Travel

ABC News reports: About 6,000 people are being held on an Italian cruise ship after a woman on board fell ill amid fears of the deadly new coronavirus outbreak that originated in China. The Costa Smeralda Vessel is currently being held off the coast, 35 miles north of Rome. The 54-year-old woman, who reportedly came down with a fever, and …

The Wall Street Journal report: A government report to be released in coming days says Southwest Airlines Co. failed to prioritize safety and the airline’s regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, hasn’t done enough about it. Southwest pilots flew more than 17 million people on aircraft with unconfirmed maintenance records over a two-year period, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation …

Reuters reports: Boeing began the maiden flight on Saturday of the world’s largest twin-engined jetliner as the embattled planemaker steps up competition with European rival Airbus in a respite from a crisis over its smaller 737 MAX. The 777X, a larger and more efficient version of Boeing’s successful 777 mini-jumbo, took off outside Seattle at 10:09 a.m. local time after …

USA Today reports: United Airlines says a flight heading to Los Angeles had to return to Newark Liberty International Airport to make an emergency landing Wednesday night because of an engine problem. “United 1871 from Newark, New Jersey to Los Angeles returned to Newark due to a mechanical issue. The flight landed safely and passengers deplaned normally,” said spokeswoman Kimberly …

NBC New York reports: An air traffic controller jumped into action to stop two Delta planes from a possible collision at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Delta Flight 253, bound for Bogota, Colombia, was preparing to takeoff on Runway 22 at the same time Delta Flight 300 crossed the runway after landing at the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said. …

USA Today reports: Travel safety blog Asher & Lyric has ranked the worst countries for LGBTQ travelers in 2019. The site looked at the 150 countries across the world that had the most international tourists and created an index based on factors such as legality of same-sex relationships and morality laws. See the full report.

The Daily Beast reports: The Federal Aviation Administration’s own analysis reportedly showed Boeing 737 MAX jets could have one fatal crash every two or three years—but it decided to allow the planes to fly anyway. The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. regulators carried out an analysis showing the MAX could become one of the most accident-prone airliners in decades …

NBC News reports: A volcano open to tour groups unexpectedly erupted off the coast of New Zealand on Monday, killing at least five people, authorities said. Officials were unsure of the exact number of people who were missing or injured. Search-and-rescue operations on the island have stalled because it is too dangerous to approach the island, said John Tims, deputy …

TechCrunch reports: Homeland Security has confirmed it will not expand face recognition scans to U.S. citizens arriving and departing the country, days after it emerged the agency proposed making the scans for citizens mandatory. The department, whose responsibility is border protection and immigration checks, said in a government filing that it wanted to “amend the regulations to provide that all …

Yahoo News reports: A trio of storms packing heavy snow and hurricane-force winds wreaked havoc Wednesday for Americans on the move for the Thanksgiving holiday. On one of the busiest travel days of the year in America — an estimated 55 million people planning to drive or fly — highways in the West and Midwest were closed because of snow …

The Associated Press reports: Federal regulators have threatened to ground dozens of Southwest Airlines jets if the airline can’t confirm that the planes, which it bought used from foreign operators, meet all safety standards. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has validated some major repairs to the planes, and it is asking Southwest for more frequent updates until the …

Arizona Central reports: A Phoenix-based Southwest Airlines flight attendant has sued the airline, accusing the Dallas-based carrier of retaliation after she reported spotting two pilots livestreaming video from the lavatory to an iPad in the cockpit on one of her flights. Renee Steinaker was working as a flight attendant on Flight 1088 between Pittsburgh and Phoenix. The suit alleges that …

The Sydney Morning Herald reports: Sydney has won the right to host the international WorldPride event in 2023 after defeating Montreal and Houston in a vote in Athens on Sunday. Members of the worldwide InterPride network voted for Sydney to host the event in 2023, which will coincide with the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham …

CNN reports: Australian airline Qantas has completed the longest non-stop commercial passenger flight, researching the potential impacts of ultra-long haul flights on pilots, crew and passengers. With 49 people on board, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight completed the 10,066-mile journey from New York to Sydney in 19 hours and 16 minutes. Cameras were mounted in the cockpit to record pilot …

CNN International reports: British tour operator Thomas Cook collapsed Sunday night, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers and putting 21,000 jobs at risk. The 178-year-old company said in a statement that its board “concluded that it had no choice but to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect” after talks on a financial rescue failed. All Thomas …

The New York Times reports: Panicked travelers abandoned carry-on bags and scrambled for the exits at a Newark Liberty International Airport terminal on Monday night, just as the busy three-day Labor Day weekend was drawing to a close. An Alaska Airlines employee at Gate 30 in Terminal A grew suspicious of two male passengers as they were about to board …

The CBC reports: An Air Canada flight traveling from Toronto to Sydney, Australia, with a scheduled stop in Vancouver, encountered sudden and severe turbulence Thursday, leaving at least 35 passengers with injuries, the airline said. Flight AC33 was diverted to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport around 6:46 a.m. local time, where medical staff were on standby to examine the …

NBC News reports: A passenger aboard a Delta flight tried to open the doors of the plane mid-flight, prompting the pilot to declare an emergency, according to live air traffic control transmission ATC.net. The plane has landed safely at LaGuardia Airport. According to traffic control, the emotionally disturbed passenger tried to open the “forward service door” on the Delta 5935 …

Sara Nelson, president of the 50,000 member International Association of Flight Attendants, writes for Vox: “Pretty much everyone on the plane threw up” is not a sentence most travelers want to hear. But that’s a direct quote from the pilots’ report after United Express Flight 3833 operated by Air Wisconsin hit extreme turbulence on approach to Washington, DC, in 2018. …

NBC News reports: The investigation into March’s fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash — which helped lead to a worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft — has reached the preliminary conclusion that a “suspect flight-control feature automatically activated before the plane nose-dived into the ground,” the WSJ reports. The big picture: The preliminary investigation into the fatal Boeing 737 MAX …