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A former CEO of American Airlines on Tuesday backed imposition of a three-hour time limit on how long airlines can strand passengers on airport tarmacs, but he also warned of unintended consequences. Robert Crandall parted company from his former industry colleagues and joined passengers rights advocates as they took their case to Congress, Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org, pointed to the example of Sun Country Flight 242, which sat on the tarmac at Kennedy International Airport in New York for nearly six hours last month before it was allowed to take off for Minneapolis. Of the 136 passengers aboard the...

By its sixth hour sitting on a deserted tarmac, Continental Express Flight 2816 had taken on the smell of diapers and an overwhelmed lone toilet. What should have been a 2 1/2-hour trip from Houston to Minneapolis had moved into its ninth hour, and the 47 passengers on board had burned through the free pretzels and drinks handed out early in their Friday night flight from Houston. It took 12 hours and a new flight crew for Flight 2816 to complete its journey. Passengers on another flight that had been diverted to the airport in Rochester, Minn., because of storms...

...Sheriff and FAA expected to meet: Pilot reported to the Federal Aviation Administration that at about 8:15 p.m. Friday, an object passed within 150 feet beneath the aircraft, sheriff’s officials said.

Flight Data Show Response to Loss of Speed Resulted in Deadly Stall That Downed Plane Investigators examining last week's Continental Connection plane crash have gathered evidence that pilot commands -- not a buildup of ice on the wings and tail -- likely initiated the fatal dive of the twin-engine Bombardier Q400 into a neighborhood six miles short of the Buffalo, N.Y., airport, according to people familiar with the situation. The commuter plane slowed to an unsafe speed as it approached the airport, causing an automatic stall warning, these people said. The pilot pulled back sharply on the plane's controls and...

Q400 Pitched Up 31 Degrees Before Crash The crew of the Bombardier Q400 that crashed in Buffalo on Thursday got a stall warning and the stick pusher engaged but still the aircraft pitched upward 31 degrees before turning almost 180 degrees and dropping onto a house in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence Center, near the outer marker for Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The sequence of events, which included a 45-degree dive with a 106-degree right bank ended 26 seconds later in the fireball on the ground, killing 49 people on the plane and one on the ground, the owner of...

A Continental Airlines Boeing 737-800 took off shortly after noon today from Bush Intercontinental Airport and made history as the first U.S. commercial jet to fly on a mix of conventional jet fuel and biofuel. After taking a wide swing over the Gulf of Mexico toward southwestern Louisiana, it touched back down at Intercontinental at 1:45 p.m. Officials said the plane burned 3,600 pounds of a 50-50 jet fuel-biofuel mix in one engine and 3,700 pounds of traditional fuel in the other, meaning the test batch was more efficient. "The airplane performed perfectly. There were no problems. It was textbook,"...

OTTAWA (AFP) – Canada's prime minister said Thursday he hoped to work with US president-elect Barack Obama on a North American deal to curbing greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. "It's almost essential for Canada to manage this problem in cooperation with the United States because we share the same economy, we share the same continent," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters. "And we need a partner in the matters of the environment if we want to make real progress." The United States, said Harper, has not embraced an "aggressive" environmental agenda, but Obama was set to redouble US...

HOUSTON, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today announced a $15 service fee for the first checked bag for certain customers who purchase economy-class tickets. The service fee will not apply to EliteAccess customers, including those seated in First or BusinessFirst, OnePass Elite and SkyTeam Elite members, customers traveling on full-fare economy (Y) class tickets, or military personnel and their families traveling on official orders. The policy will apply immediately for tickets purchased for destinations within the U.S., and between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada for travel commencing on or after Oct....

By CINDY HORSWELL Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle TOOLS Email Get section feed Print Recommend (2) Comments (63) Yahoo! Buzz RESOURCES A Continental airliner might have been only a minute away from colliding with what the pilot described as a model rocket that shot past his cockpit window, Federal Aviation Administration records obtained by the Houston Chronicle show. On Memorial Day, the Continental pilot reported being startled by his encounter with this object that "went straight up" and left a long white vapor trail.

