WAV Travel News - Monday Editon
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 795-5912 (Office & Facsimile)
(561) 318-9089 (Cellular)
All though the official start of hurricane season is still almost a month away, the first storm might form la ter this week.
The National Hurricane Center on Sunday said a low-pressure system north of the Bahamas could gradually acquire subtropical characteristics over the next few days while off the east coast of Central or North Florida.
In a special tropical weather outlook, the system was given a zero chance of developing into a subtropical system over the next two days and a 30 percent chance over the next five days. Models indicate it will head north in the Atlantic, possibly out to sea.
If it does grow into a subtropical or tropical storm, it would be named Ana.
The system is expected to bring showers to South and Central Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday. It also is generating breezy conditions and a high risk of rip currents along most of Florida's east coast.
It would be unusual if a storm pops up during the first week of May as only two have done so since tropical recordkeeping started in 1851: Tropical Storm Arlene emerged on May 6, 1981, and an unnamed tropical storm formed on May 5, 1932.
The hurricane center will update its tropical weather outlook later this morning.
Reports: South Florida man's drunken air rage forces London to Fort Lauderdale flight to divert
A south Florida man's drunken rage aboard a London to Fort Lauderdale flight forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Ireland earlier this week, Irish media is reporting.
According to the Irish Examiner, an Irish court heard that Jody Bochner, 26, of Miami, "became aggressive, abusive, and tried to hit a crew member," forcing a Norwegian flight to dump over 20 tons of fuel before landing in Shannon, Ireland.
Bochner, a bartender, was fined €1,000 ($1,117) over the incident, which cost the airline €100,000 in refueling and landing costs, the Herald reported.
Bochner was "drinking from a litre of gin before he set off one of the plane's smoke alarms after using an e-cigarette in a toilet," according to a report of the court hearing in the Irish Independent.
The Independent reported that the Norwegian Boeing 787 Dreamliner was carrying 249 passengers and 13 crew and was 40 minutes into the flight from London Gatwick to Fort Lauderdale when the incident unfolded.
Bochner is accused of leaping from seat and trying to assault a male crew member on the flight, and was also "being abusive and shouting and banging the seats in front of him," a police official said.
Local hotel honored by Marriott
Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa recently received two of the hotel chain’s top awards.
The beach-front resort was named one of Marriott International’s “Full Service Hotels of the Year” in the eastern region. The resort’s general manager, Roger Amidon, was named Franchised General Manager of the Year for Marriott’s Eastern Region.
Amidon is a long-time supporter of tourism efforts in Palm Beach County. He serves as a member of the county’s Tourist Development Council and is the president of the Palm Beach County chapter of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.
“A beautiful facility becomes an award-winning destination when there is thoughtful leadership at the helm,” Don J. Urgo Sr., president and CEO of Urgo Hotels, which manages Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island, said in a statement released by the resort. “We could not ask for a better hotelier to guide Singer Island and its ongoing success than Roger.”
Amidon has served as the general manager of Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island since 2012. He has worked with Marriott for 17 years, and has more than 27 years of hospitality experience.
“Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island excels because of its incredible staff, whether they are wowing guests directly or facilitating the magic from behind the scenes,” Amidon said. “The ‘Hotels of the Year’ honor goes to my entire team. I am enormously proud of what we have accomplished together.”
All Aboard Florida: No logic to all about freight argument
All Aboard Florida’s pursuit of its express passenger rail line has been dogged by one persistent, unshakable criticism — the idea that the Orlando to Miami train is a ruse to increase Florida East Coast Railway’s capacity for freight.
Opponents have latched onto the widening of the Panama Canal as proof that the more than 100-year-old train corridor needs beefed-up tracks to handle shipments from the expected arrival of post-Panamax mega-vessels.
With dueling reports from both sides on the viability of the $2.6 billion project, and trade secrets, such as ticket prices, still unknown, Joshua Schank, of the Eno Center for Transportation, said it’s understandable that people may conjure alternative motives for All Aboard Florida.
But Schank, and two other rail experts interviewed by The Palm Beach Post, believe the freight theory is far fetched, arguing All Aboard Florida’s passenger pitch would be an incredibly elaborate and expensive Trojan Horse if all FECR wanted to do was grow its freight business.
Not only can FECR support a substantial increase in freight traffic under current conditions, but if it needed money to grow, it’s “not lacking in any way for investment capital to improve the freight line,” said Reason Foundation Director of Transportation Robert Poole.
“The reason (All Aboard Florida) could be susceptible to such a charge is people are very suspect as to whether it will make money, because passenger rail has never made money,” said Schank, who is CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Eno Center. “But it would seem a very roundabout way to get money for freight improvement.”
All Aboard Florida plans to run 32 trains per day on the FEC tracks that bisect coastal towns from Jacksonville to Miami. Its route will take passengers from a new Miami station to Orlando International Airport with stops in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Traveling at speeds between 79 mph and 110 from Miami to Cocoa and up to 125 mph to Orlando, the trip is expected to take about three hours. Trains are expected to start running from Miami to West Palm Beach in late 2016. The second leg to Orlando is scheduled to open in 2017.
While the project has largely been supported in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, some residents of northern Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast are fighting it. They are alarmed by the prospect of traffic delays at crossings, safety hazards, and dangerous queues forming for boats that have to wait at railroad drawbridges that block the Intracoastal Waterway when trains pass.
“I don’t think we can definitively say their plan is to only increase freight,” said Robert Crandall, the former American Airlines CEO who is on the steering committee of the All Aboard Florida opposition group Citizens Against Rail Expansion. “I think we can definitively say we don’t think their business plan makes any sense and we have to assume freight is profitable since they are going to increase it.”
There is no doubt more freight will be traveling on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks.
According to a 2012 environmental assessment and a 2014 draft environmental report on the All Aboard Florida project, the number of freight trains will grow from the current average of 14 per day to 20 by 2016 and to 22 by 2019.
The reports also note that All Aboard Florida would enhance freight operations by allowing freight trains to travel at higher speeds. Florida East Coast Railway is the only railroad that connects to the key terminals of Port Miami and Port Everglades, both of which are dredging to accommodate post-Panamax ships.
But All Aboard Florida, Florida East Coast Railway and the experts interviewed counter that it’s still not “All About Freight” as opponents insist.
• FECR ran 24 to 26 freight trains per day in 2007. That’s down to an average of 14 today following the economic crash, the use of longer trains, and the practice of stacking containers. Even without any infrastructure changes or the second line of tracks proposed with All Aboard Florida, FECR says it could substantially increase its capacity back to 2007 levels and beyond.
• If FECR wanted to add capacity, it would likely have an easier time raising capital for a known freight endeavor over a passenger rail. An April report from Moody’s Investor Service says that while Florida East Coast Holdings has sizable debt, it also has a “solid growth trajectory and good levels of profitability that the company has demonstrated in recent years.”
• The 32 miles of new rail between Cocoa and Orlando cannot be used for freight under agreements with the Central Florida Expressway and Florida Department of Transportation.
• The tracks and hefty safety upgrades at road crossings needed for All Aboard Florida go beyond what would be required for freight. The current tracks can accommodate passenger trains traveling up to 79 mph.
Another point: The $1.6 billion Federal Railroad Administration loan the company first pursued to pay for its passenger train, is also available for freight projects. Although All Aboard Florida still has its loan application pending, it is hoping tax exempt bonds sold to private investors with no risk to taxpayers will supplement or replace the requested loan.
“If this were about freight you would not spend $1.5 billion in infrastructure that’s not needed or subject yourself to the environmental impact statement process just for fun,” said Michael Reininger, president of All Aboard Florida. “If they wanted money for freight, there are any number of ways to get capital because it is a very straightforward return on investment.”
If anything, All Aboard Florida is as much about real estate as ferrying tourists from Miami to DisneyWorld, said Robert Poole, the South Florida-based director of transportation for the Reason Foundation.
