Three men charged with LA-to-St. Louis drug flight scheme -- An airline clerk and two other men have been charged with a scheme to ship drugs from Los Angeles to the St. Louis area aboard commercial airlines. The U.S. attorney's office says Poe Purcell of Paramount, Chalamar Tuipelehake of Bellflower and Francis Frost of Compton were indicted last week for conspiracy and could face ten years to life in federal prison if convicted. Purcell and Tuipelehake were arrested Wednesday morning in the Los Angeles area. Frost remains at large. AP Robert Patrick/St. Louis Post-Dispatch City News Service FBI Press Release

FAA reviewing proposed NFL stadium in Inglewood -- The Federal Aviation Administration is conducting a routine review of the proposed professional football stadium in Inglewood, as the $1.86-billion project moves forward. Filed last month, the obstruction evaluation will determine whether the structure backed by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke could pose a hazard to air navigation. That's not expected to be a problem. Nathan Fenno/Los Angeles Times Jonathan Alper/NBC Sports

Judge: Ontario can prove L.A. airport managers cost inland city billions -- Ontario will have a chance to prove Los Angeles' mismanagement of L.A./Ontario International Airport has caused anywhere from $1.6 billion to $4 billion in damages to Ontario's economy, a Riverside Superior Court Judge ruled on Wednesday. Judge Gloria Connor Trask denied L.A.'s motion that would have barred Ontario from seeking those damages and present expert testimony on the economic loss to the region, when the city's case seeking local control of the airport goes to trial Aug. 17. Liset Marquez/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Richard K. DeAtley/Riverside Press-Enterprise

JWA exhibit gives fliers insight into the OC Fair -- Polynesian dancers, traveling clowns, baby chicks and Olivia the Orange helped herald Wednesday's opening of a new exhibit at John Wayne Airport that delves into the Orange County Fair's 125 years of history. The photos and information of "Fair Play," which runs through Dec. 2, are within 31 cases throughout the airport's Vi Smith Concourse Gallery. Ray Cammack Shows, which runs the fair carnival, and Capri Show of Fullerton lent objects for the exhibit. Bradley Zint/Daily Pilot

Technology will speed you through the airport of the future -- Like a good ma�tre d', the airport of the future will recognize you, greet you by name and know exactly where to put you. Airports around the world are beginning to move in this direction. At London's Gatwick Airport, beacons identify you by your smartphone and give GPS-like directions to your gate, pointing out food or shopping along the way. In Germany, robots at D�sseldorf's airport park your car and return it curbside after you land, linking your itinerary to your license plate. Scott McCartney/Wall Street Journal

Austin airport to launch new German nonstop next year -- Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has scored yet another international nonstop with new, seasonal service to Frankfurt, Germany beginning next year. Condor Airlines, which has operated in Germany since the 1950s, said Wednesday it will launch direct service to Frankfurt starting June 17, 2016. At this time, the service is slated to run seasonally until Sept. 1. The service to Frankfurt International Airport will be offered twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, officials said. Claudia Grisales/Statesman

Spirit Airlines computer glitch hits O'Hare travelers -- Spirit Airlines is allowing Wednesday travelers in and out of O'Hare Airport to reschedule their flights free of charge, after the airline was affected by a computer outage. The airline issued a travel advisory for O'Hare travelers on Wednesday saying that a computer outage was interfering with their normal operations, causing it to cancel 16 flights in and out of O'Hare. Travelers, the company said, could reschedule flights without charge until July 22. Corilyn Shropshire/Chicago Tribune

More than a million people are getting free flights-and they hate it -- At the end of her Caribbean honeymoon, Sara Nelson planned a two-day jaunt-all the way to London. But the flight attendant and her husband ended up in Paris, opting for sightseeing instead of theater. It's just part of the surprising life as a "non-revenue" traveler, a little-noticed tribe of more than a million current U.S. airline employees, retirees, and their loved ones who get access to free flights all over the world. Justin Bachman/Bloomberg Business

Why JetBlue is about to get even better -- Don't want to miss a baseball game while you're traveling? If you're flying JetBlue, now you don't have to. The airline that pioneered live television at 35,000 feet is innovating again. JetBlue recently completed a first-of-its-kind deal with Major League Baseball that allows passengers to stream every game for the rest of the season for free, as long as they bring their own laptop, phone, or tablet. Now, JetBlue is turning its attention to other sports leagues. Brian Sumers/Conde Nast Traveler

Climate change costing airlines millions of dollars in extra fuel and flying time -- Global warming may already be taking its toll of air miles. As jet planes burn fuel and release carbon dioxide, the atmosphere warms and causes head winds to build up. Tail winds do too, but round trip journey times are nevertheless creeping up -- and so are fuel costs. A team of US scientists say the cumulative effect of the longer flight times that they think may have resulted from climate variation would have added millions of dollars to airlines' costs, and perhaps a billion gallons of extra fuel. Tim Radford/The Guardian

Delta seeks role in Japanese airline's turnaround -- Delta Air Lines Inc. offered to support Japan's financially troubled Skymark Airlines Inc., a proposal that would give the U.S. carrier a stake in the domestic Japanese market. Skymark, Japan's No. 3 airline by passengers flown, has been searching for a path to rehabilitation since filing for bankruptcy protection in January. Management has proposed giving a leading role to ANA Holdings Inc., which along with Japan Airlines Co. dominates domestic air travel. Megumi Fujikawa/Wall Street Journal

