Allegiant to resume non-stop Wichita-Los Angeles service June 3 -- Low-fare carrier Allegiant will resume its non-stop service from Wichita to Los Angeles on June 3. The Las Vegas-based carrier will offer two flights a week, with a 9:22 p.m. Central departure from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport on Wednesdays and Saturdays. According to the company's website, the flights arrive at Los Angeles International Airport at 10:23 p.m. Pacific. Jerry Siebenmark/Wichita Eagle

Goats chow down on weeds at Portland airport -- San Francisco International Airport did it. So did Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Now Portland International has decided to enlist animals to remove invasive plants on airport property. Last week, PDX officials announced that a herd of 40 goats - plus one llama - will be on duty near the airport's airfield for about three weeks. Harriet Baskas/USA Today

TSA tightens rules for screening airport and airline workers -- The TSA imposing more stringent regulations for screening airport and airline workers, four months after federal authorities discovered that a Delta Air Lines baggage handler allegedly was part of ring that smuggled guns from Atlanta to New York. Announced Monday by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, the rules also come in reaction to a separate incident in which a FAA employee allegedly used a badge to access a secure area at the same airport - Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport - and then flew to New York with a gun in his carry-on luggage. Ashley Halsey III/Washington Post

Police union sounds alarm on planned cutbacks to LAX vehicle checkpoints -- The union that represents the rank-and-file police officers at Los Angeles International Airport is raising concerns over a plan to cut back on airport vehicle checkpoints to save money. The security checks - part of what officials call "Operation Safe Entry" - have been conducted by 12-officer teams on about 50,000 vehicles annually at LAX, according to the Los Angeles Airport Police Department (LAXPD). CBS LA

The least satisfying part about airlines is the flying, survey says -- Passenger satisfaction with air carriers in the U.S. improved slightly this year but not enough to pull airlines out of the bottom of the list of most appreciated industries. When it comes to customer satisfaction, airlines still rank below gas stations, the U.S. Postal Service and public utilities, according to a new report released Monday by the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, based on interview with more than 7,000 Americans. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times

Airlines increase pilot hiring, threaten AF retention -- When commercial airlines look at Air Force pilots, they see aviators with upward of 1,500 flying hours and 10 years or more of flying experience. And they want to hire them. As airlines continue to grow and Vietnam-era pilots retire, the airlines will hire about 20,000 pilots over the next 10 years. United, American, Delta and the rest of the world's aviation companies see the Air Force's 13,000 veteran pilots as a ready way to staff their cockpits. Brian Everstine/Air Force Times

Pilots at Allegiant Air question safety standards -- For the last decade, Allegiant Air has built a thriving business buying secondhand jets and connecting small cities to leisure destinations like Las Vegas and Honolulu. By keeping costs low, offering cheap fares, and flying from places that other carriers have neglected, like Fort Wayne, Ind., or Allentown, Pa., Allegiant has grown rapidly. Today, the airline has one of the highest profit margins in the business and among the lowest costs. Jad Mouawad/New York Times

Turkish Airlines pinging Silicon Valley (VIDEO) -- This week, San Francisco International welcomed Turkish Airlines inaugural Boeing 777 flight from Istanbul, and TravelSkills was there on the runway to capture the moment. Turkish is pushing hard for the Bay Area tech crowd, and even created a special livery to commemorate the new flight. The B777 on the route sports a colorful mural of San Francisco in the left side of the plane, and a similar mural of Istanbul on the right side. Chris McGinnis/Boarding Area

Why JetBlue Airways had to move its backup operations center -- Did you know JetBlue Airways learned an important lesson about its operation in October 2012 when Hurricane Sandy hit New York? At the time, JetBlue's backup operations center was in a hangar New York airport, not all that far from the primary center at the airline's headquarters.  "Hurricane Sandy was a big wakeup call for us," Penny Neferis, JetBlue's director business continuity and emergency response, said at a recent airline industry conference. BrianSumers.com 

Southwest Airlines sued over death of financial trader -- The widow of a financial trader is suing Southwest Airlines, claiming the crew on her huband's flight last year didn't offer adequate medical attention when he collapsed in a lavatory. Kelly Ilczyszyn filed a wrongful death suit in Alameda County Superior Court, saying the Dallas-based airline treated her dying husband, Richard Ilczyszyn, as if he were causing a disturbance when he was found moaning and crying in the bathroom of a Sept. 16 flight last year. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times

'Good old days' of air travel weren't all good, bad times of today not all bad -- Webster's defines "quality" as a degree of excellence or superiority. Think today's airlines have a problem in this area? So does the new Air Quality Rating report. According to the respected AQR, airline performance has declined in terms of lost bags, on-time planes and passenger complaints. As the report dryly notes, this "does not send a positive message to consumers that see an industry enjoying positive economic times." Rick Seaney, CEO FareCompare/Good Morning America

Apple Watch brings flight and airline apps to your wrist -- Apple Watch will make the flying experience more convenient for both casual and frequent flyers, with a number of airlines updating their apps for the Apple Watch in recent weeks, or announcing support coming soon, including American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines, JetBlue, British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, Qantas Airways, Air Canada, WestJet, Emirates and Japan Airlines. Joe Rossignol/MacRumors

Public safety at center of Eric Garcetti's new $8.57-billion budget -- Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday released his proposed $8.57-billion budget for the next fiscal year, a plan that would preserve funding for at least 10,000 police officers on Los Angeles' streets and boost anti-gang initiatives, among other measures. Like last week's State of the City address, the proposed budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year starting July 1 shows that Garcetti is pivoting to public safety as a key theme of his administration. Peter Jamison/Los Angeles Times