Aviation

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A closed airport in Michigan is auctioning its equipment.

A judge ruled auto dealerships have to inform buyers of their credit status before they charge them higher interest rates.

Italian automaker Fiat, which now owns Chrysler, might build Mazdas at its plants soon.

A disputed subway tunnel in Beverly Hills, Calif., has been approved for construction.

The Department of Transportation said Thursday that it was appointing a committee to make sure airline passengers' rights were protected.

DOT said the panel will have four members, and it will include Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D), who is frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for higher office in Illinois.

Other members of the panel will include Airlines for America Vice President David Berg, Oakland International Airport Aviation Director Deborah Ale Flint and Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA) Director Charlie Leocha.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

The French citizen who allegedly threatened to have a bomb onboard a U.S. Airways plane that was diverted to Maine will not be charged, but she will be sent home.

Southwest Airlines will pay $100 million for improvements to Houston's Hobby Airport so it can fly international routes from there.

Southwest will lease 717 airplanes that have been used by AirTran Airways to Delta Airlines after its merger with AirTrain is complete.

Analysts are predicting auto sales in the United States will increase 30 percent this month.

A group of Democratic lawmakers is calling on Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the Federal Aviation Administration to alleviate helicopter noise over residential neighborhoods in Los Angeles. 

Reps. Howard Berman, Henry Waxman, Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman and Janice Hahn and Sens. Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, all Democrats, said Wednesday in a letter to LaHood that the FAA should do a better job regulating helicopter noise.

"As cosponsors of legislation currently pending in the House and Senate, respectively, which would mandate the FAA issue regulations pertaining to helicopter noise, we believe the FAA should expeditiously undertake an examination of potential remedies to the longstanding problem of helicopter noise in residential areas of Los Angeles," the lawmakers wrote. 

A US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte that was diverted to an airport in Maine was landed prematurely because a passenger claimed to have a bomb implanted into her body, according to a key Republican lawmaker from the Pine Tree state.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she was briefed on the emergency landing of US Airways flight 787 at  Bangor International Airport by Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole.

Collins, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said the passenger’s claim ended up being false. But she said it was necessary to have taken the threat seriously. 

"I…received a telephone briefing from TSA Administrator John Pistole, who advised me that a female passenger passed a note to a flight attendant stating that she was carrying a surgically implanted device,” Collins said in a statement released by her office. “Two doctors on board the plane examined the woman, but found no evidence of surgical scars or incisions.  Fortunately, the aircraft landed safely in Bangor and the female passenger has been taken into custody by the FBI.” 

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Your morning transportation speed-read:

Passengers at New York City area airports will soon be greeted by a hologram.

A former Newark Liberty International Airport employee accused of threatening President Obama was granted the ability to own guns by an appeals court.

The federal Transit Authority awarded $745 million to a proposed light rail in Portland, Ore.

Transportation taxes have become an issue in Washington state's governor's race.

A US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte was diverted to an airport in Maine on Tuesday after a disturbance on board, officials with the airline confirmed to The Hill.

The airplane, US Air Flight 787, had been scheduled to land at Charlotte's Douglas International Airport at 2:35 p.m. But the plane, which airline officials said was carrying 179 passengers and nine crew members, landed instead in Bangor, Maine, after reports of "suspicious behavior" by a passenger on board, a US Air spokesperson said.

The flight was diverted "out of an abundance of caution," the spokesperson said, and it landed in Maine without incident. 

The Homeland Security appropriations bill would increase one-way security fees for airline passengers from $2.50 to $5.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

It could be harder for relatives to sit together on flights during the busy summer travel season.

A pilot was arrested for having a loaded gun in his bag.

Airline stock prices could go up as gas prices go down.

The panel that is planning a proposed high-speed railway in California wants to delete its old emails.

Protesters targeted Boeing’s Chicago headquarters on the final day of the NATO summit to take aim at the defense contractor and aerospace manufacturer.

About 200 protesters in Chicago gathered outside of Boeing Monday, throwing paper airplanes and staging a “die in,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.