About 50 flights from Brussels Airport, which reopened this month after a deadly bomb attack, were cancelled on Wednesday as a strike among air traffic controllers entered a second day. Brussels Airport, one of Europe's busiest, reopened on April 3 with limited capacity, restricted by tight security and temporary structures erected after bombs destroyed the departure hall on March 22. Labour leaders had asked staff to call in sick on Tuesday due to disagreements over a proposed dispute settlement, including a rise in the minimum retirement age. A spokesman for air traffic authority Belgocontrol said some workers had again called in sick on Wednesday but capacity was increased to 20 landings or take-offs per hour from 15 earlier in the day. "We'll go to 25 later in the day," the spokesman said. A spokeswoman for Brussels Airport said some 50 flights had been cancelled until midday on Wednesday, out of about 400 scheduled flights. Brussels Airlines, the largest operator at Brussels Airport said it had to cancel flights and was giving priority to intercontinental destinations and connections to busy European hubs.<br/>
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A section of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport reopened Tuesday night after being evacuated earlier in the day on reports of a “suspicious man.” The man, who wasn’t identified, was arrested, but Dutch police said they didn’t find any dangerous substances in his luggage. “We got a call from someone at the airport saying there is a suspicious man. He was arrested,” police spokesman Alfred Ellwanger said. The bomb alert came three weeks after the terrorist attacks at Brussels Airport and a subway stop in the Belgian capital, which killed 32 people and injured more than 340.<br/>
The government says more flights are arriving on time, airlines are canceling fewer flights, but passengers’ complaints are still rising. The DoT said Wednesday that 83.6% of flights on the leading airlines arrived on time in February. That’s up from 81.3% in January and 72.8% the previous February. Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines were most likely to be on time. Southwest had the best on-time mark among the biggest four carriers, followed by Delta, United and American. Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways were late most often, with more than 30 percent of their flights running behind schedule. The federal government counts a flight as on time if it arrives within 14 minutes of schedule. The leading 12 airlines canceled 1.6% of their February flights, down from 2.6% in January and 4.8% last February, the government reported. Spirit had the highest cancellation rate, 3.9 percent. Hawaiian, which operates mostly in fair-weather locations, canceled only three flights all month. Complaints against US airlines, however, ticked up to 1,113 from 1,039 a year earlier. <br/>
Republican leaders are lauding an aviation policy bill before the Senate as the most passenger friendly in years, but there are limits to friendship. In an election year that has thus far been defined by populist rage, Republicans are walking a fine line as they seek to respond to passengers angered at their treatment by airlines without violating conservative tenets by imposing potentially costly regulations on a major industry. "I know there are some who think we should go further and re-regulate the airline industry, but we know deregulation has helped make air travel more accessible and more affordable for families and business travelers," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He defended the GOP position in favor of some consumer reforms in the bill but against proposals by Democrats to add more teeth to them. Public complaints to the DoT about airlines jumped 34% last year to the highest level since 2000, even though consumer advocates say many passengers don't know where to turn when they think they've been treated unfairly. Story lists provisions.<br/>
The 31-year-old was flying the twin-engine Britten Norman Turbine Islander for Sunbird Aviation when he is believed to have come in short of the runway on a flight from Oksapmin, and dived nose first into a swamp at Kiunga. According to local media, the plane experienced engine failure.<br/>All 12 people on board the aircraft were killed. Local media reports three of the passengers were children.<br/>