Denver air traffic controllers scrambled to use backup communications during outage
Air traffic controllers in Denver lost communications with planes for 90 seconds earlier this week and had to scramble to use backup frequencies in the latest Federal Aviation Administration equipment failure. The outage at a control center that directs planes flying at high altitude between airports all over the country...
Newark problems and recent crashes put focus on air traffic controller shortage and aging equipment
The recent chronic delays and cancellations at New Jersey’s largest airport have highlighted the shortage of air traffic controllers and the aging equipment they use, which President Donald Trump’s administration wants to replace. The Federal Aviation Administration is working on a short-term fix to the problems at the Newark airport...
A look inside nearly finished Pittsburgh International Airport terminal project
Pittsburgh International Airport opened its doors for a tour of the nearly 90% complete terminal modernization, offering a look at the nearly $1.7 billion transformation. The terminal is set to reach “substantial completion” by the end of June, according to project officials. The final touches will continue after the public...
Software update keeps Newark airport radar online but network concerns and flight limits remain
A new software update prevented a third radar outage in the last two weeks at New Jersey’s busy Newark airport when a telecommunications line failed again over the weekend, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday. At a news conference, Duffy also said the recent problems that have led to hundreds...
Hundreds of flights delayed by runway equipment issue at Atlanta airport
ATLANTA — Hundreds of flights have been delayed at Atlanta’s airport — one of the world’s busiest — on Sunday because of a runway equipment issue. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it has temporarily slowed arrivals into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, while technicians work to address...
Now boarding: Flights to Myrtle Beach, Fort Lauderdale resume at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
Shawn and Mary McMullen didn’t expect hoopla Wednesday morning when they arrived at the ticket counter of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport to purchase airfare for an upcoming trip to Disney World. “It is so convenient. This is the easiest place for use to fly out of,” Shawn McMullen said. The...
Little turbulence at Pittsburgh International as Real ID rules take effect
Tracy Moffat experienced only a minor hiccup with her Real ID as she used it for the first time Wednesday to fly from Boston to Pittsburgh. The identification requirement, which went into effect Wednesday, mandates anyone 18 or older present a Real ID or other acceptable identification — like a...
What to expect at Pittsburgh airport with (or without) Real ID
Travelers arriving at Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday without a Real ID or another acceptable form of identification should prepare for possible additional screening. Starting Wednesday, federal Real ID requirement goes into effect and will be enforced by TSA agents at airports across the country. Anyone 18 years of age or...
Homeland Security chief says travelers with no Real ID can fly for now, but with likely extra steps
WASHINGTON — Travelers who haven’t obtained a Real ID by this week’s deadline received assurances from the head of Homeland Security they will be able to fly after additional identity checks. Her comments came Tuesday as people were waiting in long lines outside of government buildings from California to Chicago...
Worries about flying seem to be taking off. Here’s how to cope with in-flight anxiety
NEW YORK — Adelynn Campbell’s last plane trip ended with a panic attack that she got through largely with the help of a kind flight attendant. That was last year — before 67 people died in January when an American Airlines jet collided with a helicopter over Washington, D.C., in...
Pittsburgh International Airport to adjust security checkpoints
Pittsburgh International Airport is making changes to its security checkpoints. Travelers who are enrolled in TSA PreCheck and are ticketed to fly out of Pittsburgh should proceed directly to the main security checkpoint starting May 5. There, they will receive expedited screening benefits as PreCheck members. The alternate security checkpoint...
Blue Origin launches an all-female celebrity crew with Katy Perry, Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched his fiancee Lauren Sanchez into space Monday with an all-female celebrity crew that included Katy Perry and Gayle King. It was the latest wave in space tourism, where more of the rich and famous than ever before — or lucky and well-connected — can enter...