A dinosaur bone discovered in Australia has defied prevailing wisdom about how the world's continents separated from a super-continent millions of years ago, a new study published on Tuesday said. The 19-centimetre (eight-inch) bone was found in southeastern Australia but it comes from a very close cousin to Megaraptor, a flesh-ripping monster that lorded over swathes of South American some 90 million years ago. The extraordinary similarity between the two giant theropods adds weight to a dissident view about the breakup of a super-continent, known as Gondwana, that formed the continents of the southern hemisphere, the authors say. Gondwana broke...

No hobby clubs had requested or been granted clearance to launch high-powered model rockets on Memorial Day when a Continental Airlines pilot reported seeing such an object zoom past his cockpit window, authorities said Tuesday. The FBI and Federal Aviation Administration continued to review the radar history of Flight 1544, which departed with 148 passengers from George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 10:17 a.m. Monday. The flight's crew, en route to Cleveland, Ohio, spotted an object with a white vapor trail about eight miles northeast of Houston's airport. While the data is still under review, FBI spokesman Rich Kolko of Washington,...

HOUSTON -- Federal officials are working to find out just what happened in the sky over Houston this morning. Continental Flight 1544 was 11 miles east of Bush Intercontinental Airport after takeoff this morning, when the pilot called the tower to report an object near the plane. The plane was at about 5,000 feet at the time of the report and the flight continued on to Cleveland. Sources told 11 News that the flight was met by Continental officials and FAA investigators to interview the passengers and crew.

Continental Airlines Inc., rumored to be in advanced talks to merge with United Airlines Inc. parent UAL Corp., told its employees Sunday that it has decided not to merge with any other carrier. In a message from chairman and chief executive officer Larry Kellner and president Jeff Smisek, the Houston-based carrier said it has decided that it should go it alone in the troubled airline industry. "We want you to know that our Board of Directors met today and has unanimously supported management's recommendation that, in the current industry environment, the best course for Continental is to not merge with...

Today, Continental Airlines bought back its “golden share” from Northwest Airlines for $100, freeing Continental to act on the airline industry’s urge to merge. Investment bankers and industry watchers are already expecting Continental’s next step is to do a deal with UAL’s United Airlines.

CERGY, France (AFP) — A French prosecutor has called for US airline Continental to be put on trial over the 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde, a court official said. A French inquiry found that the disaster, which killed 113 people, was caused in part by a strip of metal from a Continental plane, which fell off and later shredded one of the Concorde's tyres. A deputy prosecutor in the city of Pontoise, Bernard Farret, said a request was made to bring to trial the airline as well as four individuals, including the Continental mechanic who allegedly fitted...

Driving down to Austin lately has become a real trip. I-35 is usually packed for most of the 185 miles, and what used to take three or four hours now can take five or six. Flying down can take almost as long, when you figure in airline security delays, more flight delays, and the time it takes getting into and out of crowded airports. But what if it took 45 minutes to travel from the Metroplex to Austin by train or an hour to make a trip to Houston? Advocates of high-speed rail lines are floating these ideas once again...

WASHINGTON (Feb. 18) - A frog the size of a bowling ball, with heavy armor and teeth, lived among dinosaurs millions of years ago - intimidating enough that scientists who unearthed its fossils dubbed the beast Beelzebufo, or Devil Toad. But its size - 10 pounds and 16 inches long - isn't the only curiosity. Researchers discovered the creature's bones in Madagascar. Yet it seems to be a close relative of normal-sized frogs who today live half a world away in South America, challenging assumptions about ancient geography. The discovery, led by paleontologist David Krause at New York's Stony Brook...

