Aviation

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Your morning transportation speed-read:

More than a month after the Boston Marathon bombings, the Senate candidates have become embroiled in an emotionally charged fight.

In the run-up to the Memorial Day weekend, the House has approved legislation aimed at boosting jobs training programs for veterans, and a separate bill meant to ease airport screenings for injured or disabled veterans.

In a 416-0 vote, members passed H.R. 1412, the Improving Job Opportunities for Veterans Act. This bill would make it easier for companies to bear the costs of hiring veterans as part of a federal job training program.

Flight attendants are defending Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) from attacks on his record on national security issues in the Massachusetts Senate special election.

Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez has questioned Markey’s commitment to security in recent days, arguing that the longtime congressman has voted against several measures to protect the homeland since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 

But the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) union, which represents American Airlines employees, said Markey has actively worked to safeguard airplanes from potential terrorists during his tenure in Congress.

The union, which has endorsed Markey, cited congressman’s recent efforts to convince the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to drop its plans to allow small knives onto airplanes for the first time since 9/11. 

The Democratic senator said airlines should drop their plans to increase the cost of rebooking plane tickets.

Airline passengers prefer sitting next to crying babies than smelly adults on flights 63 percent to 23 percent, according to a poll released Friday.

The survey, conducted by polling firm Harris Interactive, also found that 50 percent of airline passengers thought they should be allowed to use their cellphones during flights, and 37 percent said they would be willing to pay extra to fly on newer airplanes.

Fifty-eight percent of people who said they fly at least once a year would be willing to pay for extra leg room on a flight longer than three hours, compared to 33 who would pay for shorter trip, the poll found.

The senators argue the FAA ignored guidance from the Transportation secretary in awarding bonuses.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The airline industry predicted on Thursday that the air traffic controller furloughs that snarled airplane traffic at major airports last month will not be repeated when the fix passed by Congress runs out in October.

The measure passed by Congress in late April to end mounting flight delays that were attributed to the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration only gave the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) enough to shift money in its budget through the end of September.

The group that lobbies for airlines in Washington, Airlines for America (A4A), said on Thursday that it was confident flight delays would not be repeated in October, when the government's new fiscal year for 2014 will begin.

"We don't expect it to happen again, " A4A Vice President of Safety, Security and Operations Dan Elwell said during a briefing by the association on Thursday. "If sequestration is still around, we expect them to do it better."