. >> reporter: virgin america acknowledged in a statement it was a particularly challenging weekend.st says they knew this was coming. we prepped for it and we're communicating with our customers when a regular operations impact their travel plans. travel bloggers said there had to be some kind of disconnect between the airport and airlines. many said they got vaig answers and long waits to get home. >> we never really got a clear picture of why the flight was canceled other than air traffic control problem. >> reporter: the problem is going forward there will be six more weekends like this coming up between now and midjune. more construction, more delays and cancellations. flyers are advised to check their airline website for updates and to pack plenty of patience. abc 7 news. >>> now this weekend's work effected some airlines more than others. virgin america, for example told abc 7 today that winds along with runway construction in lauchg added to the hassle passengers face. "we aim to give as much notees to guests as and pre-emptively cancel flights where we can to mitigate issues

. >> virgin america, number three. best airlines. skip them for now.hey're going to cease exist in essence by merging. very soon. >> have a little funeral for virgin american. >> united airlines. shocking to me. number two. >> this was the biggest shock to me as well. trust me i crunched the numbers again and again to make sure. to nigh united did well. pricewise. basic economy fares. stripped everything out of their fares. may have. >> because they give you've a really cuteit >> not everyone. get the teddy bears in the new polaris business class. >> amenity kit. >> united upping the game. united for years was kind of struggling. >> can i? >> all yours, kendis. amenity kit. >> how the other half lives? >> pricewise, did well. >> toothbrush. >> and best frequent flier program. united miles among the most valuable miles out there. >> its that right? i used to use them. but through canada air. air canada's frequent flier program. number one. best airline in all of the u.s.? >> in all of the land. alaska airlines. combined with virgin. looks like they will

the airlines that were the best at avoiding the problem were hawaiian, delta and virgin america. the worst, sky west, southwest and suppreexpress jet. delta lowers the odds a passenger will be told not to board. it gives delta an opportunity to bump those asking for less money instead of wasting time in negotiations at the gate. one positive trend has emerged. compared to 15 years ago, the percentage of people denied boarding has actually been dropping steadily. but the percentage of unvoluntarily denied boarding is increasing. for "nightly business report." >>> will the debacle lead to change for the entire airline industry? let's get answers from the director for the center for ethics at the american college of financial services. ethically speaking, i think there's a general public consensus that united did not do the right thing here. we heard the ceo own up to that today. julia, what was the responsibility for united and what do you think will happen for the entire industry because of what we've seen happen on that flight? >> good to be with you tonight. i think that the ove

a new report shows airline service hitting an all-time high last year with alaska, delta, and virgin america as the top three carriers in the annual airline quality rankings. the study looks at data collected by the federal government, including mishandled luggage and denied boardings. both at their lowest point in 27 years. but as united is finding out, if the bumping of one passenger goes viral, the friendly skies will look very unfriendly. and how did united airlines do in the latest airline quality rankings? it came in eighth place out of 12 u.s. airlines, showing that united certainly has room for improvement when it comes to taking care of customers in the friendly skies. phil lebeau, "on the money," new york. >>> will the united incident change how airlines handle bumping passengers? managing partner of airline weekly, great to talk to you. i was under the impression, you buy your ticket, it's a crashes they're guaranteed to give you a seat to get where you're going. clearly that's not the case. what rights do we have as passengers? >> yeah, well, we have a lot of rights and there are

virgin america, alaska airlines will operate the flight. american and spirit airlines offer none in stop flights between philadelphia and l.a. >>> well, time's 4:49. time for a check of business news. >> jill wagner joins us live from the new york stock exchange, good morning, jill. so, some big news, general electric may want to get out of the light bulb business. >> reporter: for years, lighting business, defined ge, the company's now based in boston. it was founded by thomas edison, who invented the light bulb, wall street journal reports ge has been interviewing investment banks to try to sell its consumer lighting business and that could bring in 700 million-dollar, for the company. jim and rahel. >> so jill, we have been talking about this, pepsi i understand is pulling that controversial ad featuring kendall jenner so what are could leaders saying this morning. >> reporter: that ad was slammed in social media after its release last week, critics say it trivialized protesting because it mimicked an incident involving a black lives mat