All Aboard Florida owns land in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach where it is building stations and transit-oriented development, such as residential space, offices and shopping. In addition to a $29 million station in West Palm Beach, All Aboard Florida struck an agreement with the City of West Palm Beach last week allowing it to build a 285,000-square-foot residential tower downtown.
The Miami station plan shows four buildings, including a proposed super tower taller than the Chrysler building in New York, with 11.2 acres of development, apartments and entertainment.
“My speculation is they realize the value of real estate in Miami would be maximized by creating passenger service and all of the adjacent facilities,” Poole said. “The whole freight conspiracy always struck me as bizarre and reflects a lack of understanding about railroads.”
Poole has been a proponent of All Aboard Florida. He believes it can be a viable business because it has identified a “market niche where fast passenger rail is quicker than auto travel and less of a hassle than air travel.” Also, All Aboard Florida’s parent company, Florida East Coast Industries, already owns most of the right of way and track the trains will run on.
KC Traylor, a Palm City resident who founded the group Florida Not All Aboard, said she believes All Aboard Florida’s underlying plans are more nuanced than just increasing freight, although she thinks that is a key motivation.
Owned by New York private-equity fund Fortress Investment Group, she said the goal may be to build a polished new company and sell it before problematic passenger patterns arise.
“You can pump it up for a while, but at some point I think the ridership will be questionable,” Traylor said.
For its part, Fortress Investment seems a true believer in its express passenger rail endeavor. In an October earnings call, Fortress Investment co-chairman Wes Edens spoke enthusiastically about the train and transit oriented development, saying the South Florida stations and surrounding areas are “some of the best real estate prospects on the planet.”
“The notion that All Aboard Florida is a project fabricated to increase freight traffic for FECR is patently ludicrous,” said Gordon Runte, managing director and spokesman for Fortress. “The very real vision of All Aboard Florida is to create the nation’s only privately funded, maintained and operated passenger rail line, to create jobs and increase economic vitality in the region.”
“If this were about freight you would not spend $1.5 billion in infrastructure that’s not needed or subject yourself to the environmental impact statement process just for fun.” — Michael Reininger, president of All Aboard Florida.
For U.S. airlines, yield, not fares, dictates profit
A quarter-century of mergers and joint ventures has transformed the competitive landscape for U.S. airlines domestically and overseas, giving them a new metric for success: yield instead of price.
That’s good news for time-pressed road warriors who can pay for convenience but bad news for price-sensitive travelers.
“Airfares are not going to go down,” declared Mike Boyd, president of Boyd Group International.
It’s the culmination of a flight path that began with the 1993 joint venture between Northwest Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and ended with the American Airlines/US Airways merger announced in 2013.
Today, four mega-carriers control 85% of U.S. domestic capacity. Three antitrust-immunized joint ventures manage nearly 85% of capacity over the Atlantic, a stark contrast to the 1980s, when Pan Am competed with 26 carriers on transatlantic routes.
Disrupters like Freddie Laker’s $300 fares between New York and London triggered decades of fare wars that were a heyday for cheap travel but disastrous for carriers’ bottom lines. Price-cutting plagued the aviation industry well into the 21st century.
“Chasing a low-cost customer is not a sustainable model,” said Andy Menkes, CEO of Partnership Travel Consulting.
Gone are the days of airlines fighting each other over passengers, routes and market share. Consolidation has given them capacity control and freed them from the need to battle for the masses by slashing fares.
Instead, they’re now competing for more deep-pocketed customers.
“If you’re going to fill the plane anyway,” Menkes said, “fill it with the highest-yield passengers you can, especially those who will repeat.”
Those travelers are business travelers, who are more focused on schedule than on cost. And the currency in that competition is product, not price.
It’s all about “lie-flat beds and beautiful lounges,” Menkes said.
This also enables airlines to take care of another key stakeholder, their investors.
Carriers are focusing on “ever-higher, investment-grade returns on capital,” said aviation consultant Robert Mann.
And they’ve been able to deliver for investors. The first quarter is typically a money loser for carriers — but not this year. Delta Air Lines reported a record profit two weeks ago and its best first quarter ever. Analysts expect most airlines to see all-time highs for the quarter. Certainly, low fuel prices are a major factor in this — although they’re not always a blessing in a highly hedged world; it will cost Delta Air Lines roughly $1 billion to settle its fuel hedges early.
All these latest numbers follow a profitable 2014 for the four major carriers.
If airlines, business travelers and investors are the beneficiaries of this new world, who are the losers? “The price shopper,” said Menkes.
Deal hounds are going to have to accept that in trade for lower fares they will be sacrificing convenience, Menkes said, often having to settle for connecting flights rather than nonstop. They’ll have to be more flexible with their schedules and settle for flights that might not depart on the days they want, because flights to some destinations are no longer offered on a daily basis.
Numbers are mixed on what’s happening with airfare pricing. ARC projects that fares will level out domestically this summer and actually trend down on flights to Europe. The problem with ARC numbers is that they do not include ancillaries, which can add substantially to the cost of an airline ticket. These numbers are significant, as illustrated by Delta’s Q1 results. Branded fares, upsells to first class and preferred seating grew by 27% and added $50 million to the carrier’s top line, according to Ed Bastian, Delta’s president.
Mann said that fares to many European markets are particularly high this year.
A suddenly strong dollar — it moved 20% vs. the euro in less than six months — has made this a “once-in-a-lifetime summer” for airlines, he said. Because Europe is cheap on the ground, airlines are hoping to keep a greater share of travelers’ spending. They know the siren call cheap hotels in Europe hold for travelers.
Mann has charted “nose-bleed” high roundtrip fares to Europe for summer 2015: $2,300 from Los Angeles to Paris, $2,000 from San Francisco to Rome, $1,700 from Denver to Athens. Menkes, planning a business trip to London, said that he was looking at $2,500 for an economy ticket.
The travel search website Hipmunk looked at airfares its users booked to Europe and found that summer 2015 roundtrip fares from the U.S. to the eurozone are up 7% year over year.
There is hope for procrastinators: Fares to many destinations are actually down from last year, and looking for less expensive city pairs is another way for savvy travelers to shave some costs.
Airlines are clearly reacting to skyrocketing demand; Hipmunk said March 2015 searches on its site for eurozone travel were up 31% over March 2014.
There are also costs beyond price, said Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, managing partner at T2Impact, an industry consulting group. For one thing, airlines are devaluing their frequent flyer programs.
More importantly, O’Neil-Dunne said, cities like Cincinnati, Memphis and St. Louis are still on airline route maps but are seeing far fewer departures. And residents of fortress-hub airports like the Twin Cities and Houston are probably “longing for more competition,” said industry analyst Henry Harteveldt.
This fall, it could be tougher for travelers to find less expensive fares, and scheduling could be less convenient as airlines make seasonal cuts to their service, Harteveldt said.
“Travel agents will definitely need to pay attention to these [developments], depending on who their customers are,” he said.
Harteveldt voiced other concerns about the current competitive landscape.
“Competition breeds innovation, but it is so hard for new entrants to get into the airline business,” he said. And though airlines are focusing on product, Harteveldt said he was “alarmed” by decreasing legroom and thinner seats.
At the same time, it’s not totally clear skies for airlines.
U.S. carriers still source as much as 15% to 30% of their international tickets from overseas points of sale, Harteveldt said, and the same strong dollar that is sending so many Americans to Europe is keeping European travelers home. Even those who do travel are paying U.S. carriers with devalued euros.
Likewise, the joint ventures, too, are a double-edged sword. While they provide airlines with many benefits, they also mean that U.S. carriers share their partners’ financial ups and downs.
U.S. airlines also still face competition in certain markets, and since many of their coveted high-yield flyers belong to more than one frequent flyer program, carriers still have to work to attract them.
Moreover, pricing competition still exists in some markets. Southwest Airlines and JetBlue occasionally stay true to their low-cost roots, though only in certain city pairs. The ultra low-cost carriers, Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines, also provide some pricing competition. Spirit, in particular, is opening up new markets, such as Bellingham, Wash., and Trenton, N.J.
