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FAA: Pilot's death a rarity in mid-air, and passengers were not at risk -- The American Airlines pilot who died Monday on a flight was an alarming experience for passengers and crew, but safety experts say passengers were never at risk because first officers are trained to fly airliners alone. Louise Anderson, a passenger heading from Reno to Boston via Phoenix, said she had dozed off on the flight. She said the mood on board was somber and she commended the crew's handling of the situation. Ben Mutzabaugh & Bart Jansen/USA Today
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American Airlines pilot dies in flight: That's why computer-flown airliners are bad idea -- One hundred and forty-seven passengers and four crew members aboard American Airlines Flight 550 learned today just why, in this day of technology so advanced that we're actually testing driverless cars on active highways and flying armed intelligence drones over our adversaries half-a-world away, airlines still operate with two pilots in the cockpit. The captain of American Flight 550 was at the controls of the overnight flight from Phoenix to Boston when he apparently passed out. Dan Reed/Forbes
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American Airlines lands on L.A. Times front page -- American Airlines on Monday placed an enormous advertisement on the front page of the Los Angeles Times, another example of how print media companies have given up more real estate to marketers in recent years. The ad, which hawks American Airlines' service from the Los Angeles airport LAX, begins under the masthead and wraps around the left side of the page, jutting through to the bottom where it instructs readers to look at more ads on pages A8 and A9. Steven Perlberg/Wall Street Journal Sheryl Jean/Dallas Morning News
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Paging Oscar Munoz! United Airlines urgently needs you back at the office -- While United Airlines' newly-anointed CEO Oscar Munoz has been busy making the rounds for the past four weeks chatting it up with customers, employees, and newspaper editorial boards, his list of to-do's back at the office is only getting longer and more urgent. Late last week, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents some 9,000 United mechanics, not-so-lightly slapped Munoz on the wrist as the union said talks on a new tentative between the IBT and United Airlines had "stalled." Lewis Lazare/Chicago Business Journal Related: United's board missed the big picture at 35,000 feet and isn't unique
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Is Emirates targeting U.S. airlines with new Jennifer Aniston ad? -- Relations already are frosty between the three big U.S. airlines and the three big "Gulf carriers" of the Middle East. And a new Emirates ad featuring Jennifer Aniston will likely to do little to improve them. In its first commercial with new pitchwoman Aniston, Emirates appears to take aim at service on the big U.S. airlines as part of a dream portrayed by the Hollywood superstar. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
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What is first class these days? It's complicated -- Sometimes first class means you get a 6-foot-long bed and a large entertainment screen in your personal suite. Sometimes first class means a skinny seat with a slight recline, no entertainment other than jokes from a chatty flight attendant and a snoring seatmate to climb over to get to the bathroom. And sometimes those two extremes are offered on the same route by the same airline for the same price. Scott McCartney/Wall Street Journal
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Air France workers rip shirts from executives after airline cuts 2,900 jobs -- Striking staff at Air France have taken demonstrating their anger with direct action to a shocking new level. Approximately 100 workers forced their way into a meeting of the airline's senior management and ripped the shirts from the backs of the executives. The airline filed a criminal complaint after the employees stormed its headquarters, near Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, in what was condemned as a "scandalous" outbreak of violence. Kim Willsher/The Guardian
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European Commission struggles with new airline fair-competition rules -- Airlines throughout the world have been increasingly worried about the upcoming European Union (EU) Aviation Package, which will outline the EU's future aviation strategy. Now it turns out the European Commission (EC) is pulling back one of its most contentious demands: fair competition clauses. The EC's directorate general for transport and mobility had drafted a review of EU regulation 868/2004 "on protection against subsidization and unfair pricing practices. Cathy Buyck/Aviation Week
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Lawsuit alleges Kansas City airline pilot lost job after misdiagnosis for mental disorder -- A federal lawsuit filed against the Veteran's Administration alleges that a Kansas City airline pilot lost his job after he was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City on behalf of William Royster seeks a $35 million judgment against the U.S. government. Tony Rizzo/Kansas City Star
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U.S. airports lead the world in offering connections -- The U.S. is home to eight of the ten most connected airports in the world, a dominance driven in large part by the wave of consolidation that has swept the airline industry in the past seven years, according to a new report. Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International, the world's busiest airport, is also the most connected, with over 570,000 possible connections available during an eight-hour window in a single day this past August, according to the study by OAG, a global air travel intelligence company. Charisse Jones/USA Today Gregory Karp/Chicago Tribune
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Audit shows some items cost more at Pittsburgh airport's Airmall -- A Jerome Bettis Hall of Fame T-shirt, Pirates lanyard, bag of sunflower seeds, chicken wings, slice of pizza and a bottle of Mountain Dew cost more at Pittsburgh International Airport than elsewhere and violate the Airmall's "street pricing" agreement, according to an audit Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner's office released Monday. Airmall Pittsburgh, which runs the shops, said it has corrected price discrepancies - ranging from a few cents to a few dollars - among the 12 items highlighted in Wagner's report. Aaron Aupperlee/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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Drones banned during S.F.'s Fleet Week, $10K fine for violators -- Due to the popularity of recreational drones, there will be a temporary flight restriction in place prohibiting the use of drones in the skies above San Francisco during Fleet Week beginning Thursday, according to local and federal officials. The "No Drone Zone" was created to ensure the safety of both airshow participants and spectators, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Bay City News Service
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TSA officials to testify before House -- Transportation Security Administration will testify before the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday about "the path forward" for the controversial agency. Officials with the House Homeland Security Committee's Transportation Security committee said they will hold a hearing to "allow members to assess the overall state of the Transportation Security Administration and ask senior officials for their perspectives on how TSA can be reformed and improved, going forward. Keith Laing/The Hill
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Global Jet Capital to buy GE's corporate aircraft portfolio in $2.5 billion deal -- Global Jet Capital said Monday it would buy General Electric Co's $2.5 billion corporate jet unit, expanding a year-old business with a novel twist. It expects more companies and wealthy individuals to rent rather than buy plush planes worth as much as $75 million. The Boca Raton, Fla., financial-services firm is owned by a unit of Blackstone Group LP and three other private-equity firms to finance jets for international buyers. Doug Cameron/Wall Street Journal
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Airline vet Bob McAdoo worked for Crandall and Lorenzo and saw it all -- In 46 years in the airline business, from deregulation to the final stage of consolidation, Bob McAdoo saw it from many sides: as a low-level and mid-level executive at TWA, where he reported to Bob Crandall; as a mid-level executive at Texas International, where he reported to Frank Lorenzo; as a high-level executive at People Express; as founder and CEO of Vanguard, and for the past 11 years as one of the industry's leading investment analysts. McAdoo, who turns 70 on Oct. 27, retired quietly in August, after working since 2009 as an analyst for Imperial Capital in Los Angeles. Ted Reed/The Street
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