick Rose, an owner of a West Palm Beach bed and breakfast three blocks west of the FEC tracks, said the increase in noise level was “substantial.”
Rose called on railway officials to look for ways to reduce noise levels until a quiet zone is created. The All Aboard project will run 32 express trains per day on the FEC tracks between Miami and West Palm Beach beginning in 2016. If quiet zones are established, freight train horns as well as those of passenger trains will be silenced.
“If we really have to be with this for another two years, wouldn’t it be possible for them to disengage a couple of chimes?” Rose said. “They have the old engines. Couldn’t they just switch out the old horns in place of the new ones?”
Uber Florida debate hits pothole: Rogue drivers
Legislation to set Florida’s rules of the road for ride services like Uber is not driving to consensus quite yet. The House and Senate don’t see eye to eye on required insurance coverage amounts, and there’s this wrinkle: What one lawmaker calls rogue drivers.
A bill that passed the Florida Senate appropriations committee Thursday would set requirements for drivers who have worked with the ride service within six months but don’t have their app on, yet may get in an accident or break the rules to pick up rides outside the system.
Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, called it one of the remaining “gaps” in coverage. An amendment to SB 1298 requires a ride service or the driver to carry primary automobile liability insurance of $100,000 for death or bodily injury and $200,000 per incident, and $50,000 for property damage. The amendment and bill cleared the committee, setting up a showdown with the House version, HB 817, as both head toward their chamber floors.
As The Palm Beach Post reported, taxi interests calling for tougher standards for competing ride services at a Palm Beach County commission meeting showed TV footage from Denver that seemed to catch Uber drivers violating a ban to pick up “street hails” instead of using the app.
An Uber representative said Thursday the company has already agreed to increased coverage while the driver is logged on but has not accepted a request from a rider, but does not believe it should be on the hook for what a driver does when not logged on.
“It would be akin to a casino having to pay for insurance for people gambling outside the casino,” said Uber public policy representative Cesar Fernandez.
Another difference: The House lets Uber use a “surplus lines” insurance company, meaning it is not backed a state guaranty fund to pay claims if it fails. The Senate version says ride services must use as insurer backed by a state fund, like taxis.
Simmons argued the Senate version provided better protection for drivers, passengers and third parties who might get hurt. One of the recurring issues of the debate is that ordinary car insurance policies typically exclude “livery” services, meaning taking money for rides. The business model for ride services has often relied on the driver’s private coverage much of the time.
“People in the state of Florida have a risk of being injured and having absolutely no coverage,” Simmons said. “It is incumbent on us to take action.”
Report: Orlando airport announces flights to Cuba
Direct weekly flights to Cuba from Orlando International Airport will start July 8, marking the first time in decades that people can leave from Central Florida to the island nation 90 miles south of Key West.
Island Travel & Tours, based in Tampa, will fly each Wednesday from Orlando International to Havana, Cuba, said company owner Bill Hauf.
A roundtrip coach ticket will cost $429 for the hour and 15 minute flight, he said.
“We’re really excited. This is a great location,” Hauf said of Orlando.
The trip is possible because President Obama in December relaxed strict travel restrictions to Cuba, which has been the subject of an American embargo since 1960, or a year after Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista government and established a Communist regime.
The new rules allow travel agents and carriers to book flights to Cuba for American citizens without the permission of the U.S. government, as was previously the case.
Essentially, travelers have to fill out a form and choose one of 12 reasons for the trip, ranging from Cuban Americans visiting family to Americans who are going for religious, educational or cultural reasons.
Americans also will be allowed to use credit cards, which previously was prohibited.
Vicki Jaramillo, senior director of air service development and marketing at Orlando International, said Island Travel approached the airport about establishing a Cuba route.
“It’s kind of a progression that Orlando would get this,” she said, adding that international airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa already offer the service.
Orlando International, she said, will be able to attract travelers from Central Florida and parts of the East Coast, all the way north to Jacksonville.
The announcement was bittersweet for Cuban Americans such as George Rodon and Bertica Cabrera Morris.