And not all U.S. cities are fortress hubs; there are some in which no single carrier dominates. Examples include San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston.
Foreign carriers are also providing some pricing competition. Low-cost European carrier Norwegian is still fighting for the right to flag itself out of Ireland, ostensibly to gain access to farther-flung markets, but, U.S. carriers charge also to benefit from less costly labor laws. But along with Wow, the low-cost Icelandic carrier, Norwegian is already bringing lower fares to some Northeast markets. (Wow has fares as low as $99 from Reykjavik to Boston).
Not surprisingly, U.S. carriers are doing whatever they can to thwart foreign competition. Among these moves is an alliance in which one-time adversaries —airline management and unions — have teamed up against Middle Eastern carriers. The group, the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, is protesting what it calls “massive government subsidies” to state-owned Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. The U.S. is now looking into the U.S. carriers’ allegations that these subsidies exist and violate open-skies agreements.
“They are always against government benefits in the marketplace — unless it benefits them,” Kevin Mitchell, founder of the Business Travel Coalition, said in describing U.S. airlines’ motivations. Mitchell fumed over the way U.S. airline executives communicate with each other during earnings calls.
“They’re telegraphing their intentions with regard to capacity,” he said.
But others scoffed at the thought of airline collusion.
“They don’t need to collude anymore,” said O’Neil-Dunne. “They’re making so much money it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Norwegian extends room service charge fleetwide
Norwegian Cruise Line said it is extending its $7.95 charge for room service orders fleet wide and making it permanent as of May 1.
The line had been testing reception to the charge on Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway since April.
Individual food items on the room service do not carry a price, but there is a per-order convenience charge.
There are some exceptions to the new charge. Morning coffee and continental breakfast delivered to the room will continue to be complimentary. Also, room service orders placed by guests sailing in suites and The Haven luxury enclave will not incur a charge.
The introduction of charges is accompanied by an expanded room service menu for breakfast, in addition to a wider variety of options available 24 hours, Norwegian said.
Norwegian extends room service charge fleetwide
Norwegian Cruise Line said it is extending its $7.95 charge for room service orders fleet wide and making it permanent as of May 1.
The line had been testing reception to the charge on Norwegian Breakaway and Getaway since April.
Individual food items on the room service do not carry a price, but there is a per-order convenience charge.
There are some exceptions to the new charge. Morning coffee and continental breakfast delivered to the room will continue to be complimentary. Also, room service orders placed by guests sailing in suites and The Haven luxury enclave will not incur a charge.
The introduction of charges is accompanied by an expanded room service menu for breakfast, in addition to a wider variety of options available 24 hours, Norwegian said.
Two dead, search for explosives continues at Texas Mohammed exhibit
GARLAND, Texas — The search for explosives continued Monday after two men were shot and killed outside a provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the prophet Mohammed Sunday night.
Garland's city government issued a statement saying that as a Mohammed Art Exhibit event was coming to a close at the Curtis Culwell Center, "two males drove up to the front of the building in a car'' and started shooting at a security officer.
"Garland police officers engaged the gunmen, who were both shot and killed,'' the statement said.
The security officer, a Garland Independent School District employee, was identified as Bruce Joiner. He was shot in the lower leg and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to a spokesman for Garland Police. He was in stable condition at a local hospital.
2 suspects dead after gunfire at Muhammad exhibit
The exhibit was placed on lockdown and attendees later moved to a nearby high school.
Police suspected the suspects' vehicle may contain a bomb and called in bomb squad experts. Surrounding businesses were evacuated.
"Because of the situation and what was going on today and the history of what we've been told has happened at other events like this," said Garland police officer Joe Harn.
That process could take several more hours, Harn said. News 8 crews at the scene reported a loud boom just before midnight, but there was no confirmation that a bomb was detonated. Two more explosions were heard overnight.
Harn described the search as "precaution." Police had not identified the suspects because their bodies were near the vehicle in question.
An officer dressed in SWAT gear took the stage toward the end of the event at the Curtis Culwell Center near Dallas and told attendees that a shooting had occurred. .
A group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative hosted the Mohammed Cartoon Exhibit and $10,000 cartoon contest.
The arena, owned by the Garland school district, hosted a "Stand With the Prophet" event in January.
The cartoon exhibit featured "images of Islam's prophet, both historic and contemporary, and speeches by leading voices of freedom and internationally renowned free speech advocates," according to a press release by the group.
Such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the prophet Mohammed — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous.
Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, said that she planned the Sunday event to make a stand for free speech in response to the outcries and violence over drawings of Muhammad, NBC News reported.
Geller's group is known for mounting a campaign against the building of an Islamic center blocks from the World Trade Center site and for buying advertising space in cities across the U.S. criticizing Islam.
"This is a war,'' she posted on her website PamellaGeller.com. "This is war on free speech. What are we going to do? Are we going to surrender to these monsters?''
Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for advocating a ban on the Kuran, was a keynote speaker at the event.
In January, 12 people were killed by gunmen in an attack against the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had lampooned Islam and other religions and used depictions of Mohammed.
SWAT officers initially held attendees in a room in the Culwell center, while authorities dealt with the shooting in the parking lot. Later, they moved everyone to nearby Naaman Forest High School.
Chewie, we're home: Star Wars Weekends return to Disney World
With buzz growing for the rebooted Star Wars film, The Force Awakens (set for release December 18, 2015), fanboys and fangirls have been itching to fire up their lightsabers, don their Jedi robes, and return to the beloved galaxy far, far away. Until the new movie opens, they could make a pilgrimage to the annual Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida's Disney World. The 2015 event will be held Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from May 15 to June 14. Some premium features will require extra fees, but most of the activities will be included with general admission to the theme park.
One of the highlights of Star Wars Weekends is the opportunity to see and interact with celebrities from the epic franchise. Each weekend, a different group of actors will be on hand. Among the stars set to attend will be Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda, on June 12 to 14. (He was also the voice of Miss Piggy, who is featured in another Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction, Muppet*Vision 3D. Best to focus on his work as a Jedi master when you meet him, it would be.)
Appearing with Oz will be Ray Park (Darth Maul) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca). Kicking the event off on the weekend of May 15 will be Ian McDiarmid, the actor who portrayed the evil Emperor Palpatine. The celebrities will be available for autograph sessions, will appear in a motorcade that will make its way through the park, and will participate in presentations at which guests will be able to ask them questions. (Sample question for McDiarmid: "Did it take you a long time to perfect Emperor Palpatine's sneer?")
Note that tickets and special wristbands will be required to obtain autographs. They will be free and available on a first-come, first-served basis at the park on the day of the event. If you really want Emperor Palpatine to sneer at you as he signs your limited edition action figure, you should probably get to the park before it opens.
The host of Star Wars Weekends, who will be present throughout its run, will be James Arnold Taylor, the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi on the animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He will preside over "Stars of the Saga," a talk show featuring the celebrities. In addition, Taylor will star in "Star Wars Rebels," a show based on the Disney XD program that he also voices, and "Obi-Wan and Beyond," a demonstration of the voice acting process.
Other activities will include "Padawan Mind Challenge," a trivia contest for Obi-Wannabes ages 4-11, character greetings (pay no heed to the Stormtroopers; they only look intimidating), plenty of merchandise at Darth's Mall (great name!), and a Jedi Training Academy at which aspiring knights between the ages of 4-12 can prepare to take on the Dark Side. The event will conclude each evening with Symphony in the Stars, a fireworks extravaganza based on the Star Wars universe.
Among the premium features will be meals featuring Star Wars characters (be sure to make advance reservations) and a "Feel the Force" package ($69 for adults and $39 for children) that will include a dessert party and reserved viewing for the motorcade, talk show, and fireworks. A deluxe package will add reserved seating for additional shows, special access to the Darth's Mall retail area, and a commemorative credential for $99 ($64 for children). The package prices are in addition to the general admission tickets to the park.
