NEW YORK -- Add American Airlines to the list of carriers that want out of the government's new rule to limit the time passengers can be held on the tarmac.

American has filed for a temporary exemption with the Department of Transportation, saying delays caused by the closure of the main runway at New York's JFK airport could cost them millions in fines.

JetBlue and Delta asked for exemptions last week. Those three airlines are the largest operators at JFK.

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to perform an emergency inspection of some 600 Boeing 737 airplanes after vibrations caused by a broken tail flap mechanism forced the diversion of a flight.

The FAA issued an “emergency airworthiness directive” at the recommendation of Boeing March 12. It orders some planes to be inspected within 12 days and the rest within 30 to check for loose elevator tabs caused by fractured mounting lugs that help control the tail flaps.

Self-described "way fat" director Kevin Smith was booted from a Southwest Airlines flight because of his size, according to his own breathless minute-by-minute tweets.

Smith, the millionare director and writer of "Clerks" and "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" was thrown off the U.S. budget airline's Boeing 737 late last night night in Oakland, Calif., because the captain deemed him a "flight risk," Smith tweeted. The incident was first reported by TMZ today.

BEIRUT (AP) - The cause of last month's Ethiopian Airlines crash into the Mediterranean appears to be neither a technical problem nor an explosion, a top Lebanese official said Thursday, without elaborating on what it actually could be.

The Boeing 737 crashed on Jan. 25, just minutes after takeoff from Beirut during a fierce thunderstorm. All 90 people on board died.

Asked whether the reason behind the "catastrophe" was a pilot error, Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi said that no final conclusion could be reached until the cockpit voice recorder, retrieved Wednesday, is analyzed. He said the recorder is still missing a key part and divers are searching for it.

BEIRUT - Lebanon's marine commandos recovered the black box of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed into the Mediterranean last month, the Lebanese army said yesterday in a statement.

The Boeing 737 crashed on Jan. 25, just minutes after takeoff from Beirut during a fierce thunderstorm. All 90 people on board are believed to have died.

The Lebanese military also said that eight more bodies were recovered yesterday, raising the number of bodies retrieved since the crash to 23.

BEIRUT - Search crews have located the black box under parts of the tail of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea last month, Lebanon's transportation minister said Saturday.

The Boeing 737 crashed Jan. 25 minutes after takeoff from Beirut in a fierce thunderstorm. All 90 people on board died.

Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi said the black box has been located at a depth of 150 feet (45 meters) off the coastal village of Naameh just south of Beirut airport.

BEIRUT-Search crews have located the tail of the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed into the Mediterranean last month and are getting closer to finding the plane's black box, Lebanon's transportation minister said Saturday.

The Boeing 737 crashed Jan. 25 minutes after takeoff from Beirut in a fierce thunderstorm. All 90 people on board died.

An army statement said crews that located parts of the wreckage Saturday were working on photographing them before retrieval.

BEIRUT – The first sign of trouble was a flash of light on the horizon Monday - and then witnesses said the Boeing 737 tumbled like "fire falling down from the sky" into the stormy Mediterranean Sea.

All 90 aboard were feared dead in the pre-dawn crash. Lebanon's leaders ruled out terrorism while investigators collected witness accounts in hopes they could provide clues. Aviation experts cautioned it was too early to know what brought down the Ethiopian Airlines jet - particularly without the black boxes.

(CNN) -- Ninety-one people were taken to a hospital Tuesday evening after an American Airlines plane overran a runway near Kingston, Jamaica, during bad weather and crashed into a fence, officials said.

None of the injuries were critical, officials said.

Flight 331 from Miami, Florida, was carrying 148 passengers plus six crew members when it landed in Kingston, according to a statement from the airline.

MEXICO CITY (CNN) -- The hijacking of a commercial airliner carrying more than 100 passengers ended peacefully Wednesday when eight people were taken into custody at Mexico City's airport, officials said.