Rodon, who was chief of staff for former Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, said he has no intention of returning to the island he last saw in 1961. That’s when he emigrated to the United States with his mother.
People who have never been to Cuba, he said, consider it “exotic because it has been under wraps for so long.”
But, he said, as long as Raul Castro is in charge, the government will benefit more from American tourists rather than the Cuban people.
“What you may see is not the real Cuba,” Rodon said. “It’s up to you, but just be aware.”
Morris, who left Cuba in 1967, said she would love to go back to her homeland, but not until she is certain the Castro government will treat people with respect.
“I’m excited,” Morris said, “but these guys are not changing and that worries me.”
Hauf said he is renting a Boeing 737 that carries 120 passengers from a Phoenix company. If demand is great enough, Hauf said, he intends to start a Sunday flight, too.
In addition to flights, Hauf said, he can provide travelers with visas, as well as accommodations and transportation.
Smithsonian to launch new magazine on cultural travel
Smithsonian Enterprises to launch new quarterly magazine on cultural travel worldwide
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Smithsonian Enterprises, the business arm of the popular museum complex, is launching its first new magazine in 30 years with a focus on cultural travelers.
Smithsonian Journeys will hit newsstands April 21 as a quarterly publication, the publisher said Friday. Each edition will focus on one destination with photography and stories about history, food, customs and science.
The first edition is dedicated to Paris with stories about its history, the origins of the croissant and other topics, said Editor-in-Chief Victoria Pope, who previously edited National Geographic and U.S. News and World Report. Like the Smithsonian museums, the travel magazine will include some science, art and a lot of history, she said.
"I don't think there's anything like it," Pope said. "We're really combining some qualities of long-form writing with some consumer pieces that are very good with stuff about resources, what to do."
Steve Giannetti, chief revenue officer of Smithsonian Enterprises, said there was an opening in market for Smithsonian Journeys as a highly priced quarterly like a "bookazine." Such publications have been successful amid declines for other print publications, he said. Travel also has provided a large advertising base for sister publication Smithsonian magazine as well, he said.
"This is targeted to a cultural traveler, somebody that when they go to a destination; they want to do more than just get on the hop-on, hop-off bus," he said. "To do that properly, to really delve into a destination."
The Smithsonian has also operated a travel service for 30 years, providing expert-guided tours under the brand Smithsonian Journeys.
The new quarterly will launch with a distribution of more than 150,000. Copies will sell for $13.99 each. It will be available at supermarkets, book stores, airports and on some cruise lines.
United now flying its Dreamliners to six continents
United Airlines is now flying Boeing 787 Dreamliners to every continent except Antarctica.
United added Dreamliner service to its sixth continent earlier this week, putting the 787-8 model of the aircraft onto its route between Houston Bush Intercontinental and Sao Paulo. With that, United is now flying the 787 to all six of the world's permanently inhabited continents.
United was the first U.S. carrier to take delivery of a Dreamliner in 2012. The airline flew its first Dreamliner flight with paying passengers in November of the same year, putting Boeing's new-age jet into service on flight from Houston to Chicago.
United initially flew its 787s on domestic routes, a move that helped its crews and operations teams become familiar with the new aircraft. Since then, United has shifted its Dreamliners mostly to international routes. By October 2014, United took over the world's longest Dreamliner route when it used the 787-9 -- Boeing's newer, bigger version of the jet -- to add nonstop serviec between Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia.
United's year-round and seasonal Dreamliner routes now include:
Africa
- Houston Bush Intercontinental-Lagos, Nigeria
Asia
- Denver-Tokyo Narita
- Los Angeles-Tokyo Narita
- Los Angeles-Shanghai
- San Francisco-Chengdu, China
- San Francisco-Kansai, Japan
Australia/Oceania
- Los Angeles-Melbourne
Europe
- Houston Bush Intercontinental-London Heathrow
South America
- Houston Bush Intercontinental-Sao Paulo
In addition to the above routes, United also uses its Dreamliners for regularly scheduled service on two intra-North America routes: Houston Bush Intercontinental-Denver and Houston Bush Intercontinental-San Francisco.
