Holiday travel on the upswing, surveys show
Los Angeles Times
Airport security measures may be more daunting and gasoline prices are going up, but Americans won't be deterred from traveling to visit family and friends this Thanksgiving holiday. During the upcoming holiday weekend, 42.2 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles, an 11.4 percent increase over the same period last year, according to an annual survey released by the American Automobile Association.More

TSA chief: New pat-downs necessary; policies stay put
USA TODAY
Senators assailed the head of the Transportation Security Administration over the agency's new, more invasive airport pat-downs that have led to widespread controversy. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, told TSA Administrator John Pistole that the huge "outcry" from travelers demanded that TSA soften its procedures. "There's got to be a way for a privacy concern to be addressed," Hutchison said at a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. "I know you're aware of it, but there's got to be some action."More

US imposes stricter security on air cargo
Financial Times
The U.S. has quietly extended security restrictions on air cargo, effectively banning household goods carried on inbound U.S. passenger aircraft after the recently attempted aircraft bombings. The cargo division of American Airlines wrote to customers to tell them it would ban all items that represented an "elevated risk" for 30 days in response to stricter security measures imposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.More

Allegiant Air flight attendants taking union vote
The Bellingham Herald
Allegiant Air flight attendants soon will be voting on whether to join the Transport Workers Union to seek a labor contract with the air carrier that handles most of the passenger load in and out of Bellingham International Airport.  Union organizer Steve Roberts said 28 of the airline's 420 flight attendants are based in Bellingham, Wash.More

Far fewer fliers endure tarmac delays
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Lengthy tarmac delays have dropped dramatically — 97 percent — in the five months since a new government rule went into effect, according to the Transportation Department. As part of its monthly report of on-time statistics, the department said that from May through September, there were only 12 tarmac delays over three hours, compared with 535 in the same period of 2009.More

Safety officials, airlines at loggerheads over new rules on pilot fatigue
The Buffalo News
Federal safety officials and the nation's biggest airlines are at loggerheads over proposed new rules to govern pilot fatigue in the wake of the February 2009 plane crash in Clarence Center, N.Y., that killed 50 people. "If adopted, the proposed rule will provide substantial benefits towards reducing the hazards of flight crew fatigue" on passenger airlines, said Deborah A.P. Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, in comments filed with the Federal Aviation Administration.More

Department of Transportation reports drop in airline employment
Travel Agent Central
U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 0.6 percent fewer workers in September 2010 than in September 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports. This is the 27th consecutive decrease in full-time equivalent employee levels for the scheduled passenger carriers from the same month of the previous year. FTE calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.More