On the Road Right There on the Tarmac, the Inmates Revolt By JOE SHARKEY Published: August 14, 2007 ON July 29, Continental Flight 1669, a 737-700 with about 120 passengers aboard, was bound for Newark from Caracas, Venezuela, when bad weather caused the plane to be diverted to Baltimore. It sat there for about five hours with passengers on board as food and water ran low and toilets became filthy. Since Dec. 29, there have been hundreds of reports of passengers unable to get off parked airplanes for 6, 8 and even 12 hours. Just last weekend, for example, a...

Could high-speed rail service with a stop in the Hillsboro area be a reality by 2020? That is the goal set by the Texas High-Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation (THSRTC) following the final planning and design charrette in Fort Worth. The charrette preceded the 10th annual Transportation Summit held in Irving Tuesday through Friday, August 7-10. THSRTC board members met in Houston in May at the Continental Airlines headquarters for the first of the charrettes. Attending were eight international suppliers of high-speed rail for nine different systems in France, Germany, Korea and Spain. In addition, 14 consulting firms of varying...

Day camp affords kids a look at 18th-century life . Each summer, youngsters ages 9 to 12 have the opportunity to spend a week in the ranks of Gen. George Washington's army. History becomes a personal experience for those who take part in the Old Barracks Summer Day Camp at the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton. Children at the day camp participate in indoor and outdoor activities that re-create life in the 18th century. Campers muster into Gen. George Washington's Continental Army on the Old Barracks parade grounds, used more than 200 years ago by British, Hessian and Continental soldiers,...

The personal information of passengers on Continental Express will soon be handled by a new company – and the location of that company is making some travelers nervous. ....... Passengers on Continental Express are actually doing business with Express Jet, a company that is planning to contract with an overseas firm to process its revenue management – a firm in the United Arab Emirates. Express jet is set to send the personal information of travelers to Mercator, a company that operates out of Dubai. The company insists its travelers’ information will be safe ....... And although this will be the...

A Contintal Express jet with 48 people on board landed safely at Bush Intercontinetal Airport, after the pilot was was forced to make an emergency return because of two blown tires. "It was a photo landing," one Houston fire fighter said to his colleagues, as the plane touched down at 6:20 p.m. ...The flight circled the airport, northeast of Houston, for about an hour to burn off fuel. The jet appeared to be missing both tires on the left-side, rear landing gear. The jet's landing gear was in the "down" position for airport tower personnel and fire fighters to see...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela has prohibited Continental and Delta Airlines from flying into this South American nation, Francisco Plaz, the president of the National Aviation Institute, said. Speaking late Thursday, Plaz said that the measure, which also will restrict American Airlines flights, was taken because the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency had established a similar ban on commercial jets registered in Venezuela 10 years ago due to safety violations. The ban would take effect on March 1, Plaz told the local Globovision television channel. Delta Airlines currently services a daily route from Simon Bolivar international Airport to Atlanta while Continental Airlines...

A passenger on a commercial flight getting ready to take off from Florida to Newark has been detained. Authorities said the passenger ran up the aisle, banged on the cockpit door and then jumped out a door. The man was detained on the tarmac and was transported to a hospital. He was not identified by authorities, and will be arrested once he leaves the hospital. The Continental flight was headed from the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport to Newark.

Victoria Osteen, the wife of Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen, said an incident that delayed a Continental Airlines flight for two hours earlier this week was "a minor misunderstanding." Osteen posted a "Letter from Victoria" on the church's official Web site Wednesday, saying the Monday incident resulted from her choice "to remove myself from the situation." Osteen left the plane, Continental Flight 1602, with her husband and their two children. The family took another flight to Vail, Colo., where they are taking a ski vacation. A church spokesman said the family left the plane voluntarily. However, FBI Special Agent Luz...

