Alaska Airlines planes are shown parked at gates with Mount Rainier in the background on March 1, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
AP- Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.
The updated ID has been required since May, but passengers without it have so far been allowed to clear security with additional screening and a warning. The Department of Homeland Security says 94% of passengers are already compliant and that the new fee is intended to encourage travelers to obtain the ID.
REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that meets enhanced requirements mandated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Obtaining the ID — indicated by a white star in a yellow circle in most states — means taking more documents to the motor vehicle agency than most states require for regular IDs. It was supposed to be rolled out in 2008 but the implementation had been repeatedly delayed.
Beginning Feb. 1, travelers 18 and older flying domestically without a REAL ID and who don’t have another accepted form of ID on them, such as a passport, will pay the non-refundable fee to verify their identity through TSA’s alternative “Confirm.ID” system.
TSA officials said that paying the fee does not guarantee verification, and travelers whose identities cannot be verified may be turned away. If approved, however, the verification covers a 10-day travel period.
The fee can be paid online before arriving at the airport. Travelers can also pay online at the airport before entering the security line, but officials said the process may take up to 30 minutes.
The TSA initially proposed an $18 charge for passengers without a REAL ID, but officials said Monday they raised it after realizing the alternative identification program would cost more than anticipated.
Other acceptable forms of ID include military IDs, permanent resident cards and photo IDs from federally recognized tribal nations. TSA also accepts digital IDs through platforms such as Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet at more than 250 airports in the U.S.
Alaska Airlines planes are shown parked at gates with Mount Rainier in the background on March 1, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
AP- The flight cancellations at airports across the U.S. are expected to persist even after the government shutdown ends.
The Federal Aviation Administration has reduced flights as some air traffic controllers — unpaid for weeks — have stopped showing up for work.
The Senate took a first step toward ending the shutdown Sunday, but final passage could still be several days away. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made clear last week that flight cuts will remain in place until the FAA sees safety metrics improve.
Over the weekend, airlines canceled thousands of flights to comply with the order to eliminate 4% of flights. The cancellations are scheduled to rise to 6% of all flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports on Tuesday. By the end of the week, flight cancellations are scheduled to reach 10% of all flights at those airports.
Already, travelers are growing frustrated.
“All of this has real negative consequences for millions of Americans, and it’s 100% unnecessary and avoidable,” said Todd Walker, whose flight from San Francisco to Washington state was canceled over the weekend, causing him to miss his mom’s 80th birthday party.
As of Monday morning, airlines had already canceled 1,600 flights for Monday and nearly 1,000 for Tuesday. International flights have not been affected.
Beyond the mandated cuts, flight delays have been rippling through airports nationwide at times ever since the shutdown began. That’s because the FAA slows air traffic anytime it’s short on controllers at one of its facilities to ensure flights remain safe.
Tuesday will be the second missed payday for air traffic controllers and other FAA employees. It’s unclear how quickly they might be paid once the shutdown ends. The head of the controllers union, Nick Daniels, plans a news conference Monday morning to address the shutdown’s toll.
“More controllers aren’t coming to work day by day, the further they go without a paycheck,” Duffy said.
The government has struggled for years with a shortage of air traffic controllers, and Duffy said the shutdown has worsened the problem, prompting some controllers to retire early or quit. Before the shutdown, Duffy had been working to address the shortage by hiring more controllers, speeding up training and offering bonuses to retain experienced controllers.
Duffy warned over the weekend that if the shutdown drags on, the situation could deteriorate further as the U.S. heads into the busy holiday travel season. He said air travel may “be reduced to a trickle” by the week of Thanksgiving.
FILE – Alaska Airlines planes are shown parked at gates with Mount Rainier in the background on March 1, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
AP- U.S. airlines began canceling hundreds of flights Thursday due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce traffic at the country’s busiest airports starting Friday because of the government shutdown.
Airports that will see cuts include Anchorage International and Seattle Tacoma, both directly affecting Alaskan travelers.
More than 500 flights scheduled for Friday were already cut nationwide, and the number of cancellations climbed steadily throughout Thursday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions.
The FAA order to cut flights at 40 of the busiest airports across the U.S. includes New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to a list distributed to the airlines and obtained by The Associated Press. But the impact will disrupt travel at many smaller airports too.
