Hastert: Congress should tighten travel rules
Hastert: Congress should tighten travel rules — House Speaker Dennis Hastert suggested Wednesday that the House Ethics Committee should decide in advance whether lawmakers can take certain trips funded by companies or special interests. Appearing on the Tony Snow show on Fox News Radio, Hastert said lawmakers “need to get a clearance up or down” in writing from the Ethics Committee, which should devise a “simple way to get a thumbs up or thumbs down.” (Fox)
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United losses mount as strike looms — UAL Corp. on Wednesday reported a $1.1 billion first-quarter net loss as ground workers for its United Airlines unit voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if a judge allowed the carrier to end their union’s contract. The vote from members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers was another sign of labor unrest at United. The No. 2 U.S. airline on Tuesday won court approval to terminate pension plans for thousands of employees, a step it says was needed to cut costs and exit bankruptcy. (Reuters)
Wyndham is reportedly for sale — Wyndham International Inc. has put itself up for sale, according to Wall Street Journal reports Wednesday that cited people familiar with the matter. The Dallas-based hotel operator, on Tuesday, posted a first-quarter loss of $23.5 million, or 14 cents a share. (Business Journal)
DC ban on small aircraft likely to remain — Until yesterday, federal officials felt confident enough in new air security procedures to consider lifting a ban on small aircraft flying in and out of Reagan National Airport, possibly by the end of the year. Momentum was building to end the prohibition, but after a single-engine Cessna flew alarmingly close to the White House yesterday, administration officials are taking a second look at that plan. (Washington Post)
Study: UK hotels are health hazards — Some English hotel rooms are a potential health hazard, Holiday Which? magazine claims. Toe-nail clippings, dead flies, soiled mattresses and filthy toilet brushes were among things found in checks on hotels in London and Blackpool. Hairs and grit were found on bed sheets, and a column of ants marched across one room while it was being inspected. (Evening Standard)
Airline workers convicted in camera heist — Two former American Airlines cargo workers have been convicted on charges they stole 1,300 Sony digital cameras that had been flown to Chicago from Japan for Christmas shoppers in 2000. Some of the stolen digital cameras were sold before Chicago police and the FBI could make arrests, and others were simply discarded and never recovered, Agent Charles Miller said. (Tribune)
This Freedom is really, really big — A Cadillac Escalade is big. A 24-ounce porterhouse steak is big. Kirstie Ally was really big. But Freedom of the Seas? There’s nothing in Webster’s to even describe it. Let’s just go with monster ship. The first of Royal Caribbean’s new class of giant 158,000-ton ships will be called Freedom of the Seas. When the ship debuts next April, she’ll grab the title of largest cruise ship in the world from the QM2 — who will actually remain the longest cruise ship in the world by about 20 feet. But who’s counting? (Frommers)
Only the FBI can tell them apart — Identical twin brothers are in trouble with the FBI after one went to the other’s job in a secure area of the Salt Lake International Airport. The agency said Olimpiu Nedelcu looks exactly like his brother Silviu, who works as an aircraft refueler at the airport. FBI Special Agent Bob Wright said Silviu couldn’t make it to work so his brother went in his place. (AP)
PBGC scrutinized after UAL pension collapse — A bankruptcy judge’s decision Tuesday to allow the parent of United Airlines to move $6.6 billion in unfunded pensions to the federal government puts pressure on Congress to change the troubled pension-insurance system, experts said yesterday. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., part of the Labor Department, is running a $23.3 billion deficit and would have been shut down by now if it were a private company, said Douglas Elliott, president of the nonprofit Center on Federal Financial Institutions. (Inquirer)
Bedbugs plague US hotel industry — The quaint bedtime saying “sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite” has become a grim mission statement for even the finest hotels in the United States amid a resurgence of the tiny bloodsucking pests. Rising complaints about these unwelcome guests that bite in the night are leading to red faces at reception desks and an increase in the number of help calls, according to pest control firms and entomologists. (Reuters)
Contributing: Charles Leocha, John Frenaye, Mary Staley, Leslie Friedman