The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 26

C2 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2000 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR Reducing flight delays easier said than done Airlines considering spacing out flights, use of satellites to reduce congestion at airports, but waits are inevitable. positioning system could allow planes to fly more efficient routes by going outside the lanes. Computers would track planes and warn pilots if they were approaching another plane. However, more efficient use of the sky would do nothing to ease congestion on the ground. Federal officials and air traffic controllers blame the airlines for routinely scheduling dozens of takeoffs and landings within minutes of each other, making delays inevitable.

Ralph Nader's Aviation Consumer Action Project is pushing for a truth-in-scheduling regulation that would punish airlines for frequent late arrivals. "The airlines lie to you about when you're going to take off and land," said the group's executive director, Paul Hudson. "Their defense is that if they don't, they'll lose customers because their competitors will lie. That's inexcusable." more profitable," Szabo said. Some industry observers blame the FAA for not helping airlines cope with the boom in air travel in recent years.

"The FAA complains that the airlines are overscheduling. The airlines aren't angels, but it's not as if they're flying empty planes," said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. Before the summer started, FAA centralized its air traffic control operations in Herndon, and vowed to communicate better with airlines, particularly on decisions to close airports because of storms. Despite those steps, delays increased. Many look to technology for help.

Today, jetliners fly from airport to airport along narrow lanes in the sky, with controllers spacing them out like cars on a highway. Vast stretches of airspace are rarely touched by commercial Jets. The airlines say a satellite-based global- evenly through the day at its two busiest hubs, Dallas and Chicago's O'Hare. John Hotard, a spokesman for American, said the changes should keep planes moving as they wait in line to take off. "You want to keep those flights going, and to do that efficiently, you've got to have a queue," Hotard said.

"But we're trying to shorten that conga line." About 30 percent of the major carriers' flights arrived late in July, down from nearly 34 percent in June, according to government figures. At the largest carrier, United Airlines, which is struggling with labor difficulties, only 42 percent of flights were on time and 8 percent were canceled. "It's terrible," said Joanne Szabo of Corona del Mar, as she ran to catch a flight from Dallas to Long Beach, Calif. "Granted that a lot of it is probably attributable to weather, but I feel airlines overbook all their flights because that's willingness and ability to reduce flight delays, which rose to epidemic levels this summer. While the airlines are an easy target, even their critics say the Federal Aviation Administration shares plenty of blame for delays by mismanaging and failing to update the air traffic control system.

Airline officials say on-time performance is bound to improve this fall, as traffic volume declines following summer vacations. Still, United Airlines, which posted the worst on-time performance rating of the nation's top 10 carriers, started a round of fare sales this week widely viewed as an effort to win back disgruntled travelers who suffered delays or cancellations. At the same time, American Airlines announced it would soon spread flights more By David Koenig ASSOCIATED PRESS DALLAS Frank Vlnce says he took about two dozen flights on commercial airliners between February and June and not one reached its destination on time. The explanation is simple, the technology-management consultant said this week while waiting at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for a flight to Austin. "Look at the board," Vince said, glancing at monitors listing departures and arrivals.

"There's too many flights. You don't ever expect to be on time anymore," he said. "Today I'm on time, and that's refreshing." Consumer advocates and passengers like Vince are skeptical about the airlines' INBRIEF BUSINESS Hawaii must now import new product flower leis Workplace winners Coaches help retain good workers, boost productivity it 'f'fv 2nd tech conference booked for Sept. 26 Indianapolis Business leaders apparently can't hear enough about e-commerce. Turnout for the city's first E-Commerce Expo in March was so robust more than 600 attended that organizers scheduled a second one for Sept.

26 at the Indiana Convention Center. Scott Jones, chairman of the Indiana Technology Partnership, will deliver an address on the importance of technology to the state economy. The technology partnership is co-sponsoring the event with DataCom Solutions. Registration is $25 in advance and is available online at: www.datacomsolutions.com Kroger taking orders for 'Roselyn Cookbook' Indianapolis Roselyn is releasing its recipe secrets for 184 longtime bakery favorites in a new cookbook being sold, in part, to benefit local public schools. Beginning Sunday, customers can order the Roselyn Cookbook at 93 Indiana Kroger stores.

Orders will be taken through Sept. 30. The book, to be distributed in early November, includes 294 pages of recipes and a history of the bakery chain that closed last year. Cost is $3 from each sale goes to local schools. Bill to increase high-tech visas not likely to pass Washington A long-stalled bill to increase the number of visas for foreign high-tech workers gets the Senate's attention next week.

