JetBlue-requested customs facility at Long Beach Airport could get study -- A JetBlue request for a federal customs facility at the Long Beach Airport could get off the ground this week. The City Council will be asked Tuesday to provide direction on conducting a feasibility study for the proposal that would allow international travel at the city-owned airport. JetBlue, Long Beach Airport's primary tenant, sent a letter in February to city officials stating it had no interest in modifying the city's noise ordinance and would use its currently assigned slots to fly internationally in addition to its domestic markets. Eric Bradley/Long Beach Press-Telegram Harry Saltzgaver/Gazettes

Palm Springs airport raises parking rates by $1 -- Parking rates at Palm Springs International are increasing for the first time in about 10 years from $12 a day to $13. "This dollar increase in the daily fee will generate funding for the land-side capital improvements on the horizon including the upcoming landscape conversion which removes grass within and around the lot and replacing it with desert landscape," said Thomas Nolan, executive director for Palm Springs International Airport. Skip Descant/Desert Sun

Documents: Bank losing millions on MSP ATMs -- U.S. Bank officials say they are losing millions of dollars operating ATMs at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. According to airport documents, business is so bad that most banks don't want to bid on new ATM contracts. There are 24 ATMs at the airport, according to a memo sent earlier this week to the Metropolitan Airports Commission. By far, U.S. Bank operates the most with 18, but the company says there's been a 16 percent decline in ATM transactions between 2010 and 2015, leading to a loss of more than $2.5 million. Josh Rosenthal/KSTP-TV St. Paul, Minn.

US airline probe would need proof beyond business as usual -- As the Justice Department launches an investigation into possible collusion in the airline industry, experts say the government faces the burden of proving that carriers were deliberately signaling business decisions to each other. Airlines routinely increase flights based on demand. A particularly cold winter in the Northeast, for instance, might merit more flights to the Caribbean. And sometimes, routes are cut because there isn't enough demand. Scott Mayerowitz, Eric Tucker & David Koenig/AP

Airlines' new normal: More seats, fewer flights -- U.S. airlines are expanding at a relatively rapid clip. But that isn't necessarily producing better service for fliers. The disconnect arises from an industry technique known as "upgauging," in which airlines increase capacity by adding seats on existing jets and replacing smaller planes with larger ones. As a result, U.S. airlines are offering 12% more domestic seats this month than two years ago, but 4.4% fewer flights, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of schedule data. Susan Carey & Jack Nicas/Wall Street Journal

Southwest unveils a slew of new routes for its winter schedule -- Southwest Airlines is adding more than a dozen nonstop connections to its U.S. route map. Some are entirely new routes while others mark the resumption of seasonal routes or the return of routes that Southwest had previously discontinued. The additional routes come as Southwest rolled out its winter schedule earlier this week. With the carrier's extended schedule, flights are now bookable through March 8. Southwest's new year-round nonstop routes are: Burbank-San Francisco: three daily round-trip flights. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today

Flight attendants reach tentative agreement with Southwest Airlines -- Southwest Airlines and its flight attendant union announced Thursday evening that they've reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. Terms were not disclosed, although the union described as improving an industry-leading contract. Audrey Stone, president of Transport Workers Union Local 556, told members in a message that the union's executive board voted Thursday afternoon to send the deal out for a vote. Terry Maxon/Dallas Morning News

Frontier Airlines closes in on its ULCC transition, now it is time to prove its staying power -- Frontier Airlines at the mid point of 2015 seems to be closing in on the final stages of its transition to an ultra low-cost airline. It has bolstered its Airbus narrowbody orderbook and detailed plans to densify its fleet as it works to achieve the necessary cost base to brandish the ULCC label. The airline also continues to make tweaks to its network, making an unsurprising move in dropping service from Delaware's New Castle airport, instead building up service at Philadelphia International airport. CAPA

