In Florida, Harris announces $562M for climate resilience
Returning to Florida to discuss climate change, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that $562 million will be spent on 149 projects around the country aimed at improving resilience to threats such as rising seas and the kinds of coastal flooding that recently slammed the southeast part of the state.
US airlines adding jobs, extending rebound from October low
The Transportation Department said Tuesday, March 9, 2021, that the airline industry employed 713,949 people full-time or part-time in January. Cargo airlines have added jobs while passenger airlines have shed workers, mostly through incentives for workers to quit or take early retirement. The Transportation Department said Tuesday that 713,949 people held full-time or part-time jobs at airlines in mid-January, up from 694,638 in December and the low of 673,278 in October. American Airlines eliminated 8,700 jobs, or 8% of its workers, and Southwest shed more than 4,600 jobs, or 7.5%. FedEx's express-delivery division grew by about 24,000 jobs, or 9.8%, United Parcel Service added 183 jobs, or 2.9%, in its air-shipment business, and smaller cargo carriers such as Atlas Air also added jobs, according to the Transportation Department.
Online shopping surge delivers record revenue for UPS
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)A surge in online shopping helped UPS post record revenue during the last three months of 2020, the company said Tuesday. Its biggest customer โ online shopping giant Amazon โ helped fuel growth. She expects pandemic-fueled online shopping habits to stick, even as more stores reopen. โEven my relatives, who are older, are shopping online. UPS said revenue rose 21% to $24.9 billion in the three months ending Dec. 31, a record for the company.
Airlines close books on rotten 2020 and so far, 2021 is grim
An American Airlines Boeing 777 is framed by utility wires as it prepares to land at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Miami. And now a halting rollout of vaccines threatens to further delay a recovery in travel and the travel industry. On Thursday, as airlines reported results, a new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa was found in the United States for the first time, with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina. โTravel restrictions on international have resulted in a reduction in demand,โ American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said. Ad___JETBLUE AIRWAYSJetBlue reported a loss of $381 million, after reporting a profit in the fourth quarter of 2019.
American Airlines lost $8.9 billion in a year of pandemic
The airline said Thursday that it lost $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter, with revenue plunging by nearly two-thirds from a year earlier. And the airline lost $8.9 billion for the full year after earning nearly $1.7 billion in 2019. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)FORT WORTH, Texas โ American Airlines lost $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter as people stayed put in the pandemic, sending the carrier's revenue plunging by nearly two-thirds from the same period a year ago. The results ended a dismal year in which American Airlines Group Inc. lost $8.9 billion after earning nearly $1.7 billion the year before. Quarterly revenue dropped more than 64%, to $4.03 billion in the fourth quarter, not quite as bad as Wall Street had expected.
FedEx to cut up to 6,300 jobs in Europe over next 18 months
FedEx plans to cut up to 6,300 jobs in Europe after its acquisition of TNT Express. FedEx said Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, that the cuts will take place over 18 months and include express-delivery operations and back-office employees of TNT across the continent. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)MEMPHIS, Tenn. โ FedEx plans to cut up to 6,300 jobs in Europe as it completes the process of combining its own operation with that of a Dutch delivery company it bought in 2016. FedEx plans to downgrade an air-service hub in Liege, Belgium, to make Paris its sole primary hub. FedEx said Tuesday that it has successfully integrated FedEx and TNT information-technology systems and key parts of the air and ground networks.
Boeing Max returns to US skies with first passenger flight
MIAMI โ American Airlines flew a Boeing 737 Max with paying passengers from Miami to New York on Tuesday, the planeโs first commercial flight in U.S. skies since it was grounded after two deadly crashes. American flight 718 carried 87 passengers on the 172-seat plane, and the return flight from LaGuardia Airport to Miami International Airport held 151 passengers, according to an airline spokeswoman. Brazil's Gol airlines operated the first passenger flight with a revamped Max on Dec. 9. United Airlines plans to resume Max flights in February, and Southwest Airlines expects to follow in March. Some relatives of people who died in the second crash, a Max operated by Ethiopian Airlines, contend that the plane is still unsafe.
Demand for delivery boosts UPS revenue, but costs rise too
UPS, whose brown delivery trucks have become omnipresent on neighborhood streets during the pandemic, is reporting strong profits and revenue in its most recent quarter. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)ATLANTA โ Profit and revenue are rising at UPS, whose brown delivery trucks have become omnipresent on neighborhood streets during the pandemic, but so are costs. UPS shares fell 8.8%, their biggest one-day percentage drop in nearly six years. Unlike the domestic package business, profit rose in the company's international package and freight units. UPS shares have nearly doubled since May, reflecting the pickup in the delivery business.
