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Travelers surprised by shorter holiday lines at LAX -- Some 220,000 people were supposed to fly in and out of Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, and early indications were that lines were running smoothly. The relatively calm scene at LAX was a contrast to the long wait times for security Friday when people were trying to leave town. Airport officials said about 849,000 people would travel through the facility over the Memorial Day weekend. Experienced travelers said the biggest key to making your trip go well was to arrive early to the airport. Sid Garcia/ABC7 National story: Few Memorial Day Airport headaches, most wait times bearable
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LAX screener says TSA agents are scapegoats for long lines -- Victor Payes is a TSA agent at Los Angeles International Airport. He said screeners have become convenient scapegoats for the long lines, and passenger frustration is taking its toll on the agents. "Over the last 4 or 5 years, our staffing has gone down. We're getting more passengers. Airlines are booking more flights," Payes said. CBS LA
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Behind long airport lines, a chain of TSA cuts, missteps and crises -- The TSA uniformed screeners have become convenient scapegoats for the long lines, missed flights and general chaos that have frustrated airline travelers all month. And even if airports are relatively calm this weekend - and there is early evidence that may be the case - the agency itself has become a symbol of government inefficiency. Patrick McGeehan & Ron Nixon/New York Times
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Bomb-sniffing dogs help speed up airport security lines -- At some of the busiest airports, bomb-sniffing dogs are helping to speed up security lines. Their knack for finding explosives is unparalleled. The only problem is -- there aren't enough of them. Eight-year-old black lab Sunny can easily detect the kind of homemade explosives used in the Paris and Brussels terror attacks. She knows about 19,000 different kinds of explosives. Kris Van Cleave/CBS News
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Why hasn't TSA PreCheck reduced airport wait times? -- The idea behind TSA PreCheck is to create a faster checkpoint for low-risk fliers so that TSA can focus its limited resources on the majority of travelers in regular security lines. But the program has fallen far short of its goal of enrolling 25 million travelers, and TSA critics blame the program's shortcomings, in part, for the long security lines that are bogging down airport checkpoints as the nation prepares for the peak summer travel season. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Global airport trade group opposes new checkpoints after attacks -- The United Nation's aviation agency should avoid creating new checkpoints outside airport terminals as it draws up proposed global guidelines to improve security in the wake of recent attacks on travelers, the head of Airports Council International said on Friday. Allison Lampert/Reuters
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Ben Gurion: the world's most secure airport? -- As security concerns mount at international airports, more security officials are turning to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport to understand what it does differently. The airport, considered one of the safest in the world, has layers of security, only partially visible to the 16 million passengers who pass through every year. Oren Liebermann/CNN
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LAX arrivals are slowest at getting to the gate after landing, study finds -- Perhaps the best moment in a commercial flight is when the plane lands safely and you know you are only minutes away from getting out of your cramped seat and into the terminal. The bad news for passengers at Los Angeles International Airport is that it takes planes landing at LAX longer to get to the gate after touchdown than at any other major U.S. airport. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times LAist
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LAWA deputy general manager arrested on suspicion of DUI also had October accident -- A Los Angeles World Airports deputy general manager arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence was involved in another car accident last fall. In addition to an incident in February, LAWA spokeswoman Nancy Castles confirmed that Lisa Trifiletti, 40, was involved in an accident while driving a city car on the morning of October 26, 2015. Dakota Smith/Los Angeles Daily News
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Outstanding volunteers honored for service in Ontario -- An Ontario resident who has volunteered 4,056 hours in the past 20 years for the Travelers Aid of the Inland Empire was honored Friday by the Ontario City Council at the City of Ontario's 23rd Annual Volunteer Walk of Fame. Raquel Casillas, a retired nursing supervisor who arrives every Wednesday afternoon at the Ontario International Airport to help the guests traveling in and out, received a bronze star during the special ceremony that acknowledges outstanding City volunteers. City of Ontario
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You may soon be able to gamble at Atlantic City's airport -- Las Vegas has them. So why not Atlantic City? Such is the idea behind a resolution recently introduced in the New Jersey Legislature that seeks to put slot machines in the waiting areas at Atlantic City International Airport. The measure (ACR177) from state Assemblyman Tim Eustace (D-Bergen) would place a question on the ballot asking New Jersey voters to approve amending the state constitution to allow the machines at the airport, which is technically located in Egg Harbor Township. Brent Johnson/NJ.com
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Air travel demand slows as airlines confront security, fragile economies -- Air passenger demand in April rose at its slowest rate since January 2015, weighed by the March attacks on Brussels airport and highlighting safety as one of the main challenges facing top airline executives meeting this week. While airlines are enjoying a boost from lower oil prices, weakening economies and falling ticket prices are also posing problems for a sector which operates on thin profit margins. Victoria Bryan/Reuters
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Air Canada begins daily service from Salt Lake City to Toronto -- Fire engines offered a water cannon salute Saturday to honor the first Air Canada flight offering new service from Salt Lake City International Airport. The airline is returning to the Salt Lake City market, providing daily flights to and from its international hub in Toronto. The once-daily flight to Toronto will be timed to allow easy connections across the ocean - or anywhere in Canada. Return flights also are timed to connect easily from other global flights. Salt Lake Tribune