Disney holds the event at its Hollywood Studios park because it is the home of the wonderful simulator attraction, Star Tours – The Adventure Continues. Disney boss Robert Iger said earlier this year that the entertainment company has ambitious plans to expand Star Wars at its theme parks. While he did not reveal any specific details, there has been rampant speculation that the Studios would be getting an intergalactic makeover with major Star Wars additions. Helping to fuel the conjecture, Disney recently closed the Studio Backlot Tour and other attractions at the park.
Passenger Makes Explosion Warning on Air Arabia Jet, Flight Diverted
Air Arabia flight G9128, flying to Kuwait from the United Arab Emirates locale of Sharjah was forced to divert after an unruly passenger declared that the plane was about to explode, Reuters reported.
After instructions from air traffic control, the plane changed course from the Sharjah emirate to Al Minhad airbase near Dubai. Authorities boarded the plane upon landing, and used "appropriate standard procedures," to use the language of UAE state news agency WAM, thus resolving the issue. The airbase is a hub for U.S. operations in the Middle East.
The "flight landed safely and the authorities are currently holding the necessary investigation," said the UAE-based budget carrier in a statement to Reuters.
Yazan Suleiman, News Editor for Sharjah TV and Radio Stations, kept pace with the situation on Twitter. He tweeted, “#UAE Aviation's authority are taking care of the situation of #G9128 and everything is under control...Well trained and perfect,” then an hour later reported the conclusion of the crisis, tweeting, “All passengers are safe and they left the plane now. Everything is fine now.”
US State Department and CDC Issue Nepal Travel Warnings
The U.S. Department of State has issued a travel warning for Nepal, saying that U.S. citizens should “defer non-essential travel there” in the aftermath of April 25’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
Aftershocks “of significant magnitude” are still a concern, and the State Department’s description of conditions in Nepal are not conducive to an enjoyable vacation: “Infrastructure is fragile and access to basic resources, including healthcare, could be limited. Cell phone and internet service are intermittent. In Kathmandu and elsewhere, some buildings are collapsed and some roads are impassable, making transportation difficult. Some areas of the city are crowded with displaced persons.”
Kathmandu and Lukla airports are open, but aftershocks and bad weather could close them temporarily at any time. Travelers should contact their airline before departing for the airport, as there are major air traffic issues due to relief flights and altered schedules.
For travelers still in Nepal and seeking a way out, the State Department recommends checking the media, or heading over to their Nepal Crisis Page for leads. There are other options as well at the State Department travel warning page for Nepal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also issued a travel warning for Nepal. Their warning speaks to the country’s expanding issues with disease and sanitation: “Significant infrastructure damage has caused problems with clean water, sanitation, food supply, electricity, transportation, shelter, and medical care. The monsoon season in Nepal is approaching, and heavy rainfall and flooding may further increase the spread of foodborne and waterborne diseases, as well as diseases spread by mosquitoes.”
The CDC sums it up succinctly: “If you plan to travel to Nepal in the near future, consider postponing your plans.”
Tourist pays up for accidental death on Great Wall of China
A Canadian tourist who caused the accidental death of a Chinese woman at the Great Wall of China has agreed to pay the victim's family almost $100,000 in compensation.
Cui Hongfang, 73, struck her head after being knocked over by Canadian tourist Debra Fortin, police say.
Hongfang fell down steep steps on April 8 and died shortly after in front of her family, a police report said.
Police decided the incident was a tragic accident and declined to press charges but Cui's family filed a lawsuit against Fortin and demanded that she be prevented from leaving the country.
The Beijing News reports a deal has been struck between both parties during two days of pre-trial mediation in Beijing.
A settlement of 600,000 yuan (US$96,000) was agreed upon, to be paid within 15 days, the newspaper report said.
Long Beach bound Carnival ship diverts to San Diego
Due to dangerously high surf in Long Beach, passengers embarking on a Carnival cruise to Mexico were forced to start their vacation with a 100-mile bus journey.
The cruise ship company decided to switch boarding locations for Carnival Imagination from Long Beach to San Diego after being advised of potentially dangerous boarding conditions.
"The long swells that are predicted can make it unsafe to keep a ship's gangways connected and potentially stress the vessel's mooring lines," said Carnival spokeswoman Joyce Oliva.
The ship departed San Diego late Sunday with over 2,000 passengers aboard and a planned visit to Catalina Island has be cancelled.
However, to compensate, the scheduled visit to Ensenada, Mexico has been extended by an extra day and night, Oliva said.
The National Weather Service had earlier issued a high surf advisory for all south facing Los Angeles County beaches.
This follows an early morning 3.8 magnitude earthquake which rocked the LA area, and was felt in Long Beach.
No damage or casualties were reported.
Qantas launching frequent flyer program for kids
Qantas aims to lure a new generation of future frequent flyers with the introduction of 'The Joey Club.'
Targeted at 3-10 years olds, the airline is looking to make the in-flight experience a memorable occasion for kids with a number of enhanced benefits and amenities.
This includes a Qantas Joey Club novelty passport, dedicated children's menus in domestic lounges, and expanded in-flight entertainment for youngsters.
"Looking after our loyal customers, including our tiny travellers, is incredibly important to Qantas. We have always had initiatives in place for children travelling with us but the Joey Club takes it to the next level with a formal program and a number of new benefits," said Olivia Wirth, Qantas group executive of brand, marketing and corporate affairs.
Qantas says Joey Club benefits are in addition to existing family friendly amenities such as special in-flight meal options for infants and children, priority family boarding and extra baggage allowance for a stroller or push-chair on selected routes.
The program comes into effect in June 2015 and Qantas is waiving the normal joining fee of $89.50 until 31 December 2015.
Families can register their children for the program at qantas.com/kids.
Arab tourist's "unexplained" death at London's Dorchester Hotel investigated
LONDON, England - Police are investigating the "unexplained" death of a man at London's Dorchester Hotel.
Officers were called to the five-star venue in Mayfair following reports that a man was unresponsive in one of the rooms.
Ambulance crews arrived but the man in his 40s - reportedly an Arab tourist - was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two men who were arrested in connection with the death have been bailed to a date in June, Scotland Yard said.
The Dorchester describes itself as "one of the world's most iconic hotels" and a favourite choice of celebrities, world leaders and royalty.
Last year it was targeted twice in smash and grab raids by moped-riding gangs, who broke into display cabinets and stole watches and jewellery.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police were called to a central London hotel, at approximately 5.30pm on Friday, 1 May, to reports of an unresponsive man in one of the rooms.
"London Ambulance Service was also called. The man, in his 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Police are in the process of informing next of kin. The death is being treated as unexplained at this stage.
"Officers from Westminster are investigating. Two men were arrested in connection with the incident. Both have been bailed pending further inquiries until a date in June.
"A post-mortem examination will be held."
A spokeswoman for the Dorchester Hotel said: "With regret we can confirm the death of a guest at the hotel on Friday, 1 May.
"We are unable to provide any further details at this time as the matter is in the hands of the police. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased."
Court rules hiker must pay bill for his rescue
Michigan man injured during a 2012 hike in New Hampshire must pay for the cost of his rescue, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Edward Bacon of Northville, Michigan, was on a five-day solo hike in September 2012 when he dislocated his hip and had to be carried for almost four miles over rough terrain in heavy rain.
The state Fish and Game department charged him $9,200 after a judge found him negligent, but Bacon appealed that ruling to the high court, which rejected his argument Thursday.
Bacon argued he was prepared for the conditions, physically capable and had adequately planned his hike. But the state said his preparation was insufficient — he trained in a park with 250-foot hills and some “gravelly” spots — and that he was negligent in trying to jump backward over a ledge after having dislocated his hip five other times. The court also found that he continued hiking despite encountering high winds and rain early in the day.
“We agree with the trial court's conclusions that the defendant's injury was foreseeable and directly caused his need to be rescued,” the court said in its unanimous ruling.
In a phone interview, 62-year-old Bacon said the court relied on Fish and Game's version of events, which he disputes. He said the weather information he received from other hikers that morning indicated that he would have plenty of time to complete his hike before the rain and wind picked up. He also defended his training regimen, saying it was adequate for building strength, and said that contrary to what authorities said, he did not fall but rather dislocated his hip by jumping onto the ledge. He said his doctors had cleared him for hiking and never told him jumping could pose a risk.
