Jet makes emergency landing at LAX
Jet makes emergency landing at LAX — A JetBlue airliner with its front landing gear stuck sideways safely landed Wednesday, balancing on its back wheels as it slowed on the runway at Los Angeles International Airport. (AP)
Hurricane Rita spins toward Texas coast — Hurricane Rita grew into a monster storm with 175-mph sustained winds as it swirled toward the Gulf Coast, prompting more than 1.3 million residents in Texas and Louisiana to flee in hopes of avoiding a deadly repeat of Katrina. (AP)
1 cruise line delays arrival; other changes likely today — As Hurricane Rita progressed toward the Texas coast, Royal Caribbean International delayed the scheduled Sunday morning arrival of its Rhapsody of the Seas at the Port of Galveston. (The Houston Chronicle)
Car his pedestrians, kills 1 in Las Vegas — A car plowed into pedestrians along the crowded Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday, killing one and injuring 13, authorities said. Police arrested the driver at the scene. (AP)
U.S.-Mexico agree to expand aviation services — The United States and Mexico agreed on Wednesday to expand airline flights and other aviation services between the two countries for the first time in six years, the U.S. Transportation Department said. (Reuters)
Priceline.com lets Web developers tap travel services — Priceline.com on Wednesday launched a self-service system for web developers to add the online travel agency’s hotel-room booking service to their sites. (TechWeb News)
NTA urges Bush to consider tourism as part of hurricane recover efforts — In an effort to assist its travel and tourism partners in the Gulf Coast region, the National Tour Association sent a letter today to President Bush urging him to make rebuilding the tourism industry in the Gulf Coast a priority of his administration. (TravelDailyNews)
Delta’s airfares now less simple — Delta Air Lines’ SimpliFares program is getting more complicated. The airline has made it harder to get the cheapest fares to many markets. It’s now requiring Saturday night stays or a three-night minimum stay for those fares, according to statements to the federal bankruptcy court in New York, where the carrier filed for Chapter 11 last Wednesday. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
P&O Cruises orders the largest ship built for Britain — It is announced that one of the two ships due for delivery from Italian shipbuilders Fincantieri in 2008 has been allocated to P&O Cruises. The new 116,000 ton cruise ship, to be named Ventura, will be the largest ever built specifically for Britain and will carry 3,100 passengers and 1,200 officers and crew. (TravelDailyNews)
For passengers, humor, tears – then cheers — For Matthew Ash, a 24-year-old Gardena resident on a church trip to New York’s Catskill Mountains, the first sign of trouble came from an icon of a JetBlue plane. The plane  on the animated map at his seat  “wasn’t going anywhere,” he said, “just hanging around in Los Angeles.” (Los Angeles Times)
Official: Jet fakes emergency for soccer game — Pilots of a chartered jet carrying 289 Gambian soccer fans faked the need for an emergency landing in Peru so passengers could watch their nation’s team play a key match, officials said Wednesday. (AP)
Delta announces significant job, pay and benefit cuts — Delta Air Lines said Thursday it will cut up to 9,000 jobs, or 17% of the workforce at its flagship service, and reduce pay and make changes to its route network to focus more on international flying as it moves swiftly to restructure its costs in bankruptcy. (AP)
BA boss rips U.S. bankruptcy laws — Sir Rod Eddington on Thursday used his last public speech as British Airways chief executive to berate the U.S. for its use of “protectionism” to prop up failing domestic airlines. “America, the land of the free, is turning itself into the land of the free ride,” he said. (FT.com)
Rita roars through Gulf — C ars clogged Texas highways with 1.5 million people fleeing Hurricane Rita on Thursday as the massive storm roared through the Gulf of Mexico toward one of the largest American cities and the center of the U.S. oil industry. (Reuters)
Former union leader crosses Northwest mechanics’ picket lines — Despite his long history as a union leader, Northwest Airlines maintenance inspector Mike Hurley is crossing the picket lines of striking mechanics. (AP)
Carrie Charney, John Frenaye, Charles Leocha, Marge Purnell, Valerie Schneider, Mary Staley, Stephanus Surjaputra, Richard Wong.