Travel Agents Slam Maryland Hotel Bill
Travel agents expressed both disappointment and concern about the April 8 passage of a Maryland hotel bill that will apply six percent taxes to agent service fees, contending that it could not only negatively impact their own businesses but the state’s as well.
“This is not just about Maryland agencies, it’s about agencies and meeting planners around the country,” said Jay Ellenby, a staunch opponent of the bill who serves as ASTA treasurer and president and CEO of Safe Harbors Travel Group. “A meeting planner in California who books a hotel in Maryland will also be charged six percent.”
The passage of the bill doesn’t bode well for Maryland tourism either, according to Ellenby. “If there’s an opportunity for someone to look outside of Maryland, they’re going to take it,” he said. “They may go to Virginia instead. So it’s not good for business in Maryland.”
While ASTA is urging Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to veto the bill, Ellenby expressed uncertainty as to what the outcome of that request may be. “He’s in a real tough spot,” he said, adding that while the governor ran on a platform that opposed both new taxes and increases in existing taxes, he is also decidedly pro business. “Unfortunately he also has a major corporation – Marriott – in the state so he’s receiving pressure from that side and he doesn’t want to damage that relationship,”
In the meantime, agents of all shapes and sizes are expressing their opposition to the bill. “Travel Leaders Group strongly and vigorously opposes SB 190 because it unnecessarily burdens the travel agency community with an unprecedented sales tax,” said Steve Loucks, CTC, chief communications officer of Travel Leaders Group, whose various agencies collectively include more than 40,000 travel advisors.
For her part, Judy Nidetz of Chicago-based Travel Experts questioned how the state plans to execute the collection of the taxes. “I think this is a logistical nightmare,” she said. “I’m not sure how they think they can regulate and track this, given that there are agents all over the world with many different systems in place to book hotels in Maryland.”
Nidetz said that she often includes one invoice for hotel, air and car rental service fees. “In that case would I need to pay a tax? How will they charge me the tax and how will they monitor my bookings?”
she asked. “I think the accounting nightmare will cost the state much more than the six percent they are trying to collect.”
The prospect of booking hotels on separate invoices will be cumbersome not only for Nidetz but for her clients as well. “In the end, this will raise costs for us that we will need to pass on to our clients, so this will drive up costs needlessly for travelers,” she said.
Furthermore, Nidetz noted that agents already pay state and income tax on their earning. “So in essence they are triple taxing us,” she said.
In the view of Claire Schoeder of Century Travel in Atlanta, Maryland did not evaluate the impact of the bill. “I think it is a tax grab aimed at large agencies, such as OTAs, but will disproportionately affect smaller agencies with much smaller profit margins,” she said. “I do not think they looked at the broad implications of this measure. They probably looked at the volume of the large agencies without thinking of the small agencies that directly employ state residents.”
Like Nidetz, Schoeder believes the bill’s passage will result in increased costs for travelers. “Agencies already lose a percentage of service fees to cover credit card costs. With an additional six percent taken away, most agencies, regardless of size, will need to increase fees to stem the loss from the new tax,” she said. “This will directly impact consumers – and in effect raise the price of travel for them as well.”
While Virginia recently voted down a similar bill, the prospect of other states following suit is troubling to agents. “Our neighboring state of Virginia chose not to go in this direction, but certainly other states that are cash strapped or trying to increase revenue might see this as opportunity,” said Ellenby.
ASTA said there are currently no such active bills in other states, although there is a possibility that Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are thinking of enacting them.
Also, governors in Illinois, Maine, Ohio and Pennsylvania are eyeing the possibility of expanding state taxes that have traditionally been imposed on such tangible items as cars and electronics to intangible items such as travel services.
Group on mission to save lives with recycled hotel soap
LAS VEGAS — Shawn Seipler is on a mission to save lives with soap.
