Ten years later, TSA screening still frustrates air travelers

Ten years since the Transportation Security Administration was launched, the airport screening process remains among the top frustrations for most air travelers, a new survey found.

When asked to list their top five frustrations with air travel, a majority of air travelers who were surveyed listed four gripes related to the TSA's security checkpoints.

The findings came from an online survey by the U.S. Travel Assn., the nation's largest travel trade group. It was released to mark the 10th anniversary of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created the TSA in November 2001. The association surveyed 600 Americans who traveled by air in the last 12 months.

The top five frustrations cited by air travelers:

1. People who bring too many carry-on bags through the security checkpoint (72.4%).

2. Uncomfortable seats on an airplane (70.4%).

3. The wait time to clear the TSA checkpoint (68%).

4. Having to remove shoes, belts and jackets at the T.A checkpoint (62.3%).

5. TSA employees who are not friendly (42.4%).

But the survey offered some good news for the TSA: 66% of air travelers said they are somewhat or very satisfied with the TSA's overall performance. The satisfaction rate was lower, 54.6%, for frequent travelers.

Also, nearly 75% of travelers said they were somewhat or very satisfied with the TSA's recent announcement that the agency will eventually phase out the requirement for passengers to remove their shoes.

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-- Hugo Martin

Photo: TSA agents search passengers at Los Angeles International Airport. Credit: Los Angeles Times

First airline is fined for stranding passengers on tarmac

American Eagle Airlines has agreed to pay a $900,000 fine for stranding hundreds of passengers on several delayed flights, marking the first penalty issued under a rule adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation in April 2010.

The Transportation Department rule forbids airlines from keeping passengers on a delayed domestic flight for more than three hours or four hours for an international flight. To avoid a fine, airlines must offer stranded passengers food and water and the option to return to a terminal. The maximum fine is $27,500 per passenger.

The fine against American Eagle, a regional affiliate of American Air Lines, stems from lengthy delays at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on May 29. A total of 15 planes, carrying 608 passengers, were stuck on the tarmac for three hours or more.

Because of heavy fog and thunderstorms on that day, air traffic controllers canceled departures for several hours. However, an investigation by the Transportation Department found that American Eagle continued to land flights later that day, creating a backlog of flights. In many cases, American Eagle didn't have enough pilots and crew to operate planes that were loaded with passengers and waiting at the gates, according to Transportation Department records.

"We put the tarmac rule in place to protect passengers, and we take any violation very seriously," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

The tarmac delay rule, spurred by several notorious cases of flight delays, including the plight of passengers stranded for nearly six hours on a plane in Rochester, Minn., in 2009, offer exemptions for safety, security or air traffic control-related reasons.

Under the consent order, American Eagle must pay $650,000 within 30 days, and up to $250,000 can be paid through refunds, vouchers and frequent flier miles offered the passengers on the delayed flights.

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-- Hugo Martin

Photo: An American Eagle plane waits on the tarmac on Boston's Logan International Airport. Credit: Associated Press

 

 

 

Stranded passengers may not be able to sue, attorney says

JetBlue Airways and the parent company for American Airlines could face stiff fines for stranding hundreds of passengers in planes on an airport tarmac for seven hours during a snowstorm last month. But a lawyer who specializes in business litigation says the passengers probably can’t sue over the ordeal.

JetBlue has apologized and offered to refund the airfares and pay for round-trip tickets for future travel for passengers on six JetBlue flights that were stranded on the tarmac at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., during a heavy storm that disrupted thousands of flights.

Under U.S. Department of Transportation rules, airlines that keep passengers in a grounded plane for three hours or more for domestic flights or four hours or more for international flights can be fined up to $27,000 per passenger.

The agency is investigating both airlines, but a spokesman said the rules exempt airlines that keep passengers on the tarmac because trying to return them to the terminal disrupts airport operations or creates a safety or security problem.

Since the new rule took effect in April 2010, the agency has yet to impose a fine on any airline.

