Airports

Women's World Cup soccer champs arrive at LAX following victory; rally Tuesday -- The U.S. women's national soccer team returned to Los Angeles Monday following its victory over Japan to claim its third FIFA Women's World Cup, and a celebratory rally is planned Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles. The team arrived around 6:20 p.m. Monday at Los Angeles International Airport. City News Service

Vietnamese girls who fled tour group at LAX found in Westminster -- Two Vietnamese girls who ran away from their tour group at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday have been found in Westminster, officials said Monday. Los Angeles police detectives investigating the case got a lead late Sunday that Ly Camly Vuong, 12, and Linh Huyen Cao, 17, could be in Orange County, said Cmdr. Bill Collins of the Westminster Police Department. Anh Do/Los Angeles Times

Most of the busiest U.S. airports have dedicated chapels -- Travelers often arrive at airports praying that the security lines won't be too long or that they don't end up in a middle seat. But at many of the nation's largest airports, there's a more spiritual setting for offering up prayers - a chapel. In fact, more than half of the nation's busiest airports have dedicated chapels, and many of these facilities offer a variety of worship services for different faith traditions. Among the 12 that don't have space for worship are some of the nation's most important airports, such as Los Angeles International Airport and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Aleksandra Sandstrom/Pew Research Center

Airport police hopeful new director will make public safety a top priority -- The union that represents Airport Police Officers said today that they are hopeful that the new Los Angeles World Airports executive director Deborah Ale Flint will support their campaign for equal work for equal pay and make public safety a top priority at the airport.  Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers' Association which represents the sworn police officers and firefighters of the Los Angeles Airport Police Department assigned to protect and serve Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International Airport and Van Nuys Airport said that they are looking forward to meeting with Flint as she takes the helm at LAWA. LAAPOA/Nixle

Battle for local of control of ONT takes off -- From Sacramento to the Riverside Superior Court House, the battle for local control of L.A./Ontario International Airport is taking off this week. On Wednesday, attorneys for Los Angeles and Ontario will be in court for a motion by Los Angeles to protect certain documents attorneys for the Inland delegation requested during discovery. Liset Marquez/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

2 year later, SFO continues to review deadly Asiana plane crash -- Monday marked the second anniversary of the deadly Asiana Airlines plane crash at San Francisco International Airport. Amid ongoing lawsuits, changes are also in the works to review safety procedures. Three teenagers from China died in the July 2013 crash of flight 214 while more than 180 of the SFO was largely praised for its on-scene response to the plane crash. Scott Budman & Hanna Decker/NBC Bay Area

Frequent flier update: American Express continues Centurion Airport Lounge rollout -- Last year American Express launched a potentially game changing airport concept with the opening of its own privately labelled lounges. The company still offers partner lounge access for some of its premium cardholders with lounges like Delta Sky Clubs and the Priority Pass network, but having its own luxury facilities cuts through all the red tape - and gives those with access a much better lounge experience than almost anything we have domestically, rivalling the flagship clubs of foreign carriers. Larry Olmsted/Forbes

Cost of parking to increase at Tampa International Airport -- You're going to pay more to park at Tampa International Airport starting this fall. The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority on Thursday adopted a rate increase, which will take effect in October. A survey by LeighFisher, an airline consulting agency, compared Tampa's parking fees to 13 other airports around the country. Tampa ranked as one of the lowest priced airports of its size. Justine Griffin/Tampa Bay Times

Airlines

Airlines' 40% failure rate: 850,000 passengers will arrive late today -- And every day -- You likely wouldn't buy a loaf of bread if you knew 17 of its slices were moldy before you ever picked it up off the shelf. Nor would you buy a car that was guaranteed not to start 12 mornings each month. For that matter, you probably wouldn't depend on the bus to get you work if you knew it would get you there significantly (and job-threateningly) late two days each week. Dan Reed/Forbes

Parker: 'There has been no illegal behavior on the part of American Airlines' -- American Airlines chairman and CEO Doug Parker put out a special message to AA employees Saturday to reassure them about a U.S. Department of Justice request for information. "On behalf of your entire leadership team, let me be crystal clear: there has been no illegal behavior on the part of American Airlines," Parker said in the internal Jetwire. "We will comply fully with the demands of the CID and this fact will be proven." [CID: Civil Investigative Demand] Terry Maxon/Dallas Morning News

