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Qatar Airways begins New Year in Los Angeles -- Qatar Airways rang in the New Year with a new daily, non-stop service between Los Angeles International Airport and Hamad International Airport in Doha, which started January 1. The new route features the airline's landmark Boeing 777-200 and represents Qatar Airways' first passenger service to the West Coast of the United States. The expansion to LAX is the first of three new US destinations planned for 2016, along with Boston on March 16th and Atlanta on June 1st. eTurbo News
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Long Beach Airport's international flight potential study delayed -- Long Beach's City Council was scheduled to begin 2016 with consideration of a contract for a consultant to conduct a feasibility study about seeking a U.S. Customs facility at the Long Beach Airport. However, the city manager has pulled the agenda item and has said it will return on Jan. 19. No explanation was given for the delay. JetBlue, the dominant commercial carrier at the airport formally asked the city to consider allowing international flights - which would require a Customs facility - in February 2015. Harry Saltzgaver/Long Beach Gazettes
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Future of proposed new Burbank air terminal -- After a rocky patch in negotiations early last year about a proposed 14-gate replacement terminal at Bob Hope Airport, the city of Burbank and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority closed out the year with a tentative agreement, in principle, to several conditions for the proposal. Airport Authority officials have said their target for putting a full proposal for the terminal project before voters in Burbank as required by Measure B is the Nov. 8 general election this year. Time Community North staff/Burbank Leader
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Forget airline pilot wings! You can now collect these airport trading cards instead -- Hold onto your pilot's hat, because we've got some exciting news for you! If you haven't begun yet, you can now start collecting airport trading cards. And what's even more exciting is that they are free. Airports Council International North America started the concept in 2014, and the number of available cards has now grown to feature more than 60 airports (including LGB, SNA and SAN). Ramsey Qubein/Road Warrior Voices
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Pilot shortage a growing problem in regional air service -- A growing pilot shortage at regional airlines could soon pose a major headache for airline passengers across the U.S. Republic Airways, which operates Delta Connection, United Express and American Eagle flights, has experienced monthly cancellation rates as high as 9%, prompting Delta to accuse the company in an October lawsuit of not providing promised services. And although much of Republic's problems were driven by a protracted contract dispute with its pilots, which was resolved in October, the carrier isn't alone in having concerns about having enough pilots to staff current operations. Robert Silk/Travel Weekly
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New regs for Tuesday: Endangered, airlines, cellphones -- Tuesday's edition of the Federal Register contains new rules to protect endangered species, airline passengers with disabilities and give people who are deaf more access to cellphones. Here's what is happening: Airplanes: The Department of Transportation (DOT) is delaying new rules for airlines. The Transportation Department last month announced it is looking into new protections for airline passengers with disabilities. But it is now extending the comment period to give the public more time to discuss the rules. Tim Devaney/The Hill
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United Airlines adds bundled perks packages to Economy Plus -- Travelers purchasing extra legroom Economy Plus seats on United Airlines can now add on extra perks by purchasing one of the Chicago-based carrier's new bundled travel options packages. Dubbed "Economy Plus Essentials" and "Economy Plus Enhanced," the new packages join bundled products offered by American, Delta and JetBlue and promise savings on amenities that will provide "more comfort, convenience and relaxation." Harriet Baskas/USA Today Cranky Flier: United morphs Economy Plus Into more than just extra legroom
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United Airlines' new craft beers paying off in onboard beer battle -- Chicago-based United Airlines has one of the highest-ranked in-flight beer selections because of the growing selection of craft brews, a recent study found. The study, by Travelpulse.com and beer-rating site Beer Advocate, found United had the third-highest average beer ranking among the nation's biggest airlines. It was behind only Alaska Airlines, which was one of the first to serve craft beer in the skies, and Delta Airlines. Samantha Bomkamp/Chicago Tribune
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Delta pilot turns plane around to get Phoenix family to funeral in Tennessee -- It's practically unheard of for a pilot of a plane that's filled with passengers to throw the jet into reverse and go back to the gate to let a few stragglers on board, but that's what a Delta Airlines pilot did for the family. They had less than 10 minutes to catch the connecting flight and they were almost left behind. Fox10 Phoenix
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Fliers go their own way with airline meals -- Business travelers have plenty to think about when they fly. Once wheels come up, laptops land on the tray table. But diving into spreadsheets, business plans and email requires sustenance. So, what's on the airlines' menu? Not much if you travel by coach, as does Mike DeFrino, chief executive of Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants. "There's nothing worse than a six-hour flight and being limited to Pringles on the plane or whatever prepackaged there is," said Mr. DeFrino, who is based in San Francisco. Joshua Brockman/New York Times
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Southwest Airlines looking at headquarters complex expansion at Love Field -- Southwest Airlines is eyeing a major expansion of its flight training facilities at Dallas' Love Field. The airline has filed land plans with the City of Dallas for a more than 14-acre tract of land on Denton Drive west of Love Field. The development site is in the same area where Southwest recently built an almost $100 million addition to its Dallas base. Steve Brown/Dallas Morning News
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Gulf airline subsidies forcing US companies into layoffs, service cuts -- The Business Travel Coalition's Kevin Mitchell recently wrote an op-ed on The Hill's Congress Blog titled "Delta Air Lines' campaign against Gulf carrier subsidies is built on house of cards" that is short on facts and long on hyperbole. Mitchell outrageously compares Delta's involvement in the Open Skies debate to Kevin Spacey's underhanded character Frank Underwood in "House of Cards." Jill Zuckman/The Hill
