AIRLINES

Those days of “no-refund” policies at most airlines may soon be a thing of the past.

Cancellations are stacking up once again this holiday weekend as U.S. airlines struggle to serve their own customers.

Cancellations are stacking up once again this holiday weekend as U.S. airlines struggle to serve their own customers.

U.S. airlines scrubbed thousands of flights last week.

U.S. airlines scrubbed thousands of flights last week.

Hundreds of pro-abortion rights protesters showed up Saturday afternoon outside the Moore Justice Center in Viera for a Bans off Our Bodies protest.

Airlines say they are offering options — including refunds in some cases — for people worried about flying now that other passengers aren’t required to wear face masks. Customers could find themselves at the mercy of workers at airline customer-service centers. Many people who will be flying in the next few weeks bought their tickets before a federal judge in Florida on Monday struck down the requirement to wear a mask in airports and during flights.

From the classroom to the airport runway, students at Texas Southern University are exploring the skies and becoming one step closer to becoming a pilot for a major airline company.

With travel picking up nearly 90% of pre-pandemic numbers, officials with the Southwest Airlines Pilot’s Association said their pilots are concerned over fatigue.

A parade of troops and military equipment in Islamabad on Wednesday marked Pakistan's national day. The day fell while Pakistan was hosting a meeting of foreign ministers from Muslim nations. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting and national day celebrations were also attended by China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi. DURATION: 01:27

Russian airlines can no longer get spare parts or technical support for their Airbus and Boeing planes.

The move follows the UK's decision to ban Russia's national airline Aeroflot from landing in the UK.

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Though not a silver bullet, direct air capture is an environmental insurance policy we can’t ignore.

Though not a silver bullet, direct air capture is an environmental insurance policy we can’t ignore.

European Union leaders are discussing the sensitive topic of migration to the bloc and how to stop the influx of refugees arriving via neighboring Belarus

International travel will be open to vaccinated travellers for the first time in 18 months.

Health passes are helping buoy air travel in Europe despite concerns about the delta variant. They could do the same in the U.S.

A Pentagon statement says 18 commercial aircraft will help with the evacuation effort.

Airlines are requiring passengers to wear masks, but recent incidents involving young children have put the carriers on the spot for how they enforce rules on face coverings. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Airlines have reported more than 500 cases involving unruly passengers since late December, and most started with passengers who refused to wear a face mask, federal officials said Wednesday. The FAA reported the figures shortly after it extended a “zero-tolerance” policy against unruly people on airline flights. The agency said that under the policy, passengers who disrupt or threaten the safety of a flight could face fines and jail time. The tougher enforcement stance was due to expire at the end of this month, but the FAA announced Monday that it will stay in place as long as airline passengers are required to wear face masks.

U.S. airlines are laying the groundwork for a travel rebound that still looks months, if not years, away. Some carriers are buying new planes, while others are training pilots and even adding staff. Decisions they make now will affect how they will be positioned to capitalize on an eventual recovery in air travel. To be sure, U.S. airlines are still struggling, losing $150 million a day, said Nick Calio, CEO of Airlines for America, an industry group that represents United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and other major carriers. Capacity is down by half compared with last year while passenger traffic is still off more than 60%, the industry group said.

DALLAS – Southwest Airlines is lifting the threat of furloughs or pay cuts for thousands of workers now that U.S. airlines will get up to $15 billion more in taxpayer aid contained in the coronavirus-relief bill. American and United Airlines, which together furloughed 32,000 employees in October, said Monday they will bring those workers back temporarily. This month, Southwest warned nearly 7,000 workers that their jobs could be in danger if their unions did not accept pay cuts of about 10%. Southwest Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly told employees Monday that federal relief “was always our preferred plan, and it means we can stop the movement toward furloughs and pay cuts that we previously announced.”Kelly said Dallas-based Southwest doesn’t expect the need for any furloughs or pay cuts in 2021. This spring, as the pandemic caused a nosedive in travel, airlines warned of massive layoffs unless Congress provided federal aid.

U.S. airlines began furloughing more than 32,000 employees on Thursday after a federal prohibition on job cuts expired. American Airlines and United Airlines said that they could reverse the furloughs if Congress and the White House quickly agree to provide billions more in taxpayer help to the embattled airline industry. The White House included $20 billion for airlines in a $1.6 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal, moving closer to House Democrats' $2.2 trillion plan. Airlines and their unions are lobbying for money to keep workers on airline payrolls for six more months, through next March. They received $25 billion, mostly in cash, to pay employees through Sept. 30 in exchange for avoiding layoffs or furloughs.

