FAA Works With U.S. Airlines on Japan Route Changes Around Nuclear Plant
March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Jay Lehr, science director for the Heartland Institute, talks about the potential risks to the public from the earthquake-damaged nuclear plants in Japan. Radiation levels rose following a series of explosions and fire at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant after the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Lehr speaks with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
The Federal Aviation Administration is working with U.S. airlines to ensure that flights to Japan comply with airspace restrictions around a stricken nuclear power plant.
Japanese officials limited air traffic near the Fukushima Dai-Ichi facility because of “potentially hazardous” radiation leaks from three reactors damaged by last week’s earthquake and tsunami, Diane Spitaliere, an FAA spokeswoman, said in an interview today.
United Continental Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) and American Airlines haven’t made changes, spokesmen said today. Germany’s Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) rerouted Tokyo flights to other Japanese cities and joined European peers in using Seoul as an overnight crew base instead of Japan, citing the radiation risk.
“We want to make sure U.S. carriers are aware of and complying with the restrictions,” Spitaliere said.
United Continental, Delta and AMR Corp. (AMR)’s American are the largest U.S. airlines by traffic across the Pacific. All three are waiving fees for passengers holding tickets to or from Japan who want to change their reservations.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net
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