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United Airlines posts record profit of $508 million for 1Q -- Lower fuel prices are helping United Airlines earn record profits despite a dip in revenue. But the airline is predicting a key revenue figure will fall in the second quarter. And it's speeding up changes to its fleet, including retiring more small planes. United Continental Holdings Inc. said Thursday that first-quarter net income was a record $508 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $609 million. David Koenig/AP
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Southwest earnings surge on higher demand, low fuel prices -- Southwest Airlines Co.'s earnings more than doubled in the first quarter, as customer demand led to a record-high load factor and the airline continued to benefit from lower fuel prices. Shares were up about 1.4% in premarket trading Thursday. Traffic during the quarter increased 7.1% and capacity rose 6%. The portion of seats filled, or load factor, grew to a record 80.1% from 79.3%. Angela Chen/Wall Street Journal
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Alaska Air Group first-quarter profit tops expectations -- Alaska Air Group Inc today reported first-quarter profit that topped analysts' expectations helped by lower fuel costs. Net income rose by more than 58 percent to $149 million, the Seattle-based company said. It earned $1.12 per diluted share, compared to analysts' average estimate of $1.10, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Jeffrey Dastin/Reuters
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Amid rumblings of strike, Allegiant posts record first-quarter profits -- Allegiant Travel Co. had record first-quarter earnings, but it's the prospect of a pilot strike that held most financial analysts' attention in Wednesday's company conference call. Las Vegas-based Allegiant, parent company of Allegiant Air, reported an 89.8 percent earnings increase of $64.9 million on revenue of $329.2 million compared with first-quarter 2014 earnings of $34.2 million on revenue of $302.5 million. Earnings per share more than doubled from $1.86 to $3.74. Richard N. Velotta/Las Vegas Review-Journal
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Senate enters fight over ticket fee -- The Senate Transportation Committee is wading into the fight over the amount of money airline passengers are charged to help pay for airport improvements. Airports are pushing Congress to nearly double the current cap on the fee, which is known as the Passenger Facility Charge, to pay for construction projects at airports across the country. Airports are currently prohibited by federal law from charging passengers more than $4.50 per ticket for facility improvements, but advocates are pushing to increase the cap to $8.50 in a Federal Aviation Administration funding bill later this year. Keith Laing/The Hill
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The price you pay for water at the airport -- Travelers view water as essential to flying. The need to avoid dehydration has been drummed into us. But is $5 a bottle too much to swallow at the airport? Water is by far the most popular at many stores inside airport terminals. Water sales have gushed since security rules began prohibiting passengers from bringing their own water through screening in 2006. You can bring empty water bottles and fill them once inside secure areas. Some airports are even installing bottle fill stations. Scott McCartney/Wall Street Journal
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Bob Hope Airport to have new concession operator -- Bob Hope Airport's longtime concession operator, Paradies Shops Inc., will be departing from the terminal this spring, following the award of the latest concession contract to a new vendor. The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority this week approved a new 10-year concession-and-lease agreement with a joint venture that includes the major concessionaire Hudson Group Retail LLC to operate the airport's five retail news, gift and specialty shops - four in Terminal A and one in Terminal B - when Paradies' lease expires at the end of this month. Chad Garland/Burbank Leader
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PUBLIC SAFETY: Witness in birth-tourism case arrested by feds at LAX -- A Chinese woman, a federal witness in an ongoing investigation into the birth tourism industry, is under arrest after trying to leave the U.S. with her newborn American son. Ying Wu, 31, was taken into custody April 15 at Los Angeles International Airport by Homeland Security Investigations agents as she, her husband and the baby prepared to board a plane to Beijing. Scott Schwebke/Riverside Press-Enterprise
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John Wayne Airport issues call to artists -- John Wayne Airport has issued a call for Orange County-related visual artists to apply for exhibition slots in JWA's upcoming Community Focus Space (CFS) Program exhibition calendar that begins in fall 2016. "With more than nine million travelers each year, John Wayne Airport provides a venue unlike any other to feature local Orange County artists and showcase their talents to visitors and residents alike," noted Board of Supervisors Chairman Todd Spitzer. JWA News Release
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More noise meetings added on O'Hare runway issues, Emanuel and FAA say -- Residents weary from airport jet noise will be able to attend four public meetings this summer about a new runway scheduled to open this fall at O'Hare International Airport, the city of Chicago and FAA officials said Tuesday. The Federal Aviation Administration last week said that only two meetings would be conducted, sparking a public outcry. But after Mayor Rahm Emanuel met in Washington on Tuesday with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, the mayor's office and the FAA said they agreed to double the number of meetings. Jon Hilkevitch/Chicago Tribune
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Dispute settled on airport expansion plan -- The City of Philadelphia, Delaware County, and that county's Tinicum Township signed a multimillion-dollar financial settlement Wednesday to end long-simmering tensions between the city-owned Philadelphia International Airport and its municipal neighbors over a massive plan to expand the airport. Terms of the agreement, announced in May 2014 and finalized with Wednesday's signing, includes funding to protect tax revenues for Delaware County, Tinicum Township, and the Interboro School District. Linda Loyd/Philadelphia Inquirer
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Sydney storm: Pilots step up as weather batters Sydney Airport -- With southerly winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour, passengers have endured hair-raising landings at Sydney Airport over the last three days. Sydney's worst storm in more than a decade has forced international flights to be diverted to cities such as Brisbane and on Wednesday led to delays to domestic services of up to an hour. Qantas pilot and president of the Australian and International Pilots Association Nathan Safe said the storm ranked among the top few per cent of recent weather events in terms of its severity. Matt O'Sullivan/Sydney Morning Herald