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New international airline coming to Seattle -- A new international airline is coming to Seattle. An official confirmed with KIRO 7's Cale Ramaker that Virgin Atlantic Airways will start nonstop flights to London's Heathrow Airport next March. Virgin Atlantic is 49 percent owned by Delta Air Lines and the carriers will operate the flight in partnership, using a Boeing Dreamliner. The new flight will replace Delta's service, adding 54 more seats on each flight. KIRO-TV Seattle
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| Virgin jet forced to land at fog-bound airport after 'inaccurate forecasts' -- Inaccurate forecasts were partly to blame for a Virgin Australia jet making a last-ditch attempt at an emergency landing as it nearly ran out of fuel, air-safety investigators have found. Passengers on board the Boeing 737-800 endured a terrifying ordeal as they were told to "brace, brace, brace" and keep their heads down as the plane was forced to land at a fog-bound Mildura Airport on June 18, 2013. Matt O'Sullivan/Sydney Morning Herald |
Airline executives gather at IATA Convention and look for answers -- The airline industry has finally shaken off its boom-and-bust past, says the head of the world's largest carrier, but investors aren't buying it because familiar signs of trouble loom on the horizon. Global air fares are falling as carriers add ever more aircraft, and low oil prices, which helped airlines land record profits of $33 billion last year, are inching higher. Robert Wall & Doug Cameron/Wall Street Journal
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Donald Trump's airline went from opulence in the air to crash landing -- When Donald Trump's new airline, the Trump Shuttle, launched on a summer day in 1989, tuxedoed waiters with white gloves passed out smoked salmon, honey chicken skewers, and chocolate truffles. It was early in the day, but champagne flowed at Logan Airport. After a string quartet rested its bows, Trump took the microphone and struck a discordant note: He railed against Pan Am, his rival in the shuttle business. Matt Viser/Boston Globe
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Should American Airlines leave a passenger who arrives at the gate a minute late? -- American Airlines Chief Operating Officer Robert Isom is justifiably proud that following the 2005 merger of US Airways and America West, he presided over a widely acclaimed effort to make US Airways a high performance, on-time airline. But in pursuing a similar effort at American Airlines, following a 2013 merger with US Airways, Isom has encountered resistance from the Allied Pilots Association. Ted Reed/The Street
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Republic Airways, United Airlines reach agreement on long-term relationship -- Republic Airways Holdings Inc and United Airlines reached a comprehensive agreement on a long term commercial relationship. The amended agreement would provide for uninterrupted flying of all 54 E170s and E175s currently operated by Republic for United. The agreement would provide for uninterrupted flying of future Ejet flying by Republic for United through term extensions and will become effective upon issuance of the approval order by the court. Reuters
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Frontier Airlines flight makes emergency landing Friday at Louis Armstrong Int'l Airport -- A Frontier Airlines plane that left Denver on Friday with 227 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing in New Orleans because of a mechanical issue. Jim Faulkner, Frontier spokesman, tells KMGH-TV in Denver that Flight 688 landed safely at Louis Armstrong International Airport early Friday morning on its way to Orlando, Florida. Faulkner said no one was hurt, and Frontier flew empty planes to New Orleans to pick up the stranded passengers. AP
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Southwest Airlines flight diverted to Phoenix due to behavior of passengers -- Airline officials say "unusual" passenger behavior led to the diversion of a Southwest flight from Los Angeles to Albuquerque. Southwest Air says Flight 1271 was diverted to Sky Harbor International Airport after flight attendants relayed customer observations of unusual behavior of two passengers. The plane landed without incident and was met by local law enforcement, the airline said. Max Walker/KNXV Arizona
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EgyptAir crash: Why don't more airlines stream black box data? -- In their quest to uncover what caused an EgyptAir jetliner's fatal plunge into the Mediterranean Sea this month, searchers are conducting a costly, time-consuming hunt for the jet's black box data recorders. But in an age where digital data can be easily transmitted and stored remotely, the use of black boxes to record critical flight data increasingly strikes many experts as antiquated. Erik Ortiz/NBC News
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Are outrageous airline fees going buh-bye? -- Airline fees aren't disappearing anytime soon, but the most ridiculous of them may be headed for the emergency exits. By "ridiculous" I mean United Airlines' $50 processing fee for tickets refunded to passengers after unplanned events such as jury duty, illness or death. Or Delta Air Lines' $25 fee for booking a ticket by phone. "Some of these fees were irrationally punitive," says George Hoffer, a transportation economist at the University of Richmond. "They were neither cost- nor demand-based." Christopher Elliott/USA Today
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Disney vows to fight after its characters are spotted at rival Chinese theme park -- The chairman of China's biggest conglomerate recently predicted that a new $5.5-billion Disney theme park opening in Shanghai next month would fail, citing a lack of innovation with intellectual properties and characters. But when that same conglomerate, Dalian Wanda Group Co., opened a rival theme park over the weekend, visitors were greeted by workers dressed as Disney characters, including Captain America, Snow White and Star Wars storm troopers. Hugo Martin/Los Angeles Times
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Boeing mulls larger engine for biggest 737 MAX -- Boeing is considering a plan to put a larger engine on its biggest narrowbody airliner in an effort to blunt the runaway success of a rival Airbus jet that outsells it by four to one, industry sources said. The U.S. planemaker would substitute a modified version of the larger and more powerful LEAP-1A engine used on Airbus's A321neo rather than the LEAP-1B used on the 737 MAX 9, they said. Reuters
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Mayor Garcetti appoints two deputy mayors to oversee economic agenda -- Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Friday appointed two deputy mayors to oversee his economic agenda, replacing Deputy Mayor Kelli Bernard, who left earlier this month to take an executive position at Aecom. Garcetti named Raymond Chan, who has served the past two years as general manager of the Department of Building and Safety, as deputy mayor for economic development. He will lead efforts to create jobs, attract investment and make the city more business-friendly. He also named Brenda Shockley, who has served 24 years as president of Community Build, a nonprofit focused on revitalizing south L.A., as deputy mayor for economic opportunity. Howard Fine/Los Angeles Business Journal
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