Airlines

More airlines are allowing passengers to check in for their flights using their cellphones and other mobile devices so they can avoid long lines and save time. Singapore Airlines passengers can now check in for any flight from anywhere in the world using their mobile phones. They can even change or select a seat. Later the airline plans to allow passengers to book tickets and view schedules, features that Southwest Airlines recently added to its mobile tool.

When the managing director of a small, trouble-prone Iranian airline won official permission in March to lease a couple of aging Russian-made airplanes, the country's small circle of aviation professionals gossiped about the strings he must have pulled to get the government's approval. And when one of the planes burst aflame on the runway in late July, killing the executive, Mehdi Dadpei, his son and 14 others, few in the industry were surprised. "Aria was famous for not adhering to safety standards for years," said an Iranian aviation industry insider, who spoke extensively to The Times on condition of anonymity.

After helping deliver the District of Columbia's first baby of 2009, Dr. Kashif Irfan boarded a flight to Orlando, Fla., with his wife, three children and other relatives to participate in a weekend retreat on the peaceful practice of Islam. But instead of taking off as scheduled, Irfan and his family were suddenly ordered off the plane, detained in the airport and refused passage by the airline after they were cleared by the FBI.

Southwest Airlines Co., AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and 20 other U.S. carriers will see the fees they pay the government for screening passengers reduced after an appeals court ruled that a regulator overstepped its authority. The court in Washington found Tuesday that although the fees were proper, the Transportation Security Administration erred when it included the cost of screening nonpassengers in implementing the Aviation and Transportation Security Act.

U.S. airline delays in November fell for the third consecutive month as carriers took steps such as canceling flights rather than let late-arriving planes clog airports. The on-time arrival rate was 80%, up from 77% a year earlier, according to a U.S. Transportation Department report Thursday. "It looks like the airlines are acting more proactively to the snowstorms," said Jack Kies, who oversaw national airspace for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Although little known in the United States, Emirates Airlines -- based in Dubai -- is the world's fastest-growing carrier and hopes to be the world's largest airline by 2015. "It's only a matter of time," said Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates and the uncle of the ruler of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates. Most of the airline's growth until recently has been along routes over the Atlantic and in the Middle East.

Record fuel prices and weakening demand for air travel are taking a toll on profits of major U.S. airlines, raising prospects of a consolidation in the industry this year. Recent merger talks and Thursday's announcement by American Airlines Inc. that it would double its fuel surcharge to $40 on round-trip tickets signaled that passengers could soon see higher fares industrywide.

Flying to Tokyo this spring? United Airlines last week offered a round-trip flight for as little as $400 -- plus $300 in fuel charges. With oil prices high, fuel surcharges on many international flights have climbed in recent months to nearly half the price of a ticket. U.S. visitors to Spain can expect to pay up to $390 in fuel surcharges for a round-trip flight. Air New Zealand imposes up to $360 in fuel fees. There doesn't seem to be any relief in sight as fares surge with the price of fuel.

About a quarter of domestic flights failed to arrive on time in 2007 -- the industry's second-poorest performance on record -- and analysts say the situation is only likely to worsen. More than 26% of commercial flights in the U.S. arrived late or were canceled last year as rising passenger demand and an industry preference for smaller planes intensified congestion in the skies and on runways.

A British judge has ordered budget airline Ryanair to pay $7,850 to members of a calypso band who were ordered off a plane at gunpoint after another passenger said they were acting suspiciously. Five members of the London-based Caribbean Steel International band were aboard a flight waiting to go from the Italian island of Sardinia to London on Dec. 31, 2006, when a passenger alerted the crew.