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Iconic Proud Bird Restaurant at LAX to close for 10-month upgrade -- The aviation-themed Proud Bird Restaurant, a South Bay institution that opened in 1967, will temporarily close its doors Feb. 1 and embark on an 10-month renovation. The more than 50,000-square-foot building, crammed with aviation-related photographs and memorabilia, will undergo a major makeover as dictated by the terms of its new 20-year lease with Los Angeles World Airports, which operates Los Angeles International Airport. Nick Green/Torrance Daily Breeze
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FAA issues with Inglewood stadium proposal evaporated -- As the intense competition for an NFL stadium headed to the wire, Carson officials went down swinging with an issue they thought would sink Inglewood's rival proposal. Real estate tycoon Stan Kroenke's vision for a state-of-the-art stadium to house his Rams - smack dab in the flight path of Los Angeles International Airport - was a hazard to aviation, they insisted. And they had experts who agreed with them. Sandy Mazza/Torrance Daily Breeze Mike Florio/NBC Sports
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US Customs denies racial profiling of NSW Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi, says validity of passports 'routinely' checked -- US Customs and Border Protection has denied racial profiling, after a Pakistan-born New South Wales MP said she was interrogated about how she got an Australian passport as she entered the US. Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi, who was born in Pakistan, has criticised immigration procedures at Los Angeles International Airport, saying she and her husband were asked "how we actually got our Australian passport" before being interviewed in separate rooms. Cassandra Bedwell/Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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Former AirCal employees get together at JWA to reminisce -- When former AirCal employees talk about their time working for the Orange County airline, one word always comes up - family. Pilots, flight attendants, and baggage handlers all agree that working for the 1960s- and 1970s-era airline was like working with family. That's why hundreds of local AirCal employees gather every year to reminisce, catch up and celebrate the now-defunct airline. Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil/Los Angeles Times
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JetBlue begins JFK-Palm Springs, California route -- JetBlue Airways announced the launch of new service between New York City and Palm Springs, California. The carrier will operate the service five days a week, using Airbus A320 aircraft. Flights will depart John F. Kennedy International Airport at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays, and will arrive at Palm Springs International Airport at 10:40 p.m. From Palm Springs, flights are scheduled to depart at 11:35 p.m. and arrive back in New York at 7:29 a.m. the next morning. Jesse Sokolow/Frequent Business Traveler
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Funding set for Burbank high-speed rail station planning -- A funding agreement between the California High-Speed Rail Authority and the city of Burbank will pay for much of a $1.2-million planning process for what high-speed rail officials are calling a "world-class multimodal transportation hub," including a proposed bullet train station adjacent to Bob Hope Airport. The rail authority this week announced it would provide $800,000 for the planning effort. Chad Garland/Los Angeles Times
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Mayor Frutos joins Rep. Schiff at State of the Union address -- Among the audience members at President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address on Tuesday was Burbank Mayor Bob Frutos, a guest of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank). The congressman said he chose Frutos, who is the first Burbank mayor he's invited to the address, because of his efforts negotiating with the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on plans for a proposed replacement terminal. The Burbank City Council and the authority agreed to conceptual terms for the project in November. Chad Garland/Los Angeles Times
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'Miss Ontario' quickly became an aviation heroine in 1928 -- It's tough to get a direct flight from Ontario International Airport these days to any place much farther away than Denver or Texas. As the city regains control of the airport from the city of Los Angeles this year, hopefully a few more direct flights to the east will be possible. That brings up the story of the very first transcontinental air flight to land in Ontario. The arrival of a rather special aircraft on April 29, 1928, was hardly a non-stop affair - It was a lot like a cross-country auto trip for a family with a bunch of small children. Joe Blackstock/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
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SeaPort Airlines discontinues service in California, Kansas, Missouri and Mexico -- SeaPort Airlines announced it discontinue all scheduled service to destinations in California and Mexico as of 11:59pm on January 15, 2016 and Kansas and Missouri as of 11:59pm on January 16, 2015. The company was forced to take this action because of the impact on SeaPort's business and operations following the effects of the shortage of airline pilots in the United States. Aviation Tribune
