Subj : nobody knows the trouble
To   : ALL
From : MICHAEL LOO
Date : Fri Jun 23 2000 10:17 am

For those of us who think we're the only ones in the world whom
the airlines treat like cattle:

Friday June 11 8:09 AM ET          
Peru Leader Says U.S. Airline Downgraded His Seat

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori Thursday slammed
a major U.S. airline for showing him and his country a lack of respect
by downgrading him from first class to economy in a saga which has
gripped the nation.

Fujimori discarded diplomatic niceties for a second day when he
criticized American Airlines for the downgrade on a personal trip from
Kansas City to Dallas last week, which he had already likened
Wednesday to a "minibus trip".  

The president, who often travels in his own presidential plane, 
originally said his economy class trip was due to a ticket mix-up.
However, he accused the airline of "impertinence" Thursday after
determining that the airline had in fact downgraded his first class
ticket when he was traveling incognito on a family visit.

The case has received widespread media coverage in this poor Andean
nation, traditionally sensitive to how its citizens are treated by the
world's economic powerhouse.

"You are right," trumpeted the headline on a front page editorial in
the leading El Comercio daily, which has recently criticized the
president for alleged rights abuses by the government. "We know you
are a normally austere person and that your criticism comes as the
nation's figurehead," it said.

For Peru's political opposition, the economy class trip was a lesson  
for a president they say has become too accustomed to power after nine
years in government. He is now learning what it is like to be a
Peruvian, they added.

"Now he only needs to travel in a minibus, queue up for social
security ... live on a teacher's salary," a column in opposition 
aily La Republica said Thursday.

American said it was investigating the incident and did not say if the
downgrade stemmed from overbooking the first class section or some 
other complication.

"American Airlines expresses our deepest apology for any
inconvenience we may have caused the president. The matter is being
investigated and appropriate corrective action will be taken," the
company said in a statement. 
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