Glittering_Truth_935 t1_j51cphe wrote
How did you get into writing about Travel? It sounds like the best jobs.
wsj OP t1_j51fxw8 wrote
I started covering the business side of airlines and resorts and for years tried to convince my editors (at another newspaper) that a consumer travel beat would be a big hit. I had to convince them it wasn't just writing about sunsets in Bali. It's writing about cool places but also helping travelers navigate things like airline and resort fees and educating them on their rights when things go awry. --Dawn
LOOSE_PUSSEE t1_j56luhn wrote
Ms. Gilbertson has covered airlines and travel in depth for many years while at the Arizona Republic and later sister publication, USA Today. She has a real affinity for covering what was the Williams Gateway airport, now Phoenix-Mesa airport and the growth throughout the years by Allegiant and other airlines at that airport. Also, she has been able to land big interviews with major airline executives. It also helped that America West and later USAir (I never liked the name US Airways) were based in Tempe - right in her backyard.
Even though she's fairly new to the WSJ, her rolodex/iPhone is full of aviation and travel-related contacts who sit in the executive offices and the boardrooms!
Overall, she's been a fair journalist. Myself, as a pro-business pro-capitalist subscriber of the WSJ. I believe her style of reporting will fit nicely within the WSJ - providing the required analysis of the airlines - and all the "baggage" that goes along with the airlines (profitability, labor negotiations, union belly-aching, routes, alliances. frequent flyer/elite programs, in-flight service, airports served, cargo/freight, corporate managed travel, third-party bookings, travel agents etc.), along with some general consumer travel tips worthy of WSJ readers. (think Ritz-Carlton and luxury vacations, not Motel 6 and other lame bargain-basement hotels - although, those high-end hoteliers who are charging more and degraded their service should be held accountable - along with their owners and REITs!)
Scott McCartney may be missed by some - but this LOOSE_PUSSEE is glad he retired. He was becoming such a cry baby when things went wrong at the airlines. In many ways, not very pro-business or pro-airline in his columns - often quick to complain about something wrong. I think he was the porch liberal at the WSJ.
Would I would like from Ms. Gilbertson is information about airlines that WSJ is known for - (exclusives, scoops, etc.) that I don't have to find out by reading Gary Leff's View from the Wing blog or Twitter's John NYC tweets and all of his American Airlines leaks.
Is it too much to ask as paid subscriber to have real reporting NOT FOUND ELSEWHERE?
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