But it faces an extremely uncertain future because of partisan battles over other immigration issues. The bill has significant support. It had appeared headed for passage until President Clinton announced in May that any visa increase had to be linked to changes in immigration policies. MSN Internet subscribers overcharged about $500 Redmond, Wash. An undisclosed number of subscribers to Microsoft's MSN Internet access service were charged Friday about $500 on their credit-card accounts as the result of a computer glitch, a Microsoft representative said.

The company had been undergoing a routine test of its software, the spokesman said, when it accidentally sent a code to credit-card clearinghouses that authorized the charges. MSN subscribers who were affected can call a service number (dial (800) 386-5550) if they suspect they were victims of the glitch. The company will reimburse any faulty charges and offer subscribers a free month of Internet access. From staff, news services By Christina Hange Kukuk KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS The Cleveland medical technician was one of the best in the lab. Her supervisors took notice, and, of course, they promoted her.

She got her own office, a fatter paycheck, more responsibility and prestige. And she was miserable. Overwhelmed and confused, she turned to Akron, Ohio, business coach Kathryn Musholt. Together, they discovered that the work the technician really loved was back in the lab working with others to solve problems, not squirreled away in a private office. She returned to the lab, a happier, more productive employee and another convert to the concept of coaching.

In the last decade, workplace coaching has gained increasing popularity. So much so that experts predict some form soon will be used in every corporate office and in most small businesses. Eager to retain top talent, companies are turning to coaching to increase productivity and morale. Go to the Web site for the International Coaching Federation and you'll find programs that offer coaching certification in more than 100 specialties, from corporate to worklife to spiritual. A coach looks at the whole person interests, abilities and personality to decide where he or she fits best in the workplace, said Musholt, owner of KSM Careers Consulting.

"Coaching is supporting you to get where you were headed anyway," she said, "My philosophy is, everyone wants to do better for the organization. Otherwise, they wouldn't be there." The concept is not unlike what goes on in sports. Is player A a shortstop or a right fielder? Is player a star center or defensive stalwart? Player has talent, but how can we make the most of it? It's a theory that works in the businesses of today partially because employees are far different than they were 15 years ago, said Joyce Gioia, a North Carolina-based workplace trends specialist. "Employees today will not stand for the old order of management," she said. "Employees today don't want to be directed," she said.

"They want to be encouraged to develop themselves. They say, 'Don't tell me what to do. Tell me what you want done, and I'll figure out the best way to do Workplace experts call it "the new employment contract." Most coaching is one-on-one work between an employee and a supervisor or outside consultant. A coach asks hard questions and challenges the employee regularly to refocus his or her perspective and improve performance. In one form or another, business coaching has been around since the late 1980s, when it first became popular with executives looking for outside help in climbing the corporate ladder.

Some needed time-management skills. Others needed help learning how to manage people. Now business coaches are guiding entrepreneurs, and corporate coaches are training managers to coach employees from the production lines to the highest By Jean Christensen ASSOCIATED PRESS HONOLULU For as long as tourists have been traveling to Hawaii, they have been welcomed with locally grown flower leis. But the Aloha State's popularity some 7 million visitors are expected to visit the Hawaiian islands this year has made it difficult for Hawaiian flower growers to keep up with demand. Like other products that symbolize Hawaii's economy and culture, from pineapples to sugar cane to macadamia nuts, flower leis increasingly are imported.

To be sure, tourists are not the only ones demanding leis. Birthday celebrants rarely go without them, new graduates get decked out in dozens at a time and college coaches wear them at every game. The demand for fresh flower leis will always be there, and where do we get all these flowers to keep up this tradition of aloha?" said Ron Chinen, owner of Ron's Leis near Honolulu International Airport. "If you cannot get it locally, you need to look outside." Indeed, fewer local farms are growing plumeria, tuberose and other traditional flowers strung together to make leis. For Instance, in 1992, there were 41 Hawaii farms with lei flower sales of $10,000 or more.

But by 1998, the most recent year for which the government has released statistics, there were Just 28. Dozens of flower types are used In traditional leis, but the leading imported flowers are primarily dendrobium orchids from Thailand, a purple-tinged blossom that is distinctively plumper and cheaper than local orchids. And as Mordecai Hudson, the owner of Hawaiian Orchid Nursery in Waianae, points out, overhead costs in Thailand pale beside Hawaii's. "The guy over there makes $2.35 a day," he said. "I don't have anybody working for less than $8 an hour, plus all the benefits." While state agriculture officials do not keep statistics on the volume of dendrobium orchids imported into Hawaii, U.S.

