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Charging for checked luggage and legroom isn’t enough for some carriers — starting today, coach passengers flying aboard US Airways Inc. must pay for a drink of water. This morning, US Airways began charging fliers $2 for bottled water and sodas and $1 for teas and coffees. First class members, trans-Atlantic passengers and a select group of others are exempt from the extra fees. “This is another clever way to masquerade airfare increases without increasing airfares,” says Randy Petersen, editor of Inside Flyer Magazine. “Everything has been passed along to the consumer.” (snip) Continental Airlines Inc. — one of the...

The full-page ad inside Wednesday's edition of USA Today is as scary as it is unprecedented. The union representing more than five-thousand US Airways pilots accuses the airlines of threatening "termination of their careers" if pilots fail to "reduce fuel levels" "to save money." "Fuel is very critical to any mission. When you start varying the amount of fuel and getting it below a captain's comfort zone, that's why we have an issue here," said Capt. James Ray of the US Airline Pilots Association.

Lawyers for six Muslim prayer leaders removed from a US Airways jet at Twin Cities International Airport in 2006 told a federal magistrate Monday that they want the airline to divulge 10 years' worth of discrimination complaints so they could compare the airline's behavior before and after the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Attorneys representing the airline argued they should have to turn over just three years' worth of such data. The reason, said one: 9/11 changed everything. "The bottom line is we're in a post-9/11 world," US Airways attorney Dane Jaques told U.S. Magistrate Arthur Boylan. "Procedures changed. The world...

Moments after boarding US Airways Flight 300 for Phoenix, Michael McCombie, a 3M sales rep from Santa Clara, Calif., jotted a note and handed it to flight attendant Terri Boatner: "6 suspicious Arabic men on plane, spaced out in their seats. All were together, saying '... Allah ... Allah ...' cursing U.S. involvement w/Saddaam before flight. 1 in front exit row, another in first row 1st class, another in 8D, another in 22D, two in 25 E & F." The men in question were six Muslim imams, or prayer leaders, returning home from a conference in Minneapolis. Within minutes of...

US Airways Group Inc. plans to discontinue in-flight movies on about 10 percent of its flights, due in large part to rising fuel costs. Airline spokeswoman Valerie Wunder said the current in-flight entertainment systems are being pulled from roughly 196 of its planes. "These systems weigh about 500 pounds, and whether a movie is showing or not, the plane has to bear that weight," Wunder said. And, she said with changing customer behavior, fewer people are shelling out the $5 to rent the headsets to listen to the movies. "A lot of people bring their own personal devices and their...

CHICAGO - Baggage fees are fast becoming an unavoidable part of U.S. flying — three of the largest carriers now charge $15 for a first checked bag. No. 2 United Airlines and No. 7 US Airways announced their new fees on Thursday, three weeks after No. 1 American Airlines set the precedent for the charge. Most U.S. carriers already have instituted a $25 charge for checking a second bag — part of a potpourri of new fees that reflect a struggling airline industry passing along record fuel prices to passengers in the form of higher fares, fuel surcharges and service...

US Airways is imposing new passenger fees in the face of rising jet fuel prices, but it's going even further than some other airlines have recently. The Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier (NYSE: LCC), which has a large presence at Reagan National Airport, will start charging $2 for nonalcoholic beverages in coach class on all domestic flights. The fee covers sodas, juices, bottled water and coffee. The charge for alcoholic beverages in coach will increase to $7. Following the lead of several other airlines, US Airways also will charge $15 for the first checked bag for tickets purchased beginning July 9 for...

Inadequate handgun rules designed by Department of Homeland Security officials are to blame for last weekend's accidental discharge of a pistol by a commercial pilot during landing preparations, a pilots association said yesterday. "The pilot has to take his gun off and lock it up before he leaves the cockpit, so he was trying to secure the gun in preparation for landing, while he was trying to fly the airplane, too," said David Mackett, president of the Airline Pilots Security Alliance. "In the process of doing that, the padlock that is required to be inserted into the holster pulled the...

A US Airways pilot accidentally discharged his gun in the cockpit during a flight from Denver to Charlotte, N.C., according to the Transportation Safety Administration. The Airbus A319 landed safely after the incident Saturday and without any injuries to the 124 passengers on board, a spokesperson for the TSA told ABCNEWS.com today. The TSA said the passengers were unaware that a gun had been fired in the cockpit. The pilot, who both the TSA and US Airways declined to identify, was a member of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, an initiative put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001,...