50 years later, Vietnam’s battlefields draw retrospective veterans and other tourists
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Hamburger Hill, Hue, the Ia Drang Valley, Khe Sanh: Some remember the Vietnam War battles from the headlines of the 1960s and 1970s, others from movies and history books. And thousands of Americans and Vietnamese know them as the graveyards of loved ones who...
At a little known Rolls-Royce museum in Pennsylvania farm country, volunteers dote over iconic cars
MECHANICSBURG — Mike Fowler had been faintly aware that a museum of Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles existed near his boyhood home in the suburbs of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but the car enthusiast didn’t expect the experience he got when he started volunteering there. Fowler had oil on his hands within a...
Universal chooses a site near London to build its 1st European theme park
LONDON — Universal has chosen the homeland of Harry Potter to build its first theme park and resort in Europe, the entertainment company and U.K. officials announced Wednesday. The studio and theme park operator that has drawn millions to its Potter-themed wizarding worlds and other attractions said it would begin...
Fewer foreign visitors are traveling to the U.S. in what some see as a sign of a ‘Trump Slump’
Olja Ivanic looked forward to welcoming some cousins from Sweden to her Denver home in June. Ivanic and the four travelers were planning to go hiking in Colorado and then visit Los Angeles and San Francisco. But then President Donald Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a February meeting...
Direct flights to Punta Cana will begin this winter through American Airlines
A direct route to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from Pittsburgh International Airport is launching this winter through American Airlines — for the first time in over a decade. The service will be once per week on Saturday only, and it will start Dec. 6, American Airlines said. The Allegheny County...
Detentions of European tourists at U.S. borders spark fears of traveling to America
SAN DIEGO — Lennon Tyler and her German fiancé often took road trips to Mexico when he vacationed in the United States since it was only a day’s drive from her home in Las Vegas, one of the perks of their long-distance relationship. But things went terribly wrong when they...
London’s Heathrow Airport closed for the day after a substation fire, disrupting travel
LONDON — Britain’s Heathrow Airport was closed all day Friday after a fire at a nearby electrical substation knocked out its power, disrupting flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers at Europe’s busiest travel hub. At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24...
Southwest Airlines breaks with another tradition and checked bags will cost you now
Southwest Airlines said Tuesday that it will begin charging customers a fee to check bags, abandoning a decades-long practice that executives had described last fall as key to differentiating the budget carrier from its rivals. Southwest, which built years of advertising campaigns around its policy of letting passengers check up...
Flight cancellations at Germany’s Hamburg Airport affect more than 40,000 passengers after strike
BERLIN — Flight cancellations at Hamburg Airport after a surprise strike by workers affected more than 40,000 passengers on Sunday, a day before a planned wider protest across Germany amid new contract negotiations. Only 10 of more than 280 scheduled flights went as planned early Sunday, the airport said. Many...
‘This is to keep all of us safe’: Officials urge travelers to get Real ID before deadline
The countdown is on: In just two months, U.S. travelers will need a gold star on their driver’s license to fly domestically — the symbol of a Real ID. Starting on May 7, anyone 18 years of age or older will need a Real ID or another acceptable form of...
United flight diverted to Texas after severe turbulence injures 5
Five people were injured on a United Airlines flight Sunday amid turbulence so severe that multiple flights were diverted to Waco Regional Airport in central Texas. United 5690 had departed Springfield, Missouri, en route to Houston at 4:48 p.m. and made an emergency landing an hour and 40 minutes later...
Russia offers to restore direct air links with the U.S., during Istanbul talks
MOSCOW — Russia has offered the United States to restore direct air links between the two countries during the latest round of consultations with Washington, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday. Russian and U.S. diplomats met in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss normalizing the operation of their respective embassies that...
American Airlines flight discontinues landing to avoid departing plane at Washington National
ARLINGTON, Va. — An American Airlines plane arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport discontinued its landing, performing a go-around at an air traffic controller’s instruction to avoid getting too close to another aircraft departing from the same runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The maneuver involving American Flight 2246...