“I have no recollection of saying I fell. It's kind of not fair — I was up there for six hours with a dislocated hip, in pain. Who knows what I said?” he said. “By the time I got to the emergency room, I was totally exhausted and they were pumping painkillers into me.”
Bacon's rescue was one of more than 900 search and rescues conducted by Fish and Game between 2006 and 2012 at a total cost of $1.8 million, paid for by fees added to boat and off-road vehicle registrations. Since 2008, the state has been able to bill those found negligent for the cost of their rescues. And since January, the state has been selling $25 “Hike Safe” cards that allow buyers to avoid being held liable if they need to be rescued due to negligence.
Fish and Game Capt. John Wimsatt said he was pleased the court agreed that Bacon was negligent.
“The important piece for us at Fish and Game is our department only has limited resources, personnel and funding to serve out our mission, including search and rescue,” he said.
Bacon, an automotive engineer whose father grew up in New Hampshire, said he has hiked the state's mountains hundreds of times and had even considered retiring there. Not anymore, he said Thursday. And while he has hiked the same area of Franconia Notch twice since 2012, he doesn't know if he will return.
Bill Vervaeke, CDME
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Competition for Chinese guests intensifies with Princess ship deployment
By sending its next ship to sail from Shanghai, Princess Cruises will vault into the vanguard of Western cruise lines seeking to source passengers from fast-growing China.
Princess said it will use the third ship in its Royal class, set for delivery in 2017, to establish a year-round presence in China, one of only three cruise lines to have done so.
The 3,560-passenger ship will be from the largest class of vessels that Princess sails, one-third larger than the 10-year-old Sapphire Princess, which begins its second season of summer sailings from Shanghai next week.
“Deploying our next new ship in China underscores our strong commitment to growing the China cruise market,” Princess President Jan Swartz said in a statement.
The move echoes the decision in April 2014 by Royal Caribbean International to commit the Quantum of the Seas to Shanghai even before it had been delivered. After six months of interim sailings, the ship left New York on a transit cruise May 2 and will begin year-round cruising in China in June.
At the time, Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein said the company felt it had an asset in the Quantum that was impossible to match.
The Princess ship, as yet unnamed, will be a follow-up to the Royal Princess and Regal Princess, which will remain on U.S.- and European-based itineraries. When they were introduced in 2013 and 2014, respectively, they made a splash with their protruding SeaWalk platforms, dancing water fountains and a pair of elegant chef’s table restaurants.
In addition to those features, the 2017 ship under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy will be customized for Chinese guests, using the Princess Class elements pioneered on the Sapphire Princess.
They include the World Leaders Dinner, a traditional English afternoon tea, a Lobster Grill, Ultimate Balcony Dining, an oceanview, hot-pot dinner option, ballroom dancing and expanded duty-free shopping.
“And as this ship is still in the design phase, we are looking forward to creating other new and exciting venues and experiences catering to the Chinese vacationer, which we will reveal in the coming months,” Swartz said.
In announcing the ship, Princess said it will be “the first year-round international luxury vessel designed and built specifically for Chinese guests.”
The announcement comes as competition begins in earnest for the Chinese customer.
On May 15, a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Chinese online travel agency Ctrip will begin sailing the former Celebrity Century from Shanghai.
The 1,800-passenger ship has undergone a renovation, which included the addition of an ice bar, a trampoline and minigolf as well as a makeover of the restaurants to tailor them to Chinese tastes. It will sail under the name SkySea Golden Era.
On May 21, the Sapphire Princess begins its second summer of sailings from Shanghai, followed by the arrival of the Quantum in June.
Carnival Corp. is also represented in the Chinese market by Costa Cruises, which has been sailing the Costa Serena from Shanghai since April.
In a note to investors issued after the Princess announcement, UBS Securities predicted that 2015 will be the tipping point for China to become a “game-changing force” for the cruise industry.
UBS analyst Robin Farley said China will not only provide a new source of demand but will reduce capacity and strengthen pricing in more mature markets such as North America and Europe.
The international cruise industry’s presence in China has been growing since 2008 when Costa first put a ship there dedicated to the Chinese market. Carnival Corp. sent then-Costa chairman Pier Luigi Foschi to oversee its Asian operations.
After Foschi left Carnival, former Princess Cruises president Alan Buckelew was named chief operations officer and was dispatched to China. Although Costa has two other ships, the Costa Victoria and Costa Atlantica, also sailing from China, the shift of a Princess newbuild to China will significantly step up Princess’ presence there.
After the 2017 delivery, Princess has no new ships on order, although Carnival Corp. recently announced an agreement in principle with two European shipyards to build nine vessels from 2019 to 2022.
Carnival Corp. has also agreed to explore a joint venture with Fincantieri and the China State Shipbuilding Corp. to develop the first “world-class cruise ship” to be built in China.
Norwegian Cruise Line has formed a task force to evaluate whether and how to enter the Chinese market. However, its largest shareholder is Genting Group, a Malaysia-based company that also owns Star Cruises, a line that is focused solely on the Asia market.
During the company’s earnings call last week, CEO Frank Del Rio said, “It is incredible to see our competitors devoting their newest, largest and probably best-performing ships to the Chinese market.”
He added that the Norwegian study group would deliver its findings by year’s end.
Grand Lucayan developing all-inclusive section
The Grand Lucayan on Grand Bahama Island plans to open Lighthouse Pointe, a resort-within-a-resort, late this year.
The 198-room Lighthouse Pointe, on the far end of Grand Lucayan, will be for guests who want the all-inclusive experience. Guests staying at the 542-room Grand Lucayan will be able to choose between an all-inclusive package or a room-only plan.
Lighthouse Pointe is an existing property on the Grand Lucayan site, but it has been dormant for two years and is undergoing a multimillion-dollar upgrade and renovation. New facilities will include an entertainment venue and a kids' club treehouse.
Together the two resorts will offer a total of eight restaurants, including two buffets. All-inclusive guests who dine at Churchill's, the fine-dining restaurant, must pay a surcharge.
The all-inclusive rate will start at $125 per person, per night, based on double occupancy.
"The demand from our travel agent partners and our guests for an all-inclusive offering prompted this move," said Tom Anderson, chief marketing officer. "Positioning Grand Lucayan as a hybrid resort, with both traditional and all-inclusive offerings, will drive the brand to the next level and redefine our capabilities."
Woman Arrested After Attempting to Smuggle Young Boy in Luggage
There have been plenty of odd things found in the luggage of travelers over the years, but one woman who was trying to enter Ceuta, Spain, was caught smuggling an 8-year-old boy in a suitcase.
According to The Telegraph, a 19-year-old woman was arrested when border security working in the Spanish-governed territory of Ceuta in Northern Africa discovered the Ivorian boy jammed into a piece of luggage.
The woman was crossing from Morocco to Ceuta on Thursday when she was asked to put her bag through an x-ray machine. When security officials examined the image generated by the machine, the silhouette of a small person appeared.
Authorities claimed the boy was “in a terrible state,” and he was immediately checked by medics before being put in the custody of the juvenile prosecutor's office. The woman was arrested and charged with attempted smuggling. The boy’s father was arrested a short time later when he tried to cross the border as well.
BBC Africa shared the startling images on Twitter of the luggage x-ray and the child getting out of the bag after being discovered:
Unfortunately, situations like this have become all too common due to many Africans trying desperately to leave the continent for a better life in Europe. Thousands of people risk their lives each year trying to enter Spanish-governed territories in Northern Africa with hopes of making it across the Mediterranean.
Whether it’s climbing over the security fences built along the borders, trying to swim or sail to a better area or stowing themselves in luggage or storage containers, immigrants have shown that they will go to extreme lengths for a chance at a better life.
Sea rise imperils cities: state plan called unclear
Flooding, saltwater intrusion worsen as cities await guidance.