The FAA seeks to reduce service by 10% across “high-volume” markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers exhibit signs of strain during the shutdown. The move also comes as the Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Democrats in Congress to end the shutdown.
Airlines will phase in the 10% reduction in their flight schedules at the airports across more than two dozen states. Just hours before the reductions went into place, airlines were scrambling to figure out where to cut and some travelers began changing or canceling itineraries preemptively.
Travelers with plans for the weekend and beyond waited nervously to see if their flights would take off as scheduled.
The affected airports included busy connecting hubs and those in popular tourist destinations, such as Atlanta, Denver, Orlando, Miami and San Francisco. In some of the biggest cities — such as Dallas, Houston and Chicago — multiple airports will be affected.
Flight cuts will begin gradually
Airlines will phase in the cuts at the direction of the FAA, eliminating 4% of flights at the 40 airports on Friday and working up to 10%, according to three people familiar with the plans who were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Delta Air Lines said it planned to cancel roughly 170 flights Friday. By late Thursday afternoon, United Airlines had called off 145 flights and American Airlines had canceled 32 for Friday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The FAA had not yet published an official order as of the afternoon.
Some airlines planned to focus on slashing routes to and from small and medium-size cities.
The flight reductions just weeks before the busy holiday season prompted some travelers to change their plans or looking at other options.
Fallon Carter canceled her Friday flight from New York to Tampa, Florida, where she planned to spend the weekend at the beach. She was worried about making it back to Long Island to be a bridesmaid at her best friend’s wedding.
“I don’t know if I get there, will I get home?” Carter said.
The FAA is imposing the reductions to relieve pressure on air traffic controllers who are working without pay during the shutdown, which began Oct. 1, and have been increasingly taking sick days. Most controllers work mandatory overtime six days a week, leaving little time for side jobs to help cover bills unless they call out.
In recent weeks the FAA has delayed flights when airports or its other facilities are short on controllers.
Shuffling schedules
Airlines said they would try to minimize impact on customers, some of whom will see weekend travel plans disrupted with little notice.
United, Delta and American were among carriers that said they would offer refunds to passengers who opt not to fly, even if they purchased nonrefundable tickets.
The head of Frontier Airlines recommended that travelers buy backup tickets with another airline to avoid being stranded.
The cuts also could disrupt package deliveries because two airports with major distribution centers are on the list — FedEx operates at the airport in Memphis, Tennessee, and UPS in Louisville, Kentucky, the site of this week’s deadly cargo plane crash.
The cuts could affect as many as 1,800 flights, or upward of 268,000 passengers, per day, according to an estimate from Cirium.
Airlines are used to dealing with canceling thousands of flights on short notice during severe weather, but the difference now is that these cuts during the shutdown will last indefinitely until safety data improves.
Shutdown already straining travel
The shutdown is putting unnecessary strain on the system and damaging confidence in the U.S. air travel experience, said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman.
Kelly Matthews, who lives in Flat Rock, Michigan, and frequently flies for work, said she has canceled most of her upcoming trips and understands why federal airport employees have stopped showing up.
“You can’t expect people to go in to work when they’re not getting a paycheck for the continuation of over a month now,” she said. “I mean it’s not a matter of them not wanting to do the job — but you can’t afford to pay for gas, your day care and everything else.”
Controller staffing worsening
The past weekend brought some of the worst staffing issues since the start of the shutdown.
From Friday to Sunday evening, at least 39 air traffic control facilities reported potential staffing limits, according to an AP analysis of operations plans shared through the Air Traffic Control System Command Center system. The figure, which is likely an undercount, was well above the average for weekends before the shutdown.
FILE – Alaska Airlines planes are shown parked at gates with Mount Rainier in the background on March 1, 2021, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
NOTN- Alaska Airlines will be bringing in outside experts to review it’s IT system after a second major outage in four months occurred last week.
Last Thursday’s system failure halted operations for about eight hours, cancelling flights and affecting nearly 50,000 passengers.
As of Saturday October 25, the airline released the following statement;
“We have increased guest care staffing to support higher volumes but recognize that wait times have been frustratingly long.
