the irony of this, fredricka, is american airlines says you know what? he wasn't good enough to fly our plane, so we booked him on united. what the heck does that mean? if he's not good enough to fly on american, he's not good enough to fly anywhere, so booking him on a different airline makes absolutely no sense. i think the airline's in trouble on this one. >> really. so richard, that's actually a really great point, why would he be okay to fly on one airline and not the other, if the pilot generally has the discretion to make an assessment whether a passenger could be threatening and denied boarding on their flight and that seems to be what american airlines is saying, that they are within, let me find that statement again, they acted within full compliance of the air carrier access act. >> right. it's not a good point, fred. unfortunately, it's just not a good point. this young man was seated in first class, close to the pilot's cockpit. the pilot is the general. the pilot has to prove the safety of the aircraft and everybody on that plane. if in the

>> cnn we should say reached out to american airlines. uote, americans actions and procedures are in full compliance with the air carrier access act. we do not have formally lodged complaint from the family but a refund of the upgrade. however, because of the denied boarding we must respond to the family within 10 days of travel. the vanderhorst family will here from us very soon. what do you make of that response and tell me how your son is doing. >> first of all to the american airlines response. they are such chickens. they could pick up the phone and call me. they could e-mail me. i haven't heard from them directly. so all i know is what people tell me they said, okay in the next thing is, you know, this has been so upseting to my wife, my son, and myself, you know, to be treated this way. it's all because we dared to upgrade our coach ticket to first class. >> based on the airlines' statement, though, do you still plan to sue? >> absolutely. we lawyered up. >> on what grounds? >> well, the attorneys i've spoken to, they believe there

at 8:14 a.m., american airlines flight 11, a blip on terry biggio's radar screens, was climbing through6,000 feet and would make its last transmission to air traffic control. but then 16 seconds later, it goes silent. >> american 11, boston. >> reporter: at boston's air traffic center, terry biggio and his controllers know something is wrong. >> american 11, if you hear boston center, ident or acknowledge. >> i don't think you immediately thought hijacking. >> absolutely not. i've been in the agency at the time about 20 years. had never seen a hijack. we thought, okay. we have a catastrophic failure of some sort with the aircraft. they can't talk to us. we'll clear the airspace away from them and let them fly to wherever they're going to fly. >> reporter: as the plane turn south, the 9/11 commission report believes the hijackers tried to talk with passengers on-board but did not know how to use the intercom. instead, the messages in middle eastern accents began transmitting to air traffic control. >> american 11, are you trying to call? >> we had a series of three transmissions. first o

. >> reporter: 500 miles away and 1:46 later, vaughn alex was at an american airlines ticket counter at dulles airport where he had worked for 20 years. >> they came in through the doors behind us, walked back and forth a little bit and i had them come right up to my position. vaughn alex is footnote number 12. >> we just finished the morning check in. the counter was clear and i saw these two gentlemen come in. you look back on it and you hate to use words, but it was comical. they came in and they kind of went one way, they looked at our counter, they went the other way. and i turned around to my trainees and i just said flight 77, watch, you know, it's going to be the last two. >> the passengers? two of that flight's five hijackers. brothers. they, too, were running late, missing flight 77's official check in deadline by mere minutes. >> and at that point, i said to the agent, let me show you how to do this. here's a passenger that's running late, but i think we can get them on. >> the younger fella, he's standing off to the right and behind them. and he's standing there and he's

i will not be there. >> whether it is american airlines or anyone else. you allow things to get too big. we have the auto industry. it is big government and big labor and big and they are all in cahoots it is a facist definition of a economy. when it fails, it hurtz everybody. >> christian i don't want to pick on just american. but hostess under a despute. if i don't get a deal on the table i will turn it down. we can't lose our twinkies. >> it might be good for the obesity and health care epidemic. but the american airlines thing. it is an infor a lot of travelers. but the question is how large. it is only affecting one percentage of the flights. it is really not a huge deal. but the larger issue why can't they come to an agreement with its pilots. it was able to do so with eight of the nine unions part of the work force. i would think that they would want to get it rectified. >> pilots to be fair are the group that has caused american the biggest headaches when it comes to the contracts. >> pilots have done this sick out and done it before. absolutely.