Man who was on the run 5 years surrenders to FBI in Miami
MIAMI A fugitive who had been on the run for five years surrendered to the FBI when he arrived at Miami International Airport last week. Jonathan Cifuentes, who was wanted in a 2015 double shooting in Doral, flew to Miami in federal custody on Friday and was arrested on the federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, the FBI announced Monday. The surrender was arranged by Cifuentes through Miami attorney Antonio Valiente, the Miami Herald reported. The FBI then took Cifuentes, 29, to jail, where he's being held on two counts of attempted premeditated murder and one count of discharging a firearm in public. The FBI believed Cifuentes might have gone to New York, so federal charges were filed in June 2015, and an award of $10,000 was offered for information leading to his arrest and conviction, the agency said.
Florida officer fired after bodycam shows him hitting woman
MIAMI A Florida police officer is losing his job after he struck a woman who was yelling at him inside a terminal at Miami International Airport. A bodycam video, posted on Twitter by South Florida filmmaker Billy Corben, shows the face mask-wearing Miami-Dade police officer speaking to the woman inside the terminal on Wednesday. ... What you want to do? She approaches the officer, and puts her face right next to his, the video shows. A police report states that the woman struck the officer on the chin with her face before he hit her. She headbutted me, the officer says on the video as his colleagues rush in to handcuff the woman.
$900M to land at Florida airports as coronavirus cripples travel
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. โ Nearly $900 million in federal stimulus money will land at Florida airports to offset economic losses as travel has plummeted because of the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Department of Transportation posted a list online Tuesday of 100 airports in Florida that are slated to receive money, from $206.9 million going to Miami International Airport to $1,000 for Everglades Airpark in Everglades City. The money is part of the $2.3 trillion CARES Act stimulus package signed March 27 by President Donald Trump. Among large airports, Orlando International Airport is set to get $170.7 million; Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport is slated to get $135 million; Tampa International Airport is expected to receive $81 million; Palm Beach International Airport and Southwest Florida International Airport are each expected to receive $36.6 million; and Jacksonville International Airport is slated to receive about $28.2 million. Many general aviation airports across Florida are expected to receive $20,000 to $69,000.
FBI investigating after flight diverted to Jacksonville due to โunrulyโ passenger
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ An American Airlines flight made an emergency landing Thursday in Jacksonville after a disturbance involving a passenger, authorities said. Flight 2796 out of Miami International Airport was bound for Chicago when it was diverted to Jacksonville International Airport about 12:30 p.m. because of an incident with an โunrulyโ passenger who had to be restrained, Jacksonville Aviation Authority spokesperson Michael Stewart told News4Jax. The airlineโs flight tracker shows Flight 2796 departed Miami International Airport about 10:45 a.m. en route to Chicago. The flight was diverted to Jacksonville International Airport about 12:30 p.m. The flight was allowed to continue toward its final destination shortly before 4 p.m.An American Airlines flight out of Miami was diverted Thursday to Jacksonville due to the "medical needs of a passenger," the airline said in a statement to News4Jax.
Passenger forces way onto American Airlines flight, removed from plane
Copyright 2019 CNNMIAMI - A man was forcibly removed from an American Airlines flight at Miami International Airport Monday after he tried to force his way onto a plane. The man, a ticketed passenger on the flight to Newark, ran past the gate agent and onto the jet bridge, American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein said. Once on the plane, the man repeatedly asked other passengers for the time, according to cellphone video a passenger provided to CNN affiliate WSVN-TV. Passenger Ari Teman told CNN affiliate WFOR-TV the man was also shouting that "it was his plane and that he was the FBI." "Everyone started standing up to watch and they were blocking the aisle and then they called for security and he was dragged off the plane," Teman told WFOR.
TSA officers on leave after discovery of racist display
Two Transportation Security Administration officers have been placed on leave after a racist display was found inside a TSA workstation at Miami International Airport. (CNN) - Two Transportation Security Administration officers have been placed on leave after a racist display was found inside a TSA workstation at Miami International Airport. Three TSA officers discovered two stuffed gorillas tied together and hanging with a noose on July 21, according to four TSA employees with knowledge of the situation and a picture obtained by CNN. A veteran Miami TSA officer who asked that his name not be used for fear of retaliation said he was upset about the incident, which he says has many of Miami International Airport's black and Hispanic TSA officers distraught. "Two TSA officers have been placed on administrative leave while the investigation is ongoing."
UPS to deliver 89 million flowers this Valentine's Day
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ UPS says it will ship 89 million flowers for the Valentineโs Day holiday this year. That's about 8 million pounds -- or 514,000 boxes. That's up from 88 million last year. UPS transports them through the Miami International Airport to their recipients in less than two days. The National Retail Federation reports Americans will spend about $2 billion on flowers this year.