Airline News

“The fact that our load factor remains essentially flat, indicates that was right amount of capacity”

Hawaiian Airlines Inc.'s passenger count soared more than 25 percent in April despite airfares that have nearly doubled because of increased demand and record fuel prices. via KOMOradio

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The Heathrow airport chief who presided over the Terminal 5 opening debacle is to leave his job, airport operator BAA said today. via RTE.ie

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“It's due to uncertainty about the economy and the credit market and the high price of fuel.”

Southwest Airlines Co. said Monday that it borrowed $600 million from Citibank and seven European banks to bolster its cash position because of uncertainty about the economy. via Valley Morning Star

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A New York City man is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California.

Gokhan Mutlu, of Manhattan's Inwood section, says in court papers the pilot told him to "go 'hang out' in the bathroom" about 90 minutes into the San Diego to New York flight because the flight attendant complained that the "jump seat" she was assigned was uncomfortable, the lawsuit said. Read more

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Southwest Airlines says a passenger who refused to get off his cell phone during a flight found Dallas police waiting for him.

The Dallas Morning News reports that police were summoned by Southwest officials and met the jet Monday when the plane arrived at Love Field from Austin.

Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King says flight attendants had repeatedly asked the man to get off the phone while airborne.

Police say the passenger was cited for disorderly conduct. His name was not immediately released. Read more

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“Farina was very apologetic and cooperative with officers”

Dennis Farina, a former policeman who built a Hollywood career playing detectives, was arrested on Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport for carrying a loaded gun on his way to board a plane, police said. via Free Republic

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Passengers say it was scary. A Compass Airlines flight landed in Fargo late last night after a fire was reported in a restroom. via KMOT-TV Minot

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“I'm particularly pleased with the operating performance of Air Canada in the first quarter”

An Air Canada flight takes off from Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Thursday September 30, 2004. via Canadian Business Magazine

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“All affected travellers on the altered Auckland-Wellington schedule will be contacted and put on to another service that day or be given a full refund or a credit shell, whichever they prefer.”

Air New Zealand said today it had no immediate plans to increase its domestic airfares by up to 10 percent, as it accuses Pacific Blue of doing last week. via NBR Newsroom

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“I don't know how much that relieves the pressure.”

Mesa Air Group Inc. hopes shareholders will soothe its financial troubles this week by allowing the airline to issue millions of new shares valued at nearly twice the company's current market capitalization.

The Phoenix-based carrier is expected to ask permission Tuesday at its annual shareholders meeting to sell as much as $37.8 million in new common stock. The shares would help the airline pay off debt that comes due in June and bolster the company's beleaguered operation.

If it's not able to sell more shares, Mesa said in a regulatory filing that there 'can be no guarantee that the Company would have adequate cash resources' to pay holders of the senior convertible notes it issued. Read more

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