CHARLOTTE, N.C.-- A US Airways pilot’s gun accidentally discharged during a flight from Denver to Charlotte Saturday, according to as statement released by the airline. The statement said the discharge happened on Flight 1536, which left Denver at approximately 6:45am and arrived in Charlotte at approximately 11:51am. The Airbus A319 plane landed safely and none of the flight’s 124 passengers or five crew members was injured, according to the statement. It was a full flight. An airline spokeswoman said the plane has been taken out of service to make sure it is safe to return to flight. A Transportation Safety...

US Airways and Minneapolis airport officials are demanding a jury trial in a civil rights lawsuit filed by a group of Muslim imams who were removed from a flight for suspicious behavior. The airline and Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which oversees Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, are also claiming immunity for their employees named in the suit, citing a "John Doe" law passed by Congress last year that, among other things, protects people acting in an official capacity to prevent terrorist attacks. "We believe the police officers acted appropriately and that it is important that airports across the nation be able...

Exposing the "Flying Imams" by M. Zuhdi Jasser Middle East Quarterly/Winter 2008 (excerpt) (I cut out the intro and background on this Flying Imams case, just to shorten the article a bit) My Experience with the Phoenix Imams I have known three of the plaintiffs in the U.S. Airways suit for almost a decade. Soon after settling in Arizona in 1999, I became involved in the local Muslim community. Before moving to Scottsdale, I usually attended Friday congregational prayer services at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe, Arizona. Often, Ahmed Shqeirat, now the primary plaintiff, delivered sermons at the mosque...

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by a group of imams against US Airways and a Minneapolis airport can proceed. U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said in a 41-page opinion late yesterday that the imams, who say they were discriminated against when they were removed from a flight last year, have a plausible claim that their constitutional rights may have been violated. The imams "have adequately stated a claim" that airport police may have "seized plaintiffs in violation of their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures," Judge Montgomery ruled.

WBZ) BOSTON 5 crew members of a U.S. Airways flight became ill on a flight to Boston Monday morning. The airline says the two pilots and three flight attendants were working on Flight 2022, a Star Alliance shuttle from Reagan Airport in Washington, D.C. to Logan Airport when they got sick. The flight landed at Logan without incident. The crew was treated by emergency medical services at the gate. EMS told WBZ it took the five to Massachusetts General Hospital with symptoms similar to carbon monoxide poisoning. There were 81 passengers on the plane. None of them were ill. A...

A group of Muslim imams today dropped all charges in a federal lawsuit levied against "John Doe" airline passengers for reporting the men's suspicious behavior that led to their removal from a U.S. Airways flight last year.

A legal squabble in a lawsuit brought by Muslim imam passengers is escalating among lawyers over the question of who is being sued over their removal from a flight last year. "John Doe" passengers are named as parties in the litigation for reporting suspicious behavior of the six men, which led to their removal from the flight. Employees of U.S. Airways and a Minneapolis airport are also targets of the lawsuit now proceeding through a federal court. One of the attorneys representing the six Muslim men says they do not intend to pursue the passengers in litigation, but the Becket...

US Airways is asking a court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a group of Muslim imams, saying the airline followed government guidelines when it removed the men from a flight because of suspicious behavior. The response to the lawsuit, filed March 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, says the airline "is required to adhere to the main points of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Common Strategy regarding security threats in the aviation context."

Lawyers and a Muslim group say they will defend at no cost airline passengers caught up in a lawsuit between a group of imams and U.S. Airways if the passengers are named as "John Does" and sued for reporting suspicious behavior that got the Muslim clerics booted from a November flight. The six imams are suing the airline, Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission, and the unnamed "John Does" to be named later, for discrimination, saying they were removed from the flight for praying in the airport. Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix-area physician and director of American Islamic Forum for...

Travel is getting better at Philadelphia International Airport. Flights are getting airborne and travelers are getting to their destinations. But U.S. Airways, the largest carrier at the airport, has been hit the hardest by this storm, and again had more problems Saturday night. At 9 pm U.S. Airways was in a standstill after the airline's computer system crashed. Weary travelers tried to find refuge on baggage check in stations as baggage checkers just stood there and watched. In the late morning Philadelphia International Airport contacted the airlines and notified them that they have extra gates, transportable gates, tarmac busses and...

Six Islamic leaders who were removed from a U-S Airways flight say they'll sue the airline for discrimination. The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it will provide details on the lawsuit tomorrow at a Washington news conference. Six imams returning to Phoenix from a religious conference in November were taken off a plane in Minneapolis, handcuffed, and questioned. They had prayed in the airport before the flight, and after they boarded, a passenger who considered them suspicious passed a note to a flight attendant. When the men returned to the airport the next day, the airline refunded their fares and...