It’s possible that the once-stranded passengers will get nothing more from the airline than the apology, the refunds and the extra airline tickets, said Hugh Totten, a Chicago attorney who has represented airlines in business litigation matters.

“While the new federal regulation limits tarmac delays to three hours, there are several exceptions to the rule,” he said. “Exceptions such as ‘disruption to airport operations’ or ‘passenger safety’ have been put in place, leaving passengers with no leverage for filing suit.”

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-- Hugo Martin

Photo: Some passengers at Bradley International Airport were able to get off a stranded plane. Credit: Erika Pesantes / South Florida Sun Sentinel

TSA chief says airport screening tactics are changing

Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole told a congressional panel last week that his agency is overhauling the airport screening process that treats everyone the same, including infants and the elderly.

Pistole said the TSA is moving in a new direction to rely more on intelligence-gathering and targeting those travelers the TSA knows least about.

“Since I became TSA administrator, I have listened to ideas from people all over this country,” he told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on Wednesday.

Pistole said the agency is moving in the new direction by expanding several pilot security programs and changing the way children are searched.

But don’t expect the changes to cut down on the long airport security lines during the upcoming holiday travel season. TSA’s revised security tactics probably won’t be expanded nationwide for several months, a TSA spokesman said.

A pilot program that was launched last month and tested at four airports -- Miami, Dallas, Detroit and Atlanta -- lets passengers who volunteer personal information zip through a special screening lane without having to remove their shoes or jackets. Pistole told lawmakers that it has worked so well that he wants to expand it to more airports.

“We are working closely with other airlines and airports to determine when they may be operationally ready to join,” he said, without offering more details.

Another pilot program that was tested in Boston Logan International Airport deploys special “behavior detection officers” who chat with passengers in the terminal to detect suspicious behavior. Pistole said the program was recently expanded to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Pistole also said the agency has changed its policy for searching children under 12. TSA agents now have the discretion whether or not to perform a pat-down search on youngsters or require that they remove their shoes.

“By streamlining procedures for these lower-risk passengers through programs like these, TSA is better able to focus its finite resources on those who pose higher risks to transportation,” he said.

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Michael Hiltzik: Rick Perry runs off the highway

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's take on the federal Highway Trust Fund is something of a car wreck.

Perry's hastily assembled economic plan released Tuesday holds up the Highway Trust Fund as the model for how to "protect" federal funds from being raided by Congress for "unrelated purposes." The idea is to contrast the HTF with the Social Security trust fund, which Perry claims has been "pilfered...by spendthrift Washington politicians."

Thus Perry manages to demonstrate that he doesn't know the first thing about either fund.

Funded principally from federal gasoline taxes, the Highway Trust Fund has, in fact, been a disaster. In May, the Congressional Budget Office forecast that it would be out of money by mid-2012 -- in effect, bankrupt. By 2018, the CBO says, its shortfall of receipts versus proposed expenditures will be $80 billion.

Not even the right-wing Heritage Foundation would agree that it's been well-managed. In fact, Heritage offers a list of all the ways Congress has raided the fund -- for ferry boats and magnetic levitation research, among other things.

Congress borrows from the highway fund all the time. But it also requires the fund's balance to be invested in non-interest bearing securities, thus stiffing motorists on the interest their tax funds would accrue. By contrast, the Social Security trust fund must by law be invested in interest-paying Treasury bonds. That trust fund collected $117 billion in interest last year on its balance of more than $2.5 trillion -- a risk-free return of better than 4.6%.

Perry's critics in both parties will no doubt be picking apart all the details of his economic plan in coming days. But this one bollixed nugget leads us to ask: Did he do all his research this way?

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Photo: Rick Perry speaking in South Carolina on Tuesday. Credit: Mary Ann Chastain / Associated Press

John Wayne Airport to get upgraded full-body scanners

John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana will be the latest Southern California airport to receive the full-body scanners that can screen passengers without creating what looks like a nude image of them.

