The Department of Transportation is introducing an online dashboard that will allow passengers to identify which US airlines will seat children 13 and younger next to an accompanying adult at no extra cost. It is the latest attempt by the Biden administration to pressure airlines to reduce airline fees for everything from seating to reimbursement after flight delays. The creation of the dashboard is in response to complaints that the DOT has received from travelers who say they have been seated apart from their children, some as young as 11 months. The new dashboard would help passengers see which airlines actually guarantee family seating while the DOT works on a rule that would ban charging families more to sit together. For airlines to receive a green check on the dashboard, they must guarantee that parents or an accompanying adult can sit next to their children for free if the seats are available. “Parents traveling with young kids should be able to sit together without an airline forcing them to pay junk fees,” said Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, in a statement, adding that the department had been pressing airlines to make those guarantees. “All airlines should do this promptly, even as we move forward to develop a rule establishing this as a requirement across the board.” In an announcement on Monday, the DOT added that the new dashboard would allow parents to sidestep “confusing claims” on family seating policies and make it easier for passengers to know which airlines had “stepped up.” Making the guarantee in their customer service plans also means that if airlines failed to uphold the policy, the DOT could step in to enforce it, the department said. In recent weeks, airlines have said they would change their policies to help accommodate families. United Airlines announced in February that it would allow children under 12 to sit next to accompanying adults at no extra cost, and updated the seat map technology on its online booking system to allow families to more easily find adjacent seats. If n<br/>
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The FAA said Monday it temporarily paused flights to and from parts of South Florida due to a radar issue for about an hour and many flights were still be impacted. The issue affected the FAA's Miami and Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Centers. Flight tracking website FlightAware said more than 2,800 U.S. flights were delayed nationwide on Monday and 90 canceled. The FAA said some flights crossing northern Florida "will be delayed" an average of 10 mins or routed around the area until around 7 p.m. ET. In January, a system known as the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) used to control air traffic prompted the FAA on Jan. 2 to issue a ground stop order in Florida, slowing traffic into airports and snarling hundreds of flights. The problem with the ERAM system at a major regional air traffic control center in Miami caused dozens of flight delays at Miami and flights into other airports in the southern U.S. state. ERAM in 2015 replaced the 40-year-old En Route Host computer and backup system used at 20 FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers nationwide. The FAA has faced other recent technical issues. A pilot messaging database outage on Jan. 11 forced a nationwide halt to all US passenger departing traffic for almost two hours, the first such ground stop since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The computer system outage disrupted more than 11,000 U.S. flights. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen told lawmakers in January the FAA found that the outage occurred when contract personnel "unintentionally deleted files."<br/>
Airlines that operate in the North -- where many residents rely on flights for transportation and goods -- say disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, a Canada-wide pilot shortage and new fatigue regulations are creating headwinds. "With the COVID effect, that took a lot of people out of the marketplace," said Michael Rodyniuk, president and CE officer of Canadian North. "It's not as attractive as it used to be to become a pilot." Rodyniuk said new regulations that aim to reduce fatigue-related risks restrict the amount of time crew members can be on the job. He said that means airlines need more flight crews and it's taking longer for pilots to get the needed experience to fly to locations in the High Arctic. He said Canadian North did about five times the amount of pilot training in 2022 compared to pre-COVID. "It's a challenge for us to meet the market demand given some of the new regulations that are coming into place," he said. "For the vast majority of the year, the only way to get goods and people in and out of the North is by air, so our role is vital to the survival of the people of the North." Rodyniuk said the airline hasn't had to cancel any destinations or significantly reduce flight volumes, but there have been cases where limits on duty time have resulted in delays. Major airlines have reduced flights across Canada, including in the North, as they're unable to keep up with the resurgence in demand since the lifting of pandemic restrictions and facing staff shortages. Air Canada suspended flights connecting Yellowknife to Edmonton and Calgary last year, but said it intends to resume Edmonton flights in May. Canadian North started daily non-stop service between Yellowknife and Calgary on Feb. 14. Joe Sparling, president and CEO of Air North, also raised concerns about how the new fatigue rules could hamper airlines' ability to deal with challenges such as weather disruptions. "We feel like we're trying to deal with these things with one hand tied behind our backs," he said.<br/>
