Oakland airport director nominated to head Los Angeles World Airports -- The head of Oakland International Airport was nominated Wednesday to become the next executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the operator of LAX. Mayor Eric Garcetti has selected Deborah Ale Flint as the replacement for Gina Marie Lindsey, who will step down later this month after eight years overseeing the city's airport department and the ongoing modernization of Los Angeles International Airport. Dan Weikel/Los Angeles Times City News Service Mayor Garcetti Press Release AP Reaction: ARSAC Ontario LAAPOA

Air show planned at San Bernardino airport -- The October sky is expected to bring some things the San Bernardino International Airport hasn't seen since its extensive revamping: vintage airplanes and cars, a country music concert, a nationally known aerial jet team - and something else, airport authorities say. "It's great PR for the airport," said Mark Gibbs, deputy director of aviation. "A lot of people in the community wonder what's going on at the airport. This is an opportunity for us to show what's happening." Ryan Hagen/San Bernardino Sun

Summer airlift to Hawaii up 7% -- Hawaii airports could be busy this summer as the number of scheduled nonstop air seats to the Islands is expected to rise 7.1 percent year-over-year to 3.19 million for June through August, according to data from the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Domestic airlift is project to rise 8.4 percent to 2.29 million scheduled nonstop air seats, while international air seats will increase 3.9 percent to 899,166 air seats. Jason Ubay/Pacific Business News

Dallas Love Field traffic jumps 56 percent in April -- There's a good reason you can't find a parking space some days at Dallas Love Field. The Dallas airport continues to enjoy the post Wright Amendment boom, with April traffic up 55.9 percent from April 2014. Southwest Airlines, which controls 18 of Love Field's 20 gates, carried 1,065,647 passengers on and off airplanes in April, up 48.3 percent. Put another way, it controls 90 percent of the gates and carried 91.6 percent of the airport's traffic. Terry Maxon/Dallas Morning News

Denver airport announces opening day for new hotel -- With a hotel room mock-up and a countdown clock as attention-getting props, on Monday, Denver's mayor and officials from Denver International Airport and the Westin announced that the official opening day for the 14-story Westin Denver International Airport hotel will be Nov. 19, 2015. "Adding a state-of-the-art hotel and conference center to our international airport places our region front and center as a leader in travel, transportation and tourism," said Denver mayor Michael B. Hancock during the announcement ceremony. Harriet Baskas/USA Today

Three firms vie for Hartsfield-Jackson hotel project -- Atlanta has narrowed its list of developers that would build a new hotel at Hartsfield-Jackson - the centerpiece of what city officials call an "Airport City." Atlanta-based Regent Partners; a second team including Atlanta-based Carter, Majestic Realty Co. and GPM Investments LLC; and a third firm, Airmall USA Inc., were all named finalists. Douglas Sams & Amy Wenk/Atlanta Business Chronicle

Men like to get to the airport earlier than women -- Airlines might be chronically late, but passengers - especially men - generally arrive two hours before departure. That's the finding of a poll by ground transportation provider Go Airport Express, which offers shuttle service to and from O'Hare and Midway airports. More than 71 percent of its travelers surveyed said they arrive at the airport two hours before their scheduled domestic flights. Men, at 75 percent, said they arrive that early, compared with 69 percent of women. Gregory Karp/Chicago Tribune

Rideshare programs running at Pittsburgh and San Diego airports -- Some wins for rideshare programs at airports this week. Pittsburgh International has joined the list of airports with policies allowing app-dispatched Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) to pick up passengers. On Tuesday, airport officials announced that Uber was the first company to secure a permit under the new policy and that the airport was also in contact with TNCs Lyft and Yellow Z. Harriet Baskas/USA Today

Best YouTube video ad in last 10 years? Turkish Airlines "Kobe Vs Messi: The Selfie Shootout" -- Originally released in December 2013, Turkish Airlines "Kobe Vs. Messi: The Selfie Shoutout" has been voted the favorite YouTube video ad from the last ten years. As part of its 10 year anniversary celebration, YouTube posted 20 finalists for its #10Yearsof YouTubeAds contest, asking viewers to vote on their favorite. The Turkish Airlines video won the most votes, followed by Volkswagen's "The Force," Always "Like A Girl," Volvo Trucks "Epic Split with Jean Claude Van Damme," and Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches." Amy Gesenhues/Marketing Land

Virgin and Delta to open O2 lounge -- Transatlantic partners Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines will open a lounge bar at London's O2 venue this summer. The NY-LON Lounge, which will be aviation-themed, will be able to accommodate up to 400 guests. It will contain a bar and seating area, and a "secret space" for meetings, dining or other small events. The facility will be open seven days a week and will be managed by Levy Restaurants UK. Graham Smith/Business Traveller

