Qantas, which is an Australian airline, said it temporarily grounded another one of its A380 jets after discovering 36 tiny cracks inside its wings during a maintenance inspection. Qantas wants to put the safety of consumers first.

After hearing this, the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered all 68 Airbus A380s in operation to have their wings checked. These tiny cracks were found by chance, but now all other airlines know what to look for. Luckily, the plane that had the cracks was requested to be checked after it flew through severe turbulence. Had it not been requested, it is not known just how many more cracks would have developed before it was noticed.

This plane is able to carry up to 800 passengers. Not only that, but the planes themselves are huge. That means that there is a lot of pressure that is placed on the wings all the time.

Of course, this is not the first A380 that has gotten cracks in its wings. Apparently, just last week, cracks were found in the wings of a A380 operated by Singapore Airlines. There was also another Qantas plane that had cracks as well. There is apparently something wrong, and this style of plane is developing cracks in its wings.

Money Mail has just recently done an investigation that revealed that travel insurance providers in Britain have doubled in the last year for holidaymakers over the age of 65. Some of the best-known providers in all of Britain have now been accused of charging certain travelers hundreds of pounds more for coverage. This news comes as the cost of an annual policy has jumped from £163 to £361 in some cases.

Travel experts now admit that they are very worried about these jumps in premiums. They are scared that this will deter people from wanting to buy travel insurance. This goes double for the elderly who are on a fixed income as it is. The last thing the travel industry needs right now is to deter anyone from traveling.

Of course, some companies are not overcharging the elderly, they are simply refusing to cover them at all. This is because elderly travelers are a lot more likely to have health issue when traveling. However, some experts assume that these changes also have to do with insurers having to pay out large sums of money in recent years due to ash clouds and earthquakes. Charging elderly people more may just be a way for providers to earn back some money.

The way this concrete ball contraption works is simple. The balls hang just low enough that trains can pass under the balls without getting touched. However, if anything or anyone happened to be sitting on the roof of these trains, they would be hit by these huge concrete balls, which would surely knock them off (at the very least).

Authorities are hoping that these balls will deter people from wanting to catch a free ride on the tops of trains. The balls could be deadly if they hit someone on a train that is going fast enough.

A spokesman for the state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api said, they have tried just about everything else, and yet people continue to ride on the tops of trains. Even putting rolls of barbed wire on the roofs have done nothing to stop people. Maybe this will do the trick.

Although this seems dangerous, it is worth noting that it is also dangerous to ride on the roof of a train. Back in 2008, some 53 people died in accidents after boarding the roof of a train. Most of them were electrocuted by overhead power cables that fall off sometimes when trains move by.

Some may remember, that Thomas Cook just recently reported that it was going to close 200 stores and let go of tons of staff workers. Thus, giving a former boss so much money is likely going to draw criticism from industry experts.

Reports show, that out of the £1.17 million payout, £851,114 was part of a settlement agreed on November 4 last year for the termination of his employment with Thomas Cook. Insiders say that this deal was struck three months after his resignation in August and following a third profit warning for 2011. The rest of it was salary, benefits, and pension allowances.

Frank Meysman, who is a chairman for Thomas Cook, said that the board was disappointed during the year that management performance in some areas was not to the standards they had expected. They wanted to take decisive action in changing the group executive board level and putting new senior management teams in place. This was going to happen to both its French and UK operations.

One has to wonder, if it’s moves like this that have forced Thomas Cook to close so many of its stores. Hopefully, the travel group can avoid similar cases in the future so it can return back to its former glory.

Official reports say that the project will start as soon as the middle of next year. The project itself is going to be funded by Interlink Roads. The state government has pledged at least $50 million to help with noise reduction. It is also estimated that the work will be finished by 2014. This is not a bad time span for such a huge project.

Barry O’Farrell, who is the Premier, said that they are keeping their vow to widen the M5 West. This should be a huge benefit to everyone who uses this area. It is estimated that the congestion in Sydney costs about $6 billion and $9 billion. This is something that the government cannot just overlook any longer.

The Infrastructure Partnerships Australia has of course welcomed this project with open arms. Brendan Lyon, who is the chief executive of this group, said that all options will need to be considered to bring forward other missing motorways in Sydney. Other motorways that need attention includes the more difficult M4 extension.

