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Critics say Delta Air Lines is shaming passengers to spend more -- Upselling has become a major strategy for the airline industry. Carriers grab your attention with a low fare but then try to sell you a roomier seat, early boarding privileges or a refundable ticket, among other extras. A passenger rights group says Delta Air Lines has pushed the tactic to new levels by shaming travelers into buying expensive upgrades. When you choose a basic economy fare on Delta's website, the final page before you confirm the purchase now lists several restrictions you face if you buy the cheap ticket. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Delta claims jobs threatened by Persian Gulf carrier expansion in U.S. -- Delta Air Lines, one of the state's largest employers, claims that foreign government subsidies of airlines headquartered 7,000 miles away threaten the jobs of some of its 10,000 workers in Minnesota. So Delta, United and American - known as the "Big 3" among U.S. airlines - have taken a very unusual step. Along with the unions representing their workers, they want the U.S. government to ask carriers from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to stop offering new international flights from U.S. airports while the State Department investigates their government subsidies. Jim Spencer/Star Tribune
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Hawaiian Airlines and JetBlue combine to oppose the Big 3's Gulf campaign and challenge closed JVs -- The civil war erupts. The rift between the large three global US network airlines and medium sized airlines operating in the country is growing. Airlines housed in those two sectors are on opposite sides of the Gulf "subsidy" campaign waged by American, Delta and United. This is reflected in the recent partnering of JetBlue and Hawaiian Airlines, along with other airlines, to create the US Airlines for Open Skies Coalition to promote benefits of the open skies agreements the US holds with over 100 countries. CAPA
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Sun Country Airlines taps Hallmark division exec as new CEO -- Sun Country Airlines on Friday named Zarir Erani as its president and CEO effective next month. Erani, currently chief information officer for Hallmark Business Connections, has no airline experience, but was described by Sun Country Chairman Marty Davis as possessing strong organizational and management skills. Erani, who lives in the Twin Cities, replaces John Fredericksen, who will step down as president and CEO at the end of August. David Phelps/Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Spirit to fly against Southwest on Las Vegas-New Orleans route -- Spirit Airlines will add nonstop service between Las Vegas and New Orleans. The carrier will begin flying one daily round-trip flight starting Nov. 13. The new route will boost Spirit's presence in New Orleans to six nonstop destinations. Spirit's other nonstop routes from New Orleans are Chicago O'Hare, Fort Lauderdale, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Dallas/Fort Worth and Detroit. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
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Latest Air New Zealand video: Rugby stars try 'Men in Black' schtick -- Rugby collides with Hollywoord for the theme of the latest safety video for Air New Zealand, which has earned a reputation in recent years for its creative spin on the mandated safety demonstrations. The newest video features the All Blacks - New Zealand's world power national rugby team. The All Blacks team up with other international rugby stars for a video inspired by the "Men in Black" movie franchise that rose to fame with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
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Bad weather hampers efforts to reach Indonesia plane -- A search plane Monday spotted the wreckage of an airliner that vanished Sunday in a remote, mountainous region of Indonesia with 54 people aboard, but poor weather conditions and rugged terrain were delaying attempts by rescuers to reach the debris. On Monday, it emerged that the plane was carrying nearly half a million dollars in government aid for poor families to help offset a spike in fuel prices, a local postal said. Jane Onyanga-Omara & John Bacon/USA Today
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Airports up ante with hotels, plus trimmings -- Like spas, chef-branded restaurants, cushy cocktail bars and upscale shops, on-site hotels are becoming a must-have amenity at airports, both domestic and international. Most of all, not just any type of hotel will do. Bad weather and mechanical problems often leave travelers stranded at the airport, using their luggage and jackets as makeshift sleep accommodations. However, those days may be coming to a close amid a wave of travel hubs installing lodgings with top-of-the-line accommodations. Harriet Baskas/CNBC
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CASSIE MACDUFF: For ONT, I have a little list -- Now that Ontario International is returning to local control, here's a wish list for the Inland Empire's airport: * Bring back JetBlue. As a startup in 2000, JetBlue launched its Southern California service at ONT with a nightly redeye flight to New York's JFK. Sadly, it chose Long Beach for its SoCal hub and dropped flights at ONT altogether in 2008. Bringing back JetBlue's nonstop flights to the Big Apple would return passengers who now pick other airports to avoid having one or two stops and maybe even a change of planes (shudder!). Cassie MacDuff/Riverside Press-Enterprise
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Record number of travelers strain Seattle Airport -- Four million passengers passed through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in June, breaking a monthly record set in 2014 but straining services and creating long lines at security checkpoints. Passenger traffic is up 13 percent so far this year, airport spokesman Perry Cooper said. The crowds could grow. Preliminary numbers show July will likely top June, and August is always a busy month of the year. The Official Airline Guide, which collects data for the global airline industry, lists Sea-Tac as one of the fastest-growing among the top 20 airports in the U.S. Martha Bellisle/AP
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| Transportation Network Companies |