data, mishandled bags, on-time arrival percentage, number one with alaska, then delta, and virgin america, and then united at number eight. this happened on the same day this report is released, shows 2016, best year ever in terms of airline service for passengers. >> phil lebeau, thanks. >>> about the overbooking and united's handling of it, we're joined by form continental ceo. gordon, always great to see you. i'm sitting with my friend steve liesman who asked an obvious question, why didn't the people at the gate just keep raising the price that they were willing to offer to customers there to voluntarily get off the flight? do they have the authority to do that? >> no, tyler, actually the government prescribes the amount. i think it's between $800 and $1,300 depending on the fare and distance. i think they west to the $800 where you can be unvoluntarily removed and paid $800, that you're accommodated according to the law. what happened here is really unfortunate. but with the millions and millions of people that the men and women of the airport and on the airplanes deal with every day

alaska jumped up to first place this year followed by delta, virgin america which was recently boughtaska is in third place. southwest ranks sixth, united comes in eighth. the report finds that overall airlines improved this year, they're also getting better at sticking to schedules, losing fewer bags and customers seem to be complaining less often. today the fcc's chair recommended the agency not relax rules about cell phones on planes, that means cell phones will continue to be banned while in flight. >>> for months abc7 news viewers have been telling us about a growing problem across the area, mail theft. residents are dealing with incomplete mailboxes and incorrect information about how to fix the problem. >> reporter: homeowners in this livermore neighborhood haven't had mail delivery in four months. after threes broke their mailbox, julie hurd called the local post office. >> they referred me back to the hub. who told me no, it's not their responsibility to fix the post office boxs. >> reporter: so julie and their neighbors did as they were told and ordered this $1,300 cluster b

. >> reporter: virgin america released a statement, it was a particularly challenging weekend, we certainly share the frustration expressed by tralzers, and southwest airlines said southwest knew this was coming and we were prepped for it. travel bloggers said there had to have been a disconnect between the airports and the airlines. >> we never really got a clear picture of why the flight was cancelled other than air traffic control problem. >> reporter: the problem is going forward, there will be six more weekends like this coming up at sfo between now and mid-june, more construction, more delays and cancellations, flyers are advised to check airline websites for information and to pack their patience. >>> new at 6:00, a new senior housing development is now under way. today was the ceremony. it's located on san pablo avenue by manilla avenue. >>> a group of local and federal leaders are urging the trump administration to release millions of dollars to modern size the aging cal they are urging the white house tonight to stop delaying the project which would electrify the line and replace

airline, alaska airlines, more on-time arrivals, fewer passenger complaints, alaska beat delta and virgin americawaiian airlines round out the top 5. how about popcorn and cheeseburger? next time you go to the movies, amc, the movie theater chain, getting more people to buy theater tickets by offering food, 400 of its theaters have a new menu called feature affair, they can buy items like cheeseburger and curly fries as a counter before taking their seats, attempting to drum up sales without raising ticket prices. no word how expensive the food will be. >> pretty expensive. leland: marvel pooling comic books off the shelf, the message hidden inside this controversy. heather: jesse waters asks about airstrikes in syria but they can't find it on a map. >> where is syria? >> you are not wrong. >> do you know where syria is? >> in europe? >> africa. >> northeast. >> new england. are allergies holding you back? break through your allergies. try new flonase sensimist instead of allergy pills. it's more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist you may not even notice. using unique mistpro technology, ne

alaska jumped up to first place this year followed by delta, virgin america which was recently boughthird place. southwest ranks sixth, united comes in eighth. the report finds that overall airlines improved this year, they're also getting better at sticking to schedules, losing fewer bags and customers seem to be complaining less often. today the fcc's chair recommended the agency not relax rules about cell phones on planes, that means cell phones will continue to be banned while in flight. >>> for months abc7 news viewers have been telling us about a growing problem across the area, mail theft. residents are dealing with incomplete mailboxes and incorrect information about how to fix the problem. >> reporter: homeowners in this livermore neighborhood haven't had mail delivery in four months. after threes broke their mailbox, julie hurd called the local post office. >> they referred me back to the hub. who told me no, it's not their responsibility to fix the post office boxs. >> reporter: so julie and their neighbors did as they were told and ordered this $1,300 cluster box and insta

carriers alaska airline fared the best, followed by delta, virgin america and jet blue. southwest, sky west, united american and frontier were at the bot op. >> a local fan facing weapons charges rejected a plea deal in court today. john cramcy on the left-hand side of your screen there turned down a five year prison sentence offered by prosecutors in new jersey. they were stopped last year at the holland tunnel. police found a cache of weapons and tactical gear. cramcy's lawyer say they will appeal to a higher court. >> a woman who used to live in south jersey was killed inside a miami gym this weekend. janine ackerman, police say she was the manager of the gym and was killed by a disgruntled employee. another gym employee was also shot and killed. >> a battle is brewing over who would be responsible for determining legislative districts in delaware. the state senate voted in favor of handing the job to an independent commission. supporters of the bill say the change would prevent politicians for manipulating the redistricting process. >> the jewish holiday of passover

