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Burbank, Airport Authority set terms for new terminal at Bob Hope -- After months of negotiations and a stalemate, the city of Burbank and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority finally hammered out and agreed to a set of basic terms, which the parties expect to be the base for a future development agreement for construction of a proposed 14-gate replacement terminal at Bob Hope Airport. That was a challenge, airport officials said this week, but the bigger concern will be figuring out how to fund the project, which is expected to cost upward of $400 million. Chad Garland/Los Angeles Times
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LAX-to-Cuba charter flights take off for first time -- Sounds of mambo music and smells of spicy ropa vieja permeated Terminal 4 at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday, marking the inaugural charter flight from the West Coast to Havana. The American Airlines-operated weekly nonstop flight was scheduled to depart at 12:45 p.m. from Gate 41 after a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Mayor Eric Garcetti and other city leaders as well as airline and airport executives. Carla Rivera/Los Angeles Times
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L.A. must continue to modernize to attract visitors: Guest commentary -- It's important that Los Angeles International Airport, which could receive more than 100 million travelers annually by 2040, is undertaking a multi-billion dollar modernization project that will generate approximately 40,000 jobs. The project includes additional gates, energy efficiency upgrades, security enhancements and the new Tom Bradley International Terminal. Across town, officials at Burbank Bob Hope airport are pursuing a $400 million terminal replacement that will improve passenger amenities. Caroline Beteta & Dale Bonner/Los Angeles Daily News
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K-pop group was turned away at LAX for lying about reason for visiting U.S., official says -- The K-pop group that was turned away at LAX this week was denied entry because the members lied about the purpose of their trip, not because they were mistaken for sex workers as the performers have claimed, a government official said Saturday. An official with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to discuss the matter, said the eight-member girl band lied to customs officials and said they were traveling to the U.S. as tourists, rather than for work. Victoria Kim/Los Angeles Times
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Business at Hawthorne Municipal Airport finally takes flight -- Business is booming at Hawthorne's small municipal airport, where for the first time in recent history the future looks bright. A group of passionate aviation fans, private developers and city officials have been breathing life into the 80-acre site for years, investing heavily in new hangars, a modernized runway and upgraded facilities. Their work is paying off. Traffic is way up, and the first new commercial hangars in 50 years just opened late last week to house a new fleet of luxury charter aircraft. Sandy Mazza/Torrance Daily Breeze
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Malaysia Airport not convinced about abandoned Boeing 747s ownerhip claims -- Like the prince in Cinderella, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd is still looking for the one that will fit its glass slipper and take three abandoned Boeing 747s off their hands. MAHB said it had received numerous suitors for the three aircraft, since it published newspaper advertisements to serve as notice to the real owners, but said it was still not convinced they have found who they were looking for. Nicholas Cheng/Asia One
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Hidden places at Incheon Airport raise customer loyalty -- Jordan Reinhart, 26, and her fiance from Canada arrived at South Korea's Incheon International Airport on Tuesday morning, exhausted and ready to head back home after spending their winter vacation in Bali. Though initially worried about how they would spend those long hours, staying inside the airport was a "great idea," Reinhart said after getting up from one of the free massage chairs situated in the airport's "Relax Zone" on the fourth floor of the passenger terminal. Sohn Ji-young/Korea Herald
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Police: Man arrested after scaling fence, entering concourse at Charlotte Douglas airport -- Police arrested a man they said scaled a perimeter fence at Charlotte Douglas International Airport early Friday, entered a concourse and tried to catch a flight to Dallas. Jovany Castillo Lugo, 36, is charged with trespassing on airport property and carrying a concealed weapon after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say they found a box cutter on him. He was jailed on $3,000 bail.