American Airlines is downgraded thanks to Southwest's growth in Dallas -- In the latest sign that airline industry shares have hit a rough patch, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch on Wednesday downgraded American Airlines to neutral from buy. "American is the most exposed to capacity concerns that have arisen of late given that it goes head to head with Southwest in Dallas," wrote Merrill Lynch analyst Andrew Didora in a report. Ted Reed/The Street

Airlines launch petition against airport 'tax' -- The group that lobbies for airlines in Washington is launching a petition to convince Congress to oppose a proposal from airports to increase the amount of money that passengers can be charged to help pay for facility improvements.  Airports have been pushing Congress to nearly double the cap on the fee that is added to every plane ticket, which is known as the Passenger Facility Charge, from $4.50 to $8.50. Keith Laing/The Hill

Flight attendant who denied soda can to Muslim will no longer serve United customers -- The flight attendant who refused to give a Muslim an unopened can of soda because she said it could be used "as a weapon" will receive additional sensitivity training before returning to her position, but will not serve United Airlines customers in the future, her employer said. The dispute arose Friday after Tahera Ahmad, a Muslim American chaplain at Northwestern University, claimed she was told she couldn't have the unopened can of Diet Coke she requested because passengers "may use it as a weapon" on the plane. Christine Mai-Duc/Los Angeles Times

Fare sale jams Southwest Airlines website -- On Tuesday, Southwest Airlines launched a three-day fare sale with tickets as low as $49 one way. On Wednesday, the high number of shoppers apparently overwhelmed the Southwest.com website. Visitors got the message shown above, with this little note at the bottom: "SYSTEM ALERT: Low fares are popular! Our sale is causing high demand right now so you may experience difficulty on Southwest.com. We're working to fix the issue so please try back again soon!" Terry Maxon/Dallas Morning News

Alaska Air trading gains lead investor to start an airlines ETF -- Let's just say upfront that the airline exchange-traded fund business doesn't seem like the world's greatest business. Guggenheim Partners acquired an airline ETF in 2010 and shut it down in 2013. Direxion Shares started one in 2010 and shut it down in 2011. Neither lured many investors -- the Guggenheim fund shut down with assets of $21 million. On April 30, San Antonio-based US Global Investors started its Global Jets ETF. This was just in time for the May collapse of U.S. airline shares. Ted Reed/The Street

GOP chairman: TSA nominee vote could happen this week -- The chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee said Wednesday that President Obama's nominee to take over the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would likely be approved "as early as this week." Democrats have pushed for the confirmation of Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger since an embarrassing report earlier this week that found TSA agents failed to find fake explosives and weapons in internal tests at almost all of America's busiest airports. Keith Laing/The Hill

FAA to name adviser to handle 'crush' of industry drone queries --The Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that it would place a higher priority on integrating drones into the national air space by appointing a senior adviser to coordinate relations with industry and other outside stakeholders. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the new position would deal with "an absolute crush" of outside interest from the private sector and allow regulators within the agency's Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) integration office to concentrate on crafting new regulations for commercial drone use. David Morgan/Reuters

Business group that backed L.A. mayor's minimum wage plan 'not so happy' now -- As the Los Angeles City Council prepares for a final vote Wednesday to raise the minimum wage, leaders of the most prominent business group to back a citywide pay boost have privately expressed concerns about changes made to the proposal since Mayor Eric Garcetti first sought their support. The Los Angeles Business Council, a Century City-based coalition of firms that has supported liberal causes such as affordable housing and clean-energy projects, endorsed Garcetti's plan to increase the minimum wage to $13.25 by 2017. Peter Jamsion/Los Angeles Times

Ex-L.A. council candidate fined for fraudulent bid for matching funds -- A former Los Angeles City Council candidate has agreed to pay a $91,548 fine for fraudulently seeking matching funds from the city by claiming qualifying donations from bogus contributors, including at least five who were dead. Robert L. Cole Jr., who lost the March primary to succeed termed-out Councilman Bernard C. Parks, had sought $61,000 in city funds but did not receive the money because city Ethics Commission staffers suspected fraud and launched an investigation. Jean Merl/Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles City Council approves landmark minimum wage increase -- A landmark ordinance boosting the minimum wage in Los Angeles won approval Wednesday from the City Council despite a variety of unresolved issues about how the law would work. The law, which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, affects hundreds of thousands of workers and makes Los Angeles the largest city in the country to mandate higher pay for workers at the bottom of the income ladder. Emily Alpert Reyes & David Zahniser/Los Angeles Times