READY TO PULL MY HAIR OUT

Oh, I am so hot right now. Long story not so short, I've noticed that we miss a lot of maintenance opportunities because the log pages for the deferrals aren't always updated in a timely manner. Now technically, it is not my responsibility to go in and read these log pages - in a perfect world I get the part they ask for, and it's really what they need. Once my repair is delivered here, my job is done. We have MEL expeditors that are responsible for getting the parts through the receiving process and routed to the a/c. Unfortunately, I don't think we give our mechanics the resources (time wise) to do the follow-up paperwork. I raised the issue to a manager in Maintenance Operations a couple weeks ago, and at his request told him I'd follow up whenever I came across an example. So here's one on a fuel quantity indicating computer (FQIC) that I noticed at the tail end of the day yesterday. I called the controller on duty in MOC (Mx Ops Control) and email the manager of MOC as an FYI. I copied in the warehouse supervisor who was on duty, because at this point both the MEL guys have gone home and someone will need to change a work control package so the part in question, goes tot he right a/c. I leave work to get the kids, but figure, what needs to be done is pretty clear. Just in case... I log into my email at 9:30, and don't see any follow up from the whs supervisor (who gets off duty at 6PM) except a little note he'd tried to call me. So I call MOC, and the guy on nights doesn't know anything about it. I call production control, and the guy in charge of scheduling Phx maintenance, doesn't know anything about it. I give him the details and let him know he needs to switch this part from a/c 628, to a/c 621.

Do you know what happened last night? The FQIC was routed to a/c 628, and we robbed a/c 653 to replace the unit on a/c 621. The FQIC that was routed to a/c 628, was not used and was put back in stock this morning... and has since been issued to be installed on a/c 653. NOW WOULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN A LOT SIMPLER IF THEY'D JUST PUT THAT PART ON A/C 621 LIKE I TOLD THEM TO IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!?!??!?!??!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!

*&$%*()&()*_^$%&*^(_*_

Recovering from the Long Weekend...

Saturday we had Halle's dance class, errands, some house cleaning and a baseball game to which I took all three of my kids and two of their friends. After we got home from the game I started painting - two more coats on the doors, another coat on the bed, and two coats on the baseboards plus touch ups to cover the fiesta pink I got on the celestial sun walls - and putting up the appliques. Got a nosebleed that I'm pretty sure was a result of breathing in all that paint, and then I fell into bed fully clothed (and covered in paint).

Sunday we did yard work and cleaned a little, napped a little, went and order the kids' cake (it was so CUTE), then back home for dinner and a video, followed by finishing the trim and touch ups in Tyler's room, and falling into bed at 2AM. Raced around like a maniac Monday to clean some more and have all four of us dressed and presentable for the 11AM arrivals. Three and a half hours of family fun entertainment, and I was just ready to die. I popped the blockbuster video in and passed out for three hours. Those beautiful angels of mine never made a peep - didn't argue once. When the movie was over, Tyler restarted it from the middle.

6-year-old becomes a hero to band of toddlers, rescuers

Tense days lead to reunion of kids and their moms
By ELLEN BARRY
Los Angeles Times

BATON ROUGE, LA. - In the chaos that was Causeway Boulevard, this group of evacuees stood out: a 6-year-old boy walking down the road, holding a 5-month-old, surrounded by five toddlers who followed him around as if he were their leader.

They were holding hands. Three of the children were about 2 years old, and one was wearing only diapers. A 3-year-old girl had her 14-month-old brother in tow. The 6-year-old spoke for all of them, and he said his name was Deamonte Love.

After their rescue Thursday, paramedics in the Baton Rouge rescue operations headquarters tried to coax their names out of them.

Transporting the children alone was "the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, knowing that their parents are either dead" or that they had been abandoned, said Pat Coveney, a Houston emergency medical technician who put them into the back of his ambulance and drove them out of New Orleans.

"It goes back to the same thing," he said. "How did a 6-year-old end up being in charge of six babies?"