Authorities today detained an Iraqi national who was carrying a suspicious object at Los Angeles International's Terminal One. Los Angeles airport police held the man in a passenger screening area after security agents discovered at 5:40 a.m. that he was carrying a metal object, officials said. A preliminary investigation of the man's bags -- which were taken off a flight that was scheduled to go to Philadelphia but diverted to Las Vegas -- found nothing hazardous or dangerous, authorities said. The man has been turned over to Immigration and Customs authorities for additional questioning, officials said at an afternoon news...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Officials detained an Iraqi man during a security scare at Los Angeles International airport on Tuesday but said a suspicious object found in a body cavity search did not pose a threat. The man, identified by law enforcement officials as Fadhel al-Maliki, 35, was detained at passenger screening at the airport just before 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The bomb squad was called as a precaution and authorities said they found wires in his clothing and a magnet inside a lower body cavity. The man was preparing to board a US Airways flight to Philadelphia. The...

An Iraqi national wearing wires and concealing a magnet inside his rectum triggered a security scare at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday but officials said he posed no apparent threat. The man, identified by law enforcement officials as Fadhel al-Maliki, 35, set off an alarm during passenger screening at the airport early on Tuesday morning. A police bomb squad was called to examine what was deemed a suspicious item found during a body cavity search of the man. Local media reports said a magnet was found in his rectum. "He was secreting these items in a body cavity and...

New Mexico isn't alone in its requirement that airlines have a state license to serve liquor on flights. Brandy King, spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines, said it's the norm for her airline to have a license to serve alcohol in any airport it flies out of. ... The state Regulation and Licensing Department on Monday barred US Airways from serving alcohol on flights in and out of New Mexico and announced that the airline didn't have a license to serve alcohol in the state. Ed Lopez, superintendent of the state Regulation and Licensing Department, said Tuesday that the agency is investigating...

SANTA FE— US Airways, which served Dana Papst liquor hours before he plowed his pickup into a Las Vegas, N.M., family's minivan, has been ordered to stop serving alcohol on any flights in and out of New Mexico. On Monday, the state Regulation and Licensing Department hit US Airways with a cease-and-desist order [because] the airline did not have a license to serve alcohol in New Mexico. The state DPS also issued US Airways an administrative citation for selling alcohol to Papst while he was intoxicated. In a related move, Gov. Bill Richardson said in a news release that he...

We have written repeatedly about the strange case of the six flying imams, who, following an imams' convention, were kicked off a flight originating in Minneapolis for what appeared to be deliberately provocative behavior. We have speculated that the event may have been a set-up designed as the predicate for anti-racial profiling legislation in Congress. The latest news from the Associated Press is consistent with that speculation: The repercussions of an airline's decision to remove a group of imams from a commercial flight in Minneapolis could be heard in Congress this year, with civil rights groups pushing Democratic lawmakers to...

Saved Planemaker Five Percent On 400-Plane Sale According to New Yorker writer John Newhouse, Airbus ex-CEO Jean Pierson did many colorful things to promote his company, but none as strange and audacious as dropping his trousers to push through a key 400-plane sale to US Airways. In his book 'Boeing Versus Airbus', Newhouse recounts how Pierson traveled to US Airways headquarters in 1997 where he thought he would put the finishing touches on the large order. Instead, he was hit with an eleventh-hour bargaining tactic, as the airlines' then-chairman Stephen Wolf demanded a five-percent discount on the price. According to...

American Muslims making a religious pilgrimage to Mecca are being encouraged to file civil rights complaints if they feel discriminated against by airlines. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), citing what it called the "airport profiling" of six imams removed from a recent flight, yesterday said Muslims traveling this month to the holy site in Saudi Arabia need to be aware of their rights. "Given the increase in the number of complaints CAIR has received alleging airport profiling of American Muslims, we believe it is important that all those taking part in this year's hajj be aware of their legal...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the imams' legal representative, is an organization that "we know has ties to terrorism," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in 2003

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 7 -- For years, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has been known for its liberalism and tolerance, especially when it comes to religion. Many Muslims, including the largest population of Somalis outside of Mogadishu, make their home in the Twin Cities. The area just elected the nation's first Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison (D). "We are well known for acceptance at a period in time when much of America feels like an unwelcome place" for Muslims, said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. "This is a place where Muslims are succeeding and thriving in leadership positions." So, last month's removal of six...

