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Southwest warns fliers to print boarding passes as technical issues delay flights -- Southwest Airlines said hundreds of flights had been delayed by technical issues and warned passengers flying Monday to arrive two hours early and print boarding passes before coming to the airport. The Dallas-based company said it was using back-up systems around the country to check in travelers lacking printed or mobile boarding passes, but technology problems that began Sunday morning were continuing. Southwest said about 450 of the 3,600 flights scheduled for the day had been delayed. AP/Los Angeles Times
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BurbankBus 'NoHo to BoHo' route gains riders -- Ridership on the BurbankBus route between the North Hollywood Metro Station and Bob Hope Airport has increased steadily since June, when the service began running throughout the day rather than only at peak hours. In June, passenger numbers were up 13%, or about 700 riders, compared to June 2014, when the route was operating only during heavy travel periods in the mornings and evenings, with roughly 16 minutes between buses. Chad Garland/Burbank Leader
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United builds a Boeing 787 hub at San Francisco with nine 787 destinations -- United may have its problems but it also has some unique assets -- including the best West Coast hub and the most Boeing 787s of any U.S. carrier -- and it is putting them together. United said Thursday that next year it will add 787 flights from San Francisco to three new destinations --- Auckland, New Zealand; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Xi'an, China. The Xi'an route is the first ever between mainland U.S. and a northwest China city with an area population of 8.5 million. It underscores the success of the SFO-Chengdu route that United opened last year. Ted Reed/TheStreet
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Flying Aviation Expo descends on Palm Springs -- Big props, small jets and everything in between will buzz into Palm Springs this week, for another Flying Aviation Expo, filling hotels and the Palm Springs Convention Center. The event, which begins with a "Parade of Planes" Thursday at 10 a.m., runs through Saturday, and is expected to attract some 5,000 airplane enthusiasts to the valley. Skip Descant/Desert Sun
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Skydivers' bus fire closes Oceanside airport -- Oceanside Municipal Airport was closed for about 40 minutes Saturday when a shuttle bus for skydivers went up in flames near a runway, a fire official said. No injuries were reported and no buildings were threatened. The Tsunami Skydivers shuttle driver told investigators that he started the bus engine once and it died. When he tried to restart it, smoke started pouring out of the engine compartment. He called 911 at 4:27 p.m., Oceanside fire Battalion Chief Pete Lawrence said. Pauline Repard/San Diego Union-Tribune
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Cleveland Hopkins Airport pledges revamped snowplow plan, denies FAA's allegations of runway safety hazards -- If it snowed today, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport would have enough field maintenance workers to keep its runways safe, city officials pledged during an interview Friday. And minimum staffing levels - which, the Federal Aviation Administration says, the airport repeatedly violated during the past two winters -- will be replaced this year by a new plan. Leila Atassi/Cleveland.com
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Scottish Airport uses Star Wars-inspired 'Lightsabers' to prevent bird strike -- Given how bird strikes can cause delay and damage to aircraft, an airport in the United Kingdom has taken a cue from Star Wars and turned to using "lightsabers" as a solution. Scotland's Dundee Airport has put in place the handheld gadget, which harnesses laser technology that has a range of over one mile. The Aerolaser system is viewed as an alternative to pyrotechnic bangers and other conventional bird-scaring techniques, which can effectively drive birds away but can cause noise issues for the surrounding community. Katrina Pascual/Tech Times
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Delta to give strong start to airlines' earnings season -- Delta Air Lines Inc. on Wednesday is slated to kick off the U.S. airline industry's financial-reporting season with strong earnings. But investors may be more focused on other indicators to gauge whether the sector's strong performance can continue in the face of numerous challenges. Delta, the No. 3 U.S. airline by traffic, has said it expects to report record profit for the third quarter, after delivering the same in the June 30 period. Larger rivals American Airlines Group Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc., along with Southwest Airlines Co., also are expected to be highly profitable when they report their results the following week. Susan Carey/Wall Street Journal
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On-time arrival data skewed by airlines to meet own priorities -- On flights from Atlanta to Chicago O'Hare during the first half of this year, American, United, Frontier and Spirit each had average gate-to-gate times of between 127 and 129 minutes. Yet on-time stats for the four airlines were markedly different. That variance points to a flaw in the Department of Transportation system for calculating on-time arrivals. Robert Silk/Travel Weekly
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Airlines warned by EU agency of dangers from Russian missiles -- The European Union's aviation regulator warned airlines of the potential danger of flying over Iran, Iraq and the Caspian Sea after Russia fired cruise missiles against Syrian targets. The European Aviation Safety Agency noted the launches of missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea, though it didn't recommend that airlines avoid flying there, according to a safety bulletin Friday on its website. Andrea Rothman/Bloomberg
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What can United CEO Munoz do to win over employees? -- Of all the problems Oscar Munoz has to deal with as United Continental Holdings' new CEO, none is more urgent than making peace with his 84,000 employees. By his own admission-and he should know, given the years he spent on United's board-workers at the airline are "disengaged, disenchanted, disenfranchised." Micah Maidenberg/Crain's Chicago Business Related: New United chief Munoz ready to 'act'
