Aviation

The merger of United and Continental Airlines is on track to be completed by the end of the year, United CEO Jeff Smisek told shareholders Thursday according to reports.

Reuters is reporting that Smisek said Thursday that United and Continental should receive a single operator designation from the Federal Aviation Administration by year's end. The companies have already begun combining their operations and repainting planes with the United name on Continental's colors, but they have temporarily remained separate airlines.

United agreed to buy Continental in 2010 for $3.17 billion.

Sen. Barbara Boxer is pushing for a blanket policy for airlines dealing with the checked baggage of military personnel.

Your morning transportation news-feed:

Politifact has rated claims the federal government is threatening to shut down flights to Texas if the state bans Transportation Security Administration pat-downs half-true.

A former Transportation Security Administration supervisor is heading to jail for allowing employees to steal from passengers.

Tampa's International Airport is clamoring for more international flights.

Delta Airlines is moving some of its operations from Minnesota to Atlanta.

Showing off his company's newest 777 airplane, FedEx International President Michael Ducker said Congress passing several pending trade agreements would help the company get the global business the new large airplanes give it capacity to handle.

Speaking to reporters at Washington's Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia, Ducker said he would like to see Congress get moving on deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that have languished the entire time President Obama has been in office.

"We see ourselves as enablers, great proponents of trade," said Ducker,  who also serves as the company's Chief Operating Officer.

"Trade agreements have a great benefit," to companies like FedEx, he added.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Nearly 25 percent of domestic flights in April arrived late because of thunderstorms at airport hubs.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced the location of the first of his promised 100 "protected bike lanes."

A newspaper wants California Gov. Jerry Brown to end his silence on a proposed high-speed rail there.

The new Airbus airplane now flies to Washington's Dulles International Airport.

A large part of the US Airways plane that was landed safely on New York City's Hudson River after being disabled spent part of the Tuesday morning rush hour on the Baltimore Beltway.

The Maryland State Highway Administration said the plane, an Airbus A320 that had been US Air Flight 1549 in 2009, was being moved a museum in North Carolina. It's fuselage was being transportation on a truck that required two lanes as it moved along Interstate 695 between I-95 and I-70.

The truck has a maximum speed of 50 miles per hour, the administration said.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A man is suing singer Patti LaBelle for allegedly attacking him at Houston's George H.W. Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood biked to work.

Protesters of the Transportation Security Administration's pat-downs rallied at the Texas state capitol.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli thinks the brakes should be put on a MetroRail line to Washington's Dulles Airport.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Some are proposing walk-through "sniffers" as a way to speed up screening at airport security checkpoints.

President Obama is continuing to take credit for the recovery of the car industry with interviews with local TV stations in Detroit and Cleveland:

Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's son may have benefited from a deal to bring WiFi to O'Hare International Airport.

A Chicago commuter railway is introducing quiet cars on some of its trains.

The largest U.S. airfreight company will show off one of its new airplanes that it flies to South Korea, Hong Kong, Dubai and India this week at a Washington area airport.

FedEx will celebrate the first full year of service for the 777F with an event Wednesday at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va.

The company has said it is the first cargo airline to fly 777F airplanes, which debuted in 2008, and says the planes improve its ability to deliver packages from the U.S. and Canada to Latin America and South Korea.

FedEx president Mike Ducker, who is also the chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's International Policy Committee, will speak at the event on the benefits of the 777 and the importance of new trade routes and international trade agreements.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A Texas city is banning saggy pants on public transportation.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has received 976 emails about an Orlando commuter railway, but only 36 have been in favor.

A Transportation Security Administration worker accused of stealing from passengers' luggage has been indicted.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told Brooklyn residents who have been complaining about helicopter tours of the city that the Federal Aviation Administration controls the airspace, not his administration.