top ranked carriers are alaska, delta, virgin america, jet blue, and hawaiian airline. >>> tesla tops list for most valuable u.s. car maker bumping gm from the number one spot. test lujust edged out general-- tesla just edged out general motors, both around $51 billion. in 2016, gm sold 10 million vehicles world wide, more than 130 times the number tesla sold. 76,000. still, tesla, is catching up in many ways, it is off on the heels of some of the most valuable car makers in the world, behind maunda with a market value of about $52 billion. ford is about to come up with a new hybrid design to help police in high-speed pursuits. the auto maker says the car is more for urban settings than highway chases, and it will be tough enough to handle things like going over curbs and suddenly stopping. the fuel economy rating is 38 miles per gallon, much better than a cruiser. >>> wells fargo seeing $1 million from former executives. 75-million dollars in executive bonuses paid to the two. wells fargo is facing 185-million dollars in fines. new video from nasa shows what looks like explosions on

delta, virgin america, jet blue, round out the top of the airlines that were rated. six at the bottom are skywest airlines, united, american, expressed yes, spirit, and frontier. last year incidents of mishandled baggage, involuntary bumping and overall complaints decline from 2015 and on-time arrivals increased over 2015.>>> opening day at at&t park. the giants take care of business and all is well. we had a possible concussion but the good news on that front in the final score. a full report is coming up. you're going to be hanging out in here. so if you need anything, text me. do you play? ♪ ♪ use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before. you got next? chase. helping you master what's now and what's next. >>> some scary moments where a grease fire started in the concession stand. a plume of smoke could be seen from miles away. he got the flames out before firefighters arrived in the end started -- and the game started right on time. >> we're live at the ballpark with highlights from today's home opener. >> it turn

if you are planning a trip, the top carriers are alaska airlines, delta air lines, virgin america, jetblue and hawaiian. >>> wells fargo is making two top executives pay up again for the controversial retail sales practices going on at wells fargo. the bank's board of directors took back another $75 million in pay from two executives including john stiumpf. the overly aggressive sales culture dated back 15 years and management had very little interest dealing with it until the issue spiraled out of control resulting in millions of accounts being fraudulently opened. >>> the giants home opener is going pretty well. what inning are we in? >> ninth. two outs. >> san francisco still leading arizona? >> a lot of drama. mark melancon is on the mound trying to close it out. wayne freedman drew the short straw today. really. having go to the game and eat hot dogs. >> i'm hearing the roar of the crowd right now. i can't believe everyone wanted to go to this game, some people are leaving early, even though there's only one out left. casey stengel of the new york yankees once said deja vu all over ag

least likely, jetblu, virgin america and hawaii. in the coming months, there will be no chance you will be bumped involuntarily by united. >>> tesla will roll out a tesla pick-up truck. the first prototype electric semi truck by september. this of course as we wait to see the model 3? production. semi trucks get a lot of attention, otto has trucks that can drive themselves. this is in the midst of a huge lawsuit by google and a huge expansion. they say otto purchased the area around pier 70 in the dog patch and will renovate buildings for few officers and a research center. not only do you have tesla and otto expanding, general motors is adding a thousand jobs to its cruise automation right here in the bay area. california is courting those sort of jobs through tax credits. we have been talking for a while, how automated trucks and cars will be the job killer and creator. it turns out business reporting like that, has caught the attention of the feds right here in san francisco. a report out of the san francisco federal reserve says

i was a big fan of virgin america and they merged with alaska. i am worried with what is going to happen.. i. >> reporter: united airlines announced new policy changes, like offering up to $10,000 to passengers who volunteer to change flights. all crew members travelling to other airports must be booked and sitting in seats an hour before departure to avoid kicking paying passengers out of their seats. united airlines wants to create a check-in process asking muster -- customers about the willingness to give up this seats for compensation. another passenger said no matter what they offer, he's not booking a flight on united. >> reporter: don't want to take the united airlines anymore. i wouldn't want to take it, anyways, even if they give me the cash or offer me a ticket. i wouldn't take it. i don't like the way they treat people or customers. >> reporter: another possible incentive is that united airlines offers the volunteer passenger to stay and wait for a new flight or fly to a nearby airport and united airlines will pay for the ground transp