It began about seven years ago as a tiny operation with a few friends and family in a single car garage in Orlando, Florida, where they used meat grinders, potato peelers and cookers to recycle used soap into fresh bars.
The non-profit initiative, now called Clean the World, has since grown to include industrial recycling facilities in Las Vegas, Orlando and Hong Kong, cities where hotels are plentiful and used bars of soap can be gathered easily by the thousands.
As a frequent traveler while working for a tech company, Seipler had a thought one night at a Minneapolis hotel.
"I picked up the phone and called the front desk and asked them what happens to the bar of soap when I'm done using it," he recalled. "They said they just threw it away."
Seipler, now the group's CEO, said that after some research he discovered that millions of used bars of soap from hotels worldwide are sent to landfills every day while many people in developing nations are dying from illnesses that could potentially be prevented if they only had access to simple hygiene products.
Thus began his mission to help save lives with soap and even half-used bottled amenities like shampoo.
"It's a huge problem," said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventative medicine and infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. "One of the most common kinds of illnesses in the world are those that are transmitted from person to person and to oneself because of germs that are on one's hands."
In the U.S. and other developed nations, Schaffner noted, people take hygiene products for granted because they are everywhere — soap in public restrooms and even cleanser wipes at the entrances of grocery stores to sanitize shopping cart handles.
Not so in some other countries, where Schaffner recalled visiting a hospital once in the Middle East to find that soap was in such short supply that patients had to provide their own or go without.
"It's such a fundamental part of the interruption of transmission of infectious agents that could save so many lives," he said. "It's not a magic wand, but it's a very important element."
Clean the World this week announced it was partnering with the similar Global Soap organization to increase production, hygiene education and delivery.
The combined group now collects used soap from more than 4,000 hotels and says it has delivered some 25 million bars to 99 countries, including homeless shelters in the U.S.
The process is fairly simple with the collected soap being shredded then run through machines that remove any residual bacteria before being pressed into new bars of soap and packaged for delivery.
The group uses local aid and non-governmental organizations to help with distribution and ongoing education, along with sending their own teams into rural communities around the world to personally hand-deliver hygiene products and to teach residents about the importance of keeping clean.
"A lot of people are surprised to find out that one of the most effective ways to prevent many deaths is actually just hand-washing with soap," said Global Soap's director Sam Stephens. "We're hoping to make a difference."
Royal Caribbean offers 'tax holiday' promotion
Coinciding with the April 15 federal income tax deadline, Royal Caribbean said it will offer tax-free cruises for US residents.
From tomorrow April 11 to April 15, guests will have taxes, port charges and fees paid for by the cruise line for new bookings, which it says could save $200 per guest on any Bahamas, Caribbean and European itinerary of six nights or longer.
It is eligible for sailings from April 15, 2015 to March 31, 2016 on all ships except for Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.
Jupiter shark victim: “All this blood was pouring from my head”
Wading out with two friends last week to spear fish off Jupiter Inlet, Rick Neumann hoped to return with a few decent-sized cobia. He didn't anticipate an encounter with a 10-foot shark.
Neumann, 70, of Pompano Beach, was free diving -- swimming with a mask and wetsuit, but no air tank -- in search of the fish, which are considered excellent for cooking. Having seen his friend spear one, he dove down about 50 feet in hopes of seeing another.
"All of a sudden I got hit on the side and shoulder by a bull shark, which knocked my mask off," he said Thursday. "It bit through my five-millimeter wetsuit. If it hadn't been for that wet suit, I might have bled out."
He saw the shark swim away through the murky water.
Remaining conscious, despite the blood pouring from his head, back and shoulder, he kicked to the surface. He said he didn't realize how serious his injuries were until he saw the horrified expressions of the two others on the boat.
"All this blood was pouring from my head," he said. "I felt around the right side of my head and felt my ear hanging by a thread."
He felt little pain and no fear.
"It happened so fast I didn't have time to be scared," said Neumann, an experienced spearfisherman who estimated the shark to be 500 to 600 pounds, and least 10 feet long.