On a Wing and a Prayer Grievance theater at Minneapolis International Airport. BY DEBRA BURLINGAME Wednesday, December 6, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Those are the words that started it all. Six bearded imams are said to have shouted them out while offering evening prayers as they and 141 other passengers waited at the gate for their flight out of Minneapolis International Airport. It was three days before Thanksgiving. Allahu Akbar: God is great. Initial media reports of the incident did not include the disturbing details about what happened after they boarded US...

As we first suspected, the six imams bounced from a US Airways flight misled the public about the incident and likely staged the whole thing as a scheme to weaken security. Their actions undermine any good will and trust Muslim leaders have built since 9/11. And they call into question what we really know about these supposedly virtuous men we invite to the White House and other halls of power in gestures of tolerance. Are they really moderate? Do they really mean it when they renounce terrorism? Do they really have America's best interests at heart? -snip- Both CAIR and...

CAIR is calling for a boycott by all Muslims worldwide against US Airways until they have apologized to the insult toward Islam and these Imams. The humiliation suffered by these holy men is almost beyond calculation. Fortunately, we have excellent accountants, and they, by the most amazing stroke of luck, have managed to calculate that their humiliation can be diminished to an acceptable level by a payment by US Airways in the amount of Seventeen Million, Five Hundred Fifty Two Thousand, Two Hundred and Eighty Seven Dollars and Sixty Two Cents.

Police Report, Passenger Reveals That Flying Imams Were Up to No Good - The Now Notorious Flying Imams Claim Their Only Crime Was “Flying While Muslim,” But Our Exclusive Reporting Reveals They Are Trying to Sweep Their Real Motives Under Their Prayer RugsSEE ALSO: The first public publication of the official police report on the incident including handwritten statements from witnesses. Download file — PDF 11.8 Mb PLUS: The letter from US Airways passenger “Pauline” to U.S. Airways: Download file PDF 68K [Bloggers are invited to examine these documents and provide theories for what happened. Please notify Pajamas Media. —...

How do you know when you've gone overboard with political correctness? When even the liberal panelists of Fox News Watch chide you for it. Host Eric Burns normally stays above the fray. But for some reason, on this evening's show he chose to criticize US Airways for removing from one of its flights six imams whose actions had made other passengers uneasy.Said Burns, introducing the segment: "There were two stories in the news this week about religion. First, Pope Benedict in Turkey tried to encourage tolerance between Catholics and Muslims. Second, a story of tolerance of U.S. Airways and Muslims...

<p>THE notorious case of U.S. Airways Flight 300 gets stranger by the minute, as more facts emerge about why six traveling Muslim clerics were asked to deplane.</p> <p>A passenger on that flight - I'll call her "Pauline" - has inadvertently publicized some facts via a much-forwarded e-mail; she gave me more details in an interview this week. The airport police report confirms some of her claims and holds more revelations of its own. And U.S. Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader also confirmed much of Pauline's account.</p>

Can you believe the six imams kicked off the US Airways flight in Minneapolis are threatening to sue? Can you believe they're walking around free rather than being held and investigated for "probing" on behalf of terrorists? Can you believe most of the media coverage of this incident focuses on possible civil rights violations and inappropriate religious "profiling"? Let's review the facts of the case: Several passengers on the flight complained to the crew about excessively loud "praying" by the Muslim "holy men." They complained that they were moving around the plane. An air marshal characterized their behavior as a...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is demanding Congress investigate US Airway's removal last week of six imams from one of its flights. The Muslim-rights group claims the imams, who were behaving suspiciously, posed no threat. It's "very, very inappropriate to treat religious leaders that way," a spokesman fumed. According to CAIR, imams are as harmless as Buddhist monks and deserve no less respect. Tell that to flight attendant Kimberly Banducci. According to police reports I've obtained, the Delta Air Lines veteran was assaulted by a Muslim cleric in a bizarre attack aboard a flight from Miami International Airport three years...

So tell me, my politically correct friends, what would you do? You’re waiting to board an airplane and you spot six bearded Muslims - imams, as it turns out - in the concourse waiting to board with you. Three of them are praying loudly, shouting “Allah! Allah!” when you and your fellow passengers are called for boarding. You, being a good liberal, think nothing of it. According to the Washington Times, “Passengers and flight attendants told law enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.” One air marshal told...

Taking a page from the unpublished O.J. Simpson book, if I were a terrorist, what would be my domestic strategy for bringing America to its knees? The recent incident aboard a US Airways plane in Minneapolis exposed one component of my strategy. I would have suggested that six imams shout “Allah” as they approached the plane for boarding and then not take their assigned seats once onboard. I would have told them to sit in seats where they could block every exit, including the one in first class, which is closest to the cockpit. When a passenger raises concerns in...