Emirates CEO Tim Clark blasts big 3 U.S. airlines, especially Delta -- since 'Delta is Delta' -- Emirates CEO Tim Clark makes it clear that he finds Delta to be the most problematic of the big three U.S. carriers. Clark doesn't like American or United much either, but he singled out Delta during his talk Tuesday at the National Press Club. Clark noted that Emirates delivers 500,000 passengers to U.S. carriers annually. "We do feed passengers to them (and) maybe $100 million or $150 million a year in incremental revenue," he said. Ted Reed/Forbes

Greek crisis creates airline turbulence -- Europe's airlines are grappling with how to deal with capital constraints in Greece, with the largest Greek airline warning of a decline in bookings since Athens imposed them to prevent the collapse of the country's financial system. "Since the first day of capital controls, international bookings and domestic bookings have dropped significantly," a spokeswoman for Aegean Airlines said. Robert Wall/Wall Street Journal

Malaysia wants a tribunal for Malaysia Airlines crash -- Malaysia told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that it plans to submit a resolution soon that would establish an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine last year. Diplomats said Malaysia's U.N. Ambassador Ramlan Bin Ibrahim informed council members that the resolution is being prepared by the five countries investigating the crash and will be under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which can be enforced militarily. Edith M. Lederer/AP

JetBlue to Cuba, for those with good reasons -- JetBlue said it began direct charter flights between New York and Havana on Friday, the first major American carrier to fly the route after President Obama's decision in December to normalize relations with the island. The airline said Cuba Travel Services was offering the weekly flight on Fridays between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. It did not say how much the trip would cost. Reuters

FAA reauthorization bill delayed -- The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee has delayed plans to release its proposed FAA reauthorization legislation. The committee announced July 1 that they were informed by the House majority leader that consideration of the FAA reauthorization bill will be moved to September. The current FAA authorization expires Sept. 30, and the later reauthorization legislation is introduced in the House and Senate, the more difficult it becomes for the two bodies to reach agreement in advance of the deadline. Elizabeth A. Tennyson/AOPA

Lyft, Uber OK for airport pickups -- After months of negotiations, rideshare companies Lyft and Uber will soon start a pilot program for pickups at San Diego International Airport, giving visitors new, potentially cheaper alternatives in ground transportation. Uber's and Lyft's entry at the airport comes after board members, who convened Wednesday for a special session, passed a motion to remove regulatory roadblocks for the major rideshare companies, also known as transportation network companies (TNCs). Jennifer Van Grove/San Diego Union Tribune

Pilot in solar-powered plane sets aviation record -- A sun-powered airplane has landed in Hawaii after a five-day journey from Japan that smashed the previous record of 76 hours for the longest duration nonstop solo flight. Pilot Andr� Borschberg set the Solar Impulse 2 down on the tarmac at Kalaeloa Airport outside Honolulu after flying for 120 hours from Nagoya, his team reports. As The Two-Way's Bill Chappell wrote last week, the Japan-to-Hawaii leg is the 13th stage of a planned circumnavigation for Solar Impulse. Scott Neuman/NPR

'Airplane!': 25 things you (probably) didn't know about the comedy classic -- Looks like we picked the wrong week to quit celebrating milestones. Hard to believe it's been 35 years since "Airplane!" took flight (on July 2, 1980) and taught us all to speak jive, order the chicken instead of the fish, and avoid calling each other "Shirley." Three and a half decades later, the airline disaster parody remains one of the funniest films ever made, one that generations of viewers have watched over and over -- though probably never as an in-flight movie. Gary Susman/Movie Fone

Garcetti stance on homeless crackdown draws critics from both sides -- Faced this week with a choice between signing or vetoing controversial legislation that would crack down on homeless encampments, Mayor Eric Garcetti charted a complex middle course. Resorting to a peculiarity of Los Angeles' legislative process, he said he would allow the measures to become law without his formal approval. At the same time, he said he would block their enforcement until the City Council softened some of the new rules' harsher provisions. Peter Jamison & Gale Holland/Los Angeles Times