Tag Archives: air travel

United Airlines Cuts Flights Due To Slowing Demand

CNBC reports: United Airlines announced deep cuts to its schedule next month amid the global coronavirus outbreak and slowing demand. The airline will cut international flights by 20% and domestic flights by 10%. Some wide-body planes will be parked, the company said Wednesday. United shares fell after its announcement but later recovered from the lows of the day, and were …

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JetBlue First To Drop Change Fees Over Coronavirus

The Hill reports: JetBlue will void change and cancellation fees for flights as the coronavirus continues to spread globally. On Wednesday, JetBlue announced that customers can change or cancel for free all bookings made from Thursday through March 11 for travel through June 1, according to a statement. “The policy is designed to give customers confidence that they will not …

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Cellphone Charger Fire Prompts Emergency Landing

USA Today reports: An United Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing after a “thermal runaway event.” Flight 1456 from Newark, New Jersey, to Nassau, Bahamas, diverted to Daytona Beach Airport Wednesday after a phone battery charger caught fire mid-flight, the airport confirmed on Twitter. The fire was contained to a passenger’s bag and placed inside a fire retardant …

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Delta CEO: Ask Before Reclining Your Seat [VIDEO]

NBC News reports: The CEO of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian, weighed in Friday on the debate sparked by a viral video of a passenger on another airline repeatedly punching the seat of a woman in front of him after she reclined it. Bastian said passengers “have the right to recline,” but that they should ask the person behind them …

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Delta Moves To Become First Carbon-Neutral Airline

Axios reports: Delta Airlines is spending $1 billion over the next decade to essentially cancel out all of its future greenhouse gas emissions beginning March 1, the company announced Friday. The big picture: Delta is the world’s biggest airline by revenue, and this news is the latest in a rapidly growing trend of corporations announcing climate-change goals in response to …

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Delta And American Airlines Suspend All China Flights

The Associated Press reports: Delta Air Lines and American Airlines said Friday they will suspend all flights between the U.S. and China, making them the first U.S.-based airlines to do so and joining several international carriers that have stopped flying to China as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread. United Airlines announced that it will suspend flights to Beijing, Shanghai …

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Pilots Sue American Airlines To Stop China Flights

Axios reports: An American Airlines pilots’ union sued the company on Thursday to temporarily halt all flights between the U.S. and China, the Financial Times reports, citing “serious” health threats from the coronavirus. What they’re saying: “We estimate that as many as 300 passengers and crew travel to DFW alone from Chinese cities on each American Airlines flight,” said Eric …

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British Airways Suspends China Flights, Others Reduce

CNN International reports: Airlines based in North America, Europe and Asia are canceling flights to China as authorities there seek to contain the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. British Airways, United Airlines, Air Asia, Cathay Pacific, Air India and Finnair have announced plans to slash the number of flights they are operating to China or stop flying to the country …

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Beleaguered Boeing’s 777X Makes First Test Flight

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 …

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Feds May Ban Emotional Support Animals From Planes

Roll Call reports: Snakes on a plane? Probably not — at least in the cabin. The U.S. Department of Transportation Wednesday released a proposed rule that would let airlines ban most “emotional support” animals in airplane cabins and board only specially trained service dogs to assist people with disabilities. Directed as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, the …

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Emergency Landing At Newark, Engine Failure, All Safe

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 …

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Iran Claims To Make Arrests In Downing Of Airliner

NBC News reports: Iran’s judiciary said Tuesday that it had arrested an undisclosed number of suspects involved in the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane that killed all 176 aboard last week. The announcement came after days of protests shook Iran, with demonstrators railing against the government’s apparent early attempts to cover-up the downing of the plane. Thirty people …

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FAA Probes Close Call Between Delta Planes At JFK

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. …

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Ex-Boeing CEO Crashes Out With $62 Million Payday

The New York Times reports: Dennis A. Muilenburg, who was ousted as Boeing’s chief executive last month as the company contended with the biggest crisis in its history, will depart with more than $60 million, the company said Friday. Mr. Muilenburg will not receive any additional severance or separation payments in connection with his departure, and Boeing said he had …

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Iranian Officials Deny Shooting Down Ukrainian Airliner

CBS News reports: Iranian officials have denied claims that they mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet. The plane crashed early Wednesday morning soon after takeoff from Tehran’s airport, killing everyone on board. A video obtained by the New York Times appears to show the impact. In it you can see a bright flash, which sources tell CBS News senior …

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Emails Show Boeing Staffers Mocked FAA Safety Regs

The New York Times reports: Boeing employees mocked federal rules, talked about deceiving regulators and joked about potential flaws in the 737 Max as it was being developed, according to over a hundred pages of internal messages delivered Thursday to congressional investigators. “I still haven’t been forgiven by God for the covering up I did last year,” one of the …

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Ukraine Investigates Whether Airliner Was Shot Down

CNN reports: Ukraine is investigating multiple possible causes of Wednesday’s deadly jetliner crash that killed 176 passengers and crew shortly after takeoff in Tehran. Ukraine’s National Security and Defence council chief, Oleksiy Danilov, wrote on Facebook that a meeting is taking place Thursday with Iranian authorities, where various causes behind the crash are “being studied.” These include the theory that …

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176 Dead In Ukrainian Airliner Crash At Tehran Airport

Agence France-Presse reports: Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people crashed on Wednesday, just minutes after taking off from the Iranian capital’s main airport, turning farmland on the outskirts of Tehran into fields of flaming debris and killing all on board. The crash of Ukraine International Airlines came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. …

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Boeing Fires CEO Amid Safety Scandal

The New York Times reports: Boeing on Monday fired its chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg. It said Dave Calhoun, the chairman, would replace Mr. Muilenburg, on Jan. 13. Until then, Boeing’s chief financial officer, Greg Smith, will serve as interim chief executive, the company said. Boeing said in a statement that its board of directors “decided that a change in …

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FAA Forced Boeing Into Halting Max Production

The Associated Press reports: The message to Boeing Co. from the Federal Aviation Administration was clear: The grounded 737 Max won’t get approval to fly again anytime soon. So the company had little choice but to idle the giant factory where the plane is made. Boeing announced Monday that it will suspend production of the Max starting sometime in January, …

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