He said he assumes the shark bit him by mistake, confused by the blood in the water from speared cobia, and let go as soon as it realized he wasn't a fish.
Although shark bites are extremely rare, bull sharks are ranked with tiger sharks and great whites as among the most dangerous to swimmers. They are known to attract cobia, which swim near them.
Neumann said the worst part of Friday's incident was the ride back, as his friend opened up the throttle to power the boat at top speed through rough water.
"It took us 40 to 45 minutes," he said. "It was pretty choppy out there, and every time we hit a bump, more blood spewed out. It was pretty exciting."
His friend had called 911 from the boat and emergency vehicles awaited them at the dock. A helicopter took him to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Placed under anesthesia, he was given about 200 stitches for wounds to his right shoulder, back and head.
George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, said Thursday the bite would be classified as a provoked attack, a designation routinely given to bites involving spearfishing.
Of the three most dangerous species of shark, bull sharks are the ones South Florida swimmers are most likely to encounter. They can reach a length of 11 feet, they eat other sharks, and they come close to shore. Unparalleled among sharks in their ability to tolerate fresh water, they have been found far up rivers and have been implicated in attacks in the Intracoastal Waterway.
In Florida in 2001, a bull shark bit the arm off an 8-year-old boy near Pensacola. The year before, a bull shark killed a man as he swam near a dock by his house in St. Pete Beach.
A bull shark was blamed in the fatal 2005 attack on a 14-year-old girl, bitten in the leg as she swam off the beach in Walton County in the Panhandle. And a bull shark is suspected of biting a woman on the leg last summer as she lay on an inner tube in the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale.
Florida led the United States in unprovoked shark attacks last year, with 28, or 54 percent of the total. As usual, Volusia County racked up the most, with 10, followed by Brevard with eight, and Broward and Palm Beach counties, with two each.
Neumann, who was attacked last Friday, remained in the hospital until Sunday. He was given pain medication, but said he doesn't need it all the time. Sometimes at night his ear hurts, he said. But overall, he has improved and expects to soon return to the water.
"I feel much better," he said.
Seaworld taps new CEO
ORLANDO — Joel Manby wrote a book about leading companies through biblical values and agonized on Undercover Boss over his employees' struggles.
Now Manby is bringing his profit-with-principles philosophy to troubled SeaWorld Entertainment, the parent company of Busch Gardens in Tampa.
Manby became chief executive officer of SeaWorld on Tuesday after 12 years leading Herschend Family Entertainment, a privately owned operator of theme parks, including Dollywood.
SeaWorld has taken a beating from both animal welfare activists and Wall Street. The company is in the middle of an increasingly nasty public relations war after the documentary Blackfish, which suggested life in captivity could have turned one of its killer whales psychotic. Attendance has declined, hundreds have been laid off, and corporate partnerships have ended.
It will be a big change from Herschend, a family-owned, more low-profile company that does business with Christian principles.
Manby, who says executives must look at more than short-term profits, will face Wall Street pressure to increase a struggling stock price at publicly traded SeaWorld. He'll earn a $1 million salary along with a bonus and stock options.
At Herschend, Manby oversaw acquisitions, including the 2013 purchase of the Harlem Globetrotters. He expanded the company from six to 26 properties while more than doubling net cash flow.
Under Manby's watch, Dollywood opened the country's first "wing" roller coaster, with cars extending out from the sides of a track. Soon the Tennessee theme park will open the 307-room DreamMore Resort.
Manby is also "known for just the whole idea of customer and employee relations," said Robert Niles, editor of ThemeParkInsider.com.
Herschend offers employee perks such as subsidized lunches and on-site health care centers. A 2010 stint on the Undercover Boss reality show inspired Manby to expand its employee-assistance program, including providing workers with money to help with child care. The company also started an employee scholarship fund.
"We take care of our own here," Manby told Christian Broadcasting Network in 2012. "Frankly, we don't need the government to help us take care of our employees. I think I'd rather do it ourselves."
