Air Transportation

Mid-size airports suffer biggest cuts in airline service

2013-05-13 00:00:00

Airline mergers, a deep recession and surging fuel prices have led to sharp cuts in airline service around the country. Hardest hit: medium-size airports. Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, LA/Ontario International Airport and...

Trade group predicts crowded airports and planes this summer

2013-05-17 00:00:00

Airports will be crowded this summer and empty airline seats rare as Americans take to the skies in numbers that are expected to edge closer to the pre-recession peak. Nearly 209 million people will fly on U.S.-based airlines this summer, up 1% from a...

Travel nightmare: Dakar, Dhaka — what's the difference?

2013-05-17 00:00:00

Sandy Valdivieso and her husband intended to fly from Los Angeles to Dakar, Senegal. They ended up almost 7,000 miles off-course in Dhaka, Bangladesh. How something this bizarre could happen illustrates how a single mix-up on an airline's part can...

More airline passengers tolerant of baggage fees, study says

2013-05-16 00:00:00

Grouse all you want about airline baggage fees, but the numbers don't lie: You are slowly learning to accept them as a painful but necessary part of the flying experience. In fact, the overall satisfaction with air travel has increased to the highest...

Navy drone, in a first, is catapulted from carrier deck into flight

2013-05-14 10:10:00

For the first time in naval aviation history, a drone was catapulted off the deck of an aircraft carrier and soared into flight. The U.S. Navy conducted the test Tuesday from aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush off the Virginia coast with its X-47B...

Nearly a third of fliers left devices turned on during flights

2013-05-10 12:22:00

A study released this week found 30% of U.S. airline passengers accidentally left their tech devices turned on during flights in 2012. The study was conducted by the Airline Passenger Experience Assn. and the Consumer Electronics Assn. as a way to aid...

Frontier Airlines to add carry-on bag fee, but it can be avoided

2013-05-05 10:00:00

Frontier Airlines announced that this summer it will become the third U.S.-based airline to charge passengers a fee to bring carry-on bags into the cabin. Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air already impose a carry-on fee. But Frontier added a twist....

LAX fails to land in top 100 ranking of world's best airports

2013-05-06 00:00:00

President Obama recently groused that no U.S. airport ranked among the world's top 25 airports. If you're a regular traveler to Los Angeles, you may be even more disappointed to learn that Los Angeles International Airport didn't even make the top 100....

Solar airplane begins first leg of trip across America

2013-05-04 00:00:00

A spindly solar-powered aircraft took to the skies Friday from Moffett Federal Airfield, near San Francisco, on a pioneering coast-to-coast flight that will not use one ounce of fossil fuel. The plane, called Solar Impulse HB-SIA, has an immense 208-...

The scoop on airline taxes, changing travel dates and more

2013-05-12 00:00:00

Some answers to readers' airline questions: Question: I understand that London's Heathrow Airport has a horrendous arrival fee. Is the same true for Stansted and Gatwick, London's two other airports? Answer: I'm not sure if you're referring to the...

Airlines raise flight-changing fees

2013-04-28 09:00:00

If you have to change your plans after booking a flight, get ready to pay higher fees. US Airways and United Airlines raised the fee charged to domestic passengers who want to rebook a nonrefundable ticket: It's now $200, up from $150. (The fee could be...

Supersonic flight brings Virgin Galactic closer to space tourism

2013-04-30 00:00:00

With a sonic boom that resounded above the Mojave Desert, a rocket plane belonging to British billionaire Richard Branson's commercial space venture Virgin Galactic got one step closer to carrying tourists into space. On Monday the company's...

Cargo is loaded on a Boeing 747-400 at O Hare. Boeing jumbo jets have ferried United passengers on international flights since 1970.

2012-08-31 11:48:00

National Air Transport, pictured in this 1930 photo, merged with three other airlines to form the first coast-to-coast carrier, United.

2012-08-31 11:48:00

80A in the 1930s where early early stewardesses wore white nurse-like uniforms.

2012-08-31 11:48:00