ST. AUGUSTINE — America’s oldest city is slowly drowning.
St. Augustine’s centuries-old Spanish fortress sits feet from the encroaching Atlantic, whose waters already flood the city’s narrow streets about 10 times a year — a problem worsening as sea levels rise. The city relies on tourism, but visitors might someday have to wear waders at high tide.
“If you want to benefit from the fact we’ve been here for 450 years, you have the responsibility to look forward to the next 450,” said Bill Hamilton, whose family has lived in the city since the 1950s. “Is St. Augustine even going to be here? We owe it to the people coming after us to leave the city in good shape.”
St. Augustine is one of many chronically flooded communities along Florida’s coast, and officials in these diverse places share a concern: They’re afraid their buildings and economies will be further inundated by rising seas in just a couple of decades.
The effects are a daily reality in much of Florida. Drinking water wells are fouled by seawater. Higher tides and storm surges make for more frequent road flooding from Jacksonville to Key West, and they’re overburdening aging flood-control systems.
But the state has yet to offer a clear plan or coordination to address what local officials across Florida’s coast see as a slow-moving emergency. Republican Gov. Rick Scott is skeptical of man-made climate change and has put aside the task of preparing for sea level rise, a review of thousands of emails and documents pertaining to the state’s preparations for rising seas shows.
Despite warnings from water experts and climate scientists, skepticism over sea level projections and climate change science has hampered planning efforts at all levels of government, the records show, and Florida’s environmental agencies under Scott have been downsized, making them less effective at coordinating sea level rise planning in the state.
“If I were governor, I’d be out there talking about it (sea level rise) every day,” said Eric Buermann, former general counsel to the Republican Party of Florida and a former water district governing board member. “Unless you’re going to build a sea wall around South Florida, what’s the plan?”
The issue presents a public works challenge that could cost billions here and nationwide. Insurance giant Swiss Re has estimated that the economy in southeast Florida could sustain $33 billion in damage from climate-related damage in 2030.
Communities such as St. Augustine can do only so much alone. Cities lack the technology, money and manpower to keep back the seas by themselves.
In March, Scott wouldn’t address whether the state had a long-range plan. He cited his support for Everglades restoration and some flood-control projects as progress but said cities and counties should contact environmental and water agencies to find answers — though Scott and the GOP-led legislature have slashed billions from those agencies. Spokespeople for the water districts and other agencies disputed that cuts have affected their ability to plan.
In a statement, Scott said the state will continue investing in Florida’s environment.
Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection is in charge of protecting the state’s environment and water but has taken no official position on sea level rise, according to documents.
In St. Augustine, flooding has long been problematic, but residents say it’s worsened over the past 20 years. St. Augustine’s civil engineer, Reuben Franklin, says the low-lying city will probably need a pumping system to keep water out, but that the state has been unhelpful.
“There’s no guidance,” Franklin said. “Everything I’ve found to help I’ve gotten by searching the Internet.”
Water quality is one of the biggest concerns. It’s especially bad in South Florida, where Hallandale Beach has abandoned six of eight drinking water wells because of saltwater intrusion.
While South Florida water officials have led the charge in addressing concerns in their area, their attempt to organize a statewide group has been unsuccessful, documents show, and Scott’s administration has organized just a few conference calls to coordinate local efforts.
Meanwhile, government officials have been adamant that employees and scientists not “assign cause” in public statements about global warming, government emails show.
For example, a 2014 email approving a DEP scientist’s request to participate in a National Geographic story came with a warning: “Approved. Make no claims as to cause … stay with the research you are doing, of course,” warned the DEP manager, Pamela Phillips.
“I know the drill,” responded Mike Shirley, the state scientist.
DEP spokeswoman Lauren Engel said Phillips was a lower-level staffer whose views did not necessarily reflect the entire administration.
Scott rebutted allegations that his administration urges scientists not to assign cause when discussing climate change.
Scott administration officials are moving forward on a five-year plan that will provide basic guidance to cities dealing with sea level rise.
The Department of Economic Opportunity has received nearly $1 million in federal grants for the plan.
More than half has been spent on staff time and travel or hasn’t yet been allocated, according to documents. The rest, about $450,000, went to contract researchers who are helping create the document, due in 2016.
Agency spokeswoman Jessica Sims would not comment and refused requests for the program’s manager to be interviewed.
St. Augustine officials say they need state-level coordination, or in coming decades much of historic downtown could be ankle-deep in water at high tide.
Said the engineer, Franklin: “Are we going to be early to the game in terms of planning for this, or late?”
Uber Said to Seek $1.5 Billion in Funds at $50 Billion Valuation
Uber Technologies Inc. plans to raise $1.5 billion in a new funding round that will boost the car-booking startup’s valuation to $50 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Uber is still in early discussions with backers, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
Uber, which was previously valued at $40 billion when it raised financing earlier this year, is benefiting from investors who view its car-booking technology as the future of transport. The San Francisco-based company, led by Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick, is using the cash to expand operations to cities across the globe. Uber may also need funding for acquisitions, following a report by the New York Times this week that it submitted a bid for HERE, Nokia Oyj’s maps business, for as much as $3 billion.
Kristin Carvell, a spokeswoman for Uber, declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the new financing round.
Uber, which has one of the highest valuations for a closely held technology startup, sought $2.8 billion in February in its last funding round. It also closed $1.6 billion in convertible debt from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s wealth management clients in January. In addition to expanding into new locations, Uber needs money to invest in research and development and improving safety, and to expand its UberPool carpooling service.
Uber, founded in 2009 by Kalanick and Garrett Camp, has expanded to about 300 cities in 57 countries. The service has disrupted established taxi and limousine companies, which have often responded with protests. Uber has also upset regulators, who have sued or banned the company from California to Brazil.
American Airlines sees higher fuel costs in 2nd quarter
May 11 (Reuters) - American Airlines Group raised its forecast for jet fuel costs for the current quarter, reflecting a recent rise in crude oil prices.
The company said it would pay $1.94-$1.99 per gallon of jet fuel in the second quarter ending June 30, up from it previous forecast of $1.84-$1.89.
The airline said it now expects quarterly pretax margin, excluding special items, to be between 17 percent and 19 percent, down from the 18-20 percent it had forecast earlier.
Total revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for April were down 0.3 percent at 18.1 billion, compared with a year earlier.
Nuisance or nefarious? Airline fees push the limits
Margaret Waldman's surprise airline "refund fee" is a mystery. Solving it could be a bad sign for all of us.
Waldman, a retired writer who lives in Oakland, Calif., decided to cancel a recent flight to Spain, which should have been no problem. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has a 24-hour rule that says most tickets have to be refunded if you notify the airline within a day. Fully refunded.
Instead, Iberia charged Waldman a $25 fee.
"Iberia's customer service department told me this is standard company policy," she says. "My understanding is this is against the law."
Is it my imagination, or are the number of complaints about nuisance airline fees on the rise?
It's hard to tell. The government doesn't track complaint data on fees. But it does have a complaint category for "ticketing" and "customer service" — two areas where fee-grievances are likely to be filed. And the number of complaints in those categories climbed from 3,736 in 2013 to 3,966 last year.
A likely culprit: nuisance fees. This relatively new strain of surcharges, quietly imposed on unwitting airline passengers, are often hard to explain and even harder to justify. They can include extras like Waldman's refund fee, mandatory-looking airline seat fees or higher fees for items passengers already pay for, like luggage.
Waldman's puzzle took a little time to solve. Turns out the flight for which she wanted a refund was within Europe. So the DOT's 24-hour refund rule — which requires reservations to be held at the quoted fare without payment, or canceled without penalty, for at least 24 hours after a reservation is made — didn't apply.
Consuelo Arias, a spokesman for Iberia, said the airline allows passengers to hold a reservation for a day. After that, it imposes a refund fee on certain tickets. Arias said Iberia had done Waldman a favor by refunding her ticket. Technically, it was completely non-refundable.
"Once the ticket has been issued, the normal fare conditions apply," he says. "This ticket wasn't refundable, nor could it be changed. We did refund it, but did apply the refund fee."
