Airline Asks Judge To Extend Deadline For Bankruptcy Plan

United Airlines, saddled with a number of unresolved issues in its bankruptcy proceedings, asked a federal judge to give it more time to file a formal plan of reorganization. The giant carrier asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Eugene Wedoff to extend from March 8 to June 30 the period of exclusivity in which United alone can file a reorganization plan. No outside investors or United creditors can submit competing plans during that period. If approved by Wedoff, the new timetable would mean United would have until Aug. 30 to solicit votes on its plan from creditors and other interested parties. Wedoff is expected to approve the motion in United's next monthly bankruptcy hearing on Feb. 20. Despite the new timetable, Chicago-ba

Man Allegedly Assaulted Sleeping Passenger

According to the Indictment and an affidavit filed earlier in the case, it is alleged that Deepak Jahagirdar was seated next to a 22 year old woman on a mid-day flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Boston on March 31, 2002. The young woman had fallen asleep during the flight and awoke to find that Jahagirdar had unbuttoned her pants and doing unappropriate things. In order to conceal the assault from other passengers, Jahagirdar had placed a blanket over himself and the woman, and had put his tray table in the down position. Jahagirdar was arrested by Massachusetts State Police upon his arrival at Logan Airport.

AD: Airbus A330

AD NUMBER: AD 2004-03-24 MANUFACTURER: Airbus SUBJECT: Elevator Checks SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD) that is applicable to all Airbus Model A330-200, A330-300, A340-200, and A340-300 series airplanes. This action requires a revision of the airplane flight manual to include procedures for a pre-flight elevator check before each flight, repetitive inspections for cracks of the attachment lugs of the mode selector valve position transducers on the elevator servocontrols, and corrective actions if necessary. This action is intended to advise the flightcrew of the potential for an undetected inoperative elevator, and of the action they must take

Union: Labor Peace Strained Over Retiree Benefits

United Airlines flight attendants and retirees, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, picketed, leafleted passengers and held a rally at Denver Airport on Thursday -- the same day United Airlines launches its new Ted service -- to protest United's plan to renege on an agreement to provide lower cost retiree health benefits to those who retired before July 1, 2003. Flight attendants were also picketing and leafleting at Ft. Lauderdale Airport (FL) when Ted's first flight landed Thursday afternoon. More passenger outreach events took place in Las Vegas and Seattle where retirees were on hand to tell their stories about how United's proposed changes will impact their lives, and current United employees

AD NUMBER: AD 2004-03-09

MANUFACTURER: Boeing SUBJECT: Wing Rear spar Inspection SUMMARY: This amendment adopts a new airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to all Boeing Model 747-100, 747-100B, 747-100B SUD, 747-200B, 747-200F, 747-200C, 747-300, 747SR, and 747SP series airplanes. This AD requires repetitive inspections for discrepancies of the structure near and common to the upper chord and splice fittings of the rear spar of the wing, and repair if necessary. This AD also provides for an optional modification that, if accomplished, terminates the repetitive inspection requirement, but would necessitate eventual post-modification inspections. This action is necessary to find and fix fatigue cracking of struct