EXECUTIVE TRAVEL : Business Travel Notes

Swissair, Switzerland’s national airline, was voted the world’s best airline by 34,000 respondents to a reader poll conducted by the travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler.

In the survey, Swissair was noted for its punctuality, schedules and baggage handling. Second place went to Singapore Airlines, a partner of Swissair.

The Conde Nast Traveler award comes on the heels of several other accolades for Swissair this year.

Over the last month, Swissair received an award from Incentive, a U.S.-based trade magazine. It was named airline of the year in France and last week received an Italian award for best in-flight service on short- and medium-haul routes.

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Hilton Hotels Corp. has entered into an agreement with San Diego-based KiddieCorp to provide supervised activities for kids, upon request, at select Hilton hotels nationwide during conventions.

Designed for meeting and convention attendees, company parties, trade shows, exhibitions and corporate retreats, KiddieCorp contracts with the group to provide prearranged, supervised and entertaining care for kids ages 3 months to 12 years. The arrangement makes it easy for attendees to bring children along.

“Approximately 15% of all business trips include children,” said Robert Dirks, senior vice president of marketing for hotel operations.

The average cost per child is $7 to $10 per hour. KiddieCorp can accommodate a dozen to several hundred children.

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Iberia, the Spanish airline, said Wednesday that it is preparing to lay off 5,000 workers, sell assets and cut costs. The company, struggling to avoid imminent bankruptcy, has failed to win union agreement to a 15% pay cut as part of a viability plan that would lay the groundwork for an injection of state capital.

Chairman Javier Salas said the job cuts will amount to about 5,000 and could come “within days,” according to airline sources.

The news appeared certain to set off a new wave of strikes at Iberia. Unions have already called two 24-hour strikes and a number of shorter stoppages this month to protest what they see as management’s inflexibility.

About 200 workers marched from Madrid’s Barajas airport to the company’s downtown headquarters in protest Wednesday.

Iberia has lost more than $1.2 billion in the last four years and expects an operating deficit of $258 million this year.

The slow post-Christmas season could eat up its remaining resources and tip it into bankruptcy early next year, Salas said recently.

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InfoTravel, one of several fast-growing electronic service companies serving hotels, is moving ahead with plans to put its newest service in 4,000 Hilton and Marriott rooms in the Washington area and at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center at Dunwoody near Atlanta.

The system allows guests to use a TV remote control to see the inside of local restaurants, scan menus and make reservations.

Local advertisers pay to get into the system. The guest calls up a directory on the TV screen, listing everything from restaurants and entertainment to the nearest doctor or quick-copy shop.

The system is capable of producing a map showing how to get from the hotel to the location advertised. If the guest wants a copy, punching another number or two will produce a printout that can be picked up at the front desk on the way out.

A guest can also call the advertiser from the hotel room by punching in another number or two. In the case of a restaurant, that would make a reservation possible while the information is still displayed on the screen.