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Airport workers around the country rally for better wages -- Around the country Monday, hundreds of airport workers protested in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. From Newark, N.J., to Washington, D.C., to Chicago and Miami workers called for a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour. In Newark, workers carried picket signs of Martin Luther King through the airport. "If Dr. King were alive today, he would be standing alongside of us," said Kevin Brown, New Jersey's state director of the local service employees union, 32BJ SEIU. Hansi Lo Wang/NPR
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Nashville airport's new deal gives airlines less power -- It took about two years of negotiations with the nation's top airlines for the Metro Nashville Airport Authority to arrive at a new operating agreement. After 28 years of airline control, the new deal gives airport executives more authority and ends fiscal oversight by the airlines. Beginning in 1987, when Nashville International Airport was a major hub for American Airlines, the major carriers formed an Airline Affairs Committee that had final say over critical decisions. Nate Rau & Anita Wadhwani/The Tennessean
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Audit slams Nashville Airport Authority, calls for culture change -- A scathing consultant's report calls into question management of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority, a $119 million-per-year organization that oversees Nashville International Airport, the gateway for 11.7 million business and tourism travelers each year. The report - obtained by The Tennessean through a public records request - found a top-heavy organization whose senior management has for years been "paternalistic, dictatorial and centralized." Nate Rau & Anita Wadhwani/The Tennessean
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Keeping wildlife off tarmac is big job at Pittsburgh International Airport -- On a crisp January morning, Robert Hromack patrolled the perimeter of Pittsburgh International Airport, looking for potential wildlife security risks. At the edge of the woods, a white-tailed deer browsed as the truck rolled to a stop. Hromack watched for a moment and eyed the deer with binoculars. A biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, his job is to prevent the kind of catastrophic damage 150 pounds of body mass could do to a speeding jet airliner and its passengers. John Hayes/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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American Airlines, Hollywood Reporter form partnership -- American Airlines is taking aim at rival Delta's inroads in entertainment by forming a branding partnership with what is arguably the industry's premier media publication. American is teaming up with The Hollywood Reporter and will serve as the official airline of The Hollywood Reporter and exclusive airline partner of THR events. Rich Thomaselli/Travel Pulse
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American seeks joint-business pact with South America's LATAM Air -- American Airlines announced on Thursday that it is seeking regulatory approval to enter into a joint-venture partnership with South American carrier LATAM Airlines. American said approval of the deal could pave the way for new routes and more flights between North and South America. American and LATAM already are members of the oneworld frequent-flier group and have a "codeshare" arrangement that allows them to place their codes and sell seats on some of each other's flights. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
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American Airlines' flawless merger ignored by Wall Street. 2016 should provide stronger performance -- Few would counter the conclusion that, so far, the merger between American Airlines and US Airways has been nearly flawless. In late 2015 the company executed the most successful passenger systems cutover in the recent history of US consolidation. With a unified customer interface, American is now in a position to start exploiting some revenue synergies inherent in the merger. CAPA Centre for Aviation
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Did American Airlines handle erratic flight attendant correctly? -- American Airlines flight attendant Joanne Snow continues to receive treatment following her emotional breakdown during a Thanksgiving overseas flight from Charlotte. Snow, 67, and an American employee for more than 45 years, is accused of disrupting both legs of a Charlotte-to-Frankfurt trip - including claims that she slapped co-workers, punched air marshals, even attempted to open the door of her jetliner as it taxied for takeoff in Germany. Michael Gordon/Charlotte Observer
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United Airlines' customer satisfaction score soars in December as Oscar heads home -- United Airlines employees got some good news this week - the kind that tens of thousands of United workers could always use more of after several turbulent years for the Chicago-based airline. The good news came in the form of higher customer satisfaction scores and a note from CEO Oscar Munoz informing employees he feels "as strong as ever" in the wake of a heart transplant last week. Lewis Lazare/Chicago Business Journal
