Transportation Department (US)
Transportation Dept. Proposes Changes to Federal Policy on Flight Refunds
Amid an infuriating summer for air travel, the Department of Transportation is proposing changes to federal policy that guide flight refunds, providing more recourse for passengers when airlines cancel flights or significantly alter a flight’s schedule, route or seat categories. The rule, which the agency will decide on after a 90-day public comment period closes, […]
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How Safe Are Systems Like Tesla’s Autopilot? No One Knows.
Every three months, Tesla publishes a safety report that provides the number of miles between crashes when drivers use the company’s driver-assistance system, Autopilot, and the number of miles between crashes when they do not. These figures always show that accidents are less frequent with Autopilot, a collection of technologies that can steer, brake and […]
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Norman Y. Mineta, Who Served Two Presidents in Cabinet, Dies at 90
As President Bush was shuttled from a school visit in Florida to secure locations in Louisiana and Nebraska, Mr. Cheney placed U.S. forces on alert around the world and ordered the Capitol evacuated and congressional and other leaders removed to safety. In the aftermath of 9/11, Mr. Mineta claimed that he had ordered all civilian […]
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Asphalt Industry Is a Big Winner in Infrastructure Plan
In the middle of the infrastructure bill negotiations last year, with the pandemic still limiting in-person meetings, the lobbyist Martin T. Whitmer Jr. found a creative way to get in front of lawmakers with a message from his client, the asphalt industry: He pulled a pair of collapsible lawn chairs out of his trunk and […]
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How 5G Clashed With an Aviation Device Invented in the 1920s
Altimeters are a key part of the 787’s landing system, turning on the reverse thrusters that slow the plane once it has landed. Mr. Lemme said a Boeing patent suggested that the function was totally automated, meaning that even a pilot landing a 787 manually would not be able to reverse the plane’s thrusters if […]
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Verizon and AT&T Agree to Delay 5G Plans Over Airline Safety Concerns
Verizon and AT&T said late Monday that they had agreed to delay their deployment of new wireless technology for two weeks, giving in to the demands of federal aviation regulators who have raised concerns that the signals could create an airline safety hazard. The companies made the decision after initially rebuffing a request for a […]
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