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United acting CEO: 'We're not paralyzed' by executive uncertainty -- Citing significant improvements in operational performance, United Airlines' acting CEO said the company is successfully navigating the last few months' rapid turnover in the chief executive's office. "We're not a company standing still. We're not paralyzed," acting CEO Brett Hart, who became the third person to occupy the airline's top job in less than two months when he assumed his current duties in October, told ATW on the sidelines of the Star Alliance chief executive board meeting in Chicago. United also saw CFO John Rainey leave in August to become CFO of PayPal. Aaron Karp/Air Transport World
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Egypt says no evidence of terrorism in Russian plane crash -- Egypt said on Monday it had found no evidence so far of terrorism or other illegal action linked to the crash of a Russian passenger plane in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board on Oct. 31. Russia and Western governments have said the Airbus A321 operated by Metrojet was likely brought down by a bomb, and the Islamic State militant group said it had smuggled an explosive on board. But Egypt's civil aviation ministry said it had completed a preliminary report on the crash and said it had so far found no evidence of a criminal act. Reuters
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At airlines, labor costs trump fuel -- Labor is once again the biggest expense for most airlines after a sharp drop in the price of jet fuel, and signs point to higher wages in the next round of union contracts. Some investors are worried. Labor costs aren't as volatile as fuel prices; the higher wages and benefits tend to be locked in for several years. Airline employees suffered pay cuts and massive layoffs when several of the nation's biggest carriers went through bankruptcy between 2002 and 2013. David Koenig/AP
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Nantucket's Island Airlines abruptly shuts down -- An airline serving the resort island of Nantucket has abruptly shut down. Nantucket-based Island Airlines announced on its website Friday it's ceasing operations immediately. The closure also impacts Cape and Islands Air Freight. The company, which offered regular flights from Hyannis on Cape Cod to Nantucket, apologized in a statement for any inconvenience and thanked customers for their support over the years. A state transportation official told the Cape Cod Times on Saturday that the 24-year-old company is expected to file for bankruptcy. AP
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Almost every airline has banned the year's hottest holiday gift -- If you're giving or getting a self-balancing scooter, or "hoverboard," for the holidays this year, don't count on flying with it. Most major U.S. airlines have banned the devices over safety concerns regarding their electrical systems. Delta, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and JetBlue are among the major air carriers that have decided to ban hoverboards. Southwest, however, will still let you bring one on board. Lisa Eadicicco/Time
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U.S. airlines face uphill struggle against Mideast rivals -- For the past year, the nation's three largest airlines - Delta, United and American - have waged a relentless campaign to convince the Obama administration that their business is threatened by Persian Gulf-based carriers who receive billions of dollars in state subsidies. The airlines have pressed the administration to freeze all new flights from their three foreign rivals - Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways - and would ultimately like to change the pacts, known as open skies agreements, that allow unlimited flights between the United States and the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Jad Mouawaddec/New York Times
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Could Southwest join the rest of the airlines with assigned seating and first class? -- Southwest Airlines has long traveled its own flight path when compared to the rest of the major airlines. The carrier has no change fees, two free checked bags and low fares facilitated by one-class service, no assigned seats and single-model aircraft fleets. This low-frills attitude might soon be relegated to the seat-back pocket of history, as Skift reports that Southwest is in the midst of building technology that would allow it to assign seats across two cabin classes. Nick Vivion/Road Warrior Voices
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Alaska Air shows the formidable power of "the Eskimo" even as its capacity outpaces the industry -- Alaska Air Group plans 8% capacity growth in 2015, which is lower than the roughly 10% rise the airline will post in 2015, but higher than the industry average. Higher than average capacity growth has been the norm at Alaska Air during the last five years. The company finds itself constantly defending its expansion, pitting that growth against consistent profitability and an expansion of top line revenue. CAPA Centre for Aviation
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Women account for fewer than 5% of airline CEOs around the world -- The number of women taking the reigns of large, small, legacy and low-cost carriers revealed that women account for fewer than 5 percent of all airline CEOs. Only twelve out of the 248 airlines operating worldwide are currently led by women. Of those, six women lead full-service airlines, four lead low-cost carriers, and two are at subsidiaries. The ten airlines are spread throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, but no North American airlines make the list. Samantha Shankman/Skift
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A customer-friendly TSA comes to the aid of fliers on Twitter -- What do you get when you mix the Transportation Security Administration with the volatile world of social media? A popular new tool for fliers that comes just in time for the busy winter holiday travel period. The TSA quietly began a customer-service channel on Twitter earlier this year, launching the @AskTSA handle in an effort to directly engage with fliers. From complaints to questions, the @AskTSA team says its mission is engage the flying public by fielding all queries. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
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| Transportation Network Companies |
Uber seeks to head off lawsuits with new binding driver agreement -- Two days after a federal judge expanded a class-action lawsuit by California Uber drivers seeking to be employees and not contractors, Uber on Friday sent all its U.S. drivers a 21-page legal agreement that would bar them from participating in future class-action suits against the company. All 400,000-plus drivers cannot receive any ride requests until they accept the agreement, which lays out a lengthy provision requiring mandatory arbitration starting on page 15 and flagged on the first page. Carolyn Said/San Francisco Chronicle
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DWP's plan to boost water rates is reasonable, ratepayer advocate says -- The Los Angeles ratepayer advocate said Friday that a proposed boost in water rates for Department of Water and Power customers is just and reasonable. The proposed plan would increase water rates by an average of 4.7% annually over the next five years, according to ratepayer advocate Fred Pickel, executive director of the Office of Public Accountability. It would also double the number of payment tiers for water rates to put the heaviest burden on residents who use the most water. Emily Alpert Reyes/Los Angeles Times
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Park project could offer lessons for L.A. Olympic bid -- Organizers of L.A.'s push to host the 2024 Summer Olympics have been looking at an Eastside rail yard as a possible location for a massive athletes' village - one capable of housing 17,000 people during the Games. City budget analysts say they worry about the cost and complexity of redeveloping such a heavily industrial parcel, which is next to the Los Angeles River. David Zahniser/Los Angeles Times
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United Air Lines 'Take Me Along' - 1967
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