Aviation Security
Congress approves TSA request for screeners to meet summer crush -- Congress approved TSA's request Wednesday to hire more screeners and pay overtime to deal with a surge in summer travelers who are already jamming airport checkpoints. The Transportation Security Administration asked Congress on May 4 to shift $34 million between its accounts to hire and train 768 new officers and pay overtime for its 42,500 officers. Key senators agreed the same day, and their House counterparts approved the shift Wednesday. Bart Jansen/USA Today
U.S. air traveler patience with TSA at 'breaking point' -- Get ready, America, for a summer full of long security lines at major airports, missed flight connections and millions of grumpy passengers. That's the warning from authorities at the nation's most congested and busiest airports and the Transportation Security Administration. Airports are starting to take matters into their own hands. Thom Patterson & Rene March/CNN
Airports
LA faces funding shortage for transportation projects, group says -- A new report outlines the most critical transportation projects in Los Angeles - but there's little funding for most of them. The group TRIP (The Road Information Program) examined about 125 projects across California and labeled them with green, yellow or red lights to indicate if they had funding available. "Of the 30 projects we have identified here in the LA area, half of those are rated as red-light projects because there is not enough funding to proceed at least for the next five years," said Caroline Kelly with TRIP. Other projects only have partial funding, such as extending the Metro Green line to Los Angeles International AirportCarlos Granda/ABC7
Crime a top priority for supervisor candidates vying for Don Knabe's seat -- Three candidates vying for the seat of outgoing Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe are championing crime fighting and transportation among their top priorities ahead of the June 7 primary election. Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, Steve Napolitano, senior deputy to Knabe, and Ralph Pacheco, a minister and board member of the Whittier Union High School District are the candidates for the 4th District supervisorial seat. On transportation, Hahn said she will fight to ensure that the Metro Green Line connects to Los Angeles International AirportBrenda Gazzar/ Los Angeles Daily News
Can golf course renovations block airport growth? Speak Up Newport will tackle the topic -- Renovations of Newport Beach Golf Course was the topic of discussion at Wednesday night's Speak Up Newport event. The course operator, Newport Beach businessman William "Buck" Johns, will scheduled to speak about planned projects at the aging property and how they could keep growth at the adjacent John Wayne Airport at bay by keeping the golf course there longer. Newport resident and radio host Tom Johnson also was scheduled to speak on the topic. Hannah Fry/Newport Beach Daily Pilot Also: Will John Wayne Day get a 'yes' in Newport Beach after Assembly's 'no'?
This airport is becoming a circus ... literally -- Being stuck at the San Diego airport is about to get much more entertaining. The San Diego International Airport has hired the Fern Street Circus to perform for fliers. Starting Wednesday, a team of eight circus performers, including stilt walkers, jugglers, clowns and musicians will be roaming the airport. There's no set schedule for when and where the performers will be at the airport, but they are committed to at least one performance a month. Kathryn Vasel/CNN Money Harriet Baskas/Stuck at the Airport
Blueprint calls for direct trains from Delaware to airport -- An early proposal to build a passenger rail line south from Philadelphia International Airport to the Chester, Pennsylvania, area could make getting to the airport easier for Delaware travelers. But the concept would require a massive amount of new rail construction dollars, and local rail experts are skeptical that funding would ever materialize. Karl Baker/Wilmington (Del.) News Journal
China's Xiamen Airlines will launch Seattle-Shenzhen flights -- China's Xiamen Airlines will begin direct flights between Seattle and Shenzhen, China, starting in September. It is the first direct flight between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the economic powerhouse city in southeast China, and is also the first direct flight between Shenzhen and the United States. The route will also include a connection between Shenzhen and Xiamen, a city on China's southeast coast that is headquarters to the airline. Janet I. Tu/Seattle Times
Airlines
JD Power: Alaska Air, JetBlue still the best in 2016 -- JetBlue and Alaska Airlines maintained their decade-long stranglehold atop the annual J.D. Power customer service satisfaction survey of North American carriers. Those airlines also had the highest customer satisfaction ratings for their frequent-flier programs, according to the 2016 J.D. Power survey released Wednesday. Overall, passengers' happiness with service on U.S. and Canadian airlines continued to rise, hitting a 10-year high, according to the survey. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
The world's richest airlines can't get enough hand-me-down jets -- It's a tale that could be dubbed "From Russia to Love." Two Boeing Co. 737 jetliners swooped onto a factory airfield near Seattle in March, the last of the models once flown by a collapsed Russian carrier. They were headed for makeovers to erase the Cyrillic logos and any other trace of Transaero Airlines. Next stop: Dallas's Love Field, where hometown carrier Southwest Airlines Co. is on a record shopping spree.  Julie Johnsson & Mary Schlangenstein/Bloomberg
