Strike shuts NYC transit system
Strike shuts NYC transit system — Under threat of legal action, more than 30,000 New York City transit workers went on strike early Tuesday, shutting down the nation’s largest public transportation system just days ahead of Christmas. (CNN)
Investigators will try to raise crashed sea plane — Investigators on Tuesday will try to raise the wreckage of a seaplane from the ocean floor off Miami as they seek to determine what caused the craft to break apart and slam into the water, killing all 20 aboard. (CNN)
Unlicensed workers do critical tasks — Major U.S. airlines are using unlicensed, lightly supervised contractors to perform safety-critical work such as replacing jet engines, a new report finds. (USA Today)
Airlines give fliers fewer chances to do the bump — Airline passengers have many complaints these days  from cramped flights to security hassles. But one aspect of flying has improved: The odds of getting bumped from a flight are the lowest in more than a decade. (USA Today)
American Airlines adds new route from hubs in Chicago, St. Louis — American Airlines added one new route Thursday from each of its Midwestern hub airports. From Chicago O’Hare, American’s regional affiliate American Eagle began daily non-stop service between Chicago O’Hare and New York JFK. (USA Today)
Steward flew doomed Cypriot plane, simulation shows — A flight attendant was in control of the Cypriot Helios Airways plane before it crashed on a Greek hillside on August 14, killing all 121 people on board in Europe’s worst air disaster this year, experts said on Monday. (Reuters)
Battle of the beds — Travelers are raving about the enormous, fluffy new beds that the nation’s biggest hotel chains are spending millions on as they one-up each other in an escalating mattress war. Like any war, this one is not without casualties. Hotel housekeepers often struggle to care for these behemoths. (San Francisco Chronicle)
New Orleans’ historic streetcars return — New Orleans on Sunday resumed its streetcar service, which had been out of commission since Hurricane Katrina wiped out the utility poles and metal tracks used to propel the city’s trademark mode of transportation. (AP)
Emergency landing at LAX — An Air India flight with 273 passengers and crewmembers aboard made an emergency landing Monday night at Los Angeles International Airport after blowing a tire upon departing the airport and dumping fuel over the ocean, officials said. (AP)
United: Airline was unprepared for early holiday rush — United Airlines’ chief executive says inadequate staffing and unpreparedness at the nation’s second largest airline contributed to hours of delays for thousands of early holiday travelers who stood outside for hours in frigid weather at O’Hare International Airport on Saturday. (AP)
Airport to raise fees, open cell phone lot — The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will raise parking fees for customers and landing fees for airlines in 2006. (Cincinnati Business Courier)
Passenger train crash injures 30 near Rome — A passenger train rammed into another at a station south of Rome on Tuesday, injuring at least 30 people — some critically — and trapping others in the wreckage, officials said. (AP)
Plane crash keeps cruise ships from departing — The scheduled departures of three cruise ships from the Port of Miami today have been delayed indefinitely while rescue workers search for survivors in a seaplane crash near South Beach. (Miami Herald)
Yellowstone winter looks to be busy — Advance bookings for winter trips into Yellowstone National Park through the park’s East Entrance are up from last year, according to two tour business owners. (AP)
Carrie Charney, Christopher Elliott, John Frenaye, Charles Leocha, Marge Purnell, Valerie Schneider, Mary Staley, Stephanus Surjaputra, Richard Wong.