President Joe Biden said Monday his administration will write new regulations that will require airlines to compensate air travelers and cover their meals and hotel rooms if they are stranded for reasons within the airline’s control.

The compensation would be in addition to ticket refunds when the airline is at fault for a flight being canceled or significantly delayed. It would give consumers in the United States protections similar to those in the European Union.

“I know how frustrated many of you are with the service you get from your U.S. airlines,” especially after airlines received taxpayer relief to get through the pandemic, Biden said. “You deserve more than just getting the price of your ticket (refunded) — you deserve to be fully compensated. Your time matters, the impact on your life matters.”

Biden’s pledge comes just weeks before the start of the peak summer travel season, when air travel could exceed pre-coronavirus pandemic records.

Officials at the Transportation Department, which will write the new rules, said they didn’t ahve a precise date for when they expect to finish, but indicated they are working to quickly publish a notice that is required to get the process started.

As outlined at the White House by Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the rules would focus on cancellations and long delays caused by things such as mechanical issues with the plane or lack of a crew.

Airlines for America, which represents the biggest carriers, said in a statement that airlines have no incentive to delay or cancel flights. The trade group said more than half of cancellations in 2022 and 2023 have been caused by “extreme weather” or air traffic control outages.

“Carriers have taken responsibility for challenges within their control and continue working diligently to improve operational reliability,” including hiring more workers and reducing their schedules, the group said.

After the pandemic hit, airlines received $54 billion in federal aid that included a prohibition on layoffs, but that didn’t prevent the airlines from paying tens of thousands of workers to quit or retire early.

Airlines have added about 118,000 workers since November 2020 and now have 5% more employees than before the pandemic, according to Transportation Department figures.

The rate of canceled flights has declined to 1.6% so far this year, compared with 2.1% in the same period last year. However, delays are slightly more common and a few minutes longer on average, according to data from tracking service FlightAware.

Currently, when an airline cancels a flight for any reason, consumers can demand a refund of the unused part of their ticket and certain extras that they might have paid to the airline, such as fees for checking a bag or getting a seat assignment. Airlines often try to persuade consumers to accept a travel voucher instead of a refund.

After widespread flight disruptions last summer, the Transportation Department posted an online dashboard to let consumers compare airline policies on refunds and compensation.

The Transportation Department is expanding the site to indicate when airlines offer cash, travel vouchers or frequent-flyer miles as compensation for flight disruptions.

None of the major U.S. airlines offer cash for cancellations or long delays, only Alaska Airlines offers frequent-flyer miles, and only Alaska and JetBlue provide travel credits, according to the dashboard.

Biden and Buttigieg credited the dashboard with pushing the 10 largest U.S. airlines to promise to provide cash or vouchers for meals when a cancellation forces passengers to wait at least three hours for another flight. Nine of the 10 — all but Frontier Airlines — also promise to pay for accommodations for passengers stranded overnight.

Questions arose again around reimbursing consumers for out-of-pocket costs after Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 17,000 flights during a December meltdown in service. The Transportation and Justice departments are investigating whether Southwest scheduled more flights than it realistically could handle.

A report last month from the congressional Government Accountability Office blamed airlines for a surge in cancellations as air travel began to recover in 2021 and early 2022. The Federal Aviation Administration has also created disruptions due to technology outages and staffing shortages. The FAA recently encouraged airlines to reduce flights to and from major New York airports this summer because it doesn’t have enough air traffic controllers at a key facility.

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Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

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* This article was originally published here

Jordan Neely’s family responds to killer Daniel Penny’s admission of guilt through their representatives.

“Daniel Penny’s press release is not an apology nor an expression of regret. It is a character assassination, and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan’s life. In the first paragraph he talks about how ‘good’ he is and the next paragraph he talks about how ‘bad’ Jordan was in an effort to convince us Jordan’s life was ‘worthless.’ The truth is, he knew nothing about Jordan’s history when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan’s neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing. In the last paragraph, Daniel Penny suggests that the general public has shown ‘indifference’ for people like Jordan, but that term is more appropriately used to describe himself. It is clear he is the one who acted with indifference, both at the time he killed Jordan and now in his first public message. He never attempted to help him at all. In short, his actions on the train, and now his words, show why he needs to be in prison,” says Attorneys Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards.

Mayor Eric Adams please give us a call. The family wants you to know that Jordan matters. You seem to think others are more important than him. You cannot “assist” someone with a chokehold. #houselessness #mentalhealth

The post Jordan Neely’s family responds to killer Daniel Penny’s admission of guilt appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Remember when NASA published those first images from the Webb telescope and blew everyone’s minds? 

Well, now you can admire never-before-seen visuals captured by the James Webb Space Telescope in this new immersive art experience at ARTECHOUSE in Chelsea. “Beyond the Light” opens on June 2 and runs all summer with adult general admission starting at $25. 

RECOMMENDED: Incredible immersive experiences to do in NYC right now

Described as “an artistic exploration of our unseen universe,” Beyond the Light centers on a 25-minute cinematic audio-visual interpretation of how humans have experienced light over time. The show’s presented in the highest-resolution projection technology available, making it a true feast for the senses. You’ll get to see newly analyzed galactical data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. 

The narrative offers an artistic take on the story of light, aiming to bring what is often invisible to our eyes into stunning high resolution. The James Webb Space Telescope footage takes center stage with its exploration of early galaxies, connecting history, science, engineering and technology. A stirring musical score plays in the background while visuals overtake the room.

In addition to this immersive presentation, six installations will accompany the show to explore our immediate solar system. You’ll learn about the moon, heliophysics, the Mars rover, climate science, biosphere and NASA Spinoffs. 

To bring the exhibition to life, ARTECHOUSE Studio worked with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the James Webb Space Telescope Mission team at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Johns Hopkins University’s William H. Miller III Department of Physics & Astronomy. ARTECHOUSE also worked with NASA’s team of experts, including astrophysicists, heliophysicists and NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

“We believe that art, science, and technology can come together to offer a fascinating experience, and this exhibition is a perfect example of the convergence of these worlds,” Sandro Kereselidze, ARTECHOUSE co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, said in a press release. “Conceptualized through many in-person and virtual sessions with NASA’s team of scientists and specialists, this exhibition takes science and data that already exists and brings it to life artistically in a way that’s never been done before.”

If you haven’t been to ARTECHOUSE NYC yet, you should: the venue is very cool in and of itself. It’s located in a 100-year-old boiler room beneath the iconic Chelsea Market and is known for using the largest seamless megapixel count projections of any cultural institution. It started as the nation’s first digital art space. Right now at ARTECHHOUSE, a show called MAGENTAVERSE is on view until May 29; it digs into the dazzling Pantone color of the year.

After you’ve experienced the immersive show, head inside Chelsea Market to grab some food.

See Beyond the Light at ARTECHOUSE, 439 W 15th Street in Chelsea starting on June 2. Tickets are on sale now with daily availability through August 31. General admission starts at $25.  

* This article was originally published here