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Big decisions wait for United CEO to recover -- As United Continental Holdings waits for Oscar Munoz to return as chief executive, the airline is gambling it can put off big decisions critical to its turnaround. While Munoz recovers from a January heart transplant, the company's relationship with its flight attendants union, the labor group that most affects customers' onboard experience, continues to fester. It's unlikely that acting CEO Brett Hart, who formerly served as general counsel, will hire a permanent chief financial officer. Micah Maidenberg/Crain's Chicago Business
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Hawaiian Airlines and Delta lead on-time rankings -- Hawaiian Airlines and Delta Air Lines again topped the airline on-time rankings for November, released on Friday by the Transportation Department. The budget airlines Spirit and Frontier had the worst on-time performance and highest complaint rates. The department said that flights on the 13 largest airlines arrived on time 83.7 percent of the time, up from 80.6 percent in November. AP
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Plan to force airlines to expose fees spurs debate -- The Transportation Department thinks airline travelers should know all the bag and seat-assignment fees they face before paying for a ticket. But after proposing in May 2014 to require airlines to provide that information, the administration continues to grapple with hundreds of comments on all sides of the issue. The department's plan aims to alert travelers to the precise fees regardless of where they purchase their tickets. Bart Jansen/USA Today
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Airlines are changing their perks, testing fliers' loyalties -- Early boarding privileges, waived checked bag fees, free flights and upgrades from the back of the plane to the front are just some of the benefits air travelers have come to expect from airline loyalty programs. Yet program changes rolled out last year by some major U.S. carriers (notably Delta and United) made attaining the status needed to earn those perks much harder to achieve. Harriet Baskas/CNBC
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Allegiant Air's COO resigns unexpectedly from the Las Vegas airline -- The chief operating officer of Allegiant Air unexpectedly resigned his post at the Las Vegas-based airline effective immediately, Allegiant announced late Friday. Steven E. Harfst, 52, a former Navy fighter pilot with nearly three decades of experience in the aviation industry, had worked at Allegiant for a little more than a year and had been the most prominent executive at the airline behind its CEO, Maurice Gallagher Jr. William R. Levesque/Tampa Bay Times
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Airlines' rising labor costs in focus ahead of earnings -- U.S. airlines are expected to report strong fourth-quarter financial results and record annual profits. But investors may fret over a byproduct of that success: rising labor costs. As fuel prices have plunged, employee pay and benefits have returned as airlines' biggest expense item. Because the industry-which not too long ago was mired in red ink-appears to be minting money now, its pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and other workers are demanding to be rewarded for aiding in its turnaround. Susan Carey/Wall Street Journal
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Airlines to enjoy low fuel in 2016, costs under spotlight --Airlines can look forward to continuing low oil prices for at least this year, helping to boost profits and drive demand for travel, but need to be wary of a swift rebound and focus on staff costs, experts said at a conference on Monday. Low oil brings non-fuel costs at airlines into the spotlight, and highlights the difference between legacy carriers such as Lufthansa and Air France-KLM and low-cost airlines like Ryanair, analysts said. Victoria Bryan & Conor Humprhies/Reuters
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Delta sees good quarter, Moody's likes airlines -- so why are shares slumping? -- As airlines prepare to report fourth-quarter earnings, the industry is in an odd position. Many carriers will report record profit for the quarter and the year, the industry will report record annual profit of around $18 billion, the cost of oil is in retreat and the outlook is good. Yet share prices are slumping. On Tuesday, Delta will become the first carrier to report earnings. In the third quarter, Delta posted $2.2 billion in pretax income, a record for the airline industry. Ted Reed/The Street
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Kuwait Airways drops flights to avoid Israeli passengers -- Kuwait Airways will operate its last flight between New York City and London on Saturday, deciding last month to drop the route after about 35 years of service rather than transport Israeli citizens between the two cities. The Transportation Department found in September that the airline's policy discriminated against Israeli citizens and ordered the practice to stop. Instead, the airline announced in December that it would drop the flights. Jad Mouawad/New York Times