The hijackers took control of the Boeing 737 Aeromexico jet as it flew from the resort town of Cancun, Mexico. They said a cardboard box they were carrying contained a bomb, which they threatened to blow up if their demand to speak to President Felipe Calderon was not met, CNN affiliate TV Azteca said.

(CNN) -- A commercial airliner carrying 104 passengers was hijacked Wednesday on the tarmac at Mexico City's airport.

Three abductors -- possibly Bolivians or Colombians -- aboard the Boeing 737 Aeromexico jet have threatened to blow it up if their demand to speak to President Felipe Calderon is not met, CNN affiliate TV Azteca said.

The station added that the abductors had begun to release passengers from the jet, which had been moved to a remote area of the airport.

(CNN) -- A Southwest Airlines jet made an emergency landing in Charleston, West Virginia, on Monday after a football-sized hole in its fuselage caused the cabin to depressurize, an airline spokeswoman said.

There were no injuries aboard the Boeing 737, which was traveling at about 30,000 feet when the problem occurred, Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told CNN.

The sudden drop in cabin pressure caused the jet's oxygen masks to deploy.

If you thought legroom on commercial airlines was already cramped, get set to be squeezed some more.

New Boeing 737-800s now being delivered to American Airlines have the same-size cabins as the existing 737-800s in American's fleet. But the new planes have 12 more coach seats, pushing the total number of seats to 160. Delta Air Lines Inc. has also added 10 seats to its 737-800s, raising the total to 160. So has Continental Airlines Inc.

Low-cost AirTran Airways unveiled plans on Tuesday to equip all of its jets with Wi-Fi access.

The airline industry has been working on the technology to varying degrees for some time, but AirTran hopes to become the first in the nation to offer the service on all its flights.

A subsidiary of AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI), AirTran announced its plans during a media flight from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. There were no reported hitches in the launch, which is expected to be completed by July on all AirTran’s 136 Boeing 737 and 717 jets.

AirTran Airways this week said it plans to sell passengers access to wireless, broadband Internet on its entire fleet, becoming the first major airline to do so.

AirTran, a subsidiary of Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AAI) that operates at Port Columbus International Airport, said it is partnering with aviation communications firm Aircell to offer passengers full in-flight Internet service across its entire fleet of Boeing 737 and 717 aircraft. All 136 AirTran Airways jets will be outfitted with Internet service by mid-summer, the company said. Service will be available for a fee based on the length of the flight.

Ten thousand-plus-feet above the coast of Maine — AirTran Airways unveiled plans May 12 morning to equip all of its jets with Wi-Fi access, taking the battle for passengers‚ allegiances — and budgets — to another level.

Orlando-based AirTran (NYSE: AAI) will have full inflight Internet service across its entire fleet of Boeing 737 and 717 aircraft. All 136 AirTran Airways jets will be fully outfitted with Gogo Inflight Internet service, which will be available to passengers for a fee based on the length of the flight, the airline said.

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Members of a Jamaican anti-terrorpolice squad boarded a chartered Canadian airliner in MontegoBay, Jamaica, today and captured a gunman who was demanding tobe flown to Cuba.

Officers who entered the cabin of the plane at about 6:40a.m. local time disarmed and arrested the gunman, identified asStephen Fray of Montego Bay, and freed six crew members beingheld hostage, the Jamaica Information Service said in astatement posted on its Web site. None of the aircraft’spassengers or crew was hurt.

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- A gunman is holding six crewmembers hostage on a chartered Canadian airliner in Montego Bay,Jamaica, and demanding to be flown to Cuba, officials said.

American Airlines on Monday launched a two-year effort to modernize its fleet, despite economic turbulence buffeting the industry.

The acquisition of 76 Boeing 737-800s through early 2011 represents a doubling of that airplane model flown by Ft Worth-based American.

All the new planes will be based at O'Hare International Airport.

The move also will lead to the eventual retirement of American's McDonnell Douglas MD-80s--a reliable but noisy aircraft that gulps 35 percent more fuel than the 737-800.