government is being told by american airlines officials, apparently. they are assuming and obviously informed the president that this is a terror attack. >> andrea, we have no information as to what term of flight this plane was taken over, how much warn that air traffic controllers may have had that someone hostile was at the controls of this plane? >> exactly right. they have no other information. just that at least one of the two planes was hijacked from boston on route to los angeles, presumably after it had already been in the air and on route because i was told en route to los angeles. so probably hijacked after it had taken off. as you know, those are very short flights. those are usually 737s or 757s on that route. but this clearly, according to the u.s. government, is a terror attack. as you heard the president say. now, one of the things, matt and katie, we should understand is that there was no specific threat that u.s. government is aware of. no specific terror alert other than the worldwide caution that had been reissued in recent days bec

a family plans to sue american airlines for discrimination after they refused to allow their 16-year-oldight. this is the boy. he has down syndrome. the airline says he was a security risk because the family was flying near the cockpit and they were afraid he would be an interference. they claim the airline discriminated against him. >> this has a lot of us talking this morning. we asked you, what do you think? do the parent haves a case. matthew tweeted, yes, i think they do. the pilot has the final say on whether a passenger goes or not usually based on behavior. shery says it would be very interesting to see how the airline handles the pr in the case. could be a disaster. good for you parents, sue american airlines for this horrendous treatment of your son. continue to keep tweeting us. also at 9:00 a.m. this morning, eastern time, we'll talk to the boy's parents and how this happened. it's a very difficult situation for them to deal with. >> we saw the cell phone video and the mom asking, why are you discriminating against us. >> thanks for starting your morning with us. we have much

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hundreds of flight cancellations for american airlines and american eagle and who is the biggest loser on forbes richest american list? that doesn't even sound right. >> reporter: you can be much of a loser there. good morning. labor strike is forcing american airlines and its regional carrier american eagle to cancel 300 flights this week. pilots have been calling in sick after rejecting the company's last contract offer. there's been an increase in the number of maintenance reports filed by flight cruise. american airlines is going through bankruptcy restructuring. asian stocks dipped after news that china's output hit a new low. there are new signs that the nation's battered housing market continues to make a slow but steady recovery. home resales increased 7.8% last month, and the commerce department says new construction was up more than 2% last month from july. the encouraging housing news gave the stocks a lift. the dow jones industrial gained 13 points while the nasdaq gained four points. chick-fil-a apparently is backing away from the controversy over gay rights and marriage.

more than 250 american airlines flights have been cancelled nationwide so far this week. a spokesman for the airline says it's due to a number of factors, including pilots calling in sick and filing more maintenance reports than usual. the cancellations come just days after american told pilots more flying jobs would be outsourced to other carriers, and a pilot retirement program would terminate in november. the pilots' union denies supporting the sickout that's stranded flight crew members and caused concern among some passengers who say they've experienced more delays than usual. "i arrived three hours late because of maintenance and minor problems." "this pilot work-action makes the issues for passengers hard to understand." amr, parent company of american airlines, is winding its way through bankruptcy protection, yet has not reached a deal on contract cuts with pilots. the airline wants to cut a billion dollars a year in labor costs. "well there's just real bad feelings here." "this whole system tends to run late, so american will make good on rebooking you. it's not

with american airlines in bankruptcy, u.s. airways is aggressively pushing for a merger to take on united and delta. >> by putting these two together, you create a third airline that compete against the two larger carriers. that's good for consumers. that's good for the employees of both companies. >> reporter: an american merger with u.s. airways would follow other mergers in recent years as the country lost some of the oldest carriers. continental merged with united to become the world's biggest airline. northwest with delta. air tran with northwest. it's possible say experts that sticker prices could rise again. u.s. airways denies a merger would mean higher prices but says it would bring more choices to add pressure on american airlines to merge, u.s. airways is offering sweeter labor deals for unions. >>> right now, at 6:00 tonight, a scare in the air for ann romney. >>> right now, mitt romney's surprise tax returns release. >>> a bus driver charged in a deadly accident that happened while students were onboard. >>> the e