The Transportation Security Administration confirmed last week that the agency plans to install the scanners at all three of the airport’s terminals, including the new Terminal C set to open next month.

The machines use a special technology—called millimeter wave—to spot objects hidden under passengers' clothes. With a new software upgrade, the machine shows a picture of a generic passenger and highlights a part of the picture where the machine indicates a hidden object may be found.

Similar machines are in use at Ontario International Airport, as well as in dozens of airports nationwide.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles International Airport—the nation’s fifth busiest airport—still uses the machines that create what looks like a nude image of passengers.

Those machines use a different technology, known as backscatter, and the TSA has not approved a software upgrade for those machines. TSA officials say they hope to have a software upgrade approved for the backscatter machines in the next few months.

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Photo: TSA officials show how the backscatter scanner works at Los Angeles International Airport. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Delta Air Lines to expand economy seats with extra legroom

As part of Delta Air Lines' $2-billion upgrade campaign, the Atlanta-based airline announced plans to expand a class of economy seats with extra legroom to its entire fleet.

Delta, the nation's largest airline, installed "economy comfort" seats on long-haul international flights earlier this year. But the airline announced Thursday that the seats, which offer three extra inches of legroom, will be expanded to the fleet of 550 planes and 250 regional jets.

To make room for the "economy comfort" seats, Delta will remove three to five rows from the economy section of the cabin, the airline announced. Economy passengers can upgrade to the "economy comfort" seats for a fee of $19 to $99, depending on the distance of the flight. Passengers who buy the upgraded seat also get to board early.

The new seating section is part of a campaign announced earlier this year by Delta to invest $2 billion in upgrades, including more first-class seats, in-seat entertainment units for business and economy seats on international fights, and updating all airport lounges, among other improvements.

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Photo: Economy comfort seats on Delta. Credit: Delta Air Lines

Airlines worldwide expected to collect $32.5 billion in fees in 2011

The worldwide airline industry is expected to collect $32.5 billion in fees for checked bags, onboard entertainment and other extras this year, a 44% increase over 2010.

The projection for a huge revenue increase came in an annual estimate released Wednesday by IdeaWorks, an airline consultant in Wisconsin, and Amadeus IT Group, a technology company in Madrid.

IdeaWorks and Amadeus said U.S. airlines should collect the vast majority of fees worldwide, pocketing $12.5 billion this year, compared with $6.7 billion last year.

The study attributes the higher revenue to increasing passenger demand and greater efforts by airlines to push for the sale of extra services and products, such as wireless Internet access and food. 

The study said that about half of the extra revenues collected by the airlines would come from the sale of frequent flier miles to credit card companies. Baggage fees make up about 20% of the fees, with charges for other onboard services and products making up the balance, according to the study.

“Whatever the model, there is no doubt that the growth of ancillary sales is here to stay," said Julia Sattel, a vice president for Amadeus.

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-- Hugo Martin

Photo: A passenger talks with an airline representative at Ontario International Airport. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spending on business travel expected to slow in 2012

 

While spending on business travel has surged this year, anxiety over an uncertain economic climate is expected to slow travel spending in 2012.

That is the forecast from the Global Business Travel Assn., a Virginia-based trade group for business travel professionals. The group estimates that spending on business travel in the U.S. will be up 6.9% this year over 2010, hitting $250.2 billion.

But the trade group predicts that a tentative economy next year will slow the spending trend, leading to a growth of 4.3% over this year, to $260.9 billion.

The one bright spot in the forecast is the continued growth in spending for international travel, which the group said should grow by 7.7% in 2012 to $34.3 billion.

“While international trips are more expensive and time consuming, their reward can be worth every cent,” said Michael W. McCormick, executive director of the association.

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-- Hugo Martin

Photo: Passengers walk to the terminal at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Korean Air launches A380 from Los Angeles

Following a lengthy ceremony, Korean Air launched the massive Airbus A380 from Los Angeles International Airport, becoming only the third airline to fly that aircraft from L.A.