. >> reporter: top ranked carrier includes alaska airline up from fifth place, delta, virgin america, jet blue, and hawaii airlines. while the report is good news from both airlines and passengers it is still a turbulent time for domestic carriers. in fact this dramatic scene is making the round on social media. set to show a passenger involuntary removed from the united flight, due to over booking. but at new york's laguardia airport on monday, few travelers we spoke with had complaints. >> it has been years of a bad experience. >> reporter: have you ever had your bags lost. >> not me personally. >> i have not lost a bag, i will say for them but beyond that it is not a good experience. >> reporter: airlines that came in last on the list, american, express jet, spirit, and frontier. alex ortiz for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >>> wow. not a good situation there. >> no, no. >> berth situation outside, kate. >> yes, friendly above philadelphia today, sun's shining. >> beautiful day. >> it is. >> still is. >> i hope this stretch will last. we have a fluxation in temperatures no more 80's aft

alaska number one, followed by delta and virgin america. united is in eighth.t year, best year ever in terms of airlines service. fewest denied boardings, lowest number of complaints when it comes to mishandled bags. ironic that report comes out on a day that this video surfaced on what happened on the united flight last night. >> phil lebeau in chicago with that story. let's look at the chart behind the airline quality ratings. customer satisfaction, the highest level ever. ker usely enough, high satisfaction doesn't necessarily translate to high or good stock performance. delta, united, down more than 9% in 2017. despite united's pr nightmare today, the stock as phil mentioned closed higher by 1%. you own airlines. >> i do. >> do you own united? >> i do own united. >> do you care about this in terms of the stock price? >> right. as a stock owner, no, i don't really care. one of the things that happened that caused this is flights are full. if you're an airline, that's what you want. you want your flights to be full. you know, the revenue on that additional pa

virgin america, virgin australia and virgin atlantic. and they've all made very good profits. and they've made profits because we have had a wonderful group of people who work for them, 100% believe in what they're doing, who would never, ever, ever do anything like what happened on united. >> what would have happened if an employee of yours had done that? >> it wouldn't happen. i can be so sure that would never happen in a virgin company that i would never even have to worry about it. >> what would be your recommendation to the united ceo? >> i think they've got too big. i would most likely break the airline up into five smaller airlines and get five managing directors and five deputy managing directors and five marketing people and have five different brands and make them much smaller again. these enormous airlines they've been allowed to create. >> the bigger you get, the farther you get from your customer? >> yes. it just becomes completely impersonal. and everybody who works there becomes numbers. >> do you think there will be a point in the u.k. that there will be regret

you also have other airlines such as american, virgin america and singapore airlines where they stillexperience of flying very high customer service experience. charles: you know, it was a such a thrill years ago to go flying. in fact people got dressed up. the crew was also dressed up. they gave you the all the goodies. when i was a kid, got playing cards, pin, cologne, postcard. it is all about dollars and cents. it feels like there is disingenuous aspect airline industry getting out of the gate. they herd you in. get out, check the box and sit on the tarmac for four hours. >> the other thing what is starting to happen on airlines a lot, you joked about getting cards, you have to beg them for a pillow, even in business class. overall lowering of a standard is a problem of the issue united will have quite frankly, because they didn't have a lot of goodwill to start with, united will have issue they will not solve this typical which with policy change and personnel change. they will not be able to use a slogan to get out of this. they have to take a good look at culture of the company

ohio, delta, and virgin america, the worst was sky west, southwest, and expressjet. percentage has stayed the same. really improved in this way, reducing odds of forced bumping. when they check in online, the computer asked in advance for a bumping price, bump the cheapest people at their price without wasting time negotiating or calling security. back to you, kelly. >> i had no idea. that's a great way to do it. surprised southwest is up there too in terms of bumping people. i am. typically pretty passenger friendly. the statement said, quote, like you, i can want to be disturbed by what's happening on the flight, and i deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed, and all the customers aboard, no one should ever be mistreated this way. i want you to know we take full responsibility and work to make it right. that's what the ceo just said. was it too late? joining us by phone is bob crandall, a former ceo of american airlines. thank you so much for calling in and for your time. what would you have done in this situation if this happened to you while running ame

i was a big van of virgin america and they merged with alaska.'s going to happen. >> reporter: united airlines has since announced policy changes such as offering up to $10,000 to passengers who volunteer to change flights. all crew members traveling to other airports must also be booked and an hour before departure to avoid kicking paying passengers out of their seats. uniteed airlines want to create a check in process asking customers about their willingness to give up their seat for compensation. the passengers flying united say all the new policies are a step in the right direction. however, they're going to hold back their praise until they have traveled a new times on united. in san francisco international airport, leigh martinez, ktvu fox 2 news. >>> delta airlines is now being criticized after a passenger was removed from a plane. the man was taken off a delta flight last week in atlanta after he insisted on going to the restroom as the plane awaited takeoff. a flight attendant told him he could not go. the cell phone video shows the exch