Clean and healthy

So far, parents displaced by flooding have reported 220 children missing, and that number is expected to rise, said Mike Kenner of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which will help reunite families.

At the rescue headquarters, the children ate cafeteria food and fell into a deep sleep. Deamonte gave his address, his phone number and the name of his elementary school.

He said the 5-month-old was his brother, Darynael, and that two others were his cousins, Tyreek and Zoria. The other three lived in his apartment building.

The children were clean and healthy, said Joyce Miller, a nurse who examined them. It was clear, she said, that "time had been taken with those kids." The baby was "fat and happy."

False hope Thursday night, they got an encouraging report: A woman in a shelter in Thibodeaux was searching for seven children. People in the building started clapping at the news. But when they got the mother on the phone, it became clear that she was looking for a different group of seven children.

The children were transferred to a shelter operated by the Department of Social Services, rooms full of toys and cribs where mentors from the Big Buddy Program were on hand. For the next two days, the staff did detective work.

One of the 2-year-olds steadfastly refused to say her name until a worker took her picture with a digital camera and showed it to her. The little girl pointed at it and cried out, "Gabby!" One of the boys — with a halo of curly hair — had a G printed on his T-shirt when he arrived; when volunteers started calling him G, they noticed that he responded.

Deamonte began to give more details to Derrick Robertson, a 27-year-old Big Buddy mentor: How he saw his mother cry when he was loaded onto the helicopter. How he promised he'd take care of his brother.

Late Saturday night, they found Deamonte's mother, who was in a shelter in San Antonio along with the four mothers of the other five children. Catrina Williams, 26, saw her children's pictures on a Web site set up over the weekend by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. By Sunday, a private plane from Angel Flight was waiting to take the children to Texas.

In a phone interview, Williams said she is the kind of mother who doesn't let her children out of her sight. What happened on Thursday, she said, was that her family, trapped in an apartment building, began to feel desperate.

The water wasn't going down and they had been living without light, food or air conditioning for four days. The baby needed milk and the milk was gone. So she decided they would evacuate by helicopter. When a helicopter arrived to pick them up, they were told to send the children first and that the helicopter would be back in 25 minutes. She and her neighbors had to make a quick decision.

It was a wrenching moment. Williams' father, Adrian Love, told her to send the children ahead.
"I told them to go ahead and give them up because me, I would give my life for my kids. They should feel the same way," said Love, 48.

His daughter and her friends followed his advice.

"We did what we had to do for our kids because we love them," Williams said.

The helicopter didn't come back. While the children were transported to Baton Rouge, their parents wound up in San Antonio, and although Williams was reassured that they would be reunited, days passed without any contact. On Sunday, she was elated.

"All I know is, I just want to see my kids," she said. "Everything else will just fall into place."

Announcement for All Employees - Relief Efforts Thank You

In case I haven't said it lately, I am always so proud to work for this company.

September 6, 2005
Dear Fellow Employees,

More than a week
has passed since Hurricane Katrina devastated the people and city of New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities. Even before its impact - and throughout the days since - our employees have come forward with selfless donations, both of time and money, to aid in the nation’s relief efforts.

As you probably know, America West and other airlines have been assisting with the rescue/relief efforts in New Orleans, and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your participation, your thoughts and your prayers. Thanks to your efforts, combined with those of your fellow employees, we were able to transport survivors to a safe place.

Over the weekend, we operated two flights between New Orleans and Texas and one between New Orleans and Phoenix, carrying nearly 500 evacuees to safety. In addition, we transported approximately 4,000 pounds of food and water to the New Orleans area. We remain on standby to offer additional flights as part of the relief effort, which is continually being evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Even with America West’s airlift operation on temporary hold, we continue to support victims as Do Crew volunteers and HpEART and FACT-trained employees offer their time and expertise as needed. In addition, victims continue to receive support through organizations like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, supported by generous employee donations. The list of employees who have contributed to this tremendous effort is growing by the minute, so although I won’t be able to recognize every employee in this letter, each will be recognized individually.