We know our guests put their trust in us when they choose to fly with Alaska, and this level of performance is not acceptable. And while safety is our most critical responsibility, the reliability of our operations is an essential expectation of our guests.
Following a similar disruption earlier this year, we took action to harden our systems, but this failure underscores the work that remains to be done to ensure system stability. We are immediately bringing in outside technical experts to diagnose our entire IT infrastructure to ensure we are as resilient as we need to be.
The reliability of our technology is fundamental to our ability to serve guests and get them to where they need to be. As we expand and execute the plan to ensure our systems are sufficiently resilient, we will continue to share updates on our progress.”
A similar outage in the summer caused days of flight disruptions.
Rendering of proposed Welcome Center provided by Golbelt.
NOTN- Juneau’s city leaders heard directly from Goldbelt Inc. on Monday night about the corporation’s plan for the Douglas Island port project, which includes two proposed cruise ship docks.
Deputy Mayor Greg Smith said it was the first time the full Assembly had received a detailed briefing from Goldbelt, calling it “a good start to the conversation.” The project, nicknamed “Goldbelt Aaní” is still in its early stages with no announced opening date.
“They give a good overview of the project, of the vision, the intent, you know, ,there’s still a fair bit to be determined and plan.” Said Smith. “There wasn’t an expected date. I did ask what kind of minimum infrastructure they would need out there to be open, they’re still evaluating that.”
According to Goldbelt, Goldbelt Aaní will highlight Lingít culture and boost the city’s economy.
Plans include docks, a welcome center, employee housing, child care facilities, and even a replica Lingít village.
Smith said Assembly members raised questions about transportation impacts, including whether North Douglas Highway could handle added traffic.
“My sense from the response was that they’re not planning to be bussing in tons and tons and tons of people. It’s people staying on the site, or going places via water again, we still need to learn more how that would work, what that looks like.” Said Smith, “How does the five ship limit play into it? That’s definitely been a big concern.”
Smith noted the project remains under evaluation, but Monday’s discussion helped open communication between the city and the Native corporation.
NOTN- A High Wind Warning in Southeast Alaska is disrupting cruise ship schedules in Juneau for tomorrow.
The National Weather Service says winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour with gusts up to 60 are expected through Wednesday evening for the outer coast and islands, including Prince of Wales, Annette, Baranof, Chichagof and Western Kupreanof.
“Over the next 24 hours we are going to see storm-force low along our coast. For the inner channels, we are going to see gale-force to strong gales push up through the inner channels overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.” Said Andrew Park from the National Weather Service Juneau in a social media post.
The Caribbean Princess has extended its stay in Juneau, while the Ruby Princess and Sapphire Princess canceled Wednesday port calls due to the weather.
NOTN- Juneau Assembly and Finance Committee officials say extending the downtown Seawalk remains a top community priority, and work is underway to prepare for the next phase of construction using cruise ship passenger fees.
At a work session this week, assembly members heard updates on progress toward connecting more of the waterfront walkway.
“The Sea walk has been a community priority as long as I’ve been on the assembly, anytime we do planning conversations with the community, that always comes up as a top priority, because it’s something that benefits our visitors, but our residents also use our sea walk a lot as well.” Said Christine Woll, head of the Finance Committee, “The ultimate goal is to connect the whole thing, and so we’ve been slowly negotiating leases along the water.”
Woll noted that leases are being negotiated along sections of the waterfront, including near the Huna Totem dock project, which will add its own segment of the walkway.
Deputy City manager Robert Barr says the construction of the Sea walk won’t interrupt cruise docking, however, they will be working closely with businesses along the waterfront that may see disruptions through construction in the future, like Crowley Fuels.
He said the Franklin to AJ dock connection is the last connection on the far side and will be designed in earnest soon. “That’s a long awaited extension, and it’s a long extension too.” Barr said, “It’ll really extend the sea walk all the way down to our farthest dock, I know a lot of community really enjoys that walk, and it’s a really pleasant waterside walk during the day for people that live and work downtown.”
No decisions were made this week, but Woll said the assembly is preparing to allocate funds to start building new portions of the Seawalk in coming years.
“It costs a lot of money to build sea walk, but because we have those passenger fees, we can use those, whether that’s a revenue bond or we’ve been saving that money every year for this, to get to this point where we’ve got those leases negotiated, and we can actually start building.”
