European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday. June 3. 1992 the stars and stripes c Page 5cheaper air fares prompt ticket frenzy by Edwin Mcdowell the new York times the half Price fare War touched off among the nation s airlines last week has ignited one of the most frantic ticket scrambles in the history of the Industry. Prospective passengers have swamped reservations systems and ticket offices hoping to buy tickets before the Sale ends Friday. Volume is so heavy that the airlines have put employees on mandatory overtime cancelled Days off and pressed every available hand to help. Moreover new bookings Are so heavy that airline executives who at first expected the lower fares to plunge the Industry deeper into debt now say the carriers could at least break even on the Sale because of the extraordinarily High response. The tickets which must be bought by Friday Are valid for travel through sept. 13, the weekend after labor Day. They must be purchased at least seven Days in Advance and include a saturday stay Over. Not every seat is available on every flight and seats Are filling up fast on popular routes such As new York to los Angeles or san Francisco on which the round trip fare is $200. Spokesmen for the carriers however said seats were still available in almost every Market. Quot but passengers should Hae a flexible game plan Quot said Neil Monroe a spokesman for Delta air lines a because seats they want May already be sold out on the flight they  Delta said the response was so Quot incredible Quot that 3.2 million Telephone Calls clogged its 19 reservations centers last Friday almost 13 times the 250.000 Calls on a Normal Friday. It said Calls had abated Only slightly. The airline which normally closes some reservations centers in the evening has kept All 19 operating around the clock. Northwest Orient airlines which touched off the fare War a week ago tuesday with its two for one offer said that new bookings were up 563 percent on sunday compared with the previous sunday and that volume was still heavy monday. Last week Northwest said an adult and a child could travel on the same flight within the contiguous 4s states for the Price of one ticket. That Sale caused a run on Northwest and the other carriers that matched it. The run turned into a Stampede the next Day when american airlines countered with half Price fares for everyone. At that Point most of the Industry matched american including Northwest though Northwest continues to promote its family plan. American said it received More than 100,000 Calls by noon monday about 35 percent higher than Normal and w As getting about 15,000 Calls an hour at its busiest times. Tim Smith a spokesman for american said new bookings outnumbered a bookings 2-to-l on the first Day of the Sale and had since surged so that the current ratio is 9-to-l. A if that pattern keeps  Smith said a the Sale has the potential for being Revenue  the response at United continued to be tremendous through the weekend said Joe Hopkins a spokesman. The airlines received up to 12.000 phone Calls an hour about double the Normal level he said. Like other carriers United has people working overtime and has cancelled Days off. Swamped is How Patricia Goldman of us air described the situation. Calls on sunday were twice the Normal level she said and lines a have been out the door at most of its ticket offices. The Call volume has been so heavy that the Carrier s usual 20-Sccond response time now averages 11 minutes. Continental airlines said it received a million Calls Friday five to sex times Normal and its volume remained tremendously heavy. Unlike rival carriers. Continental s half Price fares arc available Only for off Peak flights a tuesday and wednesday plus noon saturday to noon sunday.10 years ago june 3.1982 a the Board of police commissioners issued an official reprimand to los Angeles police chief Daryl f. Gates for his published statement that police choke holds May affect some Blacks differently than a Normal people."20 years ago june 3.1972 a the civil aeronautics Board ruled that  service members. Defense department employees and their families As Wen As All military retirees could no longer take military air charter flights.30 years ago june 3.1962 a a 16-year-old Girt was shot and her girl companion was reportedly dragged through an East German Border Fence by Eastern Border guards. West Berlin police said two other West Berlin youths were also dragged through a barbed wire Fence into East germany.40 years ago june 3.1952 a the . Supreme court invalidated president Truman a seizure of the steel Industry and the steel unions president. Philip Murray ordered his 650.000 United steelworkers to strike immediately. The court ruled that Truman a april 8 seizure of the steel Mills was unconstitutional. 