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How United intends to win you back -- Since United Airlines' CEO Jeff Smisek resigned under a cloud last month, the new CEO has been working overtime trying to improve relationships with employees and customers. Oscar Munoz has canvassed staff; he's pledged to "do better" in a video and full page ads, and launched a website to solicit customer feedback. On Friday, United Airlines' vice chairman Jim Compton came to the N.Y. Society of American Business Editors and Writers and made the company's case to reporters. Pamela Kruger/Fortune
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JetBlue CEO sides with Middle East airlines in subsidy dispute -- JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said that subsidy complaints by the three largest U.S. airlines against three rivals in the Middle East are unjustified, and an attempt to prevent more competition on lucrative European routes. "If you pore through the legacy carriers' filings with a critical eye, it's clear many of their arguments against the Gulf carriers just don't pass the straight-face test," Hayes told a luncheon of the International Aviation Club. "What is indisputable is that the legacy carriers have failed to prove that they've suffered any harm." Bart Jansen/USA Today
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Jennifer Aniston helps poke fun at U.S. airlines -- Jennifer Aniston, the adorable, girl-next-door actress, is helping Emirates Airline take shots at its U.S.-based competitors. The former "Friends" star is featured in a new Emirates commercial that shows her experiencing the nightmare of wandering through what looks like a typical U.S. airline cabin in a bathrobe, looking for a shower and a bar. When she asks the flight attendants for directions to the shower, they laugh and offer her a hot towel and peanuts. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Southwest Airlines zings competitors' fees in new ads -- Southwest Airlines, which has touted its lack of extra charges since the airline fee frenzy began seven years ago, is taking the gloves off in its latest advertising campaign. The Dallas-based carrier on Thursday unveiled new Fees Don't Fly commercials and online videos that target its competitors' many fees for everything from boarding passes to seat assignments. Dawn Gilbertson/Arizona Republic
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Lower fuel prices are starting to push airfares down -- Good news for airlines passengers: Carriers are finally passing on some of the savings from dramatically lower fuel prices toward fare reduction. And the low fares may continue until the end of the year. The average domestic airfare for September was 18% lower than during the same time last year, and 9% lower than in August, according to a study by the travel site Hopper.com based on tickets sold in those months. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Allegiant flight catches fire in Las Vegas, no one injured -- A plane caught fire during takeoff at McCarran International Airport on Sunday afternoon. A McCarran spokeswoman identified the plane as Allegiant Air flight 516 to Fresno, Calif. The plane was on the ground when it caught fire. A Clark County Fire Department crew responded to the airport at 1:18 p.m. The blaze was small and quickly extinguished, according to the department. No one was injured. Wesley Juhl/Las Vegas Review-Journal
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Singapore Airlines jet collapses -- A Singapore Airlines jet collapsed Sunday morning with no passengers or crew on board as an engineer conducted routine landing checks before a scheduled flight from Singapore to Hong Kong, the airline said. The carrier said in a statement that the nose gear of an Airbus A330-300 "retracted while the aircraft was undergoing a landing gear system check." Annabelle Liang/AP
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Are stacked seats the new plan to pack in airline passengers? -- The airline trend of packing as many passengers per plane as possible may reach a new height. The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Group has applied for a patent on a seat configuration that adds a row of passengers on top of passengers in seats on the floor of the cabin, similar to bunk beds. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Saturday Night Live: Two 'Delta' flight attendants' (Amy Schumer, Vanessa Bayer) song about in-flight service goes horribly wrong when a plane door opens
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This chart shows how flying has actually gotten much cheaper in the last 20 years -- Flying has actually gotten cheaper over the last 20 years - let that sink in for a second. The US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics compiled the average domestic airfare of US airports from 1995 to 2015, taking inflation into consideration, and shockingly proved that with a few ups and downs, over the last 20 years the average cost of a flight has generally decreased. Dylan Roach & Sophie-Claire Hoeller/Business Insider
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First look: Boeing's new 'Space Bins' expand carry-on capacity -- Tired of battling your fellow travelers for overhead bin space for your carry-on bags? Help is on the way. It will come in the form of new "Space Bins," an option Boeing is adding to its best-selling 737 airplanes that will soon be flying on at least three U.S. airlines. The bins will increase carry-on capacity by up to 50%. Alaska Airlines will be the world's first airline to fly with the new bins, taking delivery of the inaugural Space Bin 737 on Friday at Boeing Field in Seattle. Delta will be next, taking its first Space Bin 737s in early 2016. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
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L.A. quake retrofit ordinance signed into law; Cost burden decision deferred -- The Los Angeles City Council on Friday passed an ordinance that will require landlords of thousands of apartment buildings to retrofit their buildings to better withstand earthquakes. Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the ordinance immediately afterward. The ordinance, touted as the nation's most sweeping earthquake safety rule, will require the owners of an estimated 15,000 "soft story" structures - mostly apartment buildings - to spend tens of thousands of dollars each to install steel bracing or other materials to reinforce beams so that they don't buckle during a major quake. Howard Fine/Los Angeles Business Journal
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American Airlines launches "Astrovision," an in-flight television and movie projection system - 1964
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