Airline workers ask for federal probe of alleged racism, safety violations -- Eighty airline workers in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., have asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate American Airlines and US Airways, saying bosses routinely use racial slurs, deny minority workers perks and training, delay or botch maintenance and repairs, keep dangerously faulty equipment in use and retaliate against complainers. Dana Difilippo/Daily News

Airlines fly afoul of U.S. antitrust boss who fought mergers -- A decade of mergers has led to four major U.S. airlines and a problem for the government that blessed those deals: how to rein in behavior that may amount to collusion. Bill Baer, the head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, tried to fix the last of those mergers two years ago by requiring terms aimed at fueling competition by low-fare carriers. David McLaughlin/Bloomberg Business

Spirit touts ultra-low cost model in new publicity campaign -- Nothing comes for free. That's the message from Spirit Airlines, which on Wednesday unveiled a publicity campaign aimed at winning support for its "ultra low cost" business model. Spirit, of course, is known for its no-frills service in which it offers discount fares but charges extra for nearly everything else. The airline even charges for carry-on bags that need to be stored in overhead bins. But Spirit says airlines that don't do that end up passing on unnecessary costs to passengers. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today

Uber should be suspended in California and fined $7.3 million, judge says -- The ride-hailing giant Uber should be fined $7.3 million and suspended from operating in California because its parent company did not comply with state laws, a state administrative judge said Wednesday. Uber has refused to provide data on operational data that is required under the 2013 law that legalized ride-hailing firms, the California Public Utilities Commission judge said in a decision issued Wednesday afternoon. Laura J. Nelson & Paresh Dave/Los Angeles Times 

Uber could have to pay an additional $209 million to reclassify its drivers in California -- Uber says many of its drivers prefer being contract workers to full-fledged employees, a blunt response to a raging debate among on-demand startups. Of course, that answer suits Uber very well, since its business is founded on that very idea - to say nothing of its purported $40 billion value. And that's why it's currently fighting a lawsuit that would otherwise force it to reclassify its California drivers as employees. Carmel DeAmicis/Re/code 

Employee or contractor? Labor Department seeks to clarify rules -- When are workers employees? When are they contractors? The Labor Department issued new guidance Wednesday intended to help companies answer that increasingly fraught question. The issue has taken on greater urgency with the growth of sharing-economy firms such as Uber and TaskRabbit, which increasingly rely on independent workers, often for short-term projects.  AP

Former Uber driver linked to series of assaults in Boston -- An ex-Uber driver, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Massachusetts late last year, has been linked to a series of previously-unsolved sexual assaults in Boston, authorities said. Alejandro Done, a 46-year-old Boston man, was charged Tuesday in connection with a series of five sexual assaults that occurred in Boston between 2006 and 2010, according to a press release from the office of a Boston county District Attorney, Daniel F. Conley. Trisha Thadani/USA Today

Boeing's new 747 Jumbo risks dangerous vibration, FAA says -- Boeing Co.'s newest 747 jumbo jetliner faces a risk of dangerous vibrations, known as "flutter," in limited situations, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Data analysis shows that "divergent flutter," oscillations of a wing that could cause it to break up, may occur on the 747-8 during a "high g-load maneuver in combination with certain system failures," the FAA said Wednesday. G-loading refers to the stresses on a plane that can increase during acceleration and turns. Julie Johnsson/Bloomberg Business

White House announces executive actions to speed visas -- The White House is rolling out changes to the nation's visa system, including a provision easing the way for family members of aging Filipino veterans to visit the U.S. The moves, part of President Obama's executive actions on immigration, are designed to "modernize and streamline" the legal immigration process, White House officials said Wednesday. Kate Linthicum/Los Angeles Times

LA's Garcetti says $15 minimum wage will lift 600,000 out of poverty -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday that his city's recent decision to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next five years will lift 600,000 L.A.-area wage earners out of poverty. "In my city, where one out of four people live in poverty, we have a shot at putting that money back on Main Street," Garcetti said at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Mallory Hughes/MarketWatch

Mayor Eric Garcetti: Immigration reform WILL happen -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says Americans a decade from now will be shocked and embarrassed over how hotly contested immigration reform has become. During a speech at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday, Garcetti likened attitudes on immigration to what has taken place with gay marriage. He said politicians from both parties treated same-sex marriage as taboo a decade ago. Kevin Freking/AP

Connie Llanos, former Los Angeles Daily News reporter, is Mayor Eric Garcetti's new press secretary -- Mayor Eric Garcetti today named Connie Llanos, a City Council spokeswoman and former journalist, as his press secretary. Llanos, who starts her new job on July 22, is currently a communications director and strategic adviser for South Los Angeles area Councilman Curren D. Price Jr. She has also advised on political campaigns and previously worked for Councilman Felipe Fuentes and then-Councilman Tony Cardenas. City News Service

Water use in LA falls 13 percent in last year, more than half-way towards LA mayor's 2017 goal -- Water use in Los Angeles fell 13 percent over the last 12 months, putting the city more than half-way toward Mayor Eric Garcetti's call for a 20 percent reduction by 2017, according to figures released Wednesday. Garcetti, who is in Washington, D.C., this week, is calling for a 20 percent reduction of water use by 2017. According to the mayor's office, daily per capita water use during the 12 months ending June 30 was 113 gallons per day, down 13 percent from 131 gallons per capita during the same period the previous year. NBC4