Hurricane Dennis spares Florida panhandle — Hurricane Dennis dwindled to a tropical depression early Monday after causing widespread power outages and some flooding in the Florida Panhandle, but it spared the area from the kind of damage Hurricane Ivan inflicted less than a year ago. (CNN)
Gas prices surge after hurricane — Gas prices have hit a record high of $2.33 a gallon, pushed up by the climbing cost of oil and strong demand in the midst of the summer vacation season, an industry analyst said Sunday. Motorists could have more bad news on the way, with Hurricane Dennis bedeviling Gulf of Mexico oil production, which could send pump prices to even loftier levels. (AP)
Deal eludes San Francisco hotel workers — San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has not been able to broker a deal in the labor dispute involving 4,300 union workers at 14 major hotels that is inching closer to next month’s first anniversary, and whose resolution will have national implications as contracts are negotiated in other cities. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Search ends for missing cruise passenger — A four-day search was suspended late Saturday night for a Greenwich, Conn., man who went missing from a honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean, a spokeswoman for the cruise line said. George Smith had been on a 12-night cruise, but was discovered missing when the ship docked at the Kusadasi island in the Aegean region of Turkey July 5. (AP)
FLL and MIA confiscated weapons sold on eBay — Kentucky and Alabama are raking in thousands of dollars, thanks to Florida’s airport scofflaws. Pocketknives and scissors confiscated at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Miami international airports go to those states, for free, which turn around and sell them on eBay.com, for a profit. (Miami Herald)
Explosives found in Russian hotel — Workers demolishing a Stalin-era Moscow hotel on Sunday discovered a tonne of explosives that would have been used to blow the building sky-high if Nazi troops had taken the Soviet capital, media reported. After its opening in 1935, the hotel Moskva was one of the Soviet Union’s flagship hotels and stood opposite the Russian parliament and only a stone’s throw from Red Square. (Reuters)
On-board cell phones will be here next year — Siemens and planemaker Airbus plan to develop technology to enable passengers to make and receive mobile phone calls while in flight by 2006, Siemens has said. (Reuters)
Boston air traffic errors are high — The number of pilot deviations and control tower errors at Logan International Airport exceeded those at equally busy airports over the past 18 months, according to recently released reports from the Federal Aviation Administration. From January 2004 to June 1, 2005, Logan had eight incidents in which pilots had to divert aircraft to avoid collisions with errant planes or airport vehicles. (Boston Globe)
US Airways cuts Philly presence — US Airways is reducing its regional airline operations at Philadelphia International Airport by 90 people. The Arlington-based airlline told the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry in a letter dated June 29 that its PSA Airlines subsidiary was reducing its Philadelphia crew domicile by 89 people by Sept. 1. (Biz Journal)
DOT: Alaska Airlines is tardiest — The domestic on-time performance of Alaska Airlines fell to 59% in May, the worst percentage reported to the Transportation Department (DOT) by any airline since February 2003, but Alaska said it has started to improve after encountering more difficulties in June. The DOT released its May figures for 20 U.S. airlines July 7 as part of its monthly Air Travel Consumer Report. (Travel Weekly)
Taxpayers face $1 billion liability in airline merger — Airline industry employees and frequent flyers aren’t the only interested parties holding their breath to see if America West Airlines’ proposed acquisition of US Airways will crash and burn. John Q. Taxpayer has nearly a billion dollars riding on the merger’s outcome. (Biz Journal)
Cruise scam artist comes out of the closet — A Durham, N.C., man charged last month with bilking a bride was arrested again Saturday on additional fraud charges. Durham police caught up with Beverly D. Perry, 53, hiding in the closet at his mother’s house, authorities said. (NBC 17)
Correspondents: Skip Bowman, Richard Wong, Carrie Charney, Leslie Friedman, John Frenaye, Mary Staley, Stephanus Surjaputra.