The six imams removed from a US Airways flight last week have apparently adopted my suggestion that if they really want to protest the airline, instead of boycotting US Airways, they should start flying it frequently. The spokesman for the imams -- or as I believe it's phrased in their culture, "designated liar" -- Omar Shahin, staged a protest at Reagan Washington National Airport on Monday, after which, according to the Associated Press, "he and other religious leaders boarded a US Airways flight to demonstrate their determination to continue praying and flying." The original six imams removed from the flight...

The six imams removed from a US Airways flight last week have apparently adopted my suggestion that if they really want to protest the airline, instead of boycotting US Airways, they should start flying it frequently. The spokesman for the imams — or as I believe it's phrased in their culture, "designated liar" — Omar Shahin, staged a protest at Reagan Washington National Airport on Monday, after which, according to The Associated Press, "he and other religious leaders boarded a US Airways flight to demonstrate their determination to continue praying and flying." The original six imams removed from the flight...

Air marshals, pilots and security officials yesterday expressed concern that airline passengers and crews will be reluctant to report suspicious behavior aboard for fear of being called "racists," after several Muslim imams made that charge in a press conference Monday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Six imams, or Muslim holy men, accused a US Airways flight crew of inappropriately evicting them from a flight last week in Minneapolis after several passengers said the imams tried to intimidate them by loudly praying and moving around the airplane. The imams urged Congress to enact laws to prohibit ethnic and religious "profiling."...

Gee, this sounds almost too good to be true, What if the Muslims go ahead with their "threat"... and boycott US Airways, wouldn't it be then one of the most secured aitlines in the world? Yes I know not every Muslim is a terrorist and yes I also know that almost all terrorists are Muslims. No more problem with racial profiling.The Minneapolis Six Sabotage Airline SecurityFrontPage magazine.com, released from custody, the six Muslims denounced the action as discriminatory and called for a thorough investigation of the incident and a US Airways boycott. ... Ann Coulter: How can I make your...

Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials. Witnesses said three of the imams were praying loudly in the concourse and repeatedly shouted "Allah" when passengers were called for boarding US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix. "I was suspicious by the way they were praying very loud," the gate agent told the Minneapolis Police Department. Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated...

Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials. Witnesses said three of the imams were praying loudly in the concourse and repeatedly shouted "Allah" when passengers were called for boarding US Airways Flight 300 to Phoenix. "I was suspicious by the way they were praying very loud," the gate agent told the Minneapolis Police Department. Passengers and flight attendants told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats to a pattern associated...

WASHINGTON - Imams, ministers and a rabbi staged a "pray-in" demonstration Monday at Reagan Washington National Airport and demanded an apology from US Airways for barring six Muslims from a Minneapolis to Phoenix flight last week. The religious leaders called for an end to racial profiling, saying it was unacceptable in America. "These things are troubling to us," said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation. "Driving while black, flying while Muslim, traveling with a Torah or getting with Jesus." Imam Omar Shahin, one of the six imams detained last Monday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International...

Muslim Imams call for boycott of airlines Author: Elsworth Toohey, PostPosted: 11/23/2006, 2:50 pm This is a sad day in the struggle for acceptance of Islam here in Amerikka. If our Muslim freedom fighters are not onboard airplanes, how will they be able to do the work of Allah? The removal of six Muslim clerics from a US Airways flight from the Twin Cities set off a nationwide uproar, and the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said it will review the incident. Quote: From now on, Omar Shahin won't be praying at the airport...

Homeland Security: Kudos to US Airways. Risking fines and a boycott, it did the right thing this week by removing a group of Muslim men from a flight to protect its crew and passengers. By most accounts, the six bearded men were behaving suspiciously at a time when airports were on high alert for sky terror during the holidays. "There were a number of things that gave the flight crew pause," an airline spokesman said. According to witnesses and police reports, the men: • Made anti-American statements. • Made a scene of praying and chanting "Allah." • Asked for seat-belt...

Six Muslim imams get on a plane. . . . No, this isn't a set-up for a joke. It's dead serious stuff in a post-9/11 world, whatever your take on what happened on US Airways Flight 300 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The six Muslim scholars were among the 141 passengers on a Monday evening flight bound for Phoenix. Before takeoff, three of the imams stood up and started saying their evening prayers. In the end, all six were led off the plane by police after the plane's captain and airport security asked them to leave and they refused. They...