Brazil’s battered airlines got some relief on Monday after striking agreements that eased investors’ concern over their liquidity amid deteriorating credit conditions in their home market. Azul’s American depositary receipts surged as much as 70% to $7.06 in New York, the most intraday on record, and bonds due in 2026 climbed 13 cents to 65 cents on the dollar. The moves follow an agreement the company struck with most lessors allowing it to reduce its payments in exchange for a mix of stocks and bonds, according to filing published Sunday. The deal “seems to be a powerful vote of confidence in the carrier’s long-term staying power and cash-generating ability,” Citigroup Inc. analyst Stephen Trent wrote. On Friday, Gol announced a debt restructuring with Abra Group Ltd., a holding company that will control operations of Gol and Avianca Group International Ltd., and a group of creditors. The transaction provides the company with $451m in cash, lengthens its debt profile and should ease negotiations with lessors, Bradesco BBI analyst Victor Mizusaki wrote in a note dated March 5. Gol’s ADRs climbed as much as 29% to $2.65, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Despite the agreements, bonds from both companies trade deep in distressed levels as investors weigh refinancing risks and high borrowing costs in Brazil. Gol’s debt is the worst performer in the region over the last month, handing investors losses of 27% over that period, according to a Bloomberg index. Azul’s dollar bonds also rank among the worst in Latin America, losing more than 15% over the span. <br/>
An Israeli air strike on Syria’s Aleppo International Airport damaged its runway and took the airport out of service, Syrian state news agency SANA reported early on Tuesday, citing a military source. Syrian air defences intercepted missiles launched from the Mediterranean Sea, west of the coastal city of Latakia, at 2:07 a.m. local time, SANA added. Last year, Israel intensified strikes on Syrian airports to disrupt Tehran’s increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Hezbollah.<br/>
The environment ministry has approved a proposal to construct a new international airport on Jeju Island, officials said Monday, after a yearslong conflict over the potential impact on the island's pristine natural environment. In 2015, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the selection of a 5.45m-square-meter lot in Seongsan on the southern resort island's eastern side as the site for the second airport. After rejecting four previous environmental assessment reports, the Ministry of Environment has granted a conditional approval to the transport ministry's plan, saying the site has met the relevant requirement. The proposal, however, still needs further evaluation by the provincial government of Jeju. The ministry said the transport ministry's proposal has presented ways to protect local birds and their natural habitats. However, the ministry ordered a further explanation on how to secure the safety of airplanes from bird strikes. The environment ministry also urged the land ministry to reflect the opinion of Jeju residents for potential cases of noise pollution coming from the planes in flight. The environment ministry also presented a plan to migrate the island's two indigenous animals ― narrow-mouthed frogs and small cuckoos ― that are listed as endangered species.<br/>
There’s way more to an airport than the mechanics of getting from point A to point B, and the best airports put a lot into making passengers’ journeys as seamless and pleasant as possible. The Airport Service Quality Awards, announced on Monday, recognize the world’s best airports for customer experience. Among the most decorated among mega-airports handling more than 40m passengers annually is Rome’s Fiumicino, which in addition to earning an award for overall quality also received recognition for being clean and enjoyable with dedicated staff. Singapore’s Changi Airport also received additional honors for its dedicated staff and passengers’ ease in navigating the hub. The airport in Istanbul received honors for being clean and enjoyable in addition to its award for overall quality. The trade group Airports Council International and travel technology company Amadeus determine award winners based on passenger surveys gathered at the airport on the day of travel. In 2022, some 465,000 surveys were collected. The surveys look at 30 factors including check-in, ease of navigation, shopping and dining offerings. “The ASQ program not only measures and benchmarks, but also provides airports of all sizes with an opportunity for continual learning and improvement to reach new heights in customer experience excellence,” said Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of ACI World.<br/>