This past Sunday I received a call from Department of Transportation Secretary Mineta thanking America West and our employees for our participation in the New Orleans airlift operations. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, he conveyed that his thanks can and should be construed as appreciation on behalf of the United States Presidential Administration. He also communicated that the entire operation was very successful and that the administration was very pleased with the results.

Because of the nature of our business, sometimes we are called upon to help our country in times of need. It is times like these when being part of America West is more than being part of a company. America West employees care about each other and the people in our communities, and that was demonstrated this past week. On behalf of our 14,000 employees, DOT Secretary Mineta, the Presidential Administration, and the 500 safe evacuees, thank you for your support.

Doug

U.S. jets attack bridges near Syria to halt insurgents

Associated Press
Sept. 6, 2005 07:00 AM

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Marine jets Tuesday attacked two bridges across the Euphrates River near the Syrian border to prevent insurgents from moving foreign fighters and munitions toward Baghdad and other cities, the U.S. command said.

A Marine statement also said U.S. and Iraqi forces destroyed a "foreign fighter safe house," killed two foreigners and arrested three others during a Tuesday raid in the same area as the bridge attack.

Elsewhere, Iraqi civilians said they could see smoke rising Tuesday from the northern city of Tal Afar, where fighting has been raging for days between U.S.-Iraqi forces and insurgents said to include foreign fighters.

The U.S. command said an American soldier was killed Monday in Tal Afar. At least 1,890 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Witnesses saw ambulances evacuating at least 10 injured civilians from the city Tuesday.
The fighting occurred after U.N. chief Kofi Annan said Iraq had become an even greater terrorist center than Afghanistan under the Taliban. Attacks attributed to al-Qaida's wing in Iraq have stepped up in the Baghdad area and western Iraq.

A Marine statement said F/A-18 jets dropped bombs shortly after midnight on two light bridges near Karabilah, about 185 miles west of Baghdad.

"The purpose of the strike was to prevent al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists from using the structures for vehicular traffic to conduct attacks," the U.S. statement said. "The munitions used in the strike were designed to crater the bridges, rendering them inoperable but not destroying them."
The clash at the safe house occurred when U.S. and Iraqi troops came under fire "by foreign fighters occupying" the building, the Marines said.

"Multinational forces personnel returned fire and assaulted the building, suffering one friendly casualty when a Multinational Force soldier was wounded," the statement said without citing the soldier's nationality.

Troops called in aircraft to destroy the building, "which was being used as an operational headquarters," the statement added.

Karabilah is one of a cluster of towns near the Syrian border, a major infiltration route for foreign fighters heading for Baghdad and other major cities. Iraqi officials say al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has taken over parts of the area after residents fled fighting between tribes supporting and opposing the insurgents.

Annan told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Monday that many young Muslims are angry, and the situation has been exacerbated by what is happening in Iraq.

"They feel victimized in their own society; they feel victimized in the West. And they feel there's profiling against them," he said. "And the Iraqi situation has not helped matters."

Annan added: "One used to be worried about Afghanistan being the center of terrorist activities. My sense is that Iraq has become a major problem and in fact is worse than Afghanistan."

In statements posted on Islamic Web sites, al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for two attacks Monday - a roadside bombing that killed two British soldiers west of Basra and a daring daylight assault against the Interior Ministry in Baghdad in which two policemen died.

U.S. Marines said al-Qaida in Iraq launched multiple attacks Sunday against U.S. and Iraqi targets in Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad. Twelve people - including 11 civilians, an Iraqi soldier and three suicide bombers - died in the Hit attacks

Elsewhere, Iraqi officials said al-Qaida-linked foreign fighters had taken control of large areas of a strategic city on the Syrian border after weeks of fighting between an Iraqi tribe that supports the insurgents and one that opposes them.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said much of Qaim, 200 miles west of Baghdad, had been abandoned.

U.S. Marines operate around Qaim but have complained privately that they do not have enough American or Iraqi forces to secure the area properly.

The attacks in the Hit area began Sunday when two suicide car bombs exploded at security barricades on the northwest side of town, a Marine statement said.

