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QANTAS has cancelled orders for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and deferred the delivery of a further 15 aircraft, due to turbulent conditions. The airline said it delayed by four years delivery of 15 Boeing 787-8 aircraft and cancelled orders for 15 787-9 aircraft that were scheduled for delivery in 2014-15. The delay and cancellation in the orders "were appropriate in the current climate, and discussions with Boeing, which commenced some months ago, had not been influenced by the announcement this week of a design issue and further delay to the aircraft's first flight," said Qantas chief executive Officer Alan Joyce......

The flag carrier, and its regional airline Jazz, will allow customers to book a space under their seats for a pet for travel from July 1. They will pay $50 (£30) for a domestic flight in North America or $100 for international flights. Owners must stow pets in leakproof carriers weighing in total no more than 10kg (22lb). A maximum of four pets will be carried per flight. An Air Canada spokesman said it would consider the needs of passengers with allergies when allocating seats. The carriage of pets is not allowed on flights to or from Britain. Next month...

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for information what appeared to be a model rocket that nearly missed a Continental Express jet late last month. The rocket sizzled past the plane after it took off from Bush Intercontinental Airport about 8 p.m. on May 29, officials said. Investigators determined it lifted off somewhere in Chambers County, but they have been unable to find out who launched it. Ken DeFoor, chief deputy of the Liberty County sheriff's office, said the incident has generated several leads his office has turned over to the FBI. He declined to elaborate. The jet carried four...

L’Express is reporting that Brazilian investigators have concluded after the examination of the first bodies recovered on Air France Flight 447 that the aircraft would have broken in two and did not explode...

All of the fuel-hedging, layoffs, capacity and route-cutting the airline industry did last year in an attempt to offset the rising price of fuel has gone for nothing. Delta (DAL) announced today that it would need to make more significant reductions in available seats and the process would cost many more people their jobs. According to the AP, most of the $6 billion benefit that Delta got from its NWA merger and resulting capacity reductions will be washed away by falling revenue due to the global recession. Delta will chop its number of international seats by 15%. The news is...

The International Air Transport Association has doubled its estimates for global airline industry losses compared to its figure of three months ago. That presages another round of carrier bankruptcies similar to these in the early part of the decade. Reuters reports that the IATA expects the red ink at the world’s airlines to hit $9 billion this year. The main culprit is the same as it was last year–rising fuel costs. That is now married to a sharp drop in traffic. Most of the Chapter 11 filings during the 2008 affected small airlines, at least in America. That could change...

RECIFE, Brazil – An Air France memo to its pilots about the crash of Flight 447 says the airline is replacing flight-speed sensors in all its medium- and long-haul Airbus jets. Air France declines to comment on the memo obtained by The Associated Press, saying it is for pilots only. Airbus says the matter is part of the probe into the crash that killed 228 people flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The memo sent Friday says Air France has been replacing instruments known as pitot tubes and will finish in "coming weeks." It does not say when it...

Once again, a widely publicized tragedy is being blamed on man-caused global warming. Warming alarmists have often bemoaned air travel saying it increases the threat of global warming, but this time they’re blaming the phenomenon for the tragedy surrounding Air France Flight 447. That flight is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean and have claimed up to 228 lives. Alexei Kokorin, a climatologist for the left-wing World Wildlife Fund’s Russia Climate Program, blamed global warming for the crash. He told Russia Today (RT) on June 4 global warming is to blame for making the weather conditions some think...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- United Airlines operator UAL Corp. said Thursday that it has sent a proposal request to Boeing Co. and Airbus, as the carrier plans to begin replacing its wide-body fleet. In a letter to employees, Chairman and Chief Executive Glenn Tilton said the request could result in a "significant" number of new planes. At the end of 2008, UAL owned 80 wide-body jets and leased an additional 34.

Brazilian authorities reportedly delayed an Air France flight from Buenos Aires to Paris after the airline received a bomb threat over the phone, just days before the mysterious crash of Flight 447 over the Atlantic Ocean. According to a Brazilian news report, police and airport officials spent 90 minutes inspecting the threatened plane for explosives on the evening of May 27 at Buenos Aires' Ezeiza Airport, but found nothing. During the search, passengers were not evacuated from the jet and later safely arrived at their destination in Paris. On Tuesday, Brazil's defense minister said an airplane seat, a fuel slick...

