Airports
Long Beach Airport must add nine commercial flight slots to comply with noise ordinance -- An annual analysis of aircraft operating noise at the Long Beach Airport has led to the conclusion that the city must offer nine more daily commercial flights in order to stay in compliance with the Airport Noise Compatibility Ordinance. The City Council is scheduled to conduct a study session on the report at its Dec. 8 meeting. A memo from City Manager Pat West details the issue as part of the Dec. 8 City Council agenda. Harry Saltzgaver/Long Beach Gazettes
JWA October numbers up big -- John Wayne Airport said passenger volume was up 12.4% and commercial flights rose 7% in October over the same period last year. The airport saw 100,000 additional passengers year over year, or 913,000, up from 813,000 in October 2014. There were 3,563 flights, up from 3,328 flights last October. The international passenger count more than doubled year over year from about 14,750 to about 30,150, and flights to international destinations soared 79% from 79 to 141. Orange County Business Journal
Traffic on rise at LA/Ontario International Airport -- Passenger traffic at LA/Ontario International Airport was up 5.64% in October, according to the latest figures released by the Californian gateway. The airport handled 380,584 passengers last month compared to the 360,256 that passed through its facilities in October 2014. Joe Bates/Airport World ONT Statistics LAX Statistics
Ontario: UPS geared up for e-commerce shipping from Ontario International Airport -- As millions of shoppers ordered presents for Cyber Monday, Katheryn Cabanillas padded into the newly built UPS West Region Air Hub. It was one of the busiest days for orders. It was 8 a.m., and Cabanillas had only a few hours of lull time to make sure everything was sorted and in place for the crunch of packages that would fly in and out of the 416,000-square-foot center and Ontario International Airport for package distribution around the world. Debra Gruszecki/Riverside Press-Enterprise
LAX to close Davidson Drive for runway improvements -- Los Angeles International Airport will permanently close Davidson Drive in both directions as early as midnight Tuesday to accommodate runway improvements, officials said. Alverstone Avenue, 96th Street, and Sky Way will remain open. The one-block street, which runs parallel to an airfield perimeter fence between Alverstone Avenue and Sky Way and ends at an airfield-access security post, is used by airport-related vehicles, taxis and shuttles, but will now only be accessible to emergency vehicles, according to LAX officials. Torrance Daily Breeze LAWA Press Release
 Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Photo tour: Behind the scenes at Los Angeles International Airport -- California's Los Angeles International Airport is one of the nation's most iconic airports. The airport's flying saucer-like "Theme Building" and signature LAX welcome sculpture are familiar sights for many Americans. And LAX has grown to become the USA's second-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic this decade, trailing only Atlanta. LAX also is a popular spot for aviation buffs, who can witness a lineup of international airlines and range of aircraft types not seen at many other U.S. airports. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
Photo by John Brian King
Book review: Air travel at LAX in the 1980s was a nightmare -- John Brian King was 18 when he first started making photos at Los Angeles International Airport. It was 1980, and only a year earlier he'd purchased his first photography book by Weegee, who is famous for his flash-heavy, black-and-white photos of urban life. The influence is clear in King's series, "LAX," which appears, along with another series, "LA," in LAX: Photographs of Los Angeles 1980-84, published by Spurl this month. Jordan G. Teicher/Slate
Here are some of the things travelers tried to get through airport checkpoints over Thanksgiving weekend -- As travelers returned home over the busy Thanksgiving Day weekend, handlers at the Transportation Security Administration posted some interesting photos on social media of what passengers tried to bring through security gates. Take, for example, the 49 bullets in a carry-on bag at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Or the rather large machete carried by a man also at BWI. And even a butterfly knife was found. Note - these items were not allowed on board planes. Dana Hedgpeth/Washington Post
PHL Airport CEO retiring -- The CEO of the Philadelphia International Airport will be stepping down after 28 years working at one of the United States' busiest air hubs. Mark Gale will be retiring from the position he's held since 2009, Mayor Michael Nutter announced Monday.  "As the city has grown into a world-class destination, Mark has kept PHL on pace to address the needs of today's air travelers," Nutter said. Kenneth Hilario/Philadelphia Business Journal
Reserved parking goes on sale at O'Hare, Midway airports -- For an additional $10 a day above the standard rates, reserved parking will be available starting Tuesday to travelers using the garages at Chicago's two airports, O'Hare and Midway, city officials said Monday. The benefit of the new service is that by reserving a parking space online before a trip, travelers can save time by not needing to search for parking, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Jon Hilkevitch/Chicago Tribune
Airlines
Indonesia cites resetting of circuit breaker in 2014 AirAsia crash -- The pilots of an AirAsia passenger jet that crashed off Indonesia last year appeared to have reset a circuit breaker of a computer system that regulated the aircraft's rudder functions, leading to a series of electronic failures that caused them to lose control of the plane before it plummeted into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people aboard, crash investigators said on Tuesday.  Joe Cockrane/New York Times
Analysis: What does the future hold for United at Washington Dulles? -- United Airlines' Washington Dulles hub faces an uncertain future. Structural shifts in the Washington DC air travel market and the declining economics of 50-seat regional jets have crippled its once robust domestic operation. Simultaneously, its niche in the combined United route network has shrunk for both domestic and international destinations due to the strength of the legacy Continental hub 212 miles up I-95 in Newark. The high-level picture for the Dulles hub is worrisome. Vinay Bhaskara/Airways News