The humongous double-decker jet lifted off from LAX on Tuesday afternoon after reporters and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa toured the 407 seats, three bars and its on-board duty-free shop.

With Tuesday's flight, Korean Air joins only Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines to offer flights on the A380 from Los Angeles.

Korean Air begins with three flights a week to Seoul with the A380 but will begin offering daily flights on the plane between the two cities starting Oct. 29.

During a ceremony before the plane lifted off, Korean Air's Americas Marketing Vice President John Jackson toasted the launch of the service, saying simply: "Wheels up."

During a tour of the cabin, Villaraigosa relaxed in the lie-flat seats in the first-class section and then sat with reporters in one of three bars in the plane.

"This is not vodka," the mayor joked as he sipped a drink. "This is only water."

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Photo: A Korean Air A380 prepares to take off from Los Angeles International Airport. Credit: Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times

American Airlines to cut capacity and retire 11 planes

 

Responding to an unsteady economy and high fuel costs, American Airlines announced that it planned to cut overall capacity this year and retire 11 older Boeing jets next year.

The capacity cuts, made by canceling unpopular flights, among other changes, will reduce the number of seats available on planes by 3%, compared with projections made by the airline in January, the airline announced Monday.

The move was also in response to an unusually high number of pilots retiring in October.

"While our advance bookings are generally in line with last year, we are taking these additional steps in light of the uncertain economic environment, ongoing high fuel costs and to ensure we run a reliable schedule for our customers given additional pilot retirements we anticipate throughout the fourth quarter,” said Virasb Vahidi, American's chief commercial officer.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline also announced it planned to retire up to 11 Boeing 757 aircraft in 2012 to make way for some of the 460 newer, more fuel-efficient planes the airline ordered in July.

The capacity cut comes only a week after stocks for American's parent company, AMR, dropped 33% on rumors that the troubled airline might be considering filing for bankruptcy protection. The company's stock has since rebounded and recovered most of the losses.

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Photo: An American Airlines jet at Los Angeles International Airport. Credit: Los Angeles Times

 

 

 

 

Kicking hybrids from carpool lanes slows everyone down

 
If you're like many California motorists, you probably looked on with envy or perhaps some stronger emotion when those single-occupant hybrids zipped by in the carpool lane. Others who had gone to the trouble of coordinating schedules and establishing real carpool relationships probably weren't too happy with their solitary HOV brethren either.

Surely, fairness was restored over the summer when the interlopers lost their HOV rights; the real carpoolers have seen their speeds increase, right? Wrong.

A new UC Berkeley study released Monday says that banishing those lone hybrid drivers from carpool lanes is making traffic slower for everyone. As an example, they cited a four-mile stretch of carpool lane on Interstate 880 in Hayward, which has seen a 15% reduction in speed since single-occupant hybrids were expelled since July 1.

What gives?

Researchers at UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies said they used traffic-flow theories and six months of data from roadway sensors measuring speed and congestion along all freeway carpool lanes in the San Francisco Bay Area to reach their conclusions.

Among other things, the report's authors found that the additional vehicles in the regular traffic lanes slowed speeds substantially. That slower traffic made it more difficult for the carpool drivers to move in and out of the HOV lanes, slowing them down as well. The report's authors were Michael Cassidy, UC Berkeley professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Kitae Jang, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering.

They were examing the end of a program that began in 2005 and ended July 1 that gave consumers an extra incentive to buy low-emission cars. By 2011, about 85,000 low-emission vehicles were carrying the coveted yellow stickers that gave them access to carpool lanes.

"Our results show that everybody is worse off with the program's ending," Cassidy said. "Drivers of low-emission vehicles are worse off, drivers in the regular lanes are worse off, and drivers in the carpool lanes are worse off. Nobody wins."