WATERLOO (KWWL) -- A Boeing 757 made an emergency landing at the Waterloo Regional Airport just after 10:00 a.m Tuesday morning. Northwest flight #335 took off around 8:30 a.m. Iowa time from Detroit due for Los Angeles. The airport was notified that there was smoke in the cockpit and the plane needed to land in Waterloo. The airport was notified when the plane was ten miles out. We have a crew on the scene and will bring you the latest on the KWWL News at Noon.

PARIS — An Air France passenger jet traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared after its electrical systems malfunctioned during a storm with heavy turbulence on Sunday evening, and officials said Monday that a search had begun for the wreckage near a small archipelago off the Brazilian coast. “We are very worried,” said an aviation official in Paris interviewed by Agence France-Presse. “It could be a transponder problem, but this kind of fault is very rare and the plane did not land when expected.” The plane, an Airbus 330, was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members. The passengers...

Jumbo jet packed with British tourists seconds from disaster after it fails to rise on take-off By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 01st June 2009 Hundreds of passengers narrowly avoided disaster when their plane nearly crashed after taking off. The British Airways plane shook violently and did not rise more than 30ft above the ground as it set off from Johannesburg to London. The pilot has been praised for his quick actions in keeping the Boeing 747 in the air, saving the lives of the 256 passengers on board. Miraculous escape: The British Airways Boeing 747, similar to this one, is thought...

A new low-cost airline will begin serving mid-sized U.S. cities that it thinks larger carriers have left behind. Clearwater, Fla.-based JetAmerica said 34 nonstop passenger flights a week will start July 13 at Toledo, Ohio; South Bend, Ind.; Melbourne, Fla.; Newark, N.J.; Minneapolis and Lansing, Mich. Twenty-eight flights start or end at Newark Liberty International Airport. The carrier will add six more flights -- from Toledo to Minneapolis -- starting Aug. 14. JetAmerica is targeting small and midsize cities like Lansing, which has seen the number of daily flights at its Capital Region International Airport fall from 35 to 12...

Air France-KLM reports first loss, 2,700 job cuts Tue May 19, 12:55 pm ET PARIS (AFP) – Air France-KLM, Europe's biggest airline, on Tuesday announced losses of 814 million euros (1.1 billion dollars) for the 2008-2009 fiscal year and said it would have to cut 2,700 jobs. The losses were the first incurred by the French-Dutch group since the 2003 merger of Air France and KLM and the airline's chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said job cuts were inevitable. Some 2,700 jobs were slashed during 2008 and 2009 and further cuts "on the same scale" were planned for the next financial...

Get ready for some changes the next time you fly out of the Midland Airport. On Friday, some new rules could determine whether you make your next flight. Airport security is getting a little more personal, and it means giving your full name the next time you book a flight. According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), when you line up to go through airport security, you will need to make sure the name on the boarding pass matches your ID exactly. That means if your driver's license has your middle name, then your boarding pass must have your middle...

The co-pilot of doomed Flight 3407 was a sleep-deprived 24-year-old making $16,000 a year who bunked at her parents' house near Seattle, a cross-country commute from her homebase airport, air safety officials said Wednesday.

The captain of a commuter plane that crashed Feb. 12 near Buffalo, N.Y., had flunked numerous flight tests during his career and was never adequately taught how to respond to the emergency that led to the airplane’s fatal descent, according to people close to the investigation, The Wall Street Journal reports. All 49 people aboard were killed, as well as one person in a house below, when the plane crashed just a few miles short of the Buffalo airport en route from Newark, N.J. The Bombardier Q400 turboprop in the crash, which will be the subject of a National Transportation...

Man impersonated federal agent on 2007 flight from Logan May 12, 2009 07:33 PM Email| Comments (1)| Text size – + By Globe Staff The man in his late 40s flashed a badge, said he was a Department of Homeland Security agent, and filled out a flying-while-armed form at the airline ticket counter at Logan International Airport. Then he bypassed security and boarded a plane to San Diego.

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The pilots of the Continental Connection turboprop that crashed in February near Buffalo N.Y., rushed through mandatory checklists in a matter of seconds, but spent almost the entire 59-minute flight from Newark, N.J., bantering about personal issues, job goals and the theoretical hazards of ice accumulation during winter flying, according to the cockpit recorder transcript released Tuesday by federal investigators.

