By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Flying overseas in the next week or so? You may have a lot of room in the plane.

Several local companies have put a temporary ban on overseas travel as the war with Iraq escalates, and travel agencies and airlines report that bookings over the next month or so are definitely dropping, although few people who have already made plans are postponing their trips.

"It's been very quiet, especially from a booking perspective," said Sandra Guile, spokeswoman for AAA Cincinnati, which operates one of the Tristate's largest travel agencies. "People are definitely taking a wait-and-see attitude."

CHANGING PLANS

• Contact the travel agent who arranged the trip. Vendors typically have different policies regarding postponing trips or cancellations. • If you booked your travel through the Internet, use the toll-free telephone number given on the Web site for customer service. If you booked the flight via an airline's telephone system, contact it. • If you purchased travel insurance, refer to the policy details. If you do not have traveler's insurance, AAA has travel insurance available. Travelers will likely notice some changes in security presence at locations such as airports and bus terminals. These heightened security measures have been in place since Sept. 11. Refer to the following Web sites for information: www.faa.gov www.tsa.gov www.tia.org

Yet, Guile said Thursday that the road travel division of her company has not reported any drop-off - with people still planning driving trips this weekend.

But the war is having an impact on international air travel, especially for business. A survey of 126 major companies nationally says that 21 percent have banned international travel, and another 33 percent of the companies say they would institute such a ban if the conditions get worse.

"March is going to be a disaster for the airlines," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travel managers and which commissioned Thursday's survey. "And with the different options that companies are turning to, it will be very hard for the airlines to get those people back."

Procter & Gamble, Omnicare Inc. and GE Aircraft Engines are among area companies instituting some sort of travel ban because of the war. P&G says it is barring workers from flying to the Middle East, as is GEAE. Omnicare has placed a moratorium on all international travel.

"We've been working with video-conferencing before this anyway, so we'll be doing more and more of that," Omnicare spokeswoman Angela Hersil said.

None of the companies surveyed (including Chiquita Brands, Fifth Third Bank and Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America) said it was banning domestic travel.

As for leisure travel, travel agents reported that few people had changed current plans. But they also said that future bookings abroad have slowed.

"The drop-off really began a couple of months ago because of the economy - everyone opened up their 1099s and freaked and cut back their normal travel costs," said Vicky Mary, owner and president of Hyde Park's Victoria Travel.

Delta Air Lines, the area's dominant airline, said that short-term bookings have indeed softened across the board, but company spokesman John Kennedy would not provide specifics. He did say that there was much difference between domestic and international travel. The airline has not made any cuts in service as a result of the war, but does not fly directly to the Middle East.

Kennedy also said that the airline had received a lot of inquiries about Delta's new policy of providing free ticket and schedule changes because of the war for people who have already booked travel, but few have yet changed their plans.

"They're keeping their options open," Kennedy said.

Sonja Keith, office manager of the Carlson Wagonlit travel agency branch that directly serves Erlanger-based Toyota, said that about half the people scheduled to fly Thursday decided to stay home.

"Some people are just not comfortable flying, not knowing if they might get stranded or not," Keith said, adding that corporate policy left the final decision on whether to travel with the employee.

Mitchell said that his survey found that many companies are now leaving that decision in the hands of their workers, a trend he says began soon after the Sept. 11 attacks.

In Mitchell's survey, 77 percent of the responding companies said they left the final decision on whether to fly internationally up to the individual employee. In Toyota's case, Keith said, the company's policy was changed after Sept. 11.

Chiquita also said that it was leaving the final decision up to workers. Chiquita spokesman Mike Mitchell said the company was posting different options to travel, such as video- and teleconferencing.

Enquirer reporters James McNair, Mike Boyer and Ken Alltucker contributed.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com