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New executive director sought for Burbank Bob Hope Airport -- The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority announced Monday that it is launching a nationwide search for a new executive director to succeed Dan Feger (pictured) and oversee day-to-day operations at Burbank Bob Hope Airport. Feger will remain as executive director until his successor starts work and then will assume the newly created position of director of development services, where he will concentrate on shepherding the planning, design, financing, and construction of a 14-gate Replacement Terminal. Los Angeles Daily News BUR Press Release Mark Madler/San Fernandino Valley Business Journal
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LAX police say Arabic-speaking man broke no law -- A spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport police says officers have concluded a University of California, Berkeley student broke no laws when he spoke in Arabic on his cellphone while seated on a Southwest Airlines plane. Officer Rob Pedregon of the Los Angeles World Airports Police Department said Monday that officers from his department and agents from the FBI both interviewed Khairuldeen Makhzoomi after he was taken off the April 9 flight. AP
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Conversation, not Arabic, led to student's removal, Southwest Airlines says -- Southwest Airlines said Monday that a college student who was speaking Arabic was removed from a flight earlier this month because another passenger believed that he had made "threatening comments." The Dallas-based airline issued a new statement on Monday afternoon after The Washington Post published an interview with student, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, who blamed the incident on "Islamophobia." Andrea Ahles/Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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It's time for airlines to stop ejecting passengers for looking or acting Muslim -- There isn't much that one can say conclusively about incidents in which passengers have been removed from airplanes because someone they were looking or acting in a menacing way except for these points: A large number of them involve individuals or groups acting like or appearing to be Muslims or Arabs. The people making a to-do about them are almost invariably permitted to continue on their merry way unmolested. Michael Hiltzik/Los Angeles Times
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Temperature records set at LAX, Newport Beach -- Thanks to a lingering heat wave brought on by an upper ridge and light offshore flow, record highs for this date were set at Los Angeles International Airport and Newport Beach Monday. The 83-degree high at Los Angeles International Airport broke the previous record of 78 set in 1999, according to the National Weather Service. City News Service
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Union reps say more security needed at Van Nuys Airport -- Union representatives for Los Angeles Airport Police officers said Monday they want city leaders to boost patrol-officer staffing at Van Nuys Airport, where there have been three security breaches and vandalism in recent months. The first breach of the city-owned airport took place in December, when vandals used bolt cutters to bypass the fence and spray painted three private jets. In March, a man crashed into a plane after driving a vehicle through the airport fence and crossing two active runways. City News Service
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Baby book presumed lost by airline mysteriously returned to Van Nuys mother's doorstep - 3 months later -- A Van Nuys mother got a big surprise Saturday when a precious baby book she presumed was lost by an airline three months ago was returned to her doorstep. "I had really given up hope of anything from that carry-on being returned," the woman, Tracy Cassella, said. It all started in January, when Cassella was traveling with her 1-year-old daughter Francesca and her husband to see family on the East Coast. CBS LA
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United to offer daily nonstop flight between Omaha and San Francisco -- United Airlines will begin offering a daily nonstop flight this fall between Omaha and San Francisco International Airport - service coveted for years by local tech startups and other businesses. It will be the first daily nonstop route offered between Omaha and San Francisco in at least 25 years, said Chris Martin, director of operations and airline affairs at Eppley Airfield. Paige Yowell/Omaha World-Herald
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Severe weather grounds flights at Houston airports -- Flooding and severe weather in and around Houston have been causing serious problems for fliers trying to get in and out of both George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport today. While severe weather continues to affect air traffic at the Houston airports, the ground stop at George Bush Intercontinental Airport has been lifted. Travelers are being urged to contact their air carriers to check on remaining delays and cancellations and be aware that there are some road detours at both airports. Harriet Baskas/USA Today
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Famous voices greet travelers at Vegas airport -- Lots of neon, a liquor store in baggage claim and more than 1,400 slot machines offering passengers a chance to win a jackpot make it more than obvious that McCarran International Airport is in Las Vegas. But to eliminate any doubts, and make the airport "all Vegas, all the time," McCarran recently launched a program that uses the airport's public address system to play music from stars associated with Sin City in both the airport and the rental car center. Harriet Baskas/USA Today
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Entry to Minneapolis-St. Paul International will get remade for InterContinental -- Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport's main entrance will soon have a new look and feel. Graves Hospitality, a Minneapolis-based developer, begins construction this summer on a 12-story, 300-room hotel that will be the first thing passengers arriving by car encounter on the way in to the airport. The company announced Monday InterContinental Hotel and Resorts will be the hotel's brand. Kristen Leigh Painter/Minneapolis Star Tribune