Who will fly the planes? Regional airline CEO warns of pilot shortage -- Dion Flannery is used to blank looks when he talks about the airline he runs. PSA Airlines is not a name-brand carrier most people recognize. But the regional carrier, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines, is a key player in the airline industry, operating hundreds of flights a day at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, where it flies under the American Eagle name. As regional airlines become increasingly important to U.S. air travel, however, they are facing a major problem: finding people to fly their planes. Ely Portillo/Charlotte Observer
Alaska Air makes Japan Airlines its 17th frequent-flier partner -- Alaska Airlines has added another carrier to its growing lineup of frequent-flier partners. The latest is Japan Airlines, which will begin a codeshare and frequent-flier tie-up with Alaska Airlines on June 29. The deal, which still must receive regulatory approvals, would let customers earn and redeem miles on each other's flights. Alaska Airline anticipates that members of its Mileage Plan will be able to begin earning miles on JAL "early this summer. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
Passenger's quest for beer forced Alaska Airlines flight to divert, feds say -- A passenger who authorities say forced an Alaska Airlines flight to be diverted after he didn't get a beer has pleaded not guilty in Portland, Oregon, to a charge of interfering with a flight crew. A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday says 32-year-old Luke Watts of Portland threatened to become violent if flight attendants didn't serve him a beer during a March flight from Sacramento, California, to Seattle. AP
Southwest Airlines unions plan protests at shareholder meeting -- Southwest Airlines pilots, flight attendants and mechanics unions plan to picket outside of the company's annual shareholder meeting when it is held in Chicago next week. The unions said they are disappointed with the Dallas-based carrier's management team as the two sides have been unable to agree on a new contract. Andrea Ahles/Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Malaysia: 2 More Pieces 'Almost Certainly' From Flight 370 -- Malaysia's government said Thursday that two more pieces of debris, discovered in South Africa and Rodrigues Island off Mauritius, are "almost certainly" from Flight 370, bringing the total number of pieces believed to have come from the missing Malaysian jet to five. The aircraft mysteriously disappeared more than two years ago with 239 people on board, and so far an extensive underwater search of a vast area of the Indian Ocean off Australia's west coast has turned up empty. Eileen Ng/AP
Travel
The best and worst frequent-flier rewards programs for 2016 -- There's good news for frequent fliers: Airlines are slowly, cautiously increasing availability of hard-to-find frequent-flier award tickets. The bad news? Much of the improvement is happening abroad and the largest frequent-flier program, from American Airlines, appears to have gotten stingier with loyalty benefits, according to an annual survey of award availability. The price of awards is going up, too. Scott McCartney/Wall Street Journal
Southwest Airlines gets some really good news on reward seat availability front --Southwest Airlines' on-time arrival numbers may have lagged major competitors in April. But when it comes to award seat availability - one metric important to many frequent travelers - Southwest really soars. In Switchfly's annual Reward Seat Availability Survey of 25 airlines around the world revealed today, Southwest and Air Berlin tied for the No. 1 spot in the survey, with both carriers showing 100 percent availability. Lewis Lazare/Chicago Business Journal
Airplanes
Boeing mulls price cuts, to a point, in quest for 737 share gain -- Boeing Co. is studying redesigned versions of the 737 Max jetliner, cutting costs and rolling out more robotics in factories to keep pace with relentless competition in the global aerospace market. But there are limits to what the U.S. planemaker will do in its battles with old foe Airbus Group SE and newer rival Bombardier Inc., executives said Wednesday. Julie Johnsson/Bloomberg
Aviation Data & Analysis
Airline Consolidation -- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Aviation Symposium
Courtesy Oliver Wyman PlaneStats
City Government
LA City Council re-re-re-considers plan to add bike lanes, reduce some car lanes on Friday -- After approving, then rescinding, then re-approving a controversial plan for the future of Los Angeles streets, the City Council will again consider the proposal, this time with several changes approved by the City Planning Commission. The Mobility Plan 2035 is a blueprint for city transportation projects over the next two decades and is part of the General Plan, which guides long-term development policy decisions. Meghan McCarty/KPCC
Sammy Davis Jr. handgun among 791 collected in LA weapons buyback -- A handgun once registered to entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. was among the 791 guns collected during gun buyback events held in Mission Hills and South Los Angeles last weekend, officials announced Wednesday. "Only in Los Angles would you find a gun whose registration might have been held by Frank Sinatra, members of the Rat Pack," L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a news conference announcing the results of the buyback program. Sarah Favot/Los Angeles Daily News
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