ahead of delta and ahead of virgin america in terms of quality of airline service and oh, by the way,day when we see this video, carl, of this guy being dragged off the plane, 2016 is the best year ever for airline service. that's according to the authors of the airline quality -- >> why was he being dragged off the plane? why was he on the plane, and why are they being so physical with him? this is crazy. >> sara, you know how this works. >> no, i don't. >> tell us how it work, phil. i don't think everybody is fully aware. >> so the way this works is if they have an oversold flight, they will ask people to leave. in this case, there were united crew members that needed to be shuttled on this flight. so this person had boarded. they said, look, we need four more people to get off this flight. now, you can make an argument, you shouldn't have boarded the flight first if you're going to ask people to then leave. >> yeah. >> we need four more people to leave. they ultimately have control. the airlines do, in terms of who is on a flight. so just because you have a ticket while in theory y

. >>> joining us this morning former american airlines ceo don carty, former chairman of virgin america carl, thanks for having me. >> we talked to crandall earlier in the morning. he -- i was interested he said that the overbooking policy as it's written right now for the industry maybe could be looked at again because there's fewer numbers of no shows than back in the old days. what do you think? >> well, i think it could. i think aef air -- i think every airline needs to be thoughtful about overbooking and an airline never wants a situation that developed sunday night. an involuntary overbooking is a terrible thing. when we overbook as airlines it's incumbent on us to convince the passengers to get off the airplane. >> can you envision a model where you do empower gate agents to offer incentives to make these situations not happen and yet, keep your margins within some reasonable guidelines? >> absolutely. that's our challenge and as crandall outlined every airline needs to be really thoughtful about how far they overbook. but having overbooked, we need to empower our front line peop

the news comes as alaska is in the early stages of acquiring virgin america.kron four morning news... a tweet about chicken nuggets is on its way to making history. we'll explain how a teen's request could break a huge record. and after the break... if you find yourself having a bad night's sleep... we have some tips from sleep experts on how to beat the fatigue. and here's a live look outside... san no major hot spots. bay bridge wb 80 is slow from the bottom of the maze. n accident in concord sb 242 at 680 blocking one lane (james) if you don't get a good night's sleep... there are certain things you can do to help you through the day. this morning sleep experts are revealing tips on how to beat fatigue... and that includes not drinking coffee. take a look. first, wake up as soon as possible. doctors say getting out of bed a-s-a-p is the key to making it through the day with as much energy as possible. next is to get some fresh air and eat a big breakfast. you also want to be productive first thing in the morning to get your hardest tasks out of the way. nex

virgins. anyway, he said, quote: the guy, the spokesman said you, america, are bankrupt, and the signs of yourvery eye. there is no clearer sign of you being ruled by a foolish idiot who does not know what levant or iraq or islam is. well, that is just hurtful and nonsensical. anyway, meanwhile, some grad students at harvard have launched what they're calling a resistance school to fight the president's agenda. they say a four week program is like double doors army from the harry potter novels where they intend to, quote, sharpen the tools we need to fight back at the federal, state and local levels. we went to one of them for comment. [laughter] [applause] greg: all right, yeah, i know. k.g., what happens when harvard and isis are thinking the same way, when they actually think the enemy is the president and not some kind of, i don't know, other enemy? the enemy should be isis. >> well, that's a big problem, clearly, so you should go to a community college where you can get a much better education and don't come out brainwashed like that. let them do what they're going to do, but i don't thin

america. if hawaii was a sanctuary state for particularly asia, tell us about your thoughts on sanctuary cities? steve: i did have their virginityawaii. there are a lot of different yardtunities that where a caucasian guy was actually in the minority. it brought different perspectives and backgrounds and outlooks together. and makes america great. we have always been a great american nation. we need to strike the right welcoming.being i'm concerned that applications to schools, phd's and things like that from other countries, they are down. requests from visas are down. we need to make sure we are welcoming people while enforcing laws. it is particularly important in the innovation sector. 40% of the fortune 500 companies by immigrants. we need to figure out how to strike this balance. i hope this will be more of a focus, going forward. in your book -- these are entrepreneurs and young kids, i'm sure everybody got a 4.0 in their high school and college transcripts and such. help me with what entrepreneurs mean to trump? steve: he will focus on this once he gets some of these things settle down. part of the reason he became presi