Aviation Security
The summer from hell is coming to an airport near you, and more federal money won't make it better -- Is it a case of too little, too late, or of too much to the wrong approach? When it comes to Congress allowing the Transportation Security Administration to shift $34 million around within its budget so it can hire an extra 768 new officers and pay more overtime to the 42,500 employees it already has, it's probably both. It's too little and too late - if you think adding a measly 768 additional screeners to the nation's airports will help stave off yet another "summer from hell" at the nation's airports this summer. Dan Reed/Forbes
Congress rips TSA for long lines, abuse, 'smurfing' bonus practices -- The embattled Transportation Security Administration was slammed Thursday for improperly giving one official a $90,000 bonus, long lines at the nation's airports and retaliation against workers who complain about poor treatment. Lawmakers accused the TSA of disguising the payment to Kelly Hoggan by doling it out in nine chunks of $10,000 instead of one lump sum - a strategy known as "smurfing." He received this bonus even as the screeners he supervised failed a test to detect mock explosives and banned weapons. Corky Siemaszko/NBC News
TSA checked-bag system up and running after glitch snarled travel at Sky Harbor -- Sky Harbor International Airport officials said glitches in the checked-bag screening system operated by the federal Transportation Security Administration caused more than 3,000 bags to miss flights out of Phoenix Thursday. The baggage-screening system was up and running again by 9 p.m., according to a TSA statement. Barring any new problems, federal aviation officials expect business as usual on Friday as weekend travel kicks off. Dawn Gilbertson & Sarah Anderson/The Arizona Republic
TSA chief says agency no longer retaliating against whistleblowers -- The head of the Transportation Security Administration told a House panel that he has ended the agency's controversial practice of unfairly reassigning employees who report waste, fraud or abuse since stepping into the role last year.  TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger, testifying in front of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday, outlined a number of steps he has taken over the past year to boost workplace morale, reform senior management and train checkpoint screeners to better identify security threats. Melanie Zanona/The Hill
Airports
LA Mayor's quick trade trip to New Zealand -- Without expressing concerns about jet lag, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti led a delegation to New Zealand Thursday for a quick two-day summit to talk trade and tourism with the mayors, trade officials and business people of two other port cities. He's expected to be back at his City Hall desk by Tuesday. The Tripartite Summit is being hosted by Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, as part of an economic agreement with Los Angeles and Guangzhou, China. City News Service
BA flight from Los Angeles to London diverts to Iceland after off-duty airline worker 'slashes his wrists' in the toilet -- A British Airways flight from Los Angeles to London was forced to divert to Iceland when an off-duty member of staff was found 'slumped on the toilet seat' having 'slashed his wrists.' The man was discovered in the cubicle by his co-workers on the Airbus A380, in which several Hollywood executives bound for Cannes were travelling. It is not known what he had used to cut himself. John Hutchinson/Daily Mail
Airport shuttle drivers ruled to be employees, not contractors -- Bao Tai Lin was one of six former American Airporter shuttle drivers who, after years of ferrying passengers to San Francisco International Airport for less than minimum wage as independent contractors, won a labor dispute this month with a decision that affirmed they were, in fact, employees eligible for full benefits and wages. The case, lawyers and labor experts said, could have wide-reaching implications for California shuttle and ride-hailing companies that overwhelmingly rely on drivers treated as independent contractors despite legal questions. Marissa Lang/San Francisco Chronicle
Southwest pilots sue Chicago over banned airport billboard -- Southwest Airlines pilots may have the freedom of the skies, but they don't have the freedom to say whatever they want at Chicago's Midway Airport. At least not on a billboard, according to City Hall, which has barred the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association from using airport advertising to complain about pilots' stagnant wages. So now the pilots are suing the city of Chicago, saying its refusal to allow a billboard at Midway in advance of Southwest's shareholders meeting Wednesday in Chicago is an unconstitutional restriction on their First Amendment rights. Chicago Tribune
ANALYSIS: Dallas is America's new airline battleground (Part I) -- The Dallas-Fort Worth air travel market has now surpassed that of Denver as the most heated battleground for U.S. airlines. For nearly a decade, DIA was home to the most brutal airline competitive landscape in the country. Hometown low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines (now transformed into an ultra low cost carrier) and full service network carrier United Airlines had been battling for dominant market share in Denver. Vinay Bhaskara/Airways News
Phoenix Sky Harbor airport has its busiest month ever -- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport recorded its busiest month ever in March. More than 4.3 million passengers used the airport during the month, the latest for which data is available. That figure broke Sky Harbor's previous record -- set in March 2015 -- by 65,000. March is usually the airport's busiest month. The region's mild weather draws winter-weary visitors from the north and from Canada while sports fans flock to Arizona for the beginning of baseball's spring training and other sporting events. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today
Airlines
Aviation workers picket White House over Norwegian Air -- Norwegian Air International, a low-fare airline that recently won its first step toward approval for flights to the U.S., drew protests Thursday from rival workers who contend the bargain jets would skirt labor and safety laws. Hundreds of aviation workers chanting "Deny NAI" picketed in front of the White House on Thursday. Unions for pilots, flight attendants and mechanics claim Norwegian Air International, a subsidiary of the low-cost European carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle, located its headquarters in Ireland to dodge tough Norwegian labor laws that prohibit them from hiring contract pilots who may work for lower wages. Bart Jansen/USA Today
Airline industry leaders concerned over protectionism -- Proof that the airline industry is evolving in response to the debate over open skies and liberalization, which intensified last year, is that airline leaders appear willing to question some of the industry's other hot button issues: limits on foreign ownership and cabotage. These restrictions should be rethought, according to some high-level airline decision-makers at the Sky Harbor International Aviation Symposium in Phoenix. Madhu Unnikrishnan/Aviation Week & Space Technology
Airplanes
FAA orders extra scrutiny for some older, hardworking 737s -- The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring U.S. airlines operating 285 older Boeing 737 Classic jets to make regular inspections for widespread metal fatigue in the aft fuselage skins and to replace some skin panels after 53,000 flight cycles of takeoffs and landings. New FAA directives published Thursday make mandatory the recommendations in a special Boeing service bulletin sent last June to airlines operating the affected 737s, which are all at least 18 years old. Dominic Gates/Seattle Times
The 'boneyard': Where airlines send old planes to be scrapped -- American Airlines Flight 9780 arrives from Dallas/Fort Worth and taxis past a line of other MD-80 passenger jets as the morning sun rises over the New Mexico desert on a chilly morning this past winter. But as the jet comes to a stop, there's no boarding gate or jet bridge. In fact, there are no paying passengers aboard at all. Ben Mutzabaugh/USA Today 
Aviation Data & Analysis

US Jet Fuel Cost Lower in March
Courtesy Oliver Wyman PlaneStats
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