Picking up pace on ridesharing -- In the next few weeks, my colleagues on the City Council are going to have an important decision to make in a fierce and pitched battle over business at Los Angeles International Airport between taxi companies and app-based rideshare companies. If my colleagues simply listen to what passengers want, the decision will be easy - embrace the future, affirm the policy of the Board of Airport Commissioners, and let rideshare companies such as Lyft and Uber pick up passengers at the airport. Mike Bonin/Los Angeles Business Journal
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Taxis losing fare fight -- I totally get how taxi companies and taxi drivers despise Uber, Lyft and the other ridesharing companies. I understand their outrage. The whole situation just isn't fair. But still, that's not a good enough reason to prevent ridesharing companies from picking up passengers at LAX. Consumers have voted with their pocketbooks. They like ridesharing services. Charles Crumpley/Los Angeles Business Journal
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Ride-share companies snub San Jose airport before program kickoff -- Not a single ride-booking company has registered to operate at Silicon Valley's airport under the city's trial rules taking effect next month, meaning passengers eager for a high-tech alternative to taxis will have to wait. Company officials and drivers say the city's new rules are too costly and burdensome. Ramona Giwargis/San Jose Mercury News
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Uber allowed at Oakland airport after new agreement -- Passengers will now have more transportation options coming and going from the Oakland International Airport, airport officials announced Friday. Transportation network company Uber has made an agreement with the airport authorizing the company's UberX service to legally pick up and drop off passengers as of Thursday, according to airport officials. Bay City News Service
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TSA steps up scrutiny in wake of fake bomb test -- If the security lines at the airport seem to be moving a bit slower, it's because the Transportation Security Administration has increased passenger scrutiny following reports that agents failed to detect fake bombs carried by undercover agents. After news leaked early this summer that 67 of 70 fake bombs got past TSA agents as part of regular security tests, the acting TSA administrator was replaced with Coast Guard Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger, who has called for retraining of all airport security agents by the end of September. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Price for TSA's failed body scanners: $160 million -- It's now becoming clear exactly how many tens of millions of dollars the TSA spent on body scanners that have missed airport security threats, outraged passengers and brought the agency under congressional scrutiny. The $160 million bill includes $120 million for the body scanners now in place in hundreds of airports nationwide, according to newly disclosed figures obtained by POLITICO. The rest of the money went to the agency's "naked" X-ray scanners, which it pulled from airports two years ago amid worries about health risks and the devices' detailed images of travelers' bodies. Jennifer Scholtes/Politico
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FAA, airlines still working to resume normal air traffic after major glitch -- Airline and federal officials continued working to restore normal traffic on the East Coast on Sunday, a day after a routing-system glitch in a Washington, D.C.-area control center caused hundreds of flights to be delayed or canceled. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a written statement that officials were still trying to determine the cause of the outage of an automated routing system at a Leesburg, Va. control center that disrupted the management of 160,000 miles of airspace and forced the delay or cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights. Fredrick Kunkle/Washington Post
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FAA claims aviation firm violated employee testing rules --The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $380,600 civil penalty against Leading Edge Aviation Services of Victorville claiming the firm violated federal drug and alcohol testing regulations for so-called "safety sensitive" job categories, including aircraft and preventive maintenance. The Irvine-based company has 30 days from receipt of the FAA letter to respond, Lynn Lunsford, FAA mid-states public affairs manager, wrote in an email. Gail Wesson/Riverside Press-Enterprise
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FAA reviewing whether Allegiant Air filed safety reports on time -- The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it is reviewing whether Allegiant Air failed to timely file safety reports detailing mechanical difficulties causing two emergency landings at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport this summer. The airline filed the "Service Difficulty Reports" about the June 17 and July 3 emergency landings Tuesday. That came after the Tampa Bay Times repeatedly asked the FAA and Allegiant to either provide the reports or explain why they were missing. William R. Levesque/Tampa Bay Times
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Pilot in fatal plane crash had a long disciplinary history with the FAA -- The pilot of a small plane that crashed earlier this month in Santa Barbara County, killing him and his passenger, had a long history of discipline by the Federal Aviation Administration and lacked the medical clearances required to fly. Government records show that David K. Martz, 58, of San Diego lost his pilot's license three times over the years - the latest revocation occurring in 2009 after he had oral sex with an adult film actress while flying a helicopter. Dan Weikel/Los Angeles Times
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FAA cracks down on hazardous-materials shippers -- As nearly three dozen companies have found out this year, the Federal Aviation Administration seems serious about cracking down on improper shipments of hazardous materials aboard airplanes. Through last week, the FAA had handed out civil penalties totaling more than $4.5 million in 2015, already exceeding the $3.4 million it dispensed in all of 2014. By comparison, it announced no such fines in 2013 and just under $5 million total from 2010 through 2012. Terry Maxon/Dallas Morning News
