How to Use This Book
The two primary sections of this book are devoted
first to the travel industry as a whole and then to the “Individual
Data Listings” for THE TRAVEL 300. If time
permits, you should begin your research in the front chapters
of this book. Also, you will find lengthy indexes in Chapter 4
and in the back of the book.
THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Glossary: A short list of travel
industry terms.
Chapter 1: Major Trends Affecting the Airline,
Hotel & Travel Industry. This chapter presents an
encapsulated view of the major trends that are creating rapid
changes in the travel and tourism industry today.
Chapter 2: Airline, Hotel & Travel Industry
Statistics. This chapter presents in-depth statistics
on spending, passengers, tourism, hotels, cruises, airlines and
more.
Chapter 3: Important Airline, Hotel &
Travel Industry Contacts – Addresses, Telephone Numbers
and World Wide Web Sites. This chapter covers contacts
for important government agencies, travel organizations and trade
groups. Included are numerous important World Wide Web sites.
THE TRAVEL 300
Chapter 4: THE TRAVEL 300: Who They Are
and How They Were Chosen.
The companies compared in this book were carefully selected from
the airline, hotel and travel industry, largely in the United
States. Approximately one-third of the firms are based outside
the U.S. For a complete description, see THE TRAVEL 300
indexes in this chapter.
Individual Data Listings: Look
at one of the companies in THE TRAVEL 300’s Individual
Data Listings. You’ll find the following information fields:
Company Name: The company profiles
are in alphabetical order by company name. If you don’t
find the company you are seeking, it may be a subsidiary or division
of one of the firms covered in this book. Try looking it up in
the Index by Subsidiaries, Brand Names and Selected Affiliations
in the back of the book.
Ranks:
Industry Group Code: An NAIC code
used to group companies within like segments. (See Chapter 4 for
a list of codes.)
Ranks Within This Company's Industry Group:
Ranks, within this firm's segment only, for annual sales and annual
profits, with 1 being the highest rank.
Business Activities: A grid arranged into six
major industry categories and several sub-categories. A “Y”
indicates that the firm operates within the sub-category. A complete
Index by Industry is included in the beginning of Chapter 4.
Types of Business: A listing of
the types of business specialties conducted by the firm.
Brands/Divisions/Affiliations: Major
brand names, operating divisions or subsidiaries of the firm,
as well as major corporate affiliations—such as another
firm that owns a significant portion of the company’s stock.
A complete Index by Subsidiaries, Brand Names and Selected Affiliations
is in the back of the book.
Contacts: The names and titles
of up to 27 top officers of the company are listed, including
human resources contacts.
Address: The firm’s full
headquarters address, the headquarters telephone, plus toll-free
and fax numbers where available. Also provided is the World Wide
Web site address.
Financials: Annual Sales
(2005 or the latest fiscal year available to the editors, plus
up to four previous years): These are stated in thousands
of dollars (add three zeros if you want the full number). This
figure represents consolidated worldwide sales from all operations.
2005 figures may be estimates or may be for only part of the year—partial
year figures are appropriately footnoted.
Annual Profits (2005 or the latest fiscal
year available to the editors, plus up to four previous years):
These are stated in thousands of dollars (add three zeros if you
want the full number). This figure represents consolidated, after-tax
net profit from all operations. 2005 figures may be estimates
or may be for only part of the year—partial year figures
are appropriately footnoted.
Stock Ticker: When available, the
unique stock market symbol used to identify this firm’s
common stock for trading and tracking purposes is indicated. Where
appropriate, this field may contain “private” or “subsidiary”
rather than a ticker symbol.
Total Number of Employees: TThe
approximate total number of employees, worldwide, as of the end
of 2004 (or the latest data available to the editors).
Apparent Salaries/Benefits: (The
following descriptions generally apply to U.S. employers only.)
A "Y" in appropriate fields indicates "Yes."
Due to wide variations in the manner in which corporations report
benefits to the U.S. Government’s regulatory bodies, not
all plans will have been uncovered or correctly evaluated during
our effort to research this data. Also, the availability to employees
of such plans will vary according to the qualifications that employees
must meet to become eligible. For example, some benefit plans
may be available only to salaried workers—others only to
employees who work more than 1,000 hours yearly. Benefits that
are available to employees of the main or parent company may not
be available to employees of the subsidiaries. In addition, employers
frequently alter the nature and terms of plans offered.
NOTE: Generally, employees covered by wealth-building
benefit plans do not fully own (“vest in”) funds contributed
on their behalf by the employer until as many as five years of
service with that employer have passed. All pension plans are
voluntary—that is, employers are not obligated to offer
pensions.
Pension Plan: The firm offers a
pension plan to qualified employees. In this case, in order for
a “Y” to appear, the editors believe that the employer
offers a defined benefit or cash balance pension plan (see discussions
below).The type and generosity of these plans vary widely from
firm to firm. Caution: Some employers refer to plans as “pension”
or “retirement” plans when they are actually 401(k)
savings plans that require a contribution by the employee.
Defined Benefit Pension Plans: Pension
plans that do not require a contribution from the employee are
infrequently offered. However, a few companies, particularly
larger employers in high-profit-margin industries, offer defined
benefit pension plans where the employee is guaranteed to receive
a set pension benefit upon retirement. The amount of the benefit
is determined by the years of service with the company and the
employee's salary during the later years of employment. The
longer a person works for the employer, the higher the retirement
benefit. These defined benefit plans are funded entirely by
the employer. The benefits, up to a reasonable limit, are guaranteed
by the Federal Government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
These plans are not portable-if you leave the company, you cannot
transfer your benefits into a different plan. Instead, upon
retirement you will receive the benefits that vested during
your service with the company. If your employer offers a pension
plan, it must give you a summary plan description within 90
days of the date you join the plan. You can also request a summary
annual report of the plan, and once every 12 months you may
request an individual benefit statement accounting of your interest
in the plan.