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Passengers, flight attendant hurt when American Airlines flight from NYC to Miami encounters severe turbulence -- It was an extremely bumpy ride for passengers heading to Miami Friday. American Airlines Flight 1410 left LaGuardia Airport shortly after 8 a.m. and landed in Miami at 11:30 a.m. About 40 minutes before landing, the flight encountered severe turbulence, the airline said in a statement. CBS New York
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Emirates will fly A380 to D.C. after United drops Dubai route -- Emirates will be the latest carrier to fly its Airbus A380 superjumbo jets to Washington's Dulles International Airport. The airline will become the third carrier to offer regular A380 service from the airport, joining Air France and British Airways. Emirates currently flies Boeing 777 jets on its route to Dubai but will switch to the bigger, double-decker A380s on Jan. 26. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
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New budget airlines to keep WestJet, Air Canada on their toes -- NewLeaf Travel and other discount airlines are shaking up Canada's air travel industry, and that's good news for all passengers, analysts say. NewLeaf, which bills itself as an "ultra low-cost airline," will start Flying between seven "underserved" Canadian cities on Feb. 12 with tickets as cheap as $79. Icelandic carrier WOW Air will begin offering $99 flights to Iceland and $149 flights to European destinations from Toronto and Montreal in May. Sheena Goodyear/CBC News
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Smithsonian bird sleuth uses 'snarge' to track jet hit rise -- From a drab warehouse beneath the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, one of the world's foremost avian sleuths is trying to solve a mystery. Working with just a fragment of a black feather found after a jet slammed into a bird in California, Carla Dove tries to identify its species. Based on its size and color, she heads straight to the cabinet holding a preserved 3-foot-tall golden eagle. Alan Levin/Chicago Tribune/Bloomberg
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Airbus to join forces with Uber for on-demand helicopter service, CEO says -- Airbus Group SE will provide helicopters to Uber Technologies Inc. for its on-demand services, the European plane maker's chief executive said Sunday. "Its a pilot project, we'll see where it goes-but it's pretty exciting," Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal at the Digital Life Design conference here. The project will launch at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah this week, he said. Rebecca Blumenstein & Natalia Drozdiak/Wall Street Journal
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The "darker side" of travel gets overlooked, study says -- A university study out of Britain has confirmed what many business travelers already know: Regular travel can be a big bummer. The study, titled "A Darker Side of Hypermobility," says that society glamorizes travel but ignores the physical and psychological drawbacks. The negative aspects include the risk of deep-vein thrombosis, jet lag, exposure to radiation on commercial jets, anxiety about getting robbed or being the victim of terrorism and the stress on spouses left behind. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Inglewood lost identity with Lakers leaving; Gained redemption with Rams -- Redemption rested on a plot of land just beyond the casino, the empty seats overlooking the vacant track and within sight of the round building that once housed champions. It was coming one scoop at a time. A backhoe rumbled and dug into the earth and blew clouds of black smoke. The men in the orange vests yelled orders and stood on mounds of dirt now worth about $2 billion. David Montero/Los Angeles Daily News
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Garcetti: Site of Porter Ranch gas leak 'like a crime scene' -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti compared the site of a massive natural gas leak near Porter Ranch to a crime scene Monday and said Southern California Gas Co. must be held accountable for all long-term effects to area residents. The leak, which Gas Co. officials say was detected at the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility on Oct. 23, has sickened many nearby residents, forced thousands from their homes and prompted the relocation of students at two schools. Brenda Gazza/Los Angeles Daily News
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Garcetti wants you to pay more for power -- Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday he supports the proposed electricity rate hikes headed for a vote Tuesday by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. Garcetti said the increases, which would be implemented over a five-year period, are "critical to modernizing our aging electricity grid and bringing our power system into the 21st century." City News Service
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L.A. City Council formalizes relationship with 2024 Olympic bid committee -- After months of public and private discussion, the Los Angeles City Council has approved a "memorandum of understanding" that governs its relationship with the private committee bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The document, originally debated in council sessions last year, was voted upon Friday. It seeks to ensure LA 2024 leaders will meet regularly with council members during the bidding process. David Wharton/Los Angeles Times
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