LOS ANGELES — Aviation authorities say a baggage cart was drawn into an engine of a Boeing 747 as it was leaving a terminal gate at Los Angeles International Airport. .. .. a baggage cart was being towed by at the same time and the engine ingested one of the containers. The object was lodged in the outer left-side engine of the four-engine jet.

The captain of a commuter plane that crashed Feb. 12 near Buffalo, N.Y., had flunked numerous flight tests during his career and was never adequately taught how to respond to the emergency that led to the airplane's fatal descent, according to people close to the investigation. [...] Capt. Marvin Renslow had never been properly trained by the company to respond to a warning system designed to prevent the plane from going into a stall, according to people familiar with the investigation. As the speed slowed to a dangerous level, setting off the stall-prevention system, he did the opposite of the...

Another major European airline has announced plans to service Baghdad with passenger flights. BMI airlines, currently in the process of being taken over by German carrier Lufthansa, flies from the UK to a variety of politically sensitive destinations, including Sierra Leone, Lebanon and Iran. BMI has held talks with Iraqi government officials about adding Baghdad to its network and plans to lobby the UK to lift a ban on direct travel between the UK and Iraq. "I have told Iraqi officials and business that subject to the required levels of operational integrity and safety being satisfactorily achieved and appropriate governmental...

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2009 – In honor of National Military Appreciation Month, JetBlue is offering active duty military personnel $1 fares for domestic, nonstop flights, for a limited time, departing from the two JetBlue cities nearest to the nation’s capital: Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., and Richmond International Airport in Richmond, Va. The airline also will donate $15,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization that honors and empowers wounded warriors. To take advantage of the offer, servicemembers must book between today and May 7, or while seats last, for travel between May 8 and May...

A baggage handler has been accused of stealing a secured handgun from the suitcase of an NYPD sergeant boarding a flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Friday that charges against 21-year-old Tamarcus Hines include gun possession and grand larceny. A criminal complaint says on April 22 the Queens resident allegedly took the unloaded 9-milimeter gun from a locked box packed in the suitcase, along with ammunition and a gun holster.

A United Airlines flight from Munich to Washington has been diverted to Boston's Logan International Airport because a female passenger complained of flu symptoms, an airport official said. Flight 903, a 737 containing 245 passengers and 16 crew, has been isolated in the north cargo area of the airport, said airport spokesman Phil Orlandella. One patient was removed from the plane and was being taken to Masachusetts General Hospital, said Jennifer Mehigan, a spokeswoman for Boston Emergency Medical Services. The other passengers are expected to stay on board and continue to Washington after refueling, airport officials said. A United Airlines...

BOSTON — A flight from Munich, Germany to Washington has been diverted to Boston because a passenger complained of "flu-like symptoms." Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella said United flight 903 was being diverted to Boston early Friday afternoon after a 53-year-old female passenger told flight attendants about her symptoms.

(IsraelNN.com) The British airline, BMI, has removed Israel from the electronic maps displayed to passengers in some of its planes, Army Radio reports. The report claimed that the reason was to avoid offending Muslim passengers. However, the maps showed passengers the direction of Mecca. Israel does not appear in maps on BMI flights between London and Tel Aviv, and Khefa, the pre-independence Arabic name for Haifa, appears on the maps. In addition, the electronic maps display the distance between the plane and Mecca. The airline claims that the map has not been changed due to a “logistical problem.” Instead, it...

A member of the U.S. delegation that traveled to Mexico City as part of the advance security team for Energy Secretary Steven Chu exhibited swine flu-like symptoms upon his return, and three members of his family have tested positive for the A H1N1 virus, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced on Thursday. The unnamed staffer tested negative himself, but Gibbs attributed that to the amount of time that had elapsed since the onset of his own symptoms. The staffer felt ill three days after his arrival in Mexico City, which was April 13th. On the following day (April 17th),...

British airline BMI has deleted Israel from electronic maps that appear on its flights in order to avoid angering Muslim passengers, Army Radio reported on Thursday. Additional efforts on to appeal to Muslim customers include showing the distance and relation of the plane to Mecca, the direction to which Muslims face when they pray. In the electronic maps appearing on a BMI flight from London to Tel Aviv, for example, Israel and its cities are not marked, with the exception of Haifa, which is spelled 'Khefa,' the city's Arab name dating to before the War of Independence.