90 i Tifis ago today a june19 -4us Pliml a a Tram lid my Mil tort Bart of it approaching Asp sesame Mamion him about too atm to two it but attacks by army air Fumm bomber Caum no Damag the american Carrion ent Mph Yore town and Hornet move to 300 mites North of a Kavay the . Spa carry about 250 Plana compared with about 330 on toe tour japanese carriers. Senator to propose handgun ban but even gun control advocate wary Providence . A sen. John h. Chafe r-., said monday that he plans to introduce legislation to ban handguns with provisions for the government to buy Back weapons from gun owners. Chafee said americans own an estimated 67 million handguns More than twice As Many As 20 years ago and the guns contribute at least $4 billion a year to health care costs. Quot this staggering shameful carnage and the costs a both human and financial a that accompany it should hold no place in our society a Chafee said at a news conference. A pretty soon a handgun death is going to affect every family in  the proposed Bill would establish a Grace period during which handguns could be turned in. Gun owners would receive the fair Market value of the gun or $25, whichever was greater. Chafe conceded there was Little Chance the Bill would be passed this year. Chafe said he would not try to persuade president Bush to support the Bill concentrating instead on lobbying his congressional colleagues. Gwen Fitzgerald spokeswoman for the Washington based handgun control inc., said Chafee a proposal went beyond the organizations goals which have included enacting waiting periods and background Chaffee checks for gun buyers. A we would Stop Short of this Type of Effort to get at the problem a she said. A we believe there arc ways to get guns out of the hands of criminals and yet not inhibit Law abiding  Bill Mcintyre a spokesman for the National Rifle association scoffed at the proposal saying it violated constitutional guarantees regarding weapons Possession. A this proposal is no better than Banning cars to solve drunk driving or Banning religion because a criminal televangelist fleeces his flock a Mcintyre said. He added a How is sen. Chafe going to come up with prison space to incarcerate 65 million Law abiding gun owners who May not turn in their guns a explosives Lead to Beach evacuation Virginia Beach a. A hundreds of Beach goers were evacuated after a 5-year-old boy found a Squishy Ball of duct tape that exploded when he tossed it near the Waters Edge. No one was injured sunday but two similar devices were found on the Beach. One already had been detonated and police blew up the other. Authorities were fearful More might exist. The boy Kyle Peterson found the 2-Inch, cube shaped device near the water and tossed it around for a while with his 8-Ycar-old sister police and fire officials said. The device exploded after the youngster gave it a final toss toward the water but missed and it landed on Sand. A it sounded like a gunshot a said Julie Peterson the boys Mother. A then i saw this smoke around him and he came running Over to  police spokesman Lewis b. Thurston said he does no to believe the explosives washed up on Shore. Beach goers had reported seeing people throwing a firecracker Type things from the balconies of nearby hotels he said. A maybe these were the items they were throwing out Quot Thurston said. He refused to disclose the Type of explosive used in the devices. A they done to want a lot of people trying to copycat this thing a Thurston said. After sweeping the area police reopened the Beach about three hours later. Some visitors were frustrated by the Days events. A first it Rains and Rains and Rains a said Henry g. Moore of Philadelphia. A then we finally get on the Beach and it blows  Congress holds key to Dod civilian buyouts tuna Zim Day at Star. W h soft Jook saw inc a form almanac Book of work amp ii. Bison books corp. 1981 a by Mike Causey the Washington Post Washington a those defense department civilians who Are hoping for a Cash offer to retire or resign must look to Congress a not the Bush adm Nistra ton a to make the buyouts a reality. After considering a series of incentives last week the administration has decided to go with a less costly package that has none of the Cash and go incentives proposed for military personnel. One of the rejected proposals would have Given payments of $10,000 to $20,000 to civilians who resigned or retired during the downsizing of the . Military. But officials decided the expensive buyouts would set a precedent the government would have to follow in future cutbacks. Civilian retirements have dropped since Congress started talking about special incentives. Last month on a 20-0 vote a key House committee revived the possibility of a six month salary payment to civilians who retired or resigned during layoffs. The idea was to save jobs of workers who Lack seniority. Given the committees unanimous bipartisan vote there is a Good Chance Congress will push the Pentagon to offer some kind of civilian buyout. As a legislative counter ploy the defense department says it wants authority to a be Able to pay relocation costs of its civilian workers who find jobs in other Federal agencies. A allow defense workers to use their annual leave to qualify for retirement. In some instances they could let their leave accounts build up past the Normal 240-hour cutoff. A have a flexible Early out authority that could be used for occupational groups or locations that Arentt undergoing layoffs. Normally the Early out authority is granted Only in areas or occupations actually undergoing layoffs. Defense employees would still be eligible for Severance pay Worth one week for each of the first 10 years of service and two weeks for the remaining service a up to a maximum of one years salary a but no new Cash incentives would be offered to retire or resign