A car bomb also exploded on the Hit bridge across the Euphrates River, rendering it impassable, the Marines said.

The Marine statement said three insurgents and one Iraqi soldier died in the attacks. The government in Baghdad said eight civilians also died.

In Doha, Qatar, the U.S. Central Command said U.S. jets launched airstrikes Sunday on insurgent positions near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, dropping two 500-pound bombs.
The statement also said an Air Force Predator aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles against a mortar firing position near Balad.

On Monday, gunmen seized a son of the governor of insurgent-infested Anbar province, Mamoun Sami Rashid al-Alwani, officials said on condition of anonymity for fear of insurgent reprisal. The abduction occurred in the provincial capital of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped the new constitution, which goes to the voters in an Oct. 15 referendum, would help pacify the insurgency by luring Sunni Arabs away from it.

However, Sunni negotiators rejected the constitution and vowed to defeat it in the referendum. The bitter, protracted negotiations appeared to have raised tensions among Iraq's ethnic and religious communities.

About 1,500 people, mostly Sunnis, rallied Monday near the Sunni city of Ramadi to protest the draft charter.

On Monday, President Jalal Talabani said he and the other top Kurdish leader, Massood Barzani, had agreed to changes in the draft constitution to mollify concerns in Arab countries that the wording in the charter loosened Iraqi ties to the Arab world.

The language at issue describes Iraq as an Islamic - but not Arab - country, a concession to the non-Arab Kurds who form about 15 percent of the Iraqi population.

Talabani said he and Barzani agreed "to accept some amendments deemed vital for the Islamic and Arab worlds concerning the Arab League because Iraq is a founding member in the Arab League."

Talabani did not specify what changes had been agreed to by him and Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Some Iraqi officials said last week the changes could keep the description of Iraq as an Islamic state but add wording about Iraq having been a founding member of the Arab League. Sunni Arab negotiators said then that such language might satisfy the Arab League but not them.

The Sky is Home

"To most people, the sky is the limit. To those who love aviation, the sky is home."
- Anonymous

A Forgotten Update...

Ei just asked me how Daija was liking preschool and I totally forgot to tell y'all what happened. I pulled Daija out of preschool about four weeks ago. She'd gotten aggressive with the teachers right after Ro went on contract the first week of June (he did two weeks training in Toronto and then 6 weeks in Tucson so Daija was only seeing him weekends and she'd gotten used to him picking her up every day) and Tyler left a few days later. I'd been under the impression (because I'd asked regularly and been told) the behavior had not happened prior to him leaving, and that it lasted a few days and then stopped, which under the circumstances I would consider normal. She clearly did not understand where Ro went, and for weeks after Tyler left to see his daddy, she would ask Ro on the phone 'you got my Tyler?' Drop offs have been a nightmare ever since they went out of town, and when I picked her up at night she races out the door, and she was never that happy to see me when Frances was watching her. I was concerned that with the transitions at home the environment might not be right for her - not that the teachers weren't all really sweet - but that it was too many teachers and too many kids she didn't know. I was planning on waiting until Tyler was home and they'd started school and we were in a semi normal schedule and then re-evaluate, since I thought her day after the initial drop off was going fine. Then the lead teacher was out the first few days of August, and I was told by the assistant her aggression had never stopped on Wednesday. I was furious. Thursday she had another bad day and I was getting what I perceived as a 'what have you been doing at home to correct this'... to which my answer was, not a damn thing, because she doesn't charge at me swinging at home when I tell her to clean up her toys and I have 'my day' after my day that do not have 'had aggressive behavior' checked. She didn't go back Friday, and I went and picked up her stuff and told them she was leaving. Lead teacher was back, and said that it had stopped, but resumed while she was out sick. Reinforced what I had already decided - too much transition with Ro being gone. Thursday night I started calling daycares and three sounded really good and had openings because school was starting the next week and they had kids leaving to go to kindergarten. Turns out one of them lives at 11th St. & Southern (I'm at 10th & Southern)... she's on the other side of the beltway behind my house, in the house that I was all mad about cuz it blocked the pretty view I used to have of south mountain from my bedroom. We're talking and I'm really liking her, then she mentions having a 4mo and I remember the principal at King telling me last spring her cousin lived in my development and had a newborn so I ask, are you related to Miss Principal at MLK? Yes, she's my cousin. I called Miss Principal at MLK who gave me a glowing reference and a list of her credentials, which Chanel had glossed over (she taught for three years, ran a tutoring program, is working on her masters, etc). I made an appt for Friday afternoon and we just clicked like rice crispies. Daija started there the following week, and it's been going great. drop offs are still a challenge, but she doesn't like to leave in the evening which I consider a good sign. By the end of the first week her vocabulary (which I knew she had but rarely used) just exploded, and though she still has tantrums, she is much more responsive when you tell her to use her words.