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hundreds of flight cancellations for american airlines and american eagle and who is the biggest loser on forbes richest american list? >> reporter: you can be much of a lose are there. good morning. labor strike is forcing american airlines and its regional carrier american eagle to cancel their flights. pilots have been calling in sick after rejecting the company's last contract offer. there's been an increase in the number of maintenance reports filed by flight cruise. american airlines is going through bankruptcy restructuring. stocks dipped after news that chinese output lit a new low. there are new signs that the nation's battered housing market continues to make a slow but steady recovery. home resales increased 7.8% last month, and the commerce department says new construction was up more than 2% last month from july. the encouraging housing news gave the stocks a lift. the dow jones industrial gained 13 points while the nasdaq gained four points. chick-fil >>> the number of americans facing a penalty for not buying health insurance is much higher than previous estimates. the n

. >>> american airlines pilots are grounded. a federal judge says the bankrupt airline can throw out its existing contract with its pilots and start over. pilots have been picketing the airline. theirs was the only union that would not grand concessions to the airline. american wants more flexible work rules so it can cut costs. >>> and mcdonald's plans to open a restaurant in india, where it won't serve a big mac or any other meat. the chain will open its first all-vegetarian restaurant in a sikh holy city. they already have menus that are 50% vegetarian. indians avoid meat due to it makes a lot of sense. but roughly 300 stores in india, like we said. and 300,000 everywhere else. looking to break into that market, big-time. >> wonder if filet-o-fish counts. >> we'll see. >>> when we come back on this wednesday, the parents who say their son wasn't welcome on a first-class flight all because of a disability. >>> and opening day for the nfl, thank you, with a big rivalry to kick things off. ally bank. why they have a raise your r

one of the two planes they say was a hijacked american airlines plane.t this is what the government is being told by officials tomorrow apparently. they're assuming and informed the president this is a terror attack. >> we have no information as to what term of the flight this plane was taken over, how much warning that traffic controllers my have had. >> exactly right. they have no other information, just that one of the two planes was hijacked from boston on ruth to los angeles after it had been already in the air and on route. i was told on route to los angeles. so hijacked after it has taken off. they have short flights on that route, but this clearly is a terror attack. as you heard the president say. one of the things, math and katie we should understand is there was no specific threat to the u.s. government was aware of. no terror alert other than the worldwide caution that had been reissued in recent days because of the strife in the middle east. no alert coming from his organization, and as far as they know, as of this morning, as of this minute

. >>> pasamos a estados unidos, donde pilotos de american airlines empezaron a protestar en chicago contra empleos sigue azotando a la comunidad hispana y los nÚmeros proyectan una ligera mejorÍa en la economia del paÍs, cristina londoÑo nos dice por quÉ desde los Ángeles vmths>>> en las calles muchos cuestionas cifras que hablan de luz al final del tÚnel entre ellos esta joven pareja. >>> ando sin trabajo por 2 o 3 meses. . para subsistir dependen del trabajo de beatriz y viven en casa de los padres de Él aunque los nÚmeros del censo mencionan un mayor nÚmeros de adultos jÓvenes dejando sus hogares, mÁs parejas decidiendo se a tener hijos y menos cayendo bajo lÍnea de pobreza. >>> sÍ esta avanzando la economÍa pero a un paso muy lento. >>> mientras vuelan las malas nolt cias american airlines empezÓ a enviar advertencia de despidos 11 mil empleados aunque la compaÑÍa dice que recortarÁ sÓlo 4 mil 400 trabajos. y segÚn el wall street journal el banco de amÉrica planea acelerar un blanco de ahorro que incluye recorte de 16 mil trabajos, la recesiÓn se acabo oficialmente a mediados de 2009 y

"bull by the horns". >> tom: talks tomorrow between american airlines and its pilots union could mean smoother travel for customers, and for the company in bankruptcy. the airline has been plagued by cancellations, crew shortages, and maintenance requests since a bankruptcy judge voided the pilots' current contract earlier this month. diane eastabrook has details. >> reporter: american airlines pilots say they aren't disrupting flights over a beef with the bankrupt carrier about a new contract. the allied pilots association said in a prepared statement that "we have verified that pilot sick rates have not deviated from normal historical rates. crew cancellations remain at normal rates." earlier this month, a bankruptcy judge struck down the pilots' current contract with american after they voted down a new one. while american has seen an increase in cancellations in recent weeks, prompting complaints from passengers, analysts think the two sides can resolve their differences. >> it's something that i believe is temporary, and i believe the pilots are frustrated with lacki of negotiati