Customs Service data show more than 17 million dendrobium blooms came to Hawaii from Thailand in 1996, an amount four times greater than 1995. Hudson accepts that orchids must be imported in the winter, but he said a flood of flowers during the rest of the year keeps prices down and has many growers struggling to stay in business. Amy Yamada, owner of Nursery, a tuberose farm in Waimanalo, said she began noticing Thai orchids in the local market in the mid-1980s. But orchid imports recently have boomed, she said. Yamada had 210 workers on her farm 10 years ago, and now is down to 26.

"The local grower has no opportunity for the big accounts anymore," Yamada said. Maile Lee, who sews locally grown flowers together at an airport stand in Honolulu, said foreign competition puts more intense pressure on Hawaiian lei-makers. What has happened, she said, is that people are beginning to lose sight of what the gift of a lei is supposed to represent. "The greeting services are missing the people are missing the real aloha spirit," the 67-year-old Lee said. Knight RldderTribune Jocelyn Williams Coach's point of view: Kathryn Musholt meets with a client in the Akron, Ohio, office of her KSM Careers Consulting.

Says Musholt: "My philosophy is, everyone wants to do better for the organization." directly with an employees' humanity, workplace experts say. These elements create meaningful workplaces, something more employees are demanding, they say. But human elements are some of the hardest company issues to deal with, said the Rev. Norman Douglas, executive director of Heart to Heart Communications. The nonprofit group began 10 years ago consulting with Akron-area businesses in the area of internal relations.

Back then, companies weren't ready to talk about individual development, Douglas said. Everyone thought restructuring would solve productivity problems. Now, organizations such as Heart to Heart have busy schedules. "We (employees) are searching for the connection between what we do and who we are," said Jim Burns, Heart to Heart's director of operations. Finding that connection can be costly.

Many business consultants charge between $100 and $200 an hour. Corporate programs cost between $1,000 and $10,000 a month. levels of management. Some companies, like IBM and Ernst Young, developed entire internal divisions devoted to corporate coaching. Peter Cairo, co-author of the self-help book Action Coachiiig, said the movement is a reaction to the downsizing frenzy of the 1980s.

"Many companies today have gone through that restructuring," he said. They are already very lean. So if you're looking for growth strategies to increase performance and profits, it's risky to get any leaner without doing some damage." Instead, businesses are investing more time and energy in staff development. The National Association of Business Coaches has seen the number of business coaches grow from about 25,000 three years ago to almost 50,000 today, executive director J. Stephen Lanning said.

Companies that delve into coaching find themselves dealing with what often is called the "soft side" of business. That area includes other intangibles such as purpose, value and relationship that deal NATIONAL DEBT German Engineered and Autoban Proven Associated Press WASHINGTON Figures on government spending and debt. The government's fiscal year runs Oct. 1-Sept. 30.

Total public debt Sept. 14 55,592,638,000,000 Statutory debt limit $5,950,000,000,000 Operating balance Sept. 14 $6,311,000,000 Interest fiscal 2000 through July $321,587,000,000 Interest same period 1999 5311,951,000,000 Surplus fiscal 2000 through July $180,965,000,000 Total surplus fiscal 1999 $124,360,000,000 Receipts fiscal 2000 through July $1,667,438,000,000 Receipts same period 1999 Outlays fiscal 2000 through July $1,486,474,000,000 Outlays same period 1999 Gold assets In September Full Range Traction Traction and Safety in All Weather Conditioni High-Output 3.0L 24 Valve VS DOHC Engine. Strong Comfortable Acceleration and Fun To Drive Performance Characleritict in a Performance Sedan Most Interior Space in Room for Five Adullt Anti-Lock Brakes and Speed Sensitive Steering. Improves Safely and Control During Acceleration, Cornering and Slippery Surfaces Certified Balance of 6 Yean or 70,000 Miles Bumper to Bumper Warranty from Cadillac A1 -y 1997 Cateras 17,700 1998 Cateras Low At 19,700 Business HfcARJUIUi-MlLl EXTtMJf.U UMIIIO WARRANTY I MECHANCAL'AFTEARANCE CERTIFICATION STANDARDS Al APPI AW.h IWNhK HilVII KthS LO KH ART 5550 North Keystone Avenue, Indianapolis "The Power of The fusion of design and technology.

Assistant Business Editor Curt Wellman 633-9808 e-mail cwellmanstamews.com Toll free (800) 669-7827 Fax line 633-1233 I 317.253.1551 800.752.2913 2 miles South of Glendale Mall www.lockhartcadillac.com.