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A BRITISH air stewardess was sacked for refusing to fly to Saudi Arabia after she was ordered to wear a traditional Islamic robe and walk behind male colleagues. Lisa Ashton, a £15,000-a-year stewardess with BMI, was told that in public areas in Saudi Arabia she was required to wear a black robe, known as an abaya. This covers everything but the face, feet and hands. She was told to follow her male colleagues, irrespective of rank. Ashton, 37, who was worried about security in the country, refused to fly there, claiming the instructions were discriminatory. She was sacked last April....

Travel and hotel groups are braced for a turbulent ride today as stock markets react to fears over the strain of swine flu that was reported to have killed up to 71 people and closed much of public life in Mexico at the weekend. Analysts said that the news would revive memories of the 2002-03 severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak. Although the disease, first noticed in southern China in November 2002, was short-lived, it caused the deaths of 774 people worldwide and had a devastating impact on the Asian economy — particularly in Hong Kong — and on the...

A BRITISH air stewardess was sacked for refusing to fly to Saudi Arabia after she was ordered to wear a traditional Islamic robe and walk behind male colleagues. Lisa Ashton, a £15,000-a-year stewardess with BMI, was told that in public areas in Saudi Arabia she was required to wear a black robe, known as an abaya. This covers everything but the face, feet and hands. She was told to follow her male colleagues, irrespective of rank. Ashton, 37, who was worried about security in the country, refused to fly there, claiming the instructions were discriminatory. She was sacked last April....

LONDON (Reuters) - A British Airways cabin crew member was taken to a London hospital as a precaution after developing flu-like symptoms on a flight from Mexico City, the airline said on Saturday.

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - A British Airways cabin crew member was taken to a London hospital as a precaution after developing flu-like symptoms on a flight from Mexico City, the airline said on Saturday. It was the first such reported precautionary measure in Britain since the emergence of a new flu strain that has killed up to 68 people in Mexico. It has also infected at least 11 people in the United States. The man has undergone tests, but the results are not expected back until at least Sunday. No other crew members or passengers on the BA242 flight...

A new airline scheduled to take off in the US fully expects its passengers to behave like animals. On Pet Airways, of Delray Beach, Florida, all pets travel in the main cabin and owners are not allowed on board - not even in the cargo hold. The airline claims to be the first designed specifically for the safe and comfortable transportation of pets. Company founders Dan Wiesel and Alysa Binder say they got the idea while planning holidays with their pet dog. 'Handled as baggage' "Currently, most pets travelling by air are transported in the cargo hold and are handled...

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) The US Airways pilot who safely landed his plane in New York's Hudson River received an airmanship award Wednesday from the Air Force Academy, where he graduated in 1973. Capt. Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III received the Col. James Jabara Award for Airmanship and reviewed a parade of all 4,000 cadets at the elite school.

United Air to charge obese double on full flights Wed Apr 15, 5:29 pm ET LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp, will require obese passengers bumped from full flights to purchase two seats on a subsequent flight, matching the policy of some other carriers. The change brings the Chicago-based in line with eight other airlines including Continental, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest, United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said on Wednesday. "Last year we had 700 complaints from passengers who had to share their seats," she said.

Chicago, IL (AHN) - United Airlines has announced it will implement a new policy charging heavier passengers double the standard airfare. Under the new rules, United will charge passengers who "are unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin; are unable to properly buckle the seatbelt using a single seatbelt extender; and/or are unable to put the seat's armrests down when seated." Those who fall into these categories will be denied boarding unless they purchase an extra seat, and if no empty seat exists, the passenger will be forced to take a later flight.According to the airline,...

Airline Says Overweight Travelers Will Need To Buy Extra Seats Or Be Denied Entry To Planes. Chicago-based United has instructed its customer service representatives at O'Hare International Airport ticket counters and gates to be extra vigilant beginning Wednesday for passengers they deem to be overweight. Those unable to comfortably fasten a safety belt with one extension or sit comfortably with armrests down will be denied boarding unless they purchase an extra seat, even if they can be placed elsewhere in the aircraft next to an empty seat. If no empty seat exists, the passenger will be forced to take a...

