Travelers who refuse to wear masks could soon face fines of up to $3,000. The TSA Thursday said it is doubling fines for travelers who won’t follow a federal mask mandate for air, bus and other forms of transportation. Minimum fines will double, starting at $500, and go up to $3,000 for repeat offenders. The Biden administration last month extended the federal mask mandate for air, bus and train travel through Jan. 18 in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19 as infections surged around the country. It had been set to expire in mid-September. Airline crews have been tasked with enforcing the federal mask policy on planes and have repeatedly complained about a surge in unruly passenger behavior, many of those cases tied to violations of the mandate. Disputes over following the federal mask rules on planes were cited in nearly 75% of the close to 4,200 cases of unruly passengers the FAA received this year. “If you break the rules, be prepared to pay,” President Joe Biden said Thursday, unveiling sweeping measures aimed at stamping out Covid, including plans for vaccine mandates that would apply to millions of U.S. workers. “And by the way, show some respect,” Biden said, following a surge of cases of unruly and sometimes violent behavior toward flight attendants. “It’s wrong. It’s ugly.”<br/>
general
The White House on Thursday said it is targeting 20% lower aviation emissions by 2030, as airlines facing pressure to lower their carbon footprint promised to use more sustainable aviation fuel. The push to accelerate carbon cutting is part of President Joe Biden’s target of making the United States net carbon neutral by 2050. The White House announcement comes as the United States and Europe are trying to boost production of SAF, which is now made in miniscule quantities from feedstocks such as used cooking oil and animal fat, and can be two to five times more expensive than standard jet fuel. The announcement confirms a plan by US airlines to back a voluntary industry target of 3b gallons of SAF in 2030. Biden said he is seeking a SAF tax credit as part of the $3.5t reconciliation bill being pushed by congressional Democrats, a move the industry says is necessary to offset the higher costs of production.<br/>
The first international commercial flight under Afghanistan's new Taliban interim government departed Kabul on Thursday carrying more than 100 foreigners, including some US citizens left behind after last month's chaotic Western airlift. The flight marked an important step in the Taliban's efforts to create a functioning state after they seized power last month, although there were growing reports of violence against women, foreigners and journalists at the hands of the Islamists. UN Special Envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the Security Council that nongovernmental organisations supporting women were being targeted, women's freedoms had been restricted and the United Nations' Afghan staff were being harassed and intimidated. "The UN cannot conduct its work - work that is so essential to the Afghan people - if its personnel are subjected to intimidation, fear for their lives, and cannot move freely," Lyons told the Security Council.<br/>
Government and airline officials gathered on Thursday to mark the completion of a $6b modernization project to untangle the jumble of runways that for decades made flying into and out of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport feel like a downtown traffic jam at rush hour. During a ceremony at the airport, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the 16-year O’Hare Modernization Project (OMP) to extend two existing runways and build four new ones running side by side has made flying into and out of one of the busiest airports in the world much simpler. “With the correcting of the runways and making them run parallel, the OMP has resulted in a 64% reduction in delays over the life of the project, Lightfoot said of the project, which also added two new air traffic control towers and relocated several facilities. The changes are welcome improvements for an airport that for years ranked among the country’s worst for on-time departures and arrivals. The modernization project is part of a larger $8.5b project — including the $6b spent on the new runways and other improvements — called O’Hare 21 that will include the construction of a massive O’Hare Global Terminal.<br/>