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Photo: A single-occupant Toyota Prius southbound on the 405 Freeway carpool lane during rush hour, before the July 1 end to a program that allowed such access to solitary drivers of low emission vehicles. For good traffic flow, a new UC Berkeley study suggests, that's exactly where you wanted him to be. Credit: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times.

 

Airlines lose challenge to European emissions plan [Updated]

 

In a blow to U.S.-based airlines, a European advocate general rejected the airlines' challenge of a plan to charge carriers a fee if they exceed emission levels when flying in and out of Europe.

Several airline trade groups and carriers from the U.S. and Canada have objected to the plan to fight air pollution, saying it violates several international agreements and laws.

But Advocate General Juliane Kokott issued an opinion Thursday, rejecting the challenge. She said the pollution-fighting plan is compatible with all international laws and agreements.

Starting next year, carbon dioxide emissions from airlines will be capped at 97% of their average 2004-06 levels and 95% in 2013.

Airlines that don't use all their emissions allowances can sell the excess to other carriers that exceed the limits. The fine for violating the plan is 100 euros, or about $142, for every ton of carbon dioxide that airlines emit above the limit.

Airline officials in the U.S. say the fines could add up to $3.1 billion for all U.S. carriers from 2012 to 2020.

[Update 1:34 p.m.: The opinion was applauded by a coalition of environmental groups in the U.S. and Europe, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, and the Environmental Defense Fund. “Airlines operate in a global market, and the reality is that those markets will be increasingly carbon-constrained," said Annie Petsonk, international counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund. "It’s time for the U.S. airlines to provide leadership and demonstrate that we can compete in the carbon-limited markets of the 21^st century."]

 As advocate general, Kokott issues opinions for consideration by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is expected to make a ruling on the dispute by early 2012.

A spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., a trade group for airlines in the U.S., said the court could still reject Kokott's opinion and decide in the favor of the airlines.

"Today’s action is an important step in the court process, but, as it is a non-binding, preliminary opinion, it does not mark the end of this case," said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the trade group.

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Photo: A plane flies over London Heathrow Airport. Credit: Reuters

 

 

 

Airlines lose challenge to European emissions plan

 

In a blow to U.S.-based airlines, a European advocate general rejected the airlines' challenge of a plan to charge carriers a fee if they exceed emission levels when flying in and out of Europe.

Several airline trade groups and carriers from the U.S. and Canada have objected to the plan to fight air pollution, saying it violates several international agreements and laws.

But Advocate General Juliane Kokott issued an opinion Thursday, rejecting the challenge. She said the pollution-fighting plan is compatible with all international laws and agreements.

Starting next year, carbon dioxide emissions from airlines will be capped at 97% of their average 2004-06 levels and 95% in 2013.

Airlines that don't use all their emissions allowances can sell the excess to other carriers that exceed the limits. The fine for violating the plan is 100 euros, or about $142, for every ton of carbon dioxide that airlines emit above the limit.

Airline officials in the U.S. say the fines could add up to $3.1 billion for all U.S. carriers from 2012 to 2020.

As advocate general, Kokott issues opinions for consideration by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is expected to make a ruling on the dispute by early 2012.

A spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., a trade group for airlines in the U.S., said the court could still reject Kokott's opinion and decide in the favor of the airlines.

"Today’s action is an important step in the court process, but, as it is a non-binding, preliminary opinion, it does not mark the end of this case," said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the trade group.

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Airlines fight EU law capping greenhouse gas emissions

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--Hugo Martin

Photo: A plane flies over London Heathrow Airport. Credit: Reuters

 

 

 

New security screening program starts at four airports

 

The Transportation Security Administration on Tuesday began testing a program to allow prescreened travelers to zip through special checkpoint lanes at four U.S. airports.

Under the pilot program, dubbed TSA PreCheck, travelers who register by voluntarily providing background information can avoid the crowded checkpoints and instead use faster security lanes at the participating airports.

The program is part of the TSA's effort to break away from a security process that treats all travelers as if they pose the same risk.