But still, a $25 "refund" fee? Come on.
At least 3 dead as storms roar through several states
A massive cleanup and hunt for the missing was underway Monday after a line of tornadoes and wild storms roared through several states, killing at least 3 people and injuring dozens.
At least two people died in Nashville, Ark., when a possible tornado rolled through Howard County late Sunday night, County Coroner John Gray told THV11.com in Little Rock.
In Corsicana, Texas, a man died after being being swept into a ditch after leaving his car in floodwaters, WFAA-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
And in Van, Texas, Emergency Management Coordinator and Van Zandt County Fire Marshal Chuck Allen said 10 adults are unaccounted for and 26 people were taken to hospitals after a tornado rolled through the county Sunday night.
More people were taken to hospitals by private vehicles, but it's unclear how many, Allen said. Some injuries were said to be life-threatening, but no fatalities have been reported. Damage, including destroyed homes, fallen power lines and toppled trees, he said.
About 30% of the city suffered some kind of damage, he said.
"Damages range from completely destroyed homes, damaged homes, to trees and power lines down," Allen wrote.
The storm was part of severe weather that stretched across North Texas on Sunday. The National Weather Service is estimating that at least four tornadoes touched down Sunday in Van Zandt, Denton, Grayson and Hamilton/Bosque Counties. Kaufman County damage is under investigation.
Earlier in the day, another likely tornado ripped roofs off buildings and damaged trees near Denton, about 40 miles northwest of Dallas, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Bradshaw. There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities.
Tornadoes were also reported in central Iowa, where a roof was ripped off a high school, and in eastern South Dakota, where a twister damaged the small town of Delmont and injured at least nine people.
Great white shark gets up close and personal with filmmaker
Cheese! A great white shark was ready for her closeup when an Australian filmmaker put his camera in the water a few feet from her jaws.
Filmmaker Dave Riggs captured the dramatic picture off the coast of South Australia while shooting for the Discovery Channel's Shark Week 2015. In a clip released by Discovery, Riggs said the great white is about 4.5 meters, or almost 15 feet in length, and very "inquisitive."
A great white shark was ready for her close-up when an Australian filmmaker put his camera in the water a few feet from her jaws.
"Great whites don't have hands, so she was researching the area the only way she knows how, that's with her mouth," Riggs said.
Riggs put a partially submerged camera in the water and snapped pictures as the shark surfaced.
"This photograph is quite dramatic but it really highlights how awesome these apex predators are," Riggs said.
Shark Week 2015 kicks off on July 5.
Bears Chase Tourists in Yellowstone
See the video here:
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2015/05/11/27107879/
Flight attendants allegedly break disabled passenger's leg, lawsuit follows
In the game to get ever more passengers into smaller spaces, airlines sometimes seem to see passengers like Tetris pieces, to bend, twist, and shift as they wish. No better example of this can be found than during an Austrian Airlines flight to Macedonia last summer, when flight attendants allegedly broke a woman’s leg trying to fit her into a seat.
The ordeal began for Mary Dordieski, who has spina bifida and can’t bend her right leg below the knee, when mechanical problems diverted her original flight out of Chicago to Toronto. After spending the night there, she returned to the airport the following day to complete the trip, only to find that her seat had been changed from a bulkhead (where she could extend her leg) to a regular seat.
Once on board, her mother, who was traveling with her, told the crew Dordieski couldn’t fit in a regular seat. Rather than move her to a new one, flight attendants instead allegedly harnessed their Tetris skills and placed the woman in anyway, bending her leg — and breaking it — to make her fit. By the time the flight landed in Austria, Dordieski had became feverish enough to require medical attention, and that’s when the break was discovered.
Now, a full year later, Dordieski is taking the airline to court to make it fact, suing for compensatory damages, including medical expenses. Austrian Airlines has not commented on the incident
Detroit Airport Returning to Normal After Terminal Evacuation
A partial evacuation of Detroit Metropolitan Airport's North Terminal occurred Saturday afternoon after a man was taken into custody, and his laptop examined, according to the Associated Press. The Detroit News reported that airport operations were temporarily suspended.
Airport spokesman Brian Lassaline told the AP that the terminal was cleared around 3 p.m. Saturday after the man left a laptop at a ticket counter and said things "that caused concern." He verified to AP that the laptop was "cleared," and the man is in police custody while the investigation is in progress.
The airport tweeted that the North Terminal was "evacuated out of an abundance of caution to investigate a suspicious situation."
Lassaline did not provide the AP with any other details about the man or the investigation.
Security checkpoints reopened about an hour later, and flights resumed. The airport went on Twitter to announce the "north end of the terminal is open" and that "operations are slowly getting back to normal."
The Detroit News talked to flyer Nate Roberson, who was departing for Seattle to visit his mother, but arrived to see operations shut down.
"I just heard they shut down the airport and you feel a little uneasy about that," he said to the publication. "I feel confident in that they are at least doing something. As long as everyone is safe that's what's important."
Queen Mary 2 Passenger Evacuated by Coast Guard
The U.S. Coast Guard evacuated an ill 39-year-old man via helicopter from the Queen Mary 2 Saturday afternoon, the Associated Press reported.
The passenger was showing symptoms of heart and kidney failure, and the decision to take him off the cruise liner came after the ship's doctor consulted with a Coast Guard flight surgeon. A rescue crew flying on an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter based out of Cape Cod was dispatched, and the 992-foot Bermuda-flagged liner sailed toward Nantucket to shorten the flight time.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Nicole Cook, operations unit coordinator at the 1st Coast Guard District in Boston. told AP a nurse from Queen Mary 2 went with the patient to a Boston hospital.
No word yet on the man’s condition.
Queen Mary 2 is currently docked in New York City, and will soon be departing for Southampton, England.
Business travellers biggest airline complainers
US business travellers are nearly twice as likely to file a complaint for poor airline service than leisure passengers, according to a report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
The ACSI report says 20% of business fliers had made a complaint in 2015 compared to just 11% of those travelling on leisure.
"Business fliers fly more, they pay more and they have higher expectations of how they're going to be treated. They tend therefore to complain more," said David VanAmburg, ACSI managing director.
The report indicates that airlines are 'going where the money is' and better focusing on resolving high spending corporate travellers' grievances.
Asked how well the most recent complaint was dealt with, business travellers rated airlines 59 out of 100 on the ACSI index.
In comparison, leisure travellers' satisfaction was just 51 out of 100 points.
"I think the airlines probably have it about right in that they know who they should be focusing on, and with apologies to leisure travellers, it's not them," VanAmburg said.
"You're going to go with where the money is, and that's what airlines are doing. They are finding small ways to provide a little better service to those from whom they make the most money."
He adds that business travellers are always more likely to experience a hitch due to the frequency of travel.
"Every time you fly, you're rolling the dice. You fly once a month, those chances just mount that the bag might get lost, or the plane is delayed because of a storm, or there's an unpleasant customer next to you that might make you unhappier with the experience."
New DOT ruling lets airlines back out of mistake fares
Mistake fares offering ridiculously low prices due to human error or an IT glitch look to be a thing of the past, after a new Department of Transportation ruling allowing airlines to back out of mistake fares.
"The Assistant General Counsel has decided not to enforce section 399.88 with respect to mistaken fares while the Department completes the aforementioned rulemaking process," the DOT said.
This reverses the official policy that forced airlines to honor ultra low fares published in error.
The most famous instances include $6.90 round trips on Delta in 2013 and $450 for a business-class ticket from Washington D.C. to Beijing on American Airlines.
However the latest snafu, a technical loophole offering $51 first-class trans-Atlantic tickets to Europe on United Airlines in February, was likely the biggest reason for the rule change, according to George Haskell, founder and CEO of Flight Fishing, a website that tracks discounts and promotional air fares.
The DOT acknowledged many of the fares booked with United were 'bad faith' transactions where customers deliberately changed their home location to Denmark in order to get the mistake fare.
