Aviation Industry

FAA bill speeds switch to GPS for airliners

After five years of legislative struggling, 23 stopgap measures and a two-week shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, Congress finally has passed a bill aimed at prodding the nation's aviation system into a new high-tech era in which satellites are central to air traffic control and piloted planes share the skies with unmanned drones.

Rural Alaska air travel subsidies survive budget cuts

Subsidies for rural Alaska air travel survived the cost cutting talk as Congress passed a four-year funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday after years of dispute.

FAA bill speeds switch to GPS for airliners

JULIA O'MALLEY

O'Malley: There will always be prayers at 30,000 feet

If nothing else, the Bible is literature that contemplates essential human themes: creation and death, loss and forgiveness. I don't mind thinking about those when I'm 30,000 feet above the earth in a metal tube powered by highly flammable gas.

Alaska Air 4Q profit below expectations as fuel costs jump

Alaska Air Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income dipped, to below analyst expectations, as fuel costs soared 31 percent.

Alaska Airlines to stop issuing prayer cards to passengers

Alaska Airlines is ending decades of giving passengers prayer cards with their meals, saying today it heard from customers who preferred not to mix religion with transportation.

Alaska Air to stop issuing prayer cards to passengers

It's bring-your-own-prayer time on Alaska Airlines. The carrier has announced that on Feb. 1 it will stop handing out prayer cards with meals. If you don't fly first-class, you might not know that the cards are still given to passengers up front. (Insert joke here about first-class passengers being more valuable to the airline.)

Alaska Air cancels flights as storm blasts Pacific Northwest

A powerful Pacific Northwest storm temporarily shut down Seattle's airport Thursday. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air canceled 310 flights to and from Seattle, and Alaska Air said it is canceling at least 50 flights today.

Alaska Air cancels flights as snow falls in Seattle, Portland

Alaska Airlines has canceled almost 50 flights into and out of snowy Seattle and Portland, Ore., today, and more cancellations could be coming. The airline waived rebooking fees for travel Tuesday through Thursday in those cities.

Photos: Snowstorm batters Pacific Northwest

INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS

Charter company's new jet can fly to Hawaii

Security Aviation, a Part 135 charter operator located in Anchorage, announced recently that it has added an eighth aircraft to its fleet.

Airport will use full-body scanners

The Juneau airport this week will join Anchorage and Fairbanks in requiring passengers to go through full-body scanners, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

Computer troubles delay 25 Alaska Airlines flights

Computer problems caused delays on 25 Alaska Airlines flights Wednesday.

Cessna slowed by slush on runway before crash

A commercial pilot who ditched his plane Dec. 15 in the ocean near Nanwalek, forcing him and three passengers to swim to shore, reported slush on the runway and a downdraft during takeoff, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Santa-trackers having record holiday

NORAD volunteers at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado were fielding 8,000 calls an hour Saturday afternoon from children trying to pin down Santa's whereabouts, on pace to break the record.

NORAD Santa tracker on Facebook

Legislator feuds with TSA over scanners

Alaska state Rep. Chris Tuck is running TV ads telling people they can skip the new body scanners at Alaska airports and should call airport police if the Transportation Security Administration gets too frisky with the resulting pat-downs.

Video: Rep. Tuck's ad

Photos: Anchorage airport scanners

4 swim to safety from plane crash near Nanwalek

Four people in a small plane that went down Thursday in water offshore from the village of Nanwalek survived after swimming or wading to reach land, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator said.

NTSB says fast-moving storm led to fatal plane crash

A fast-moving snow storm swept into the village of Chuathbaluk just before a small commercial plane struck a tall spruce tree near the Kuskokwim River village in November, killing the pilot, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

New scanners debut at Anchorage airport

The first full-body scanners to peek beneath Alaska air travelers' clothes are now in use at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, and unlike previous models used in the Lower 48, the new machines do not create a detailed picture of passengers.

Photos: Full-body scanners demonstrated

Alaska airports to get scanners that don't show naked fliers

Aniak pilot dies in crash during snowstorm, troopers say

A longtime Aniak pilot died in the crash of a small plane near Chuathbaluk late Tuesday as a snowstorm struck the Kuskokwim River village, according to Alaska State Troopers.

2 dead in crash near McGrath; 4 survive (8/16/11)

Anchorage airport has a new chief for police, fire

Alaska's largest airport has a new police and fire department chief.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25

Man stands for Anchorage-Philly flight to make room for 400-pounder

US Airways' Anchorage-Philadelphia route is among the longest domestic U.S. nonstop flights. Now, imagine not having a seat for the entire seven-hour flight. That's what happened to a Pennsylvania businessman leaving Anchorage in July when he lost half of his aisle seat to a 400-plus-pound man who purchased the middle seat but didn't come close to fitting it. The businessman, 57-year-old Arthur Berkowitz, told ABC News this week he wedged himself into his half-seat for takeoff and landing -- unable to reach his seatbelt -- but spent the rest of the flight mostly standing in the aisle. Continued on jump

Alaska airports to get scanners that don't show naked fliers

Full-body scanners will be installed at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport by the end of the year, with other Alaska airports soon to follow. But the scanners will be different from those that have raised privacy issues by displaying images of passengers' unclothed bodies.

Alaska Airlines tests biofuels on Lower 48 routes

Alaska Airlines began an expensive trial of biofuel-powered passenger flights Wednesday, billing the 75 trips as a pioneering effort to "fly cleaner" and to kick-start a nascent renewable-energy economy.

Pilot who died in Iliamna helicopter crash identified

The man killed in a helicopter crash Saturday outside the Southwest Alaska village of Iliamna was a resident of Douglas and a senior pilot for Era Helicopters. Troopers said William Zeman, 66, was the only person on board.

Loaded, undeclared gun tumbles from checked bag

A loaded and undeclared .38-caliber handgun tumbled from a checked bag at Los Angeles International Airport Sunday, prompting police to detain the gun owner temporarily.

Alaska Airlines offers new benefits to Alaska residents

Alaska Airlines announced a new program for Alaska residents Tuesday that includes two free checked bags for out-of-state travel, and special discounts on fares.

Plane lands safely after costly bird strike

Sitka's problem with bird strikes at its airport improved after eagle nests were removed, but the problem occurred again over the weekend.

Alaska Airlines jet hits bird on Sitka approach

Sitka's problem with bird strikes at its airport improved after eagle nests were removed, but the problem occurred again over the weekend.

HOLLYWOOD ALASKA BLOG

'Flying Wild Alaska' to open second season this month

Look for season two of Discovery's "Flying Wild Alaska," the Bush pilot reality show starring the Tweto family of Unalakleet, to premiere Oct. 28. Here's what Discovery promises in the second season.

Canada subs for Alaska in movie comedy

Former astronaut was pilot of floatplane that crash-landed

Former space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein of Anchorage was the pilot of a small plane that stalled and crashed last month near a lake northwest of the city, federal officials said Friday. Oefelein and his two passengers were unhurt.

Residents object to airport park and trail exchange

A proposal for a big land swap involving park and trail land near Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is stirring up protests from West Anchorage residents

Read the West Anchorage Plan

Photos: A look at the land in question