"As TSA moves further away from a one-size-fits-all approach, our ultimate goal is to provide the most effective security in the most efficient way possible," TSA administrator John S. Pistole said.

If the program is successful, he said it will be expanded to other airports.

The change in tactics has been advocated by the U.S. Travel Assn. and other tourism trade groups and businesses who say the current security process deters foreign and domestic travelers from flying.

For now, the pilot program is operating only at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Dallas/Fort Worth International and Miami International airports. Eligible travelers include frequent fliers from American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, as well as international travelers who have preregistered with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Photo: TSA officials demonstrate body-scanning machines used at checkpoints at Los Angeles International Airport. Credit: Los Angeles Times.

Chinese subway crash renews doubts about infrastructure frenzy

China's flashy new airports, rail lines and highways are often cited as symbols of the country's inexorable rise. Meanwhile, it's the reverse in the U.S., where images of Amtrak or Los Angeles International Airport are supposed to evoke American decline.

But a pair of violent rail incidents, one in Shanghai on Tuesday and another in the southeastern city of Wenzhou in July, are changing that narrative as more Chinese are questioning the value of economic development that comes at the expense of safety.

Dubbed "blood-stained GDP" by some, the race to ramp up infrastructure at all costs is now exposing vulnerabilities in China's economic might.

"China should be more cautious and concentrated in avoiding risks," read an editorial Wednesday in the Global Times, a Communist Party mouthpiece. "Although this is hard to do, the tragedies in Wenzhou and Shanghai keep reminding people that China cannot afford failure."

About 270 people were injured Tuesday when two subway trains collided in Shanghai, paralyzing parts of the country's financial capital.

The accident came just two months after 40 people were killed when two high-speed trains collided on a viaduct in a rural section of Wenzhou.

That disaster sparked widespread outrage at the ineptitude of rail officials who appeared to bungle the rescue effort and then rushed to reopen the rail line. At least one train passenger famously chose to wear a helmet after the accident to show his disgust.

The incident in Shanghai, which boasts the world's longest subway system, has again prompted anger toward officials.

A blogger named Qi Jie on Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like service, suggested tying officials to the first car of every subway train to ensure that safety standards improved.

China's central government responded to the Wenzhou collision by slowing down trains, sacking officials and scaling back investment in high-speed rail.

What will happen to China's ambitious subway plans remains to be seen. The country will soon have underground networks in about three dozen cities, a boon to foreign suppliers such as IBM, Siemens and Alstom, a French conglomerate whose Chinese joint venture has been linked to both the Shanghai and Wenzhou incidents.

Between 2010 and 2015, China will have invested $180 billion in subway lines, tripling the network's reach to 1,864 miles.

It's an investment the country needs to get right, as China is now the world's biggest purchaser of automobiles and congestion has started to take an economic toll. An IBM survey released last year determined that Beijing and Mexico City have the worst commutes in the world.

The World Resources Institute has emphasized the need for sound transportation policy given the effect rising car ownership has on pollution and China's oil security.

But expanding the country's transportation network will now continue under a cloud of public skepticism.

"Careful planning is a must before a city begins to construct its subway system. Otherwise, it'll be a regret that can last over 100 years," Shi Zhongheng of the Urban Rail Transit Research Center at Beijing Jiaotong University told the China Youth Daily.

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Photo: Rescue workers carry an injured passenger outside the entrance to a subway station where two trains crashed in Shanghai on Tuesday. Credit: Associated Press

Fewer Southern Californians will travel for Labor Day

About 2.32 million Southern Californians will travel for the Labor Day weekend, a 2.6% drop from last year, according to the latest data from the Auto Club of Southern California.

Vacationers who plan to fly, take a train, a bus, a motor home or a cruise ship will drop the most, while the number of Southern Californians who will drive will increase to 1.89 million compared to1.88 million who traveled by car last year.