United Airlines makes historic return to its roots -- As United Airlines brings eastbound commercial air service to Coos County, it is worth noting that it is a homecoming, of sorts, for the major airline that got its start in our Bay Area. On Wednesday, July 1, United began operating a twice-weekly route between North Bend and Denver out of Southwest Oregon Regional Airport. The 70-seat passenger jet, an RJ700, will provide local service for the next four months. Somewhere, Vern C. Gorst is smiling. Tim Novotny/The World

United Airlines invests in firm that converts garbage to fuel -- Fuel costs are one of the biggest expenses for an airline, but United Airlines hopes to get some help controlling those costs by investing in a California company that can make airline fuel out of household garbage. That's right, garbage. And, no, the exhaust of planes using the fuel won't smell like a Dumpster. United last month announced a $30-million investment in Pleasanton-based Fulcrum BioEnergy Inc., a private company that plans to build a biofuel refinery near Reno by 2017. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times

United Airlines flight attendant's race bias case reinstated -- United Airlines Inc. failed to adequately respond to death threats received by a black airline attendant, said an appeals court in overturning a lower court ruling and reinstating her hostile work environment claim. Renee Pryor, who joined Chicago-based United in 1984, discovered a note in her mailbox in the Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, in 2011 claiming to be a hunting license to hunt and kill black people that had a racial epithet and included a hand-drawn image of a person hanging from a pole or tree, according to Wednesday's ruling by the 4th U.S. District Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia in Renee Pryor v. United Air Lines Inc. Judy Greenwald/Business Insurance

With 787s arriving, Air Canada prepares for international expansion -- Few North American carriers have been as aggressive as Air Canada in the past three years. It has created a new low-cost subsidiary, added capacity, modernized its fleet with Boeing 787s and upgraded its mainline onboard product.  But airline executives say they are just getting started in restoring Air Canada as one of the premier carriers in the Americas. Brian Sumers/Aviation Week & Technology

NBA players get roomier chartered jets as Delta Air adds teams -- NBA players already get twice as much legroom as the average airline passenger, and soon they'll be flying in bigger jets under a new charter deal. Delta Air Lines Inc. is poised to start using Boeing 757s under a tentative agreement for National Basketball Association charters, with almost 50 percent more cabin space than the planes now on those flights. The accord also calls for ferrying as many as 27 of the 30 NBA teams, four more than last season. Michael Sasso/Bloomberg Business

Malaysia Airlines MH370: Toddler led wild goose chase in Maldives search for missing plane -- One of the main theories of how the plane with 239 people onboard vanished is that it went down in the sea by a tiny island in the Maldives archipelago. This emerged after reports of a noisy aircraft flying low matching the missing plane's timeline were reported. However this has been ruled out as it can be revealed those initial reports of a plane over Kuda Huvadhoo island, which only has four private cars on it, were made after a three-year-old saw a plane - which was not a Malaysia Airlines aircraft - as he played a game with his father. Alix Culbertson/Express UK 

TSA

New TSA chief vows to make 'necessary changes' after failed bomb tests -- New Transportation Security Administration chief Peter Neffenger promised on Monday to make "necessary changes" to improve the agency after its agents failed to find fake bombs in security tests at almost all of America's busiest airports. "We'll develop the right measures of effectiveness to drive a continuous focus on security," Neffenger said in a speech to TSA workers after being sworn-in on Monday. Keith Laing/The Hill

Ex-Im Bank

Rep. Steve Knight shows change of heart on controversial Export-Import Bank --For months, Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) has appeared on a prominent list of congressmen who opposed the Export-Import Bank. That position won him the admiration of Tea Party groups and other conservatives, who abhor the bank as an example of crony capitalism and have made its destruction their top goal. So it was a big surprise this weekend when Knight was quoted in a Los Angeles Daily News column saying that letting the bank's charter lapse would put "American jobs at risk." Noah Bierman/Los Angeles Times

Aviation Data & Analysis
Reported Operating Cost and Utilization of Commuter Aircraft
Courtesy Oliver Wyman PlaneStats
City Government

L.A. OKs Hollywood skyscrapers despite quake concerns -- The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has signed off on geology reports that found that no active earthquake fault runs under the site of the Millennium Hollywood development, even though the state geologist last year concluded there was one. The move ends a controversial two-year debate over whether two massive skyscrapers could be built safely due to seismic conditions. Rosanna Xia/Los Angeles Times

Subscribe to Eye on L.A. Aviation (1,428 Subscribers)
Follow Eye on L.A. Aviation on Twitter (1,320 Followers)