While the DOT ruling no longer requires airlines to honor mistakes, it does force them to reimburse customers for other related expenses.
The ruling says airlines should refund all consumers for "verifiable out-of-pocket expenses that were made in reliance upon the ticket purchase, in addition to refunding the purchase price of the ticket. These expenses include, but are not limited to, non-refundable hotel reservations, destination tour packages or activities and cancellation fees."
U.S. airports getting better, but remain far from the best
As major airports around the world scramble to brand themselves as luxury entities rather than mere transportation centers, some have adopted a star-ranking system, like hotels. It was inevitable.
Munich Airport, calling itself "Bavaria's gateway to the world," boasts that it has become "Europe's first five-star airport." The five-star distinction was awarded in mid-March to the German airport and four other international airports by the London air-travel research firm Skytrax, based on surveys completed by more than 13 million fliers in 2014.
Modern airports positioning themselves in a firmament usually occupied by stylish hotels is an indication of how far the concept of airport-as-brand has come in the past 25 years. What used to be utilitarian — a place to grab a magazine, a candy bar or a beer and get on or off a plane — has become far more elaborate, with amenities at many airports, including art galleries, interior gardens, theaters, mall-like concourses filled with shops and restaurants and, at least in some foreign airports, exotic experiences.
"Have you flown through the Kuala Lumpur airport?" said Sharon M. Schweitzer, a business traveler who lectures on intercultural communication. "When you get to that airport, you have this experience of going into a rain-forest-like setting. The Singapore airport is another example. They have a butterfly garden, a sunflower garden, an area where children can paint; they have movie theaters."
Business travelers who fly mostly to airports in the United States might be amazed by this array of attractions — Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea, even has a 330-yard golf driving range. But across the board, in the United States and abroad, seasoned travelers generally concur that airports have improved significantly in the past quarter-century, as facilities have expanded and terminals have been modernized to generate local revenue.
And that presents a paradox, with airports becoming more attractive and comfortable for all even as airline service and amenities have steadily deteriorated in recent years, except for those lucky passengers flying in the highest priced luxury seats in the front of the plane on international routes.
Local governmental entities typically manage airports as showcases to bolster regional economic growth. But airlines fly planes strictly in ways and along the routes dictated by the bottom line.
Since 2008, airports in the United States have committed $52 billion to capital improvement projects, many still underway. Tampa International Airport is in the early stages of a $943 million transformation. Globally, $385 billion worth of projects are in progress, led by China and the Middle East, according to estimates by CAPA Centre for Aviation, a research organization.
Surveys of global travelers always show that most top-rated airports are in Asia. Of the top five on the Skytrax 2015 list of the world's best 100 airports, Singapore Changi is No. 1, followed by Seoul Incheon, Munich, Hong Kong International and Tokyo Haneda International. Airports in the United States do not appear in the top 25, although the Cincinnati, Denver and San Francisco airports are in the top 40.
No Florida airports made the list.
The airport industry says it needs more federal tax money for capital improvements to keep pace with those at foreign airports, especially to attract more international business travel, which accounts for 15 percent of all arriving air passengers in the United States. In a speech last year, Kevin M. Burke, the president of the trade group Airports Council International, North America, said airports in the United States were "at the breaking point" in struggling to finance the $75.5 billion in estimated capital improvements needed through 2019.
One way out, at least from the domestic airports' perspective, is lobbying for raising the federally mandated Passenger Facility Charge by $4. The fee, which airlines must add to fares, has been capped at $4.50 for each boarding since 2001. However, the domestic airline industry strongly opposes increasing the fee, which sent $2.78 billion to domestic airports in 2014, up from $85.4 million in 1992, the first year it was collected.
While airports in the United States might have a long way to go before someone bestows a five-star rating on them, they have developed extensive amenities as air travel has boomed and terminals have become more crowded with passengers, many of them awaiting connecting flights.
"Airports are now like the Mall of America," said William Johnson, a business traveler who was sipping a cappuccino recently at a trendy restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport.
Tracy Sear said that when she started as a flight attendant in 1968, "air travel was a lot more expensive, dollar for dollar, and most airports were not all that convenient even for things like having a meal."
On the other hand, added Sear, who is now a flight attendant with American Airlines, "In general, people spent a lot less time in an airport than they do now. And airports definitely were not retail hubs like they are now."
Ralph Nader, the consumer activist, said he had been flying since 1950, and the shopping environment was the biggest change he had seen in airports.
"They've become malls," Nader said. "You have to search hard even to find basic airport information through this blizzard of commercialism and color and merchandise and signs. And except for some airports like Midway in Chicago, where you can still get a great Greek lemon soup at a locally owned Greek restaurant in the terminal, they're all chain stores."
That should not be true at TIA. The airport has demanded a major local presence among restaurants bidding for space in the terminal and airsides.
TIA's master plan includes no theaters or butterfly gardens, but when it's done there will be two new outdoor terraces on either side of the main terminal, replacing the old outside smoking decks.
Passenger dies after crashing through tram windshield at Orlando airport, officials say
ORLANDO — An airline passenger died Friday morning when he was thrown through the windshield of a tram at Orlando International Airport, falling 15 feet to the ground below, according to officials.
The man was given "advanced life support" by a rescue crew and taken a local hospital, said airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell.
He has since died from his injuries, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Fennell did not release his name.
The accident happened about 5:35 a.m. local time as the tram was carrying the man and an employee of the airport contractor, Bombardier Transportation, who operates the tram system, from the main terminal to the satellite terminal with gates 1 through 29, Fennell said.
Normally, the trams are automated, but at the time of the accident, the Bombardier employee was operating it manually, something Fennell said happens every morning.
The Bombardier employee made an emergency stop — it's not clear why — and the passenger went flying through the front windshield, she said. He fell about 15 feet to a grassy area below, she said.
She referred questions about the reason for the emergency stop to a Bombardier Transportation spokeswoman in suburban Philadelphia, who was not immediately available.
Mid-morning, the three-car yellow tram could be seen stopped on the track about 100 to 200 yards from the satellite terminal to which it was headed. Figures could be seen moving around inside.
Fennell said the accident was being "evaluated."
Two trams serve each satellite terminal, Fennell said, and the second one serving gates 1 through 29 in Airside 1 was operating normally.
The trams carry about 100,000 passengers a day between the main airport terminal and four satellite terminals, Fennell said.
TSA to return $100,000 watch lost at Newark airport
A traveler left this gold and diamond watch valued at more than $100,000 at a TSA security checkpoint.
(CNN)This watch was no ordinary Timex.
The owner of a diamond-covered gold Cartier watch valued at more than $100,000 forgot the watch at a Newark Liberty International Airport security checkpoint on Tuesday.
Luckily for the owner, a Japanese real estate entrepreneur, he'll be getting it back. A Transportation Security Administration officer spotted the Cartier watch and recorded it with other items left by travelers that day, according to a TSA press release.
New Jersey colleague of the owner contacted TSA to track down the watch, which is covered in hundreds of small diamonds, and sent some pictures of the owner wearing it. The owner said the watch is worth more than $100,000.
After the TSA confirmed the owner had flown on the date the watch was found, from the terminal where it was found and around the time the watch was found, the reunion was scheduled. The pictures helped, too, the TSA said. The New Jersey colleague picked up the watch on Thursday around noon.
"The man who picked it up said he was planning to fly to Japan tonight to personally deliver the watch to its owner," said TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein, via email. "He was extremely grateful that a TSA officer turned it in at the checkpoint and told the TSA officials at the Lost & Found Office that the watch had been custom made and was a one-of-a-kind."
Most people don't leave expensive jewelry behind, although TSA's Newark team did return a lost four-carat diamond ring to its owner two years ago.
Travelers more typically forget "sunglasses, reading glasses, keys, ID, belts, hats, jackets, mobile phones, laptops, prescription medicine, loose change, backpacks (and) children's toys," Farbstein said.
TSA officers collects found items from each checkpoint daily and take them to a central office, where they are indexed and locked up until the owners can be found.