AirlineRatings names 'most excellent' airlines for 2016 -- Its star-studded safety videos show the airline making happy customers of everyone from hulking sports stars to pocket-sized hobbits. But Air New Zealand isn't just leading the way in viral hits. Australia-based website AirlineRatings.com has named Air New Zealand the 2016 Airline of the Year in its prestigious Airline Excellence Awards. Maureen O'Hare/CNN
Labor demands will challenge U.S. airlines in 2016, analyst says -- Rising demands from labor top the list of challenges for the airline industry as it heads into 2016. A widespread view is that the industry has fundamentally changed, a result of consolidation, industrywide capacity discipline, lower labor costs and ancillary fees. Additionally, lower fuel prices have added billions of dollars in cost savings. But as the industry sees record profit, workers who made concessions in the first decade of the 2000s will be seeking repayment. Ted Reed/TheStreet
American Airlines flight attendant charged with attacking crew, US marshals -- Documents filed in federal court in North Carolina say an American Airlines flight attendant who described herself as "crazy" and a "train wreck" attacked fellow crew members and U.S. marshals during a flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt, Germany, last week. The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte says Joanne Snow is charged with interference with flight crews and attendants, and with assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer or employee of the United States. Tom Foreman Jr./AP
American Airlines customer service and gate agents approve new labor contract -- American Airlines customer service and gate agents approved a new labor contract that includes average pay raises of 30 percent, the union representing the workers just announced today. Yes votes came from 73 percent of agents, according to the Communications Workers of America/International Brotherhood of Teamsters Passenger Service Association. The five-year contract covers nearly 15,000 agents. Sheryl Jean/Dallas Morning News
American Airlines promotes two women to executive vice president -- American Airlines Group today promoted two women - chief integration officer Beverly Goulet and chief information officer Maya Leibman to executive vice president. Both previously were senior vice presidents. "The successful integration of American and US Airways could not have happened without both Bev and Maya's outstanding leadership," American CEO Doug Parker said in a statement. The two airlines merged in December 2013. Sheryl Jean/Dallas Morning News
United Airlines shows Chicago students how to run an airline - and vice-versa -- More than a dozen United Airlines employees, including at least four pilots and staff from flight operations, marketing and revenue management, turned to teaching this fall. They all were part of a 10-week project initiated by Citizen Schools Illinois, a not-for-profit that offers academic support to students in disadvantaged communities, to expose interested students at Chicago public schools to the inner workings of the airline industry and to help them understand how an airline operates. Lewis Lazare/Chicago Business Journal
Airline food is getting good. No, really -- Bad airline food has long been a clich�. But as airports increasingly roll out higher-end eateries, airlines, too, are upping their game, at least for premium passengers. U.S. carriers are revamping their domestic flight menus, enlisting renowned chefs, and harvesting fresher ingredients to present fliers with better options for a healthy meal. In November, Delta doubled the number of first class menu items it offers on short-haul  domestic flights. Charisse Jones/USA Today
FAA
FAA, local aviation experts to discuss drones -- Riverside Municipal Airport officials, along with the police and fire departments, will host the area's first event to educate the public about using drones on Dec. 5. The free seminar was spurred by the popularity of unmanned aircraft systems and the problems they might cause for public safety agencies and local aircraft. Federal Aviation Administration officials and local aviation experts will answer questions about using drones. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Wallace Theatre at California Baptist University, 8432 Magnolia Ave. in Riverside. Suzanne Hurt/Riverside Press-Enterprise
TSA
Will social media mavens take leave of absence to help TSA tweet better? -- The agency known for bearing the brunt of traveler frustration is looking for private sector social media mavens willing to take a leave of absence from their job to help boost its real-time Twitter account, @AskTSA. The successful candidates would spend at least six months on loan to the Transportation Security Administration, working as unpaid social media customer service senior advisers. Hallie Golden/Nextgov
Travel
White House moves on new visa waiver regulations, asks Congress for more reforms -- The White House got the jump on Congress by announcing changes Monday to the visa waiver program as the GOP House leadership promised a vote on its own reforms before the end of the year. But it is not yet clear how the new White House regulations - or proposals for cooperation with Congress - will be received in the House, where leaders say that a bill to address problems with the waiver program is coming. Karoun Demirjian/Washington Post
Aviation Data & Analysis

Airline Capacity Up 7.1% Worldwide in December
Courtesy Oliver Wyman PlaneStats
City Government
9th Circuit says L.A. broke the law when it cut housing subsidies for the poor -- Los Angeles' Housing Authority reduced rent subsidies for about 20,000 poor people in 2004 in violation of the law, a federal appeals court ruled unanimously Monday. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the Housing Authority, which administers Section 8 funds, sent recipients a notice so "incomprehensible" that some may have thought they were getting a higher subsidy instead of a cut. The fliers also had no contact information to help residents with questions, the court said. Maura Dolan/Los Angeles Times
Critics want more urgency from L.A. leaders on the homelessness crisis --  No problem has prompted more urgent rhetoric at Los Angeles City Hall this fall than the plight of those who live and sleep unsheltered on L.A.'s streets. In July, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced during a speech on downtown's skid row that his staff was a month away from completing a "battle plan" for the "war on homelessness." City Council members drew headlines from around the world in September when they held a news conference publicizing their intention to formally "declare the homeless crisis an emergency," in the words of Council President Herb Wesson. Peter Jamison/Los Angeles Times
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