"Stolen" Blog

Was sent this by a friend - it's too funny.

My brother had this posted on his My Space Bulletins.....thought you would
appreciate it:

This has to be the greatest blog I have ever stolen

1. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is a solid defense policy
2. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
3. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.
4. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s and John Kerry did in the 1970s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.
5. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.
6. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
7. Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.
8. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.
9. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
10. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
11. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
12. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
13. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
    

Halle's Birthday Surprise

Halle got a newly decorated room for her birthday. Saturday told Halle I needed her floor to be toy-free so I could mop (I'd pulled the carpet out the week before suspecting it was the source of the vague urine odor I couldn't pin down). That night the kids had a 'movie/slumber party' on the futon in Tyler's room and I took all the furniture and toy containers out of the room. Sunday I set up Daija's bed in what used to be Tyler's room, and told Halle that she'd sleep in Daija's room for a couple days because I needed to use some really strong smelly chemicals to clean the floor and she wouldn't be able to go in there for a few days. I wondered for a second, when Halle pointed out to me that the pee smell had been gone since I took out the carpet, if she was on to me. It wasn't exactly a lie - but those strong smelly chemicals were post painting clean up for the mess I was about to make, rather than to eliminate a non-existent pee smell ;-) Anyway, from her reaction last night I think I definitely had her fooled! I am all into this color/mood concept now, and for her room I wanted energizing colors. I swear, if there was ever a female designed for a life of leisure it's my elder daughter. She is so slow it takes her forever to get ready. Her favorite color is, of course, pink, butI wanted something sunny and light so I figured a light yellow or maybe a pale, pale peach and then using pink accents. I am so freakin' tickled with what I did in there. Took me forever, but I finally found bedding that had the colors I had in mind that was a 'little girl' design. It's easy to find pink/orange coordinates, but most of the colors are hot/fluorescent and it's more of a teen look. I want some colors that will help wake her up in the morning, but nothing so bold it would keep her up all night, kwim? So I got this quilt and the matching borders and appliqués. I used the border colors to select the paint (blue, yellow, peach, hot pink). I painted the ceiling and about two feet down the wall to the border in blue, and a light yellow called Celestial Sun (more pastel than the walls in the link) from the border to the floor. I did the closet doors and the bedroom door in Whispy Peach (actually, I'm still doing them, they'll need at least one more coat), and then the door trims and baseboards will be Fiesta Pink.' My mom came over and hung the border and painted clouds on the ceiling, and after the first few she started getting really creative and made a horse, a butterfly, and a couple other animal type shapes. Ro is getting her this toybox to go under the window. She'll have something to sit on when getting dressed, and she can keep her bigger Barbie accessories in it. I'm going to put it under her window, so if she wants to put a pillow behind herself she could lean against the wall and read or color there too. I painted her bed and the decorator table (you know those three legged ones you put skirts on? I couldn't find a skirt in the right color, but they had ones that have a criss cross stand with shelves instead, so I got that) white. It's a good thing that antiqued/distressed look is so popular... with all the drips and runs the paint definitely looks distressed! Once I'm done painting, I'm going to put a couple of the appliqués on the tabletop. I put up sheer pink curtains and I'm going to put window film with clouds on the windows too. And I have these two old white bookcases I've been holding onto - I put one in Halle's room (the other will go in Daija's). The very best, and this will probably have to wait until Ro is able to come home again and who knows how long that will be... I'm putting up a dance bar for Halle. It's really just a towel rack with mirrors above and below (saw it in one of the showcases at Ikea), but when I explained what the towel bar on her bed was for she was hopping up and down in circles.