Defined Contribution Plans:
These are quite different. They do not guarantee a certain amount
of pension benefit. Instead, they set out circumstances under
which the employer will make a contribution to a plan on your
behalf. The most common example is the 401(k) savings plan.
Pension benefits are not guaranteed under these plans.
Cash Balance Pension Plans:
These plans were recently invented. These are hybrid plans-part
defined benefit and part defined contribution. Many employers
have converted their older defined benefit plans into cash balance
plans. The employer makes deposits (or credits a given amount
of money) on the employee's behalf, usually based on a percentage
of pay. Employee accounts grow based on a predetermined interest
benchmark, such as the interest rate on Treasury Bonds. There
are some advantages to these plans, particularly for younger
workers: a) The benefits, up to a reasonable limit, are guaranteed
by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. b) Benefits are
portable-they can be moved to another plan when the employee
changes companies. c) Younger workers and those who spend a
shorter number of years with an employer may receive higher
benefits than they would under a traditional defined benefit
plan.
ESOP Stock Plan (Employees' Stock Ownership
Plan): This type of plan is in wide use. Typically, the
plan borrows money from a bank and uses those funds to purchase
a large block of the corporation’s stock. The corporation
makes contributions to the plan over a period of time, and the
stock purchase loan is eventually paid off. The value of the plan
grows significantly as long as the market price of the stock holds
up. Qualified employees are allocated a share of the plan based
on their length of service and their level of salary. Under federal
regulations, participants in ESOPs are allowed to diversify their
account holdings in set percentages that rise as the employee
ages and gains years of service with the company. In this manner,
not all of the employee’s assets are tied up in the employer’s
stock.
Savings Plan, 401(k): Under this
type of plan, employees make a tax-deferred deposit into an account.
In the best plans, the company makes annual matching donations
to the employees’ accounts, typically in some proportion
to deposits made by the employees themselves. A good plan will
match one-half of employee deposits of up to 6% of wages. For
example, an employee earning $30,000 yearly might deposit $1,800
(6%) into the plan. The company will match one-half of the employee’s
deposit, or $900. The plan grows on a tax-deferred basis, similar
to an IRA. A very generous plan will match 100% of employee deposits.
However, some plans do not call for the employer to make a matching
deposit at all. Other plans call for a matching contribution to
be made at the discretion of the firm’s board of directors.
Actual terms of these plans vary widely from firm to firm. Generally,
these savings plans allow employees to deposit as much as 15%
of salary into the plan on a tax-deferred basis. However, the
portion that the company uses to calculate its matching deposit
is generally limited to a maximum of 6%. Employees should take
care to diversify the holdings in their 401(k) accounts, and most
people should seek professional guidance or investment management
for their accounts.
Stock Purchase Plan: Qualified
employees may purchase the company’s common stock at a price
below its market value under a specific plan. Typically, the employee
is limited to investing a small percentage of wages in this plan.
The discount may range from 5 to 15%. Some of these plans allow
for deposits to be made through regular monthly payroll deductions.
However, new accounting rules for corporations, along with other
factors, are leading many companies to curtail these plans—dropping
the discount allowed, cutting the maximum yearly stock purchase
or otherwise making the plans less generous or appealing.
Profit Sharing: Qualified employees
are awarded an annual amount equal to some portion of a company’s
profits. In a very generous plan, the pool of money awarded to
employees would be 15% of profits. Typically, this money is deposited
into a long-term retirement account. Caution: Some employers refer
to plans as “profit sharing” when they are actually
401(k) savings plans. True profit sharing plans are rarely offered.
Highest Executive Salary: The highest
executive salary paid, typically a 2004 amount (or the latest
year available to the editors) and typically paid to the Chief
Executive Officer.
Highest Executive Bonus: The apparent
bonus, if any, paid to the above person.
Second Highest Executive Salary: The
next-highest executive salary paid, typically a 2004 amount (or
the latest year available to the editors) and typically paid to
the President or Chief Operating Officer.
Second Highest Executive Bonus: The
apparent bonus, if any, paid to the above person.
Other Thoughts:
Apparent Women Officers or Directors:
It is difficult to obtain this information on an exact basis,
and employers generally do not disclose the data in a public way.
However, we have indicated what our best efforts reveal to be
the apparent number of women who either are in the posts of corporate
officers or sit on the board of directors. There is a wide variance
from company to company.
Hot Spot for Advancement for Women/ Minorities:
A "Y" in appropriate fields indicates "Yes."
These are firms that appear either to have posted a substantial
number of women and/or minorities to high posts or that appear
to have a good record of going out of their way to recruit, train,
promote and retain women or minorities. (See the Index of Hot
Spots For Women and Minorities in the back of the book.) This
information may change frequently and can be difficult to obtain
and verify. Consequently, the reader should use caution and conduct
further investigation where appropriate.
Growth Plans/ Special Features: Listed
here are observations regarding the firm’s strategy, hiring
plans, plans for growth and product development, along with general
information regarding a company’s business and prospects.
Locations:
A "Y" in the appropriate field indicates
"Yes."
Primary locations outside of the headquarters, categorized
by regions of the United States and by international locations.
A complete index by locations is also in the front of this chapter.
Back
to Plunkett's Airline, Hotel & Travel Industry Almanac
