Airports

Council postpones decision on aviation leases at SMO -- SMO non-aviation tenants and miscellaneous airport users have been granted new leases at the Santa Monica Airport, but the council postponed action on aviation leases pending additional information from city staff. At the July 14 council meeting, staff recommended three-year leases for non-aviation tenants and month-to-month leases for aviation tenants/miscellaneous uses. Matthew Hall/Santa Monica Daily Press

Facebook finds couple who lost wedding album at LAX -- The Los Angeles International Airport Police Department's social media plan to reunite a lost wedding album with its happy couple worked. And it took only about six hours. Airport police officers posted a photo of the couple and their album on their Facebook page and Twitter account Friday morning following a year of efforts to find its owners. Larry Altman/Torrance Daily Breeze

American Airlines plane searched at MIA after bomb threat -- An American Airlines plane that arrived in Miami from Los Angeles was searched by K-9 units Monday morning after a bomb threat. A Miami-Dade police representative said a computerized threat stated that a "passenger was on the plane with a bomb strapped to them." The passengers were searched one-by-one by authorities as they exited the plane. Police said a K-9 unit then searched the plane for any explosives. Amanda Batchelor/local10.com 

Sample the good life at airport lounges without paying huge fees -- Once, airlines' airport lounges were the province of the elite traveler. Hoi polloi had no access. That's no longer true. If you carry a branded airline credit card, you sometimes will get a free pass, but there are other ways to sample the good life without paying huge fees for access or having to carry a premium credit card. Big airlines have operated their own lounge networks since American opened the first Admirals Club in 1939, but independent lounges are a relatively new development in the United States. Ed Perkins/Los Angeles Times

New images released of SLC International Airport redesign -- Construction is moving ahead on the new terminal at Salt Lake City International Airport. Since it began last year, crews have been preparing to build a massive new facility. Most recently, construction has begun on a rental car facility. Bianca Shreeve, a spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City Department of Airports, said the rental car facility alone is "about the size of a Super Wal-Mart." The airport's Terminal Redevelopment Project will look different from the existing terminal when it's completed by 2020. Ben Winslow/Fox13 Salt Lake City

Aviation enthusiasts flock to Oshkosh for AirVenture air show -- Oshkosh's Wittman Regional Airport once again became the world's busiest airport this weekend as tens of thousands of people flocked in for the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture 2015. "Welcome to Oshkosh, and have a great day," was the familiar greeting from the control tower as hundreds of aircraft from around the globe touched down Sunday on the EAA grounds. For many, the experience is a long-standing tradition. Nathaniel Shuda/The Oshkosh Northwestern

Airlines

American Airlines: We're ready to start scheduled flights to Cuba -- American Airlines, which has long operated charter flights between the United States and Cuba, said Monday it is "ready" to begin scheduled service. Although scheduled flights aren't permitted yet, several airlines offer charters, including American. For example, American, its American Eagle partner Envoy Air, Sun Country Airlines and Swift Air all offer charters between Miami and Havana. On Saturday, JetBlue Airways flew charters from New York and Tampa to Havana.

Terry Maxon/Dallas Morning News

JetBlue airline gives Anacostia in Washington D.C. vending machines containing 100,000 books to 'tackle literacy problem' -- An airline is aiming to close the literacy gap in a low-income town by launching a pilot programme which sees vending machines give out thousands of free books to underprivileged children. JetBlue airline has teamed-up with publishing company Random House to place three of the machines around the low-literacy neighbourhood of Anacostia in Washington, D.C. which, according to city school data, sees less than 25 per cent of its middle schools able to ready at grade level. Aftab Ali/The Independent

The U.S. government operates a secretive airline out of a commercial airport - in plain sight -- The fleet may fly to some of the most secretive sites on Earth, but it's operated in plain sight at a commercial airport in the U.S. Dubbed Janet Airlines (the prefix pilots use to identify over air traffic radio), the fleet of aircrafts is owned by the U.S. Air Force and flies out of a private terminal at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, Business Insider reported in a new video published Monday. The six Boeing 737-600s are known for their bold red horizontal stripe and are operated by a defense contractor. Oliver Darcy/The Blaze
Highway Travel

California I-10 bridge collapse will impact Arizona travel -- All traffic along a major freeway connecting California and Arizona was blocked indefinitely when a bridge over a desert wash collapsed during heavy rain, and the roadway in the opposite direction suffered severe damage, authorities said. The collapse on Interstate 10 in southeastern California Sunday afternoon left one driver injured, stranded numerous motorists and complicated travel for countless thousands for what officials warned could be a long time. AP

McConnell and Boxer near transportation deal -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday he hopes to announce soon that he and Sen. Barbara Boxer of California have reached an agreement on a transportation bill. "Sen. Boxer and I have been in negotiations all weekend and I spoke with her yesterday, and we're hoping to be able to announce tomorrow a major bipartisan multiyear highway bill," McConnell said, speaking to reporters in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. "There's a good chance that by tomorrow, you will have a McConnell-Boxer multiyear highway bill on the floor of the Senate." Joan Lowy/AP

Transportation Network Companies

Uber and Lyft prepare to enter DFW Airport, Yellow Cab's last stronghold --  While illicit workarounds exist - Uber users have been known to change their location on the app from DFW airport proper, where it won't let them hail a ride, to one of the offsite park-and-ride lots, where it will, then telling the driver to meet them at the terminal - the rules have made things difficult. That's set to change on August 1 when DFW rolls out new regulations that will allow ride-sharing apps to compete for airport passengers. Dallas Observer

Glen Ellyn Uber driver accused of Facebook threats to shoot Emanuel, others -- An Uber driver from Glen Ellyn was ordered detained Monday on federal charges stemming from a series of Facebook rants allegedly threatening to shoot Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and others who had angered him. Mohammad Waqas Khan, 29, was arrested May 14 after law enforcement officials had tailed him all night as he dropped off and picked up passengers in his 1995 Toyota Corolla, according to a federal criminal complaint. Jason Meisner/Chicago Tribune

Airplanes
Soaring bird population prompts FAA to consider plane standards -- U.S. regulators are considering whether airplanes need to be built to better withstand collisions with birds because of an increase in the population of Canada geese, pelicans and other species. The Federal Aviation Administration is asking airlines, manufacturers and the public whether costly new protections are needed amid the "significant population increases" from the types of birds that can damage a plane's structure. The agency hasn't proposed any specific changes so far. Alan Levin/Bloomberg
Aviation Data & Analysis

US Airlines Employment Up 2.7% YOY in May
Courtesy Oliver Wyman PlaneStats
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