A dispute that involved the wife of Houston's most famous pastor, Joel Osteen, and a Continental Airlines flight attendant ended up delaying a flight for hours Monday. And now, Victoria Osteen's actions on that flight are in the spotlight. Also on ABC13.com: Send us a news tip | RSS feeds | ABC13 E-lert | Info mentioned on air Statements from Lakewood and Continental Following the incident on Continental flight 1602 Monday, both Lakewood Church and Continental Airlines released these statements. The Osteens run the largest church in the nation, so passengers on a Continental flight were shocked Monday when Mrs....

More than just a branch of America’s armed forces, the modern U.S. Marine Corps serves as a model that other military forces worldwide have attempted to emulate, with varying degrees of success. Marines are aware of this, and justifiably proud. But that pride has not always been conducive to working and playing well with others.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2005 – Through partnerships with most major U.S. carriers, the Fisher House Foundation is making it possible for Americans to donate unused airline miles to troops wounded in the war on terror and their families. The program, "Operation Hero Miles," was created in 2004, when nearly 500 soldiers per day were returning to the U.S. from Iraq for rest and recuperation. "At that time, the military would only fly service personnel to a gateway city," said Pamela Lea-Maida, administrator of Operation Hero Miles at the Fisher House Foundation. "From there, personnel had to pay the rest of...

The United States and its North American neighbors say they will set up a trusted traveler scheme for the whole continent by 2008, and will this year develop a plan to respond together to major terror attacks and other incidents. Trusted traveler programs enable people who provide biometric personal data -- like fingerprints or iris scans -- pay a fee and submit to background checks to use special travel lanes at border crossings. The idea is to speed processing for those travelers not thought security risks, and whose identity can be verified biometrically. A Department of Homeland Security statement Monday...

Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista urged integration between the United States and Mexico during a talk Thursday at the University of Texas-Pan American. The 500-seat Student Union Theater was nearly full as Derbez spoke about the importance of promoting a symbiotic relationship between the two countries in order to bring security and prosperity to both sides of the border. Derbez is a leading contender to head the Organization of American States, which is made up of 34 countries to promote democracy and regional cooperation. "We are integrating," he said, citing the growing Mexican-American communities in the...

The federal government has laid out a sweeping new plan for its Armed Forces, promising a better-equipped, more efficient and more effective military at home and abroad - all within five years. "Today's front lines stretch from the streets of Kabul to the rail lines of Madrid to our own Canadian cities," says a 32-page defence policy statement released Tuesday. "Global terrorism has become a deadly adversary and Canadians are now, in some ways, more individually threatened than at any time during the Cold War." The document promises to effectively double Canada's overseas capability, forge a stronger continental defence with...

An opposition party that is helping to keep Canada's minority Liberal government in power angrily accused Prime Minister Paul Martin on Tuesday of planning to push an agenda of closer integration with the United States. Martin is due to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and Mexican President Vincente Fox in Texas on Wednesday for talks that will include discussions on how to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canadian officials say they want to eliminate "nuisance tariffs" among the three partners and harmonize some continental business regulations. But the idea of any deeper...

President Bush will try to ease tensions over trade and immigration at a summit Wednesday with the leaders of Canada and Mexico that is expected to focus on strengthening security and economic ties. The meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Mexican President Vicente Fox is expected to produce a plan for improving North American economic competitiveness in a global environment seeing the rise of China and India and the expansion of the European Union, analysts said. The United States is pressing for stronger security measures, Mexico is seeking a promise on immigration issues and Canada is hoping for...

PONTOISE, France (AP) - A French magistrate on Thursday opened a formal investigation of Continental Airlines for manslaughter in the July 2000 crash of the supersonic Concorde that killed 113 people. Judge Christophe Regnard placed Continental under investigation - a step short of being formally charged - for manslaughter and involuntary injury, judicial officials said. Investigators concluded that a titanium strip that fell from a Continental DC-10 jet onto the runway caused a tire on the Concorde to burst, propelling rubber debris that perforated the supersonic jet's fuel tanks. The experts also determined, however, that the Concorde's fuel tanks lacked...

