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Air traffic control towers on FAA hit list to stay open for now
TransportTower(s) to the people. Some 149 air traffic control towers, initially slated to be shuttered in April because of sequester-manadated budget cuts, will remain open at least through the end of the year, the DOT announced. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that there is enough funding in the recently enacted Reducing Flight Delays Act of [...]
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Are codeshares getting out of hand? DOT cracks down on travel agent practices
TransportTraditional travel agencies, in particular, as well as online travel agencies, have been feeling some heat in recent weeks over improper disclosure, and even nondisclosure, of domestic codeshare flights, which have risen dramatically in recent years. In fact, the DOT’s Office of Inspector General recently randomly phoned 16 traditional travel agents, asked them to identify [...]
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Dept. of Transportation auditing 10 large travel agencies on airline codeshare compliance
DestinationsThe U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is auditing the nation’s top 10 brick-and-mortar agencies for compliance to its airlines code share disclosure rule, according to an internal note by ravel agents association ASTA. The audit is expected to conclude by June 30, after which the DOT “will take any enforcement action necessary..the DOT was aiming to [...]
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DOT’s LaHood expresses optimism about sequestration compromise
TransportTransportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today that warnings about extensive airport closures and delays are not a bluff, but he expressed optimism that there will be a compromise to avert $1.2 billion in cuts to the DOT’s fiscal 2013 budget. “We are not making this up to put pain on the American people,” said LaHood, [...]
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Cities and communities across the U.S. react to airport closure threat
TransportThe day after Ray LaHood, secretary of the Department of Transportation, held a press conference at the White House, newspapers in communities across the United States told readers about what impending cuts to the Department of Transportation would mean to nearby airports. “Spending Cuts Could Shutter Fort Smith Airport Tower,” read The Times Record, in [...]
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Huge cuts in national parks operations coming if sequester proceeds
DestinationsThe towering giant sequoias at Yosemite National Park would go unprotected from visitors who might trample their shallow roots. At Cape Cod National Seashore, large sections of the Great Beach would close to keep eggs from being destroyed if natural resource managers are cut. Gettysburg would decrease by one-fifth the numbers of school children who [...]
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DOT warns of extensive airport closures and long delays if sequester proceeds
TransportWhite House officials brought Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to its briefing room present dire warnings about how cuts from the 2011 Budget Control Act will affect transportation across the United States. “These are harmful cuts with real-world consequences that will cost jobs and hurt our economy,” LaHood said in a press conference earlier [...]
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Domestic airline code shares can’t be free-for-all: DoT Inspector General
TransportSince a deadly airline crash in 2009, the government hasn’t kept its promise to ensure that major airlines are holding their smaller partners to the same safety standards, a federal watchdog says. [The full report from DoT OIG, embedded as PDF below the story] The Transportation Department’s inspector general faults the Federal Aviation Administration for [...]
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United Airlines fined $130K for holding passengers for 5-hour delay
TransportChicago-based United Airlines was fined $130,000 by regulators for not informing passengers they could leave the airplane after a flight from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to Japan was delayed for about five hours last May, the Department of Transportation said Monday. The airline violated federal rules by not notifying passengers they had an opportunity to [...]
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What’s really behind the decrease in lost airline baggage: Fees and fines
TransportThe largest airlines in the U.S. set a record in 2012 for their lowest annual rate of mishandled bags, but two factors behind the improvement may get overlooked: passengers are checking fewer bags, and airlines have to pay more per bag when yours is never seen again. The DOT’s Air Travel Consumer Report, issued today [...]
