FAA: Proposed SMO departures will follow existing flight tracks -- The Federal Aviation Association says it's not planning to return to Santa Monica Airport departure routes that were controversial in 2010. The FAA's draft environmental assessment of its Southern California Metroplex, a regional air transportation plan, was released Wednesday. From December of 2009 to June of the following year, the FAA ran test patterns that routed aircraft over Ocean Park, rather than straight to the ocean - a test that drew thousands for complaints. David Mark Simpson/Santa Monica Daily Press

12 passengers fall ill on flight from Fiji to LAX after staying in same hotel -- One person who was ill aboard a Fiji Airways flight that arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday was taken to a hospital, officials said. Medical personnel evaluated 12 people complaining of nausea and vomiting, and one asked to be taken to a hospital, said Margaret Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The condition of the person who was hospitalized was unknown Monday afternoon, she said. Veronica Rocha & Hailey Branson-Potts/Los Angeles Times

Kennedy Airport, amid runway project, prepares for wind delays of summer -- In mid-March, travelers trying to fly out of Kennedy International Airport got a bitter taste of the misery that can prevail when a major hub finds itself with only one working runway. The start of a yearlong rebuilding effort on one of the airport's four main runways left passengers stewing aboard planes that waited up to two hours to take off. That sort of predicament is exactly what officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - which operates J.F.K. - will be trying to avoid for the next three months. Patrick McGeehan/New York Times

MSP airport board approves $10-an-hour minimum wage -- Many workers who clean planes and push wheelchairs at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will be getting a big raise this summer. The airport's governing board voted 11-4 Monday to raise the minimum wage for airport employees to $10 an hour starting Aug. 1. They were already in line for a $1-per-hour increase when the state's minimum wage goes to $9 that day but now will get a $2-per-hour hike. David Montgomery/Pioneer Press

Further changes coming to Frontier Airlines -- Frontier Airlines has gone through a year of major changes - and it's not done yet. With the Denver company's increasing outsourcing of employees and growing list of ancillary fees finally reaching a settling point - and providing it the expense and revenue infrastructure it needs to compete as an ultra-low-cost carrier - it is making a big investment in new planes and upping the number of passengers it can fit onto each one of them. Ed Sealover/Denver Business Journal

American Airlines to defer delivery of Airbus A320neo aircraft -- American Airlines disclosed Monday that it is pushing delivery of 35 of its planned Airbus A320 neo airplanes back at least four years. With the change, American won't receive any of the new generation A320neos until 2019 rather than 2017. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, American said it and Airbus agreed to the amendment Thursday. The original deal from July 2011 had American receiving 10 of the airplanes in 2017 and 25 in 2018. Terry Maxon/Dallas Morning News

Stewardesses sore over El Al heel order -- Flight attendants on national carrier EL AL Israel Airlines were left hopping mad on Sunday after receiving new instructions that they must wear high heel shoes until all passengers have boarded each flight. Some 200 air hostesses signed a petition against the decision, which was made late last week and sent out to air crew in a weekly email. "It is unbelievable how much an employer can be disconnected from his workers," the Hebrew-language Ynet news site quoted one anonymous flight attendant as saying. Stuart Winder/The Times of Israel

Showdown coming between airlines and Expedia, Priceline -- Over the years, airlines have tried everything to force consumers to book directly with their own websites rather than through online travel agencies and fare aggregators such as Expedia, Priceline and Kayak. They do this, quite simply, to avoid paying fees associated with listing and selling their fares through online and "bricks-and-mortar" travel agencies, and it also helps them sell products and services such as extra-legroom seats, credit cards, frequent flierprograms, and so on, that cannot be peddled elsewhere. George Hobica/Airfarewatchdog.com

Airlines middlemen face more than Lufthansa's headwind -- Flight reservations' middlemen may find that their price is no longer available. Lufthansa is the latest airline to take aim at the computerized networks called global distribution systems (GDS) that many carriers rely on to fill seats. Airlines pay a fee, which is divided between the GDS and the booking agent, such as Expedia. Gross margins for GDS companies like Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport are typically twice that of the airlines they serve. Thao Hua/Wall Street Journal

