US Airways computer glitch cuts air fares
US Airways computer glitch cuts air fares –
US Airways became the low-cost carrier of all time over the weekend — selling round-trip flights to some U.S. cities for less than $2 — until the carrier fixed a glitch in its computer system. For several hours, US Airways Group Inc. was selling tickets to smaller cities for $1.86 plus fees.
For business travelers, fees are everywhere — The $39 parking charge at San Francisco’s expensive Westin St. Francis hotel did not faze Veronica St. Claire, a business traveler who is instinctively wary of extra fees wherever she goes. But when the hotel added a $5.46-a-night bed tax to the parking charge on a recent visit, she felt ambushed. “I told the desk clerk, ‘I don’t recall sleeping in my car,’ ” said Ms. St. Claire, the chief executive of a nonprofit organization for retirees in Los Angeles. The hotel employee replied that the city had recently extended its 14 percent occupancy tax on parking, too.
Report: TSA screeners need help — Hidden weapons continue to slip past checkpoint screeners at the nation’s airports, and new technology is needed to improve security, says a government report to be released Tuesday. The Homeland Security Department’s inspector general tested hundreds of security screening checkpoints from December to February and found a “lack of improvement” in screeners’ ability to detect weapons. A similar report concluded last year that screeners were doing a poor job finding guns, knives and explosives on undercover agents.
Is Delta responsible for drunken driver? — Georgia’s Supreme Court was asked Monday to consider a whether airlines can be held responsible for passengers who get drunk on flights and then get into accidents on the way home from the airport.
Woman admits to starting Paris hotel blaze — A woman detained in connection with a fire that killed 22 people at a budget hotel in Paris last week admitted that she started the blaze by accident, police said Tuesday. The woman was taken into custody Monday, three days after the Paris Opera hotel burned down. She was identified by judicial officials as the girlfriend of one of the hotel’s night watchmen.
Airport plans to keep deer, coyote — and terrorists — out — Deer, coyote, snowmobilers and terrorists will have a harder time getting on Tulip City (Mich.) Airport land next fall. The airport board has approved installing four miles of chain-link security fencing around the airport. Deer and coyotes wandering on airport property is a common sight, airport manager Ron Ludema said.
Contributing: Charles Leocha, John Frenaye