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What are the world's safest airlines for 2016? -- It's the annual announcement every nervous flier awaits with interest: AirlineRatings.com's safest airline award. This year the aviation analysts have named 20 leading carriers as the world's best at ensuring passenger protection. And, for the third year in succession, it says Qantas leads the 407 airlines it monitors when it comes to aviation safety. Barry Neild/CNN
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Deliberate acts cause more airline deaths than crashes -- There were more airline deaths worldwide due to deliberate acts in 2015 than from accidental air crashes, for the second year in a row, according to an industry tally. There were only eight accidental airline crashes last year, accounting for 161 passenger and crew deaths - the fewest crashes and deaths since at least 1946. The tally by Flightglobal, an aviation news and industry data company, excludes a German airliner that was deliberately flown into a mountainside in the French Alps last March, and a Russian airliner packed with tourists that exploded over Egypt in October. Joan Lowy/AP
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Feds tout 'year of safety' in aviation -- The Federal Aviation Administration touted 2015 as a "year of safety and continued modernization" on Monday as lawmakers are expected to resume consideration of a new funding bill for the agency. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in a blog post on the transportation department's website that "the dedicated professionals at the Federal Aviation Administration made significant progress this year as we continued to modernize and streamline the nation's air traffic system while also preparing the way for small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to safely play a growing role in aviation." Keith Laing/The Hill
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House leaders rally for FAA overhaul -- As the House returns to session this week, one thing will be on every transpo leader's mind: FAA reauthorization. Will 2016 go down as the year that America revolutionized air traffic control? Will lawmakers give NextGen the kick in the tush that they've promised? Will we all be seeing drones hovering outside our windows by next January? These and other aviation-related answers are sure to come in the next few months ... but Congress only has 88 days to figure it out, or vote to give the agency another short-term policy extension. Martine Powers & Jennifer Scholtes/Politico
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FAA says proposed 102-story tower is too tall -- Seattle may not end up with the West Coast's tallest skyscraper after all. The FAA has sent a "notice of presumed hazard" to the developer who has proposed to build a 102-story building at Fourth Avenue and Columbia Street in downtown Seattle. "Initial findings of this study indicate that the structure as described exceeds obstruction standards and/or would have an adverse physical or electromagnetic interference effect upon navigable air space or air navigation facilities," states the notice that the FAA sent to the developer last month. Marc Stiles/Puget Sound Business Journal
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Man upset over TSA pat-down of girl, 10 -- A Capri Sun juice pouch mistakenly left in a 10-year-old San Diego girl's carry-on handbag led a TSA agent to subject the girl to almost two minutes of frisking and extra screening that lasted about an hour, her father said. Kevin Payne of Pacific Beach and his daughter, Vendela, were passing through the Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Dec. 30, 2015, headed home to San Diego, when U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents discovered the liquid. Morgan Cook/San Diego Union-Tribune
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| Transportation Network Companies |
Uber sued by drivers excluded from class-action lawsuit -- When a federal judge decided last year who could be part of a worker misclassification class-action lawsuit against Uber, two groups of drivers were excluded: Those who drove for Uber through limo companies and those who signed up to drive using corporate or fictitious names. The judge's reasoning? Their situation is different from those who contracted directly with Uber using their own names. Those groups have now filed their own lawsuit. Tracey Lien/Los Angeles Times Also: Lyft defies predictions by continuing to grow as a rival to Uber
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Uber driver arrested on suspicion of DUI after New Year's Day crash -- When getting behind the wheel isn't an option, many choose to call services like Uber especially when ringing in the New Year. That's what Arlene Mendez, 19, decided to do around 1 a.m. on Jan. 1 so she could go hang out with friends. When the driver picked her up, Mendez says she immediately felt uncomfortable with his rate of speed on local streets. CBS LA
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Rams, Chargers and Raiders submit relocation applications to NFL; now for the hard part -- In an aggressive move Monday to end the NFL's two-decade absence from Los Angeles, three franchises - the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams - submitted relocation applications to the league on the first day they were eligible to do so. The development was unprecedented since the Raiders and Rams left the country's second-largest market after the 1994 season. Dozens of stadium proposals and renderings have come and gone, but this is the first time any teams have formally requested to fill the L.A. vacancy. Sam Farmer & Nathan Fenno/Los Angeles Times
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A steady conveyor belt of El Ni�o storms is what has officials concerned -- To understand the power and potential dangers of El Ni�o, look at satellite images of the Pacific Ocean on Sunday. At least four storms were brewing - the farthest still getting going in Asia - and all aimed at California. It's this pattern, a series of back-to-back-to-back storms seemingly arriving on a conveyor belt, that concerns officials bracing for potential damage from the predicted winter of heavy rains. Rong-Gong Lin II & Rosanna Xia/Los Angeles Times
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Garcetti nominates new executive to run Planning Department -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has chosen a Pasadena official to run the city's Planning Department, a move that comes as neighborhood activists are growing more aggressive in their efforts to block large-scale development projects. Vince Bertoni, head of Pasadena's Planning and Community Development Department, was nominated Monday to replace Michael LoGrande, L.A.'s departing planning director. David Zahniser/Los Angeles Times
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