HOUSTON – Thousands of United Airlines employees will not be going into work on Thursday. The airline is furloughing roughly 13,000 workers, including about 1,000 people in the Houston area. “I’m going to have to readjust everything, my lifestyle. At work, I’m going to try to hustle to see if I can pick up extra shifts. The furloughs will affect more than 6,900 inflight services employees, 1,900 airport operations workers and 2,200 technical operations employees.

HOUSTON – Houston’s travel and tourism industry has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Houston hotels still strugglingBut the outlook for the Houston area’s hotel industry isn’t as clear. “The accommodation sector is at nearly a 35% unemployment rate,” said Sawan Patel, who owns several Houston hotels with his father. Great travel deals availableThe good news that there are great travel deals available as airlines and hotels try to boost their businesses. Find hotel and dining deals in HoustonFind hotel and dining deals in AustinFind hotel and dining deals along San Antonio’s famous Riverwalk

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian has put out what some are calling an aggressive enforcement of mask-wearing on the company’s flights. ”If you board the plane and you insist on not wearing your mask, we will insist that you don’t fly Delta into the future,” Bastian told Today in an interview Wednesday. The CEO said the stance is one he’s taking in order to keep crew and passengers safe during the pandemic. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Delta flights have been booked to 60% of their capacity, Today reported after speaking with Bastian. “We’ve had some customers indicate that they have (an) underlying condition that makes wearing a mask dangerous for them,” Bastian said.

FRANKFURT Global air travel is recovering more slowly than expected and will take until until 2024 to return to pre-pandemic levels, the trade association for the airline industry said Tuesday. The International Air Transport Association pushed back its prediction by one year due to the slow containment of the outbreak in the U.S. and developing countries. Pearce said that air travel is not rebounding along with rising levels of business confidence in Europe, the U.S. and China. That improvement is nowhere near the increase in business confidence, Pearce said. Besides renewed outbreaks, travel is also being held back by weak consumer confidence and constrained travel budgets at companies that are struggling.

HOUSTON United reported $1.6 billion losses in its second quarter. Roughly, two thousand United workers in Houston received furlough notices after dwindling travel shakes up the airline industries. The airline industry its on shaky ground, to say the least at this point, Mike Klemm, president of IAM District 141 Airline Workers Union, said. United reported second-quarter losses at a whopping $1.6 billion, which is bad news for major airlines with an equally major workforce nationwide. Roughly 10,000 people received furlough notices out of 28,000 we represent, Klemm said.

(CNN) Airline travel is bouncing back -- but so are American coronavirus cases. United Airlines presented sobering facts to employees Monday that bookings are tumbling as Covid cases soar. Also hurting travel demand: regulations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that mandate travelers from the pandemic's US hotspots quarantine themselves for 14 days. Near-term bookings at United's hub in Newark were only 16% of 2019 bookings as of July 1. But with the surge in Covid-19 cases and signs of a drop in bookings, airlines that added flights may have gotten ahead of themselves.

The Trump administration said Friday it will let Chinese airlines operate a limited number of flights to the U.S., backing down from a threat to ban the flights. The decision came one day after China appeared to open the door to U.S. carriers United Airlines and Delta Air Lines resuming one flight per week each into the country. United, Delta and American Airlines suspended flights to China before mid-March. Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines continue flying those routes. The Transportation Department announced Wednesday that it would prohibit all passenger airline flights from China no later than June 16.

Norwegian flights could be headed towards to the United States, and American airlines are not happy about it. Travelpulse.com president and founder Mark Murphy joins CBSN to discuss the possible threat to U.S. airlines.

Major airlines have been accused of colluding to keep the price of airfare high despite the recent drop in oil prices. CBS News transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave has details for CBSN.

Airlines report earning $1.6 billion in baggage and flight change fees just in the first quarter of 2015. Travalliance Media President and CEO Mark Murphy broke down the figures for CBSN.

MoneyWatch: Airline profits spike; New Facebook app Airlines are reporting huge profits because of low costs, caused by dropping oil prices. Also, Facebook's new app "Rooms" is available on the iPhone. Jill Wagner reports on the day's top MoneyWatch headlines.