NOTN- Goldbelt, Inc., Juneau’s urban Alaska Native corporation, has launched the permitting process for its new West Douglas cruise ship port, according to a news release from Goldbelt.
The site for Goldbelt Aaní, Tlingit for “land”, sits on the corporation’s Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) lands on the west side of Douglas Island, approximately 12 minutes from downtown Juneau.
Goldbelt met with the City and Borough of Juneau’s Planning and Zoning Department to discuss the early requirements for what would be the municipality’s first cultural cruise destination.
Conceptual plans include a recreated 1800s-era Tlingit village, Indigenous art installations, local foods, and cultural attractions.
According to Goldbelt, infrastructure designs call for two single-berth cruise ship docks with tour boat access, piers connected to the shore by arching transfer spans, and a 32,000-square-foot welcome center. Additional amenities proposed in initial meetings include onsite housing for ship crew members and a childcare center.
“This is not a new plan—we’re activating a vision developed with the City and Borough of Juneau more than 25 years ago,” said Goldbelt President and CEO McHugh Pierre. “Goldbelt Aaní will strengthen infrastructure, disperse tourism in a balanced way, and create meaningful, lasting value for both Goldbelt shareholders and the community.”
City records show that planning efforts between the city and Goldbelt for West Douglas date back three decades. In 1999, the city allocated $600,000 to hire an engineering firm to design a master plan for the area. The current concept closely mirrors elements from that original plan, including a Tlingit cultural village, tour boat harbor with floatplane slips, a retail promenade called Goldbelt Way, a 28,000-square-foot restaurant, a spa, and waterfront lodging such as bungalows and elevated treehouses.
While the proposal does not directly address road development along Pioneer Road, it does incorporate plans for growth in utilities and supporting infrastructure.
Anchorage-based Solstice Environmental and Juneau-based Northwind Architects are leading the permitting and design process. Goldbelt plans to hold a series of public meetings to gather input from Juneau residents.
FILE - Alaska Airlines aircraft sits in the airline's hangar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
FILE – Alaska Airlines aircraft sits in the airline’s hangar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
AP- Alaska Airlines has resumed operations after the failure of a critical piece of hardware forced the airline to ground all its flights for approximately three hours, but the effects will linger into Monday, the company announced.
The carrier issued a system-wide ground stop for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights around 8 p.m. Pacific time Sunday. The stop was lifted at 11 p.m., the Seattle-based company said in a social media post. More than 150 flights have been canceled since Sunday evening, including 64 Monday.
The airline said “a critical piece of multi-redundant hardware at our data centers, manufactured by a third-party, experienced an unexpected failure.” That affected several of the airlines key systems, but hacking was not involved, and the airline said the incident was not related to any other events like the attack involving Microsoft’s servers over the weekend or the recent cybersecurity event at its Hawaiian Airlines subsidiary in June.
“We appreciate the patience of our guests whose travel plans have been disrupted. We’re working to get them to their destinations as quickly as we can,” the airline said in a statement.
The airline also said it is working with its vendor to replace the hardware at the data center.
Alaska Airlines led all airlines in cancellations Monday, according to the FlightAware website. Many of the cancellations were at the airline’s major hub of Seattle, but it also canceled flights at airports all over the country.
The Federal Aviation Administration website had confirmed a ground stop for all Alaska Airlines mainline and Horizon aircraft, referring to an Alaska Airlines subsidiary. But the FAA referred all questions to the airline Monday.
In September, Alaska Airlines said it grounded its flights in Seattle briefly due to “significant disruptions” from an unspecified technology problem that was resolved within hours.
Search and rescue crews in Juneau are looking for a missing cruise ship passenger who didn’t return from a hike Monday.
Police say 62-year-old Marites Buenafe, a Kentucky resident and passenger aboard the Norwegian Bliss, disembarked around 7:30 a.m. on July 1 and told family she planned to take the tram up the mountain and hike alone.
She never returned to the ship, which departed at 1:30 p.m.
Buenafe is described as 5’1″, about 110 pounds, with short black hair and brown eyes.
The Alaska State Troopers and Juneau Mountain Rescue launched a search operation, which remains ongoing.
Anyone with information is urged to contact authorities.
