Por Chris Isidore y Donald Judd, CNN

El presidente Donald Trump declaró este viernes a los periodistas en la Casa Blanca que el Gobierno probablemente anunciará “hoy o mañana” su decisión sobre si rescatar a Spirit Airlines.

Según informes de este viernes, la aerolínea de bajo costo —que arrastra problemas desde hace tiempo— se prepara para suspender sus operaciones; una medida que podría dejar a millones de pasajeros de Spirit varados en todo el país y a 17.000 empleados sin trabajo.

“Bueno, lo estamos analizando; pero si no logramos cerrar un buen acuerdo, ninguna institución ha podido hacerlo”, dijo Trump. “Me gustaría salvar los empleos, pero haremos un anuncio en algún momento del día de hoy. Les dimos, les presentamos una propuesta final”.

Más temprano este viernes, un portavoz de Spirit Airlines dijo a CNN que no tenía comentarios directos sobre los informes de un posible cierre.

“Spirit está operando con normalidad”, afirmó el portavoz. Al momento de la publicación de este artículo, Spirit Airlines parecía estar operando normalmente.

El alza de los precios del combustible para aviones descarriló los planes de Spirit para salir de su segunda bancarrota, y las negociaciones con el gobierno federal sobre un posible rescate de US$ 500 millones no han arrojado un resultado aceptable para el Gobierno y los acreedores de Spirit.

La semana pasada, Trump dio señales de aprobar un acuerdo, y un abogado de Spirit dijo la semana pasada ante un tribunal de bancarrota que la aerolínea estaba en “conversaciones muy avanzadas” con el Gobierno. Pero CNN informó a principios de esta semana que un grupo de acreedores de Spirit se oponía a los términos del acuerdo, que los dejaba con menos dinero tras los procedimientos de bancarrota.

Otras aerolíneas han dicho que intervendrán y ayudarán a cualquier pasajero o empleado de Spirit que quede varado.

No obstante, la supresión de los vuelos de Spirit probablemente provocará un aumento en las tarifas de toda la industria aérea estadounidense, a medida que los viajeros compitan por menos asientos disponibles.

Todas las aerolíneas han estado lidiando con el encarecimiento del combustible para aviones, cuyo precio casi se ha duplicado desde el inicio de la guerra en Irán.
El combustible es el segundo mayor costo para las aerolíneas, solo detrás de la mano de obra.

Para ayudar a compensar estos costos, las aerolíneas han estado subiendo las tarifas e incrementando las tasas, como las de equipaje facturado. Pero la feroz competencia por los viajeros les ha impedido trasladar todos los costos a los clientes. Y las aerolíneas de descuento como Spirit tienen más dificultades para subir las tarifas debido a su dependencia de clientes que buscan ofertas.

Spirit tiene alrededor de 9.000 vuelos programados desde el 2 de mayo hasta el final del mes, según la firma de análisis de aviación Cirium. Eso equivale a un promedio de 300 vuelos y 60.000 pasajeros potenciales al día afectados solo en el próximo mes, si la aerolínea cierra operaciones.

Si Spirit cesa sus operaciones, los pasajeros con boletos para próximos vuelos deberían presentar reclamos ante el emisor de la tarjeta de crédito o débito utilizada para comprar los boletos.

Quienes pagaron en efectivo tendrían que esperar el reembolso junto con los otros acreedores de la empresa. Los pasajeros en medio de un viaje tendrían que encontrar un asiento en otra aerolínea, lo que podría tener costos mucho más altos.

Spirit se ubicó como la octava aerolínea más grande de EE.UU. en 2025 por el número de asientos ofrecidos. La aerolínea es pionera en ofrecer tarifas base ultra bajas para vuelos nacionales, cobrando un cargo adicional por cosas como el equipaje de mano. Ese modelo empujó las tarifas a la baja y llevó a a

The post Two Santa Barbara Men Arrested Downtown for Stealing a Vehicle appeared first on edhat.

CNN

By Katelyn Polantz, Michael Williams, Thomas Bordeaux, CNN

(CNN) — A federal judge privately admonished prosecutors for attempting to grandstand Thursday at a detention hearing for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman, according to a transcript first obtained by CNN.

