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 "Continental Airlines" ...
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Flying Cheap
The February 2009 crash of Continental Flight 3407 revealed "a little-known trend in the airline industry: major airlines have outsourced more and more of their flights to obscure regional carriers." These smaller carriers operate with different safety practices with pilots that are often paid less, with less training and fewer flight hours.
Tags: airlines; aviation safety; Federal Aviation Administration; flight safety; transportation
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"Under the Radar" and "Stormy Weather"
These stories revealed crucial information undermining the U.S. Air Force's controversial plan to lease 100 air refueling tankers from Boeing-a deal, which, if completed, would have cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars more than if traditional purchasing were used. "Under the Radar" deals with documents showing how Boeing pushed a plane that even some military officials doubted was right for the job. It also revealed how the Air Force relied on Boeing to shape the basic performance requirements for the tanker and let the company devise the financial structure of the costly, unusual lease agreement. "Stormy Weather" discloses a perverse effect of the derailing of the lease proposal.
Tags: U.S. Air Force; air refueling tankers; Boeing; taxpayers; Air Force officials; Congress; White House; Pentagon; White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card; endorsement; tanker planes; Lockheed C-5 transport; Lockheed C-17 transport; Continental Airlines; lobbying campaign; European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.; Senate Commerce Committee; EADS; Congressional Budget Office; Defense Department; Air Force Air Mobility Command; Fleet Viability Board; General Accounting Office
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Slashed and Burned: Call It Dumbsizing: Why Some Companies Regret Cost-Cutting
The Journal reports that companies that choose to downsize often find that "profits are hurt, customers and suppliers lost, employees miffed." The story looks at mistakes that Kodak, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Continental Airlines and Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance have made in their efforts to save money.
Tags: marketing; technology; hiring; employment
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Slam and Jam
The Atlantic Monthly reports on the nation's air-traffic-control system. "For all the reports of equipment failures and "close calls" and controller burnout, the nation's air-traