Extraordinary Millennium - If that plane leaves and you are on it, you'll regret it ...

We hear of some airlines introducing exclusion clauses in their ticket sale terms & conditions that absolve them of liability for "date-related" disasters. Others are said to be considering grounding their flights on Millennium Eve.

Alarmist nonsense? Maybe not. One FD of our acquaintance says that, whatever else he may be doing on 31 December 1999, he certainly won't be flying in one of those new, high-tech fly-by-wire jetliners, the kind that Airbus and Boeing sell in great numbers. His preferred mode of transport will be the good old Dakota, also known as the DC-3. This 1930s-era piston engined workhorse "is completely mechanical and hasn't got a microchip in it", our FD friend says.

We reckon his advice is worth heeding: the man in question is Norman Renfrew, FD of Manchester Airport plc.