Along with standard job performance, Herschend rates employees during reviews on kindness, Manby says in his 2012 book, Love Works. In it, he advises executives to lead with biblical principles including patience, unselfishness and truth.
Manby, 55, grew up in Battle Creek, Mich., and had what he describes as "a very humble upbringing." Manby said he's driven today because he was inspired by how hard his father worked running a struggling farm-machinery dealership.
Manby, who earned an MBA at Harvard, told DailyFinance in 2012, "There's no doubt that I'd rather work for a privately owned company."
What changed his mind?
At SeaWorld, "there was a challenge there," said longtime friend Dougal Cameron, who has monthly hourlong phone calls with Manby and two other friends to examine issues in their lives through the lens of their faith. "There was a culture there he felt like he could impact."
Despite the openness and emphasis on values, friends said Manby isn't afraid to make tough decisions.
"He is putting his reputation and kind of his legacy as a leader, in a way, on the line," said Kevin Jenkins, a close friend from Harvard Business School and the CEO of Christian relief organization World Vision International. "So you can definitely expect that he's going to make some serious changes.
"He's got to change the direction. What's been going on so far hasn't been working so well."
Surf Air, the members-only airline, is poised for a growth spurt
Pay $1,750 a month. Fly as much as you want. Arrive a few minutes before takeoff. Park for free. Forget TSA security; you don't even need an ID to board. And then get comfortable — on this fast-rising California airline, every seat is both a window and an aisle.
Since its inaugural flight two years ago, Surf Air has grown to 1,400 members, with plenty more eager to sign up: The waiting list numbers 600.
The original business plan targeted businesspeople traveling between Southern California and Silicon Valley. Now the Santa Monica company is gearing up for a major expansion to four other California markets by October: Santa Rosa, Monterey, Sacramento and Palm Springs.
Surf Air hopes that with its entry into those cities, chosen because they are gateways or popular as weekend getaways, it will evolve from a business airline into one that includes personal lifestyle travel.
At a time when commercial air travel is universally loathed, Surf Air has become a game-changer among entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. About a third of its passengers work in the tech sector; others include lawyers, consultants, real estate agents, sales and advertising reps, entertainment types and retirees.
"I work between Palo Alto and L.A. and it's awesome. It's convenient, fast and allows me to be sporadic: I can fly back down tomorrow if I want," venture capitalist Will Agramonte, 25, said during his weekly Surf Air flight from Hawthorne to San Carlos recently. "I've never flown first-class before. I went from coach to this, which is like private."
The cost isn't cheap: There's the monthly cost plus a one-time $1,000 sign-up fee (early subscribers were grandfathered in at lower rates). Members say it's a fair price to avoid the hassles of commercial airlines and major airports; Surf Air operates 44 flights a day and currently flies into seven small, private airports in locations including Burbank, Santa Barbara, Carlsbad, Oakland and Truckee and does weekend flights to Las Vegas with a partner airline.
Not surprisingly, its member base — which includes venture capitalist Dennis Phelps, former Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter and actor Jared Leto, who is also an investor — is affluent. The average customer is 44 and has an annual income of $411,000. About half own at least two homes.
The four-city expansion is part of an aggressive business plan set forth by Surf Air's new management team, which was brought in a year ago after the company hit a rough patch.
After a much-hyped launch, the airline by early 2014 was struggling and had signed on just 225 people. Members complained that the flights they wanted were always booked, while prospective customers languished on the wait list for months. Flight delays and cancellations were also a problem.
Those growing pains led to a shake-up that saw the exit of co-founder and Chief Executive Wade Eyerly and other executives. Eyerly recently announced that he would be launching a similar all-you-can-fly private membership airline serving the Northeast.
At Surf Air, the controls were handed over to longtime membership and aviation executive Jeff Potter, who was brought in because of his experience running a major airline as the former chief executive of Frontier Airlines. Potter, who is CEO, and Executive Chairman Sudhin Shahani have spent the last year bolstering the fledgling airline and laying out a multiyear growth plan.
