The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "air travel" ...
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Digging Up Millions for Tiny Airstrip
“The federal government intends to spend $11 million to build an airstrip in a rural area”. In the rural area, the demand for an airstrip is slim to none and pressures a local airport to shut down, which is barely used and supported by tax money. So building a new airstrip is unneeded and a waste of tax money. Additionally, this article is an example of “a runaway federal program fueled by fees and surcharge paid by airline passengers”.
Tags: transportation; air travel; taxpayers; aviation; tax dollars; Oswego County; Hastings New York; finances
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Flights to Nowhere
"Essential Air Services" paid airlines millions to fly near-empty planes to cities that most people have never heard of. Thirty years after the program began it has grown into a $127 million a year subsidy. It was found that the government pays for 2.4 million empty seats to be flown a year.
Tags: airplane; fly route; tourist; travel; flight; airfare;
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CR Investigates an Accident Waiting to Happen
This report found that more airlines than ever are outsourcing their major maintenance work, often to overseas facilities. This trend has several implications. The outsourcing and contracting means that workers are not screened as carefully as they were when airlines did their own maintenance. Also, flight data shows that airlines that outsource services tend to have more delays.
Tags: transportation; air travel; airports; delays; air safety
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Power Trips series: The Lobbyist Loophole; Chilled Travel; In a Gray Area
As a follow-up to stories on Congressional travel aired on Marketplace in fall 2004, this series investigates how nonprofit organizations often sponsor congressional travel because they do not have to publicize their names as donors.
Tags: politicians; lobbyists; nonprofit organizations; corruption; ethics; gifts; CAR; congressional travel
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Airport Security Upgrades Fall Short
KPRC-TV tests how much safer airports are over a five-month period and the breaches and gaps that were found "raise new questions that many local security experts and planners admit they hadn't considered."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; airport security; air travel; terrorism
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Air GOP: Campaigning on the cheap
The Post investigated statewide political candidates' use of a state campaign finance loophole, which allows for the use of expensive, corporate airplanes while paying only a small fraction of the actual operating costs. Findings revealed that the biggest user of this loophole was Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
Tags: state campaign finance; campaign finance; Florida; statewide political candidates; FAA; campaign travel; SEC; Jeb Bush
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Admitting Terror
In a five-part investigative series New Times discovers that Mohamed Atta, one of the key players in the September 11 terrorist attacks, was improperly admitted into the country. Norman reveals that immigration inspectors are often leery to enforce federal law against illegal aliens, and exposes "a culture that values facilitation of air travel over law enforcement." INS failed to monitor the departure of U.S. visitors, to maintain a database with names of suspected terrorists, and to enforce laws against visitors' overstays. At INS customer service has become a top priority, even though inspectors have warned of the terrorist threat, New Times reports. The stories shed light on several cases in 1990s when terrorist were admitted into the U.S. without any scrutiny. "The disturbing result is that the INS has become a laughingstock among even moderately sophisticated terrorists."
Tags: Whistleblower Act; illegal aliens; Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); Miami International Airport; Federal Aviation Administration; classified; visas; ID; airlines
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Air Piracy
Goozner examines the predatory policy that major airplane companies use "to drive an upstart competitors from a route, or out of business entirely." In spite of the deregulation of the airline industry, which started more than 20 years ago and was meant to improve air travel services, these services have been constantly deteriorating over the years, the story finds. The author points out that "even longtime friends of deregulation have grown frustrated by the industry's seemingly inexorable march toward monopolization." The main conclusion is that the government should re-regulate the industry to preserve the benefits of competition while reducing bad customer service.
Tags: business; dumping; hub-and-spoke system; economy; technology; leisure travel; Department of Transportation; airports; Chicago O'Hare; Air Carrier Association of America; politics; pilots
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Gateway to Gridlock
In a four-part series, "The Tribune set out on a journey to find out why air travel has gotten so bad, dispatching reporters to seven airports and five air traffic control towers across the country on September 11, 2000, a day chosen by the airlines and federal aviation officials. The dramatic events of that storm-tossed Monday show how quickly a fragile system can be brought to its knees" in part one. "Parts two through four examine how bad planning and petty politics have allowed U.S. air travel to choke on its own growth."
Tags: airplanes; consumers; pilots; flight attendants; airlines; air traffic; O'Hare International Airport; American Airlines; United Airlines
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Fear of Flying: Disabled Travelers Say Discrimination is Still a Problem at Airlines
"Discrimination against air travelers with disabilities was outlawed more than a decade ago by the Air Carrier Access Act. But complaints from disabled people have risen sharply in the past few years. Many of these travelers say airlines ignore the law, and that flying remains on the most difficult and humiliating experiences they have to face." The Wall Street Journal describes some cases of discrimination against handicapped people and reports on airline efforts to prevent it.
Tags: Air Carrier Access Act; Department of Transportation; disabilities; airlines; travel; Americans with Disabilities Act