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Jet with unconscious passengers makes emergency landing -- A SkyWest airlines flight to Connecticut was diverted, descended steeply and made an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday after three passengers lost consciousness. The flight, carrying 75 passengers, departed from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and had been bound for Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. It landed at Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Buffalo at about 11:40 a.m. AP
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Southwest Airlines takes heart of the community program nationwide -- Wednesday, Southwest Airlines grew its multi-year commitment to placemaking and local community development, announcing that six cities across the U.S. will receive Heart of the Community grants to reimagine and activate important, underutilized local public spaces. Placemaking, an emerging movement with environmentalist roots, positions public spaces as an engine for urban development, serving as a catalyst for building sustainable, healthy, inclusive, and economically viable neighborhoods. Southwest Press Release
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Editorial: Not a fair flight: Why U.S. airlines are upset over Gulf States' subsidies -- You don't often see the CEOs of America's three largest airlines sitting together, cooperating, even bonding a little. But these archrivals don't often share a worry like this one: They say their valuable international business is under attack by three Middle Eastern carriers benefiting from billions of dollars in unfair subsidies from their governments. The U.S. complaint sounds as if it heralds a new trade war in the skies. Editorial Board/Chicago Tribune
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Airlines rush to update apps for Apple Watch -- Early adopters around the world are all wound up for the April 24 release of the Apple Watch and airlines are among the travel-related companies scrambling to make sure their apps are watch-compatible. American, Delta, JetBlue and United are among the U.S. airlines that have (or will have, momentarily) updated their apps for compatibility with the Apple Watch. And, according to MacRumors, British Airways, easyJet, Qantas Airways, Air Canada, WestJet, Emirates, Japan Airlines and others are doing the same. Harriet Baskas/USA Today
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Hawaiian Airlines' new amenity kits have the Aloha spirit -- Hawaiian Airlines, the only domestic airline to offer passengers in all cabins complimentary meals, this month rolled out another passenger-pleasing service: new Hawaiian-themed amenity kits on international flights in all cabins and for those flying first-class from JFK to Honolulu. To help put passengers in a Hawaii-vacation mood, the carrier worked with one of Hawaii's most popular local apparel and graphic designers, Manuheali'i, who designed a special print pattern for the outside of the kits. Harriet Baskas/USA Today
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American Airlines CEO to be paid entirely in company stock -- The CEO of American Airlines received compensation valued at $12.3 million last year and will stop drawing a salary and instead be paid entirely in company stock. CEO Doug Parker said Wednesday that the change started immediately and would make his compensation more in line with shareholder interests. American Airlines Group Inc. disclosed his compensation and the other changes in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. David Koenig/AP
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FAA: West Pittston mystery mess not from an aircraft -- Well, that mess didn't fall from an aircraft. But the source of toilet paper and waste that pelted a borough neighborhood on Monday morning remains a mystery. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac said today that investigators from her agency have determined that the material in question is not from an airplane, and her agency's involvement is now over. A West Pittston family said they were pelted with waste initially believed to have been accidentally released from a lavatory of an airplane passing overhead early Monday morning. Travis Kellar/Civitas Media
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Boeing faces 'steep climb' to cash goal on Dreamliner costs -- Boeing Co. dug itself a hole in the effort to meet its 2015 forecast after reporting a first-quarter cash outflow and higher expenses for its 787 Dreamliner, the marquee jet hamstrung by production setbacks. While analysts expected a decline in cash in the year's first three months, traditionally a slow period, they were caught off guard when operating cash flow plunged 92 percent and free cash flow was a negative $486 million. Julie Johnsson/Bloomberg Business
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Crystal Cabin Awards honor innovative airplane design -- There may not be much legroom on airplanes, but there's certainly room for some of the existing and proposed improvements that received Crystal Cabin Awards (referred to by some as the Oscar of aircraft interiors) last week at the Aircraft Interiors Expo show in Hamburg, Germany. For its potential contribution to greener, lighter airplanes, U.S. cabin component manufacturer B/E Aerospace won an award for a solar-powered window shade now in development that provides passengers with electricity to power personal devices during a flight. Harriet Baskas/USA Today
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L.A. City Council calls for new plan to get homeless off the streets -- Signaling a more assertive approach on homelessness, five Los Angeles City Council members introduced a measure Wednesday aimed at developing a comprehensive plan for getting 23,000 transients off the streets and into housing. They want to create a council committee focused exclusively on the problem, which costs the city $100 million a year, according to a scathing report issued last week by City Administrative Officer Miguel A. Santana. He described the city's response as fractured and dysfunctional - a conclusion council members said they agreed with. Gale Holland/Los Angeles Times
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DWP set to rewrite water conservation rules -- As the city faces state and local water mandates, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials are set to rewrite the city's water conservation rules on Thursday. The changes would allow the mayor to limit landscape watering to two days per week (currently capped at three), while protecting swimming pools, sports fields and golf courses - even under extreme drought conditions. Mike Reicher/Los Angeles Daily News
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Venice Beach neighborhood council seeks topless sunbathing for women -- Venice Beach, looking to its European roots, is asking the L.A. City Council to let women sunbathe topless at the beach. In a 12-2 vote, the Venice Neighborhood Council said it "supports women being afforded the same rights as men to sunbathe topless." Of course, the City Council doesn't have to heed the group's recommendation. Why recommend the shift? Joseph Serna/Los Angeles Times
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