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Front Page: Tornadoes, American Airlines, Petraeus Day Two, Nepal

CitizenSugar — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:57:46 -0700

Several tornadoes ripped through West Texas and Oklahoma last night. Winds of up to 70 mph and heavy rains left one dead, at least five houses destroyed, and 3,500 without power. Flooding caused the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to close five highways in the state, while Arkansas also saw flash flooding.
American Airlines has canceled 900 additional flights today as it continues to perform safety inspections on certain jets. It's the third consecutive day of cancellations for American Airlines, who also canceled 1,094 flights on Wednesday and 460 flights the day before.

General Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, remained consistent in his second day of testimony before Congress with his recommendation to suspend troop reductions in Iraq. The recommendation shows that Iraqi forces remain unprepared to take over the mission of securing their own nation. Some questioning Petraeus became frustrated as he steadfastly declined to specify what conditions would need to be present on the ground before he would endorse withdrawals to take the number of American troops far below the 140,000 set to remain there after July. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed his frustration saying, “based on everything we have heard, we can reach only one conclusion: With 160,000 courageous American troops serving in Iraq, President Bush has an exit strategy for just one man — himself — on Jan. 20, 2009.”
Voters in Nepal have cast ballots in historic elections, the first since 1999. At question is an assembly that is expected to rewrite Nepal's constitution and abolish its monarchy. Polling was mostly peaceful, although one person was killed in election-related violence. Results are expected over the next 10 days.

Flying the Scary Skies? The Airline Industry Hits Turbulence

CitizenSugar — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:00:22 -0700

Suddenly those gross, germy, blankets are the least of air travelers worries. The FAA is answering to Congress today over whistle-blower information surfaced casting doubt over Southwest Airlines safety practices.

The tip came from an FAA inspector who called out his bosses saying, "I'm here today because I'm concerned of the safety of the flying public which has been jeopardized by the abusive authority in violations of the federally regulations." He says Southwest pressured the FAA to hide safety problems. Insert the small tab into the buckle of your seatbelt, there's a ton more airline news, just

American Airlines Wants You To Log On In-Flight

geeksugar — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 03:00:58 -0700

While American car rental service Avis has been offering WiFi for their customers for some time, logging on in-flight isn't an amenity most American travelers have been able to savor - until now. Just days after Virgin America showed off its new, tech-infused planes, AirCell, a provider of aviation communications systems, announced it will join forces with American to test its new system for providing on-board Internet access.

According to Reuters, American will test the service on its 767-200 aircraft, which mainly flies transcontinental routes. Apparently Boeing has halted the use of its Connexion unit, which allowed airlines to provide high-speed Internet service to passengers, because it was too expensive and customers didn't want to pay for the usage. According to AirCell, its system will be less expensive - likely $100,000 per plane or $10 per flight.

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