. >>> a labor dispute between american airlines and its pilots union, have you heard about this? g or planning to fly, listen up. hundreds of delays and canceled flights as a result. american has canceled 300 flights this weeks with more planned through october. delays are way up. the "wall street journal" travel writer, scott mccartney, is telling travelers to take their business elsewhere saying, quote, if you're making travel plans for this fall, avoid american airlines. it's become too unreliable. nbc's come costello covers the aviation industry. i know you covered this all week. i first saw you on "nightly news." i was stunned by the delays. this is not weather-related here. >> no, it's been a beautiful week. the trouble is that the airline is locked in this contentious battle with pilots. the pilots have not signed off on a new the contract. the airline is in bankruptcy proceedings and it's trying to put new conditions on the pilots. the pilots deny there's any organized effort here, but you cannot deny the fact that the on-time arrival numbers for american have sunk this we

it delays an american airlines jet for hours. >>> sky high. the woman with a fear of heights trapped like this for four hours, 300 feet up. how did her husband come to the rescue? >>> and, robin's journey. a big day for our robin roberts. as she gets her bone marrow transplant and sends a message from a room filled with prayer. >>> good evening. we begin with the president, sending off heated questions tonight about the death of the u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other americans who served in libya. both the president and the secretary of state, hillary clinton, were pressed to answer whether this could have and 140u8d have been prevented. and abc's jon karl starts us off tonight. >> reporter: it was the very first question for president obama at a univision forum in miami today. why wasn't there more security at the u.s. consulate in libya? he didn't directly answer. >> when the initial events happened in cairo and all across the region, we worked with secretary clinton to redouble our security. our goal now is not only to make sure

i notice it's silver american airlines jetliner a passenger plane. a pretty big one. >> i told her in the first conversation that the two hijacked planes had hit the world trade center. her instincts were what can i tell the pilot? what can i do? i asked her where she was. she tried to tell me where she was and what direction. >> flight 77 made a left turn heading back after it was hijacked. they came back over washington fairly high and did a left descending turn which gave him good visual visibility of the pentagon. >> i heard it before i saw it. i looked up directly in front of my field of vision parallel to the ground i saw a jet airplane with the silver paint job, with the red white and blue stripes under the windows. it was clearly an american airlines passenger jet come roaring by. >> did not know where that aircraft was. then just moments later that aircraft hit the pentagon. it hit washington, d.c. we were well south of there. >> it didn't veer from the course at all it was like a missile right into the side of the pentagon. >> a huge fireba

members of the southern california family have claimed american airlines ticket off a flight becauseone of them has done syndrome. >>> happen on sunday as his family tried to catch a flight from new york to l.a.. this crew made the decision because the six senior aboard appear to be agitated and running around the day prior to boarding the plane. like ask you what you think? you and, on face the court to order. >>> , prime time pricing purchase of how some restaurants are proper charging more for the time of day that you time to eat. >>> the caller's gone would be the car is gone? >>> has gone watch your shopping for, but ted. what uncover and little known rule that a popular bit every a ball. >>>,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, >>> to cease and showers? a talk about that coming out. >>> so off to a nice start before 5:00 this morning. no deliberate not a bridge or december the bridge. he will find some road work on your approach to the golden gate bridge. >>> a trip to the mall turned into a big headache for one big area family. the crowd of towed from the parking lot at the stones come back. even

a dispute between american airlines and a pilot union means more delays. a man jumped into the tiger cage at the bronx zoo. he tells police why he made this week. taking the game into >> nyse police plan to arrest a man mauled by a tiger in the bronx zoo. he told investigators that he deliberately leaked into the exhibit because he wanted to "be one with the tiger." he's in the hospital in stable condition after was bit in the back. he also suffered broken bones. the director said the outcome could have been much worse. >> it was a really good day here at the zoo. we had the cat which is still alive and we have this guy we pulled out of the exhibit. he is still alive. >> he will be charged with trespassing. it is the first time in the 35 year history that anyone has jumped in with the tigers. it was possible to walk into a store today and by an iphone 5 but it took some hunting. most retailers say they were sold out. it went on sale yesterday. apple and the ball companies have not provided sales figures. they're too busy counting it all. apple is expected