Because "It's Time For The Ticketing Agent's Break" Mike rushed his girlfriend to the airport to catch a flight to see her dying mother, only to watch her miss the flight because United Airline's ticketing agent refused to help because "it was time for her to go on her break." Passengers waiting in line were more than willing to let Mike's girlfriend skip to the front of the line, but her sad situation apparently wasn't enough to earn the agent's sympathies. When his girlfriend finally reached the gate in time to watch her flight depart, the gate agent defended his...

BANGALORE: US aircraft maker Boeing Co will deliver 100 planes worth $US17 billion ($A25 billion) over the next four to five years in India, the president of its Indian operations said. "We clearly want to extend our footprint in India," Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing India, told reporters on Tuesday at the launch of Boeing's research and technology centre in the southern city of Bangalore. Last year Boeing had projected India would need 1,001 aircraft worth more than $US105 billion over the next 20 years and Mr Keskar said the forecast was still valid despite an economic downturn. Boeing has...

BANGALORE (Reuters) - U.S. aircraft maker Boeing Co (BA.N) will deliver 100 planes worth $17 billion over the next four to five years to Indian airlines, and will have to compensate some for the late delivery of 787 Dreamliners, the president of its Indian operations said on Tuesday. "We clearly want to extend our footprint in India," Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing India, told reporters at the launch of Boeing's research and technology center in the southern city of Bangalore. The outstanding orders were part of the $25 billion aircraft delivery contracts Boeing had signed with Indian airlines in the...

In an era of frequent flight delays, inadequate leg room and interminable waiting on the tarmac, the desire of passengers to leave their airplanes as quickly as possible is understandable. But, the authorities say, a 60-year-old British man took that desire too far. The man, Robert McDonald, was charged with recklessly endangering the lives of passengers by opening an emergency exit door while his plane — delayed for hours — idled on a taxiway during a layover at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, announced on Monday. Mr. McDonald was detained pending arraignment in...

GENEVA - INTERNATIONAL air travel traffic slumped even further in January plunging the airline industry deeper into crisis, the industry association IATA reported on Thursday. Passenger demand fell by 5.6 per cent in January compared to the same month last year, a full percentage point worse than the decline recorded in December 2008, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) noted. The steep fall in air cargo also accelerated, demand dropping by an unprecedented 23.2 per cent year-on-year in January, compared to a drop of 22.6 per cent a month earlier. 'Alarm bells are ringing everywhere,' IATA chief executive Giovanni Bisignani...

You're gonna love this video - even if you're not into rap music. This guy has 10,000 times more talent than most of the gangsta rap punks who are making millions selling CD's with "fo-shizz" "smack ma-beetch" "shake yo booty" garbage. Click link for video.

By JOSHUA FREED Associated Press Published: 3/21/2009 2:26 AM Last Modified: 3/21/2009 3:36 AM MINNEAPOLIS — The pilots union at American Airlines has censured its two top officers, a rare public dispute that comes in the middle of talks over a new contract. The resolution censured Allied Pilots Association President Captain Lloyd Hill and Vice President Captain Tom Westbrook for "frequently failing to adhere to the policies, directives, and resolutions of the Board of Directors." Union spokesman and pilot Sam Mayer said the union wasn't characterizing the dispute beyond the wording in the resolution. Westbrook said the board was not...

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2009 – The challenge issued by a flight attendant during a recent commercial air flight seemed innocuous enough: “Name just one of the five Medal of Honor recipients from the current engagements in Afghanistan or Iraq, and get a free drink coupon.” But the passengers’ response – more specifically, the inability of all but just one to respond – revealed how little the average American knows about its military heroes. Bombarded by superhero lore almost from birth, many Americans grow to revere fictional heroes as well as sports and celebrity icons. But silence descended over the...

The announcement Air Canada passengers all too frequently hear at the beginning of their domestic flights is solemn and respectful. It tells them their flight is also carrying a deceased member of the Forces home to his or her family. But the respect afforded fallen personnel begins long before passengers board. At Toronto Pearson International Airport, there are only two things that can bring an entire operating ramp to a halt: lightning, and a fallen member of the CF being carried home. The Air Canada Cargo team at Toronto Pearson has long had a respectful process in place for the...