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German police, airport officials call for security review -- German police and airport officials Sunday called for a review of how security checks are handled at airports amid concerns existing procedures weren't adequate to detect weapons that could potentially be used to target flights. German public television WDR said inspectors from the European Union, which is in charge of assuring member states comply with airport security regulations, in a test in February were able to repeatedly smuggle weapons and bomb components through checks at Cologne-Bonn Airport. Ruth Bender & Robert Wall/Wall Street Journal
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JetBlue's Mint expansion could be a watershed moment in true premium cabin flying around the US -- Conventional wisdom in the US is that there is a ton of demand for international-style paid premium cabin offerings between New York and both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Anywhere else? Meh, not so much. JetBlue's expansion of its Mint premium cabin to a whole slew of new routes bucks that trend, and it could mean the beginning of a premium cabin war that sees international-style premium cabins come to several new routes. Wouldn't that be nice? Brett Snyder/The Cranky Flier
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United Air to accept board overhaul in proxy dispute deal -- United Continental Holdings Inc. is nearing an agreement with activist investors that would include replacing Chairman Henry Meyer III as part of a broader board overhaul, people with familiar with the talks said. Meyer's departure would clear the way for a successor with deep airline experience, one of the changes sought by Altimeter Capital Management LP and PAR Capital Management Inc., which combined control 7.2 percent of the airline's stock. Michael Sasso & Julie Johnsson/Bloomberg
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Machinists ratify new contract with United Airlines that runs through 2021 -- Earlier this month, United Airlines and the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers reached agreement on new contracts that would run through 2021. Those unionized workers have now ratified the deal. In a release, United Airlines, a unit of Chicago-based United Continental Holdings, said the IAM workers "voted overwhelmingly to ratify seven new contracts." Chicago Business Journal
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Alaska Air, Virgin America file deal paperwork with Feds -- Eleven days after Alaska Air Group Inc. announced plans to acquire Virgin America Inc. for $2.6 billion, the two airlines said they submitted paperwork Friday outlining the transaction to the government, as required by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act. That law allows the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Justice Department to review the proposed transaction ahead of time and determine whether it is anticompetitive. Susan Carey/Wall Street Journal
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Why Alaska Airlines is changing how its registers its planes -- For five decades, all Alaska Airlines registrations followed the same pattern. The airline used three different numbers and the same two letters - AS. According to the airline, the 'AS' refers to the carrier's initial name, Alaska Star Airlines. (It dropped the 'star' in 1944.) "The tradition of using AS in aircraft registrations appears to have started with Alaska's first Boeing 727, N797AS, that was delivered in October 1966," Alaska said in a blog post last week. But the times are changing. In the post, Alaska said it is switching its 'N number' convention. Instead of AS, it is now using AK. The first plane with the new designation arrived in mid-April, a Boeing 737-900ER registered as N224AK. BrianSumers.com
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Would you watch a film about airplane food? -- Tour the Internet and you'll find numerous articles, Instagram photos, tweets and websites, such as AirlineMeals.net, sharing photos, descriptions and reviews of the meals - good and bad - served to airline passengers in economy, business and first-class cabins on airlines worldwide. Soon there may be a documentary film about how airlines source, prepare and deliver those tray-sized meals to passengers in the sky. Harriet Baskas/USA Today BrianSumers.com
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L.A. Convention Center books 30 major gatherings for 2016, a 30% jump from last year -- The Los Angeles Convention Center has booked 30 major conventions for 2016, a 30% increase over last year and a new record for big multi-day gatherings at the city facility. The conventions this year include a celebration of comic books and movies, a gathering of experts on allergies and a conference of builders of environmentally friendly structures. The new events are expected to boost the center's annual attendance 22% this year, convention representatives said. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Direction of tour business not in doubt --There's something most unusual about one of L.A.'s newest tour companies ... none of the guests knows where they are going until they get there. Mystery Trip, founded last year by former executive recruiter Dave Green, is aimed at companies looking for fun outings to unusual places that will serve as bonding exercises for executives and regular staff. "It breaks down barriers because of the shared experience," said Green, 45, who has given himself the title of chief mysterious officer. Natalie Schachar/Los Angeles Business Journal
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Americans needing European travel visas? If E.U. politicians play their cards wrong it could happen -- If the European Union this summer overturns its long-held policy and begins requiring Americans - and Canadians, too - to obtain visas before visiting France, Germany, Spain, Italy and 22 other E.U. member nations, you'll hear the cries of outrage. Odds are that it won't happen. But the possibility remains alive after the European Commissioners, doing what bureaucrats do best, last week avoided making a decision and pushed the deadline off another 90 days. Dan Reed/Forbes
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Lawmakers seek to tighten bullet train oversight, suggesting growing concern about the project -- A key state legislative committee on Monday unanimously approved a Republican-led bill to strengthen oversight of the California bullet train, a sign of growing bipartisan concern about the project. The bill, which would set new reporting requirements for the $64-billion bullet train project, was approved by the Assembly Transportation Committee. Until the last six months, the Democrat-controlled Legislature largely had kept its hands off the project, which enjoys strong support from Gov. Jerry Brown and the Obama administration. Ralph Vartabedian/Los Angeles Times
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