american airlines issued an mail apology to members of its loyalty program. staff to its main its department to help travelers. -- thate have located than 60ok place more years ago. a police report said the painting -- it turns out that bought a few was ago at a flea market for $7. auctioned offo be tomorrow. that option has been put on hold after this new information came out. possible the museum able the painting. >> we want to take a moment to recognize one of our retiringhers who is almost 40 years here at wjla. the metro areaed for the last four decades. he is a true professional. he is one of the nicest people in theever meet newsroom. >> he really is going to be missed. years, that makes you a legend. he is a great guy to travel america with.l he is a great journalist. >> let's see what is coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00. >> gordon peterson is in the newsroom. me add my congratulations to david. drinking and driving, a bad combination. response arezer -- the breathalyzer is our back. we will see what has changed since they were pulled from the to years

american airlines flight and a jet has been isolated at jfk.icials said a flight out of san francisco's moves to the isolated area following a bomb threat to the port authority federal air marshals are on board the flight. we don't have any further details, but we have said similar incidents reported at other airports. american airlines flight, both isolated on the tarmac at jfk. following a bomb threat phoned into the por port authority, no details available yet. we will follow this obviously and bring you any further details as they develop. david: and we will follow this until it is resolved one way or another. until we get new information. they may be able to have that print if you don't mind we will show pictures so far as what we knows what is going on. the government of libya, we heard from the president of libya, who is the government right now, is it an established government and do they have the power or the authority to guard facilities whether it is the u.s. embassy consulate offices or businesses in libya? >> let me address one thi

movie theater and 58 injured. >>> it's a very good idea to go ahead and if you have a flight on american airlines bought some. the airline has cut 300 flights a assist monday alone. some cancellations are being blamed on the pilots being upset. bankamerica is planning to cut 16,000 jobs by the end of the that would put the bank a year ahead of schedule on its schedule to eliminate 30,000 jobs because most cuts on other expected to be in the retail area. it's planning to close 300 more branches. >>> how the team is being affected by the nhl lockout. >>> a gunshot a home run that the a lot of people name their cars. mine should be sporty. maybe i'll give mine a name. something hot. ya know, i could name it the dragon, or the green machine. oh! i'm british racing green, actually. just to show i appreciate all...uh, turtle does. turtle? turtle gets me to work, to school... no, no, i'm a cool car. so i always fill up with chevron with techron. oh. well in that case, yeah, i am cool, after all. [ male announcer ] your car takes care of you, care for it. chevron with techron. care for your car. >>> clin

to throw out its contract with pilots. >> we are prepared, just in case. >> american airlines sent out a lengthy statement explaining the situation and apologizing to their customers and hoping for understanding. we can tell you the number of delays today remains higher than what is typical but is lower than the peak earlier in the week. some flights are canceled for the next month or so because of this ongoing issue. >> still to come the nation's largest bank gets ready to cut thousands of employees. will tell you how soon that might happen. >> also, why fewer of us are driving alone in our cars. [ romney ] my plan is to help the middle class. trade has to work for america. that means crack down on cheaters like china, it means open up new markets. next, we've got to balance the budget. you've got to cut the deficit. you've got to stop spending more money than we take in. and finally champion small business. have tax policies, regulations, and healthcare policies that help small business. we put those in place; we'll add twelv te million new jobs in four years. i'm mitt romne

airline. american has canceled hundreds of flights. and as many as half of its flights have been delayed. the airline says job action by its pilots are partly to blame. the bankrupt airline voided its pilots' contract recently and cut their pay, as well as benefits. >>> checks are in the mail for more than 1,200 investors swindled by bernie madoff. and $2.5 billion. this is the largest payout to victims. the checks range from 1,800 bucks to $500 million, with an average of $2 million. madoff pleaded guilty and is currently serving a 150-year sentence for the massive brawl. >>> the federal reserve says that total household wealth is now within 5% of its peak. that's thanks to a jump in the stock market, as well as rising home prices. although the increased wealth isn't evenly distributed. economists hope it will lead to increased spending as well as hiring. >>> today, president obama is creating a new monument. chimney rock is a deeply spiritual site for a number of native-american tribes. it's expected