DALLAS (AP) -- Shares of Continental Airlines Inc. plunged nearly 13 percent and other carriers' stock also fell after the Houston-based airline reported disappointing revenue numbers for December to cap another money-losing year. Continental, the No. 5 U.S. carrier, said revenue as a factor of capacity fell 4 to 5 percent compared to December 2003. The decline was even sharper after excluding traffic on Continental's regional subsidiary. Continental blamed much of last month's decline in "revenue per available seat mile," or capacity, to the calendar. For example, Thanksgiving fell earlier in 2004 than 2003, pushing some holiday-return travel into November,...

Continental Airlines Inc. on Wednesday said it agreed to become the first major U.S. airline to order Boeing Co.'s 7E7 aircraft, placing an initial order for 10 planes with the first to be delivered in 2009. The world's sixth-largest airline said it also agreed to lease eight Boeing 757-300 aircraft to be delivered beginning in July 2005, and to accelerate the delivery of six Boeing 737-800 aircraft into 2006. The planes had been previously scheduled for delivery in 2008.

...Bloody-minded optimists say... the climactic shake-out is finally upon us. Once the cleansing is done, the airlines will go back to being profitable and sustainable like "normal" industries. Don't bet on it. Airlines have shown an ability to mint short-term profits in an economic bounceback when demand grows faster than they can lay on more jets and gates. But that's not the same thing as being able to make profits consistently enough to pay back the capital invested in the industry. The airlines have never been able to do this, at least not since deregulation.... Airports, meanwhile, are local monopolies...

...It is taken for granted that every time the economy sours Washington will infuse the industry with enough cash to see it through the next boom-bust cycle. This bailout culture is so routine that nobody bothers discussing the fact that this hole-to-nowhere comes courtesy of lawmakers who won't tackle the regulatory and tax problems that hobble the industry. ...Last year Arizona Senator John McCain considered reintroducing his proposal to amend the Railway Labor Act to allow best-offer binding arbitration, which would encourage serious negotiation. But Republicans deemed it too politically difficult. Congress missed a similar opportunity earlier this year with...

United Airlines's recent announcement that it will skip payments to its four pension funds while it is in Chapter 11 has some observers murmuring about a government bailout. And not just any old bailout, but something akin to the hundreds of billions spent on the savings-and-loan debacle in the late 1980s. An overreaction? Unfortunately, no. What has people nervous is that United's decision to stop contributing to its pension plans is not as limited as it might seem. The carrier skipped its July payment of $72 million, and the September contribution of almost $500 million and the October one of...

... For the record, however, we'd also like to draw readers' attention to another Transportation Department missive. It is a consent order dated June 21 and signed by the Department's deputy general counsel. It asserts that Delta Air Lines discriminated against passengers undergoing its screening procedures and directs the carrier to spend $900,000 over the next two years to provide "civil rights training to its pilots, flight attendants, and passenger service agents." Delta denies the charges that it violated federal law by removing from flights or denying boarding to "persons [who] were, or were perceived to be, of Arab, Middle...

Continental Airlines to Cut 1,200 Jobs By PAM EASTON The Associated Press Thursday, March 20, 2003; 2:05 AM Continental Airlines will cut its work force by about 1,200 people by the end of the year to save $500 million, and warned Wednesday of additional layoffs if war with Iraq is prolonged and air travel remains soft. The Houston-based carrier said it plans to eliminate the jobs of 125 pilots as well as 500 reservation agents, 350 airport agents and 225 other workers through voluntary exit programs, leaves of absence and attrition.

The parent company of the Fidelity family of mutual funds has sold off some of its large airline stock holdings. FMR Corp. says it has reduced its stake in Continental Airlines from 12.8 percent at the end of April to just 3 percent at the end of August. In Tuesday filings to the SEC, FMR said it cut its UAL Corp. (United Airlines) holdings from more than 3 million shares, a 5.6 percent stake, to fewer than 400 shares. FMR also reported raising its stake in Qwest Communications to 11.6 percent.