These reports go on to show that the airline is hoping to lift its annual profits to $NZ110 million by 2015. That is a pretty monstrous jump from its current loss of $NZ37 million that the company posted in the six-months that ended June. A lot of this had to do with the flight disruptions caused by earthquakes in Canterbury and in Japan.

It is worth noting that it is mostly just Air New Zealand’s long distance flights that are to get the cold shoulder. After all, the company’s domestic and trans services are doing just fine. Unfortunately, they are not doing well enough to offset the struggling long-haul services.

Rob Fyfe, who is the Air New Zealand chief executive, said that they need to reduce their costs to reflect the lower level of demand for air travel. The company will likely be doing this in the coming 12 months. Increasing price competition is making it hard for the airline to fill its aircraft. The company is currently holding a review to consider just how to cut costs and boost income. No part of the airline is safe at this point.

Just recently, India’s central bank approved a move to extend the tenure of loans to the state-run airline by five years. Repayment is now going to be due after 15 years. Air India’s bankers have given the go-ahead for the restructuring program. The company announced this one Tuesday.

The company went on to say in a statement that they are in the middle of trying to implement this new restructuring plan. It will provide the company with 10 billion rupees a year in interest costs. This is something that is just too good to pass up for the airline.

The carrier also went on to say that it plans to sell and lease out excess aircraft after taking delivery of its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. By leasing planes, the airline can work hard on trying to get its debt down.

Now ministerial approval of the bank’s proposal is expected to be coming in the next few weeks. A spokesman for the airline said that an approval will start the process for fresh capital infusion into the company.

For those that do not know, the Indian government has already put about 12 billion rupees into this airline in the financial year of 2010-11. It expects another 67 billion rupees will be put in there before the end of March 2012.

This fine is a warning to other airlines if it is nothing else. It is a clear sign that airlines will need to do their best to keep passengers from being left on the tarmac for an extended period of time. The Department of Transportation said that this kind of event will not be tolerated this holiday season. Airlines that break the rules, will be fined.

Reports go on to show that American Eagle had tarmac delays for more than three hours on May 29 at O’Hare International Airport. Not only that, but this happened to some 15 flights. In total, 608 passengers were aboard these delayed flights. The airline will have to pay this fine within 30 days.

Now, only $650,000 has to be paid within 30 days. $250,000 of this can be credited to refunds, vouchers, and frequent-flyer miles. These are thing things that are going to be rewarded to passengers who had to wait on these flights.

For those that do not remember, the Department of Transportation implemented a new rule in April of 2010. Pretty much, this rule limited the amount of time planes could keep passengers on the tarmac to three hours.

Just recently, Dollar Thrifty announced that its net income for the third quarter rose by a whooping 35.5 percent. This means, the company’s profits increased from $49.16 million last year to $66.62 million this year. Earnings per share was also on the up and up. Reports show that shares increased from $1.62 to $2.13. Revenue increased 1.8 percent from $443.54 million to $451.72 million.

Of course, it is worth noting that third-quarter performance is the most robust quarterly profit for car hire companies. Either way, experts were not expecting this kind of profit for any car hire company. This could be a great sign of things to come for the industry as a whole.

Scott Thompson, who is the Dollar Thrifty President and chief executive, said that he was very pleased with the highest quarterly profit in the company’s history. This was a good quarter, and they hope that this kind of success continues in the future. He also noted that the company is very pleased with the growth of its rental days achieved during this period. The company still faces challenging times ahead, but this was a nice boost to the company’s confidence.

Weeks have passed since Jack went missing at JFK Airport. Despite this fact, people have not forgotten about the cat. People are saying that they are going to boycott the carrier until that lost cat if finally returned. The last thing that American Airlines needs right now is a boycott. The airline is already dealing with a number of problems as it is.

People on Facebook are really getting into this story. In fact, ‘Jack The Cat is lost in AA baggage at JFK’ has more than 15,000 followers. The Facebook page is actually updated everyday with hundreds of comments from people who support the cat and its owners.

Bonnie Folzn who is one of the people who has organized a search, said that people would be shocked to see all the support this cat is getting. However, people may also be shocked to find out that there are a lot of people at JFK, who are not even aware that Jack is missing. This is what’s really scary. It’s hard to find something if people do not know its even gone. Anyone at the airport could be the person that knows or has seen the cat, but they do not even know the cat is ‘missing’.

Jack belongs to Karen Pascoe. The cat went missing back on August 25, and has not been seen since.