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First Boeing 727 readied for final flight -- At the Museum of Flights's restoration center at Paine Field, engineers and mechanics are preparing a plane that hasn't flown in nearly 25 years ready for one last flight. They've nearly finished restoring it for its move to the Museum of Flight's main campus at Boeing Field. The plane is Boeing's very first 727, which rolled out of the company's Renton factory in late November of 1962. By the time production ended, more than 1,800 had been built. Glenn Farley/KING-TV 5 Seattle Guy Norris/Aviation Week
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Norton Air Force Base Museum in San Bernardino is worth a visit -- Norton Air Base began its life in 1942 ferrying parts to the war effort in World War II. Its name comes from a hero of that conflict, Leyland Norton, who was a pilot and a San Bernardino native. Today, the Norton Air Force Base Museum, located on the edge of what is now the site of the new San Bernardino International Airport, occupies a small corner of what used to be a huge operation in San Bernardino. Trevor Summons/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
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DWP rate hikes look a lot like tax hikes -- When is a utility rate increase really a local tax increase in disguise? The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is seeking a rate increase of 25 to 30 percent, spread out over five years, in an effort to raise an extra $900 million for power and $230 million for water, a total of $1.13 billion, to fix aging infrastructure and comply with state mandates for renewable energy. But over the last five years the DWP has taken $1.23 billion of the money customers paid for electricity and transferred it to the City of Los Angeles to be spent on the general expenses of city government. Susan Shelley/Los Angeles Daily News
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Silver Lake street serves as test run for L.A. traffic overhaul -- Three years ago, Silver Lake residents were horrified by a traffic collision that claimed the life of a 24-year-old woman celebrating her birthday with her dad. Ashley Sandau had emerged from a restaurant late one night and was crossing Rowena Avenue toward her father, who was waiting on the other side. As he watched, she was struck by a car and killed. In the wake of that tragedy, then-City Councilman Tom LaBonge moved to make the street safer by slowing traffic. David Zahniser & Laura J. Nelson/Los Angeles Times
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L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson: much power, 'murky' on positions -- Nearly every morning before heading to Los Angeles City Hall, Herb Wesson slips into a warm bubble bath in his Wellington Square house. During the half-hour soak, the Los Angeles City Council president's thoughts drift toward ... the city's street vending laws? Council agendas? Campaign fundraising? Actually, he meditates. "I try to think about nothing," Wesson said. "I don't want to say, 'Zen out,' but that's kind of what I try to do. ... Then I'm in a real good mood for the rest of the day." Dakota Smith/Los Angeles Daily News
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If L.A. gets 2024 Olympics, contract could put city on the hook for any debt -- Reading through the Olympic host contract - the document that cities must sign if they want the Games - it might be easy to overlook Basic Principle No. 4. The stipulation, which covers "joint and several obligations," takes up only two paragraphs amid 80 or so pages. But as Los Angeles moves closer to bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics, those few hundred words could become a very big deal. They state that, even though the Games would be organized and paid for by a specialized private committee, the city could be held responsible for any resulting debt. David Wharton/Los Angeles Times
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Follow the money? It's not always so easy -- During a hotly contested race this year to replace Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, three apartment rental companies that listed the same chief executive and same address in state records each contributed the maximum donation allowed to candidate Carolyn Ramsay. Such a cluster of giving can trigger the suspicion of watchdog groups and city investigators, because if the money is coming from the same business owners, it can exceed legal limits on donations from one source. Emily Alpert Reyes/Los Angeles Times
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Ticketed and towed: Owner of minivan hopes his court victory inspires others - J. David Sackman won an unexpected court victory this month against Los Angeles parking officials. The Westside lawyer got a judge to agree that he had been unfairly ticketed for leaving his minivan in the same space on the street for more than 72 hours. Sackman presented a novel argument: that by towing him, city officials had violated a section of the California Vehicle Code, which requires that a sign be posted to warn motorists of parking limits. Previously, city lawyers acknowledged that no signs warning about the limit have been installed anywhere in L.A., which towed 4,539 vehicles last year. Laura J. Nelson & Dan Weikel/Los Angeles Times
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LAPD broke labor laws in requiring some officers to repay training costs, court rules -- Anthony Alvo joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1998 at age 21, fresh out of the Marine Corps, envisioning a long career in the department. But he quickly grew frustrated by a department that he just didn't like. The atmosphere was toxic, he said, the pay wasn't great, and there was more money and better conditions to be had elsewhere. In 2000, after less than two years with the LAPD, he quit to take a higher-paying job with the Chino Police Department. In response, the city of Los Angeles sued him, accusing him of fraud and saying he owed $34,000 for his police training. Hailey Branson-Potts/Los Angeles Times
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