DALLAS — Airline trade groups are fighting President Barack Obama’s plan to raise fees on airlines and passengers to pay for aviation security and air-traffic control.

The airlines say security is a national-defense function and they pay
an unfair share. The administration argues that those who use the
air-travel system — airlines and passengers — should pay for it.

The aviation fees are part of Obama’s deficit-cutting plan that was released Tuesday. The plan would:

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama signed legislation Friday temporarily restoring full funding to the Federal Aviation Administration, breaking a political impasse and allowing roughly 4,000 furloughed federal employees to return to work.

The measure also promises to restore tens of thousands of jobs in the construction industry and elsewhere tied to airport improvement projects put on hold as a result of the funding shortfall.

Atlanta (CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday announced the suspension of a Cleveland air traffic controller and a front line manager after the controller was discovered watching a movie on a portable DVD player while on the job.

The announcement coincides with the Monday launch in Atlanta of a nationwide tour by top FAA officials and union representatives, to discuss professionalism and safety at air traffic control centers.

WASHINGTON – A barrage of U.S.-led airstrikes opened the door for Libyan rebels to retake the eastern city of Ajdabiya Saturday, handing President Barack Obama a tangible example of progress as he defends the military action to war-weary Americans.

The administration has been under pressure to better explain why the U.S. was embroiling itself in another Muslim conflict and to clarify what America’s continuing role will be as it begins to turn control of the week-old operation over to NATO.

WASHINGTON – The opening phase of U.S. and coalition military action in Libya bruised Moammar Gadhafi’s ground forces and set the stage for extending a no-fly zone across the country, but American officials made clear Monday their military goals stop short of targeting Gadhafi or directly assisting rebel forces.

Army Gen. Carter Ham, the lead U.S. commander, said it was possible that Gadhafi might manage to retain power. “I don’t think anyone would say that is ideal,” the general said, foreseeing a possible outcome that stands in contrast to President Barack Obama’s declaration that Gadhafi must go.

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Speaking to nearly 4,000 U.S. troops here after a secret overnight flight from Washington, President Barack Obama on Friday said they were making “important progress” against militants in Afghanistan.

“Today we can be proud that there are fewer areas under Taliban control,” he said.

WASHINGTON – The Air Force mistakenly gave rival companies sensitive information that contained each other’s confidential bids in a long-standing, multibillion dollar competition to build a new refueling tanker.

Chicago-based Boeing Co., and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), parent of Airbus, are in an intense competition for a $35 billion contract to build 179 new Air Force tankers based either on the Boeing 767 jetliner or the Airbus A330.

Boeing received detailed proprietary information about the EADS bid; corresponding information was given to EADS North America concerning the Boeing bid.

WASHINGTON – After a regional airliner crashed in western New York a year and a half ago, killing 50 people, the Obama administration promised swift action to prevent similar tragedies. High on the list: new rules governing the number of hours pilots may work, to prevent tired flight crews from making fatal errors.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote in June 2009 that the Federal Aviation Administration was in a hurry and wouldn’t wait for Congress “to add mandatory layers to airline safety,” nor even for crash investigators to complete their work, “because air passengers deserve action. And, they deserve it now.”

The government had sufficient information to have potentially disrupted an al Qaeda plot to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day, but failed to identify Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab as a potential bomber, a White House review of the incident shows.

In the end, the six-page report found, it was the inability of the intelligence community to “connect the dots” in putting all the pieces of information and analysis together.

Washington (CNN) — The federal government is scrambling to find ways to comply with President Obama’s order to put more air marshals on flights after a botched Christmas Day airline terrorist attack, government sources have told CNN.

Hundreds of additional marshals could be “loaned” from the Secret Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a U.S. official briefed on the investigation said. Another source said marshals could be drawn from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.