My boy is home...

Tyler came home not last weekend, but theweekend before. The girls missed him, but it was worse for Daija because she is so little and she got all confused. In her mind, the only daddy is her daddy... so when she would ask Tyler where he was and he said he was at his dad's house... next thing you know she's asking Ro 'Do you have my Tyler?'. So we try to clarify which Daddy Tyler is with... then every time she talked to Ro, she asked him, 'You my daddy?' Anyway, it was a fun homecoming. When Tyler left, my sister's old room at the front of the house had become a catch-all storage dump. When he came home, it was painted and decorated with a galaxy theme, and furnished with a futon we'd been storing, the book case that used to store community toys in the hallway, and his rug, table, NASA posters, and other special momentos. Driving home from the airport (around 3:30AM Saturday morning, no less) I asked if he was really tired and he said 'only a little bit.' I told him I'd left his birthday present in the spare room and he could go check it out for a minute before he went to bed.The first thing he noticed was the ceiling walls and the furniture...but then he looked down at the rug from his room, and around at his posters and saw the picture of he and his dad and his Buddha... Oh, you just should have seen his little brain clicking. His eyes were just darting around and then he turns to me and breathes... 'What is this place? Is this MY new room?' I'm still touching up trim - I'll send pictures when I'm finished.

ATSB Approves Proposed AWA/US Airways Merger

PHOENIX, July 22, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- America West Holdings Corporation (NYSE: AWA) and US Airways Group, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: UAIRQ) today announced that they have received approval for their planned merger from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB). Both America West Airlines and US Airways hold loans backed by a federal guarantee from the ATSB. The carriers have been in negotiations on the treatment of those loans under their proposed merger. Pending final bankruptcy court and US Airways board approval and upon close of the merger, the two airlines' outstanding ATSB loan guarantees will be consolidated with payments beginning September 2005 through September 2010. Final terms are still being negotiated.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050223/LAW097LOGO)
America West Chairman and CEO Doug Parker stated, "We are grateful for the Board's unanimous endorsement of our proposed merger with US Airways. Today's announcement continues the positive momentum for our planned merger and brings us one step closer to building a stable future for our airlines."
"We appreciate the ATSB working closely with us to further our efforts to restructure US Airways and preserve jobs while protecting the federal government's interests. Their action today will enable the new US Airways to become a stronger and more viable airline," said US Airways President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce R. Lakefield.
In January 2002, America West Airlines, Inc. closed a $429 million loan backed by a $380 million federal loan guarantee provided by the ATSB. The current outstanding balance on this loan is $300 million. US Airways, Inc. received a $900 million loan guarantee under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act from the ATSB in connection with a $1 billion term loan financing that was funded on March 31, 2003. The current outstanding balance of that airline's loan is $708 million.
America West Holdings Corporation is an aviation and travel services company. Wholly owned subsidiary America West Airlines is the nation's second largest low-fare carrier with 14,000 employees serving approximately 60,000 customers a day in more than 90 destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica.
US Airways is the nation's seventh-largest airline, serving 181 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and the US Airways Express partner carriers operate approximately 3,400 flights per day. (AWAG)

No competing bids proposed for US Airways

No other offers were submitted for US Airways before the July 1 deadline, Bloomberg News reported. The airline has agreed to merge with America West Airlines. The deal still needs approval from creditors and a bankruptcy court.

US Airways submits reorganization plan centered on merger

US Airways submitted its reorganization plan to a federal bankruptcy court Thursday. Submitting the plan is one of the last steps the airline must take toward emerging from bankruptcy protection. The plan involves the airline's proposed merger with America West Airlines, which would create a large, low-cost carrier.

