Business Notes VENTURES

Some people really do want to go up in smoke. So believes a group of Dallas businessmen that aims to start an airline exclusively for puffers. The Great American Smoker's Club plans to take off April 22, the day when a new Government ban on smoking during any flight shorter than two hours takes effect. The carrier intends to circumvent the rule by organizing as a private charter service and charging $10 for membership (family rate: $20). Entrepreneur Kay Cohlmia, 53, and Colleagues Glenn Herndon, 47, and Daniel Cuozzo, 43, smokers all, plan 14 round-trip commuter flights a day between Houston and Dallas. Other Southwest cities are to be added later. The airline's tail fins will be adorned by neither the Marlboro man nor the Surgeon General's warning, since the club will lease aircraft and crews from other carriers.