Gas prices will be higher this holiday weekend than during any other Labor Day weekend except 2008, when Southland travelers were paying $3.80 to $3.90 a gallon on average. Current gas prices are just a few cents below that record level for Labor Day.

 

 

Hurricane Irene: Airlines cancel nearly 2,500 flights

With Hurricane Irene bearing down on the East Coast, airlines have canceled nearly 2,500 flights and are warning that several major airports could shut down entirely as early as Sunday.

Because the East Coast is home to the busiest airspace in the country, the cancellations are expected to cause problems at airports throughout the nation, stranding travelers returning from summer vacations.

Based on the projected path of the storm, the impact will be felt at airports from South Carolina to Massachusetts.

Several airline officials predicted that most of the cancellations will take place Sunday, when the storm reaches the nation's busiest airports in New York and Washington, D.C.

"Sunday will be the worst day," said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines, which plans to cancel 265 flights starting Saturday, primarily in Washington, New York, Virginia and North Carolina.

Delta Air Lines, the nation's largest carrier, announced plans to cancel about 1,300 flights from Saturday to Monday. The canceled flights represent nearly 8% of the airline's total operations for that period, Delta spokesman Anthony Black said.

JetBlue Airways said it plans to cancel 891 flights at airports from North Carolina to Maine.

Several airlines, including Southwest, Delta, United, American and JetBlue, have offered to waive the fees that passengers normally are charged to change reservations for flights over the weekend.

-- Hugo Martin

Photo: Hurricane Irene as shown from a satellite photo. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

Hundreds of flights canceled as Hurricane Irene nears East Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Hurricane Irene approaching the East Coast, airlines have canceled nearly 1,000 flights and have begun to relocate aircraft away from the path of the storm.

Airline officials said they may be forced to cancel more flights in the next few days as they continue to evaluate the direction and strength of the storm.

"We don't want to pull the trigger on these flights too quickly," said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines.

Because the East Coast is home to the nation's busiest airspace, the effect of the cancellations is expected to send ripples through the country's air travel system.

JetBlue, which operates major hubs at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Logan International Airport in Boston, announced the cancellation of 891 flights from its East Coast airports on Sunday and Monday. The airline also was evaluating its flight plans for Saturday, waiting to determine the storm's path.

American Airlines officials said the air carrier had already canceled 32 flights from airports in North Carolina and Virginia and planned  to consider further cancellations at airports farther up the coast.

Southwest Airlines announced plans to temporarily suspend service to and from Norfolk International Airport in Virginia on Saturday, with service resuming once conditions improve. The airline did not say how many flights it was suspending.

Airline officials have been tracking the storm for days and are evaluating on an hourly basis how many flights they can operate safely and how many planes they must relocate to reroute passengers.

"Starting today, they are adjusting schedules based on the forecast," said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., the trade group for the nation's largest airlines.

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Photo: Hurricane Irene, seen from space. Credit: Ron Garan / NASA

Aircraft and autos drive up demand for U.S. factory goods

Demand for aircraft and autos helped push up orders for long-lasting manufacturered items 4% in July from the month before, the U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday.

The semblance of promising news buoyed the stock market in morning trading.

In the largest increase since March, overall orders for so-called durable goods -- products expected to last at least three years -- rose to $201.5 billion.

Demand for vehicles and their parts jumped 11.5%, the largest run-up in eight years, as Japan’s recovery from the March earthquake smoothed out kinks in the production chain.

With American Airlines requesting 100 new Boeing 737 planes, nondefense aircraft orders soared 43.4%.

But, excluding the brisk pace of the transportation sector, orders rose just 0.7%. New orders for military aircraft and parts slumped more than 6% and machinery orders were down 1.5%.

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Fewer exports push trade deficit to highest level since 2008

-- Tiffany Hsu

Photo: A 2011 Ford Escape compact SUV on the showroom floor. Demand for cars and car parts jumped 11.5% in July from the month before. Credit: Charles Krupa / Associated Press