AmWest-US Air merger's details revealed

SEC filing features items of note for investors
Dawn Gilbertson
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 29, 2005 12:00 AM

America West Airlines and US Airways weren't formally engaged until last month, but the pair began flirting well over a year ago.The long-distance courtship began in February 2004, according to new merger documents filed Tuesday with securities regulators. It was a case of opposites attracting: America West was strong on the West Coast, US Airways on the East. The airlines broke up last summer over money differences (US Airways' expenses were too high) but by the end of the year were talking about getting back together because US Airways was in better shape. They did, in January, and cemented the relationship with a merger announcement on May 19. The new airline will be based in Tempe but called US Airways. The background of the initially hush-hush merger talks was among a host of disclosures in a 386-page legal document the two companies filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There were no blockbuster revelations involving board dissent over the merger or competing offers or rich insider deals. One airline analyst called the document standard. Still, there were some noteworthy disclosures for shareholders to mull over as they decide whether to approve the merger later this summer:

Merger faces many risks, filing says:

Risks to the merger of US Airways and America West Airlines include the integration of corporate culture and high fuel prices, the carriers said in a regulatory filing. The merger still needs approval from a bankruptcy court and creditors.

Bad vaccine sickens 216 children

BEIJING - More than 200 Chinese children became sick and one child died after
being given an unauthorized Hepatitis A vaccine, the government said Tuesday.

Report: America West faces no serious rivals for US Airways

Just one person has publicly expressed interest in bidding this week for US Airways, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Bids, which would rival a merger proposed by America West Airlines, are due this week. The lone bidder, Sallijo Freeman, is an Atlanta woman who says she represents an overseas investment group. The bankruptcy judge will evaluate all bids and decide on July 7; observers do not expect America West's bid to be seriously challenged.

US DOJ clears USAir/America West merger

By John Crawley
Updated: 7:41 p.m. ET June 23, 2005
WASHINGTON - U.S. anti-trust enforcers cleared the proposed merger between bankrupt US Airways and America West Airlines , saying it would be good for consumers, the Justice Department said Thursday.

America West’s CEO faces test in takeover

Doug Parker plots survival of airline in US Airways merger


The Associated Press
Updated: 4:45 p.m. ET June 17, 2005

TEMPE, Ariz. - Eleven days after taking over as chief executive of America West Airlines in September 2001, Doug Parker had to abruptly shift his focus from improving the carrier’s poor reputation among customers to fighting for its survival.

Daija wants the moon...

Last night I was reading with Daija, and after a few rounds of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom she got out another favorite... Grandfather Twilight. I read it to her once and then she flipped through a few pages. On the last page, the dog and cat pictured in the story are curled up asleep. She said to them 'Good night... I love you...' then kissed them/the book. When I read it to her again, on the first page you see the door to Grandfather Twilight's house in the trees, and she reached over and put her fist on it. I asked her if she was knocking, and then she knocked. I ask her sometimes if she can identify objects (where is the moon, where is the cat), after she pointed out to me 'him glasses' a couple months ago (there is a picture where the book he's reading at the beginning of the story is placed on a table with the glasses he was wearing on top). So anyway, instead of asking her to identify objects, I asked her on the next page, what G.T. was doing, expecting her to say something about him reading. She answered 'him sit chair' and so I asked 'What is he doing in the chair?' and she said 'him read story' babble babble 'him cat' (cat was curled up on the back of the chair). In the next two pages G.T. unlocks a chest and takes out a pearl, and she told me 'him lock' ' him keys' and 'him open.' Then the story continues without words and he walks through the forest to the beach, with this pearl growing each step. He releases it into the sky above the water. At this page, Daija reached out and pretended to snatch the big pearl from the sky and said 'gimme my moon.' I asked her if she wanted the moon, and she pretended to snatch it again and claimed it as 'her' moon. Then the story shows G.T. walking home, and when he approaches his house in the trees, Daija reaches out her fist again, and I realize that she was not knocking... she's pretending to open the door. She is developing such an imagination!