Besides flying to new cities, the start-up is offering more frequent flights and new routes between existing destinations. It is also eyeing markets outside California in need of convenient short-hop flights; Florida and Texas are among the possible contenders. Within the state, it is working to bring service to Santa Ana, San Diego, Mammoth Lakes, Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo.
To accommodate the anticipated increase, Surf Air is adding to its fleet of eight Swiss-made Pilatus PC-12 planes, placing a large order for dozens of new planes. It will have 15 by the end of this year and, by 2020, will have at least 65 planes in operation.
"We foresee ourselves on an hourly basis in a couple years," Potter said.
Surf Air took on a $65-million debt facility last year to fund the planes. It also raised $8 million for operational costs from investors, including L.A. shopping center magnate Rick Caruso.
As a membership club, Surf Air touts an upscale, exclusive community and is gradually introducing member perks to keep customers on board.
Last year, Surf Air offered members flights to and from the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which was such a success that the company is planning to run more limited-time routes for special events and weekend trips. It has held member-only parties and will soon roll out a new tier of membership that will provide expanded services such as one guest pass a month for a higher monthly membership fee of $2,250.
The business model, executives say, is to keep the price closer to commercial flights but the experience on par with private jets.
"Everything is the same as if you have a G5 until you go into the G5," Woodward said, referring to Gulfstream private jets.
"What we've done is created a private-style experience that really is geared toward the commercial traveler," said Surf Air's Shahani. "It's for everybody who flies more than two or three times a month. What's two hours of your life each time worth to you?"
For the recent flight to San Carlos, travelers — who undergo background checks before they become members — were greeted at the Hawthorne airport by a concierge who checked them in on an iPad and promptly whisked away their bags. There were free snacks and drinks in the waiting area, and more on the plane.
Once in the air, passengers — all male, most of them young — largely kept to themselves, either napping in their leather swivel seats or tooling around on their mobile devices. There were no announcer interruptions, save for a safety briefing from one of the pilots before takeoff that ended with a note of caution to avoid the tiny, chest-high, refrigerator-like bathroom if at all possible.
"Someone used it once," one passenger, a private equity investor, said with a grimace. "You could smell it."
Customers had a few gripes: Surf Air planes don't have Wi-Fi, although the company is installing it. Some said they would like movies or other entertainment options. Because the planes are small propeller aircraft, they are louder and slower than the Boeing or Airbus jetliners most people are used to; a typical Surf Air flight takes about 15% to 20% longer.
Despite the longer flight time, once the wheels touched down at 7:43 p.m., it took just two minutes for the plane to taxi, park and for all passengers to exit the aircraft.
"It's kind of a no-brainer," said Marcelo Rodriguez, a marketing director from San Francisco who uses Surf Air weekly. "If you do this with any kind of regularity, even three times a month, it makes sense financially."
A big part of the appeal, he said, is the insider feel that Surf Air has cultivated. The airport concierges have gotten to know him and will have a rental car waiting when he arrives, even remembering the kind of car he likes.
It's that kind of value that has Surf Air's executives and investors excited that they may have built the rare breakout Southland start-up.
"It's a completely new way of looking at a big problem, and that's what attracted me right off the bat," Woodward said. "Surf Air's an important company in L.A. It's one of the companies that changes the game down here."
FAA steps up oversight of United Airlines
Chicago-based United Airlines has been undergoing stepped-up oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration after "repeated violations of mandatory pilot qualification and scheduling requirements," according to a published report.
The FAA oversight was detailed in a Feb. 6 letter from a high-ranking agency official to United's top safety officer, according to the Wall Street Journal. The letter called for an overhaul of parts of United's process for qualifying crew members and cites problems with scheduling, it said.
The news comes after United issued a stern and blunt bulletin to its pilots on Jan. 9, expressing concerns over safety. It called for stricter compliance with cockpit rules and procedures and cited several serious incidents caused by cockpit errors.
The FAA letter doesn't mention those concerns but instead covers areas such as pilot records and crew-member qualifications, according to the Journal.