EasyJet Chief Carolyn McCall leads airline through turnaround -- Early in a May conference call with journalists to discuss easyJet's first-half results, Carolyn McCall, the low-cost airline's chief executive, seemed puzzled to find herself being grilled about toilets. Was it the case, several reporters were keen to know, that a planned shift of easyJet's lavatories toward the tail section would make the ceilings too low for some male passengers to, you know, stand up? Nicola Clark/New York Times

S&P upgrades credit ratings for American Airlines, United Airlines -- Their ratings still aren't considered investment grade, but American Airlines Group and United Continental Holdings both received upgrades Friday in their credit ratings from Standard & Poor's Rating Services. Both companies and their subsidiaries were boosted from B+ to BB-. They've got to pass through BB and BB+ before they would reach BBB-, the bottom rung of investment grade. Terry Maxon/Dallas Morning News

House chairman: air-traffic control should become private, outside FAA -- The air-traffic control system should be removed from the Federal Aviation Administration and converted into a private, not-for-profit corporation, a key House chairman said Monday. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., who is chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told the Aero Club of Washington that privatizing air-traffic control with aviation fees would save billions of dollars and provide more stable funding than congressional appropriations. Bart Jansen/USA Today

Qatar Airways CEO tweaks Delta in announcing Boeing 777 order -- Qatar Airways is buying 14 more of Boeing's 777 widebody planes, with the carrier's outspoken CEO launching a barb at U.S. rival Delta in the process. Qatar Airways announced the deal at the Paris Air Show, adding 10 Boeing 777-8X passenger jets and four 777 Freighters to the planes it already has on order. The deal would be valued at $4.8 billion at list prices, though big airlines like Qatar Airways typically receive substantial discounts on such orders. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today

Bombardier shows off new C Series airliners at Paris Air Show -- Canadian jetmaker Bombardier showed off its new C Series aircraft Sunday, just as the Paris Air Show sets to open Monday. Bombardier's effort to put its C Series into the spotlight comes as the company works to win new orders for the program, which has been beset with substantial delays and cost concerns. But the Paris Air Show will give Bombardier a broad stage as it tries to woo buyers. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today

America's No. 1 tourist spot is a place nobody ever wanted to be: Alcatraz -- What is it about an old federal penitentiary that's so appealing to tourists? Alcatraz beat out the Golden Gate Bridge, the Lincoln Memorial and the Statue of Liberty to be selected the No. 1 landmark in the U.S. in TripAdvisor's recent Travelers' Choice awards.  It also ranked as the seventh most popular landmark in the world, between the spectacular cathedral in Milan, Italy (No. 6) and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro (No. 8). Mary Forgione/Los Angeles Times

Metro urges attendees to ride mass transit during Special Olympics -- He didn't wear his Olympic medals, but riders on the Expo line just past USC knew something was up Monday morning when they saw the tall, lanky frame lurch up the aisle trailed by a phalanx of television cameras and guys in dark suits. "Hi, I'm Rafer Johnson," he said to an unsuspecting man sitting with his back to the window and legs stretched out over two seats. David Montero/Los Angeles Daily News

LOGISTICS: Amazon, FedEx arrival spur logistics-ready construction -- Decisions by FedEx and Amazon to build distribution and fulfillment centers reflect an acceleration of the logistics industry in the Inland region. Warehousing and trucking companies seeking lower rent and land prices have come Inland from coastal counties for at least 20 years. The migration slowed when the recession began. Now, e-commerce is changing the mix. Debra Gruszecki/Riverside Press-Enterprise

Ex-DWP worker pleads not guilty to misappropriating more than $4 million -- A former Los Angeles Department of Water and Power audio-visual technician pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of misappropriating more than $4 million in public funds. Prosecutors allege Thatcus "T.C." Richard helped steer numerous small contracts for audio-visual work to companies owned by friends and that in return, those companies subcontracted with a firm Richard owned, paying him more than $1 million. Sarah Parvini/Los Angeles Times

Garcetti attended D.C. fundraiser as L.A. braced for Ezell Ford ruling -- As Los Angeles braced for a closely watched Police Commission ruling on the shooting of a mentally ill black man last week , Mayor Eric Garcetti said he needed to leave town to discuss issues of importance to the poverty- and crime-afflicted communities of South L.A. with officials at the White House. But the mayor had another time-consuming commitment to keep in Washington on the eve of the Police Commission's decision on the killing of Ezell Ford, The Times has learned. Peter Jamison/Los Angeles Times