“I don’t know what’s going on here. I know that you want to present your case, I guess, to some audience other than the Court,” Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya told three prosecutors in the courtroom on Thursday out of earshot of the public and press. “I don’t want this to turn into a circus.”

Upadhyaya’s comments highlight a dynamic that has arisen in the six days since Cole Tomas Allen allegedly tried storming the press dinner, with Trump administration officials aggressively describing their theory of the alleged attempted assassination of the president — the third in two years — in news interviews and unsolicited court filings.

Several times, DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro and others in television interviews have gone much further and given more definitive descriptions of the shooting than the detail that’s been represented in court from the FBI and Justice Department line prosecutors. They’ve also emphasized the law enforcement response as a success.

A CNN analysis of hotel surveillance video released by the DC US Attorney’s Office on Thursday, coupled with audio taken from inside the ballroom during the shooting, does not definitively conclude when or if Allen fired a shot. But the audio analysis does indicate that six shots total were fired during the incident, which aligns with initial statements by law enforcement that Allen fired one shot, while a responding officer fired five more.

Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran on Thursday said Allen shot an officer at point-blank range. Pirro said Thursday on Fox News that he fired at the Secret Service officer.

Court filings describing the events have been less definitive, and in some cases have contradicted the initial claims from top administration officials.

The latest available court filing describing what happened reads: “A USSS officer observed the defendant fire the shotgun in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom.”

While Allen faces an initial charge of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, his charges could expand or be changed as a grand jury investigation progresses toward an indictment.

The investigation into the shooting remains in its early stages, the Justice Department has said repeatedly. The Justice Department didn’t respond to specific questions related to the video evidence released Thursday.

Questions about Allen’s intent as he ran toward the ballroom Saturday night are likely to linger over his legal case, and the Justice Department’s initial representations could become more important in court proceedings down the road.

His defense attorneys have already attempted in court filings to sew do

CNN

By Katelyn Polantz, Michael Williams, Thomas Bordeaux, CNN

(CNN) — A federal judge privately admonished prosecutors for attempting to grandstand Thursday at a detention hearing for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner gunman, according to a transcript first obtained by CNN.

“I don’t know what’s going on here. I know that you want to present your case, I guess, to some audience other than the Court,” Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya told three prosecutors in the courtroom on Thursday out of earshot of the public and press. “I don’t want this to turn into a circus.”

Upadhyaya’s comments highlight a dynamic that has arisen in the six days since Cole Tomas Allen allegedly tried storming the press dinner, with Trump administration officials aggressively describing their theory of the alleged attempted assassination of the president — the third in two years — in news interviews and unsolicited court filings.

Several times, DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro and others in television interviews have gone much further and given more definitive descriptions of the shooting than the detail that’s been represented in court from the FBI and Justice Department line prosecutors. They’ve also emphasized the law enforcement response as a success.

A CNN analysis of hotel surveillance video released by the DC US Attorney’s Office on Thursday, coupled with audio taken from inside the ballroom during the shooting, does not definitively conclude when or if Allen fired a shot. But the audio analysis does indicate that six shots total were fired during the incident, which aligns with initial statements by law enforcement that Allen fired one shot, while a responding officer fired five more.

Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran on Thursday said Allen shot an officer at point-blank range. Pirro said Thursday on Fox News that he fired at the Secret Service officer.

Court filings describing the events have been less definitive, and in some cases have contradicted the initial claims from top administration officials.

The latest available court filing describing what happened reads: “A USSS officer observed the defendant fire the shotgun in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom.”

While Allen faces an initial charge of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, his charges could expand or be changed as a grand jury investigation progresses toward an indictment.

The investigation into the shooting remains in its early stages, the Justice Department has said repeatedly. The Justice Department didn’t respond to specific questions related to the video evidence released Thursday.

Questions about Allen’s intent as he ran toward the ballroom Saturday night are likely to linger over his legal case, and the Justice Department’s initial representations could become more important in court proceedings down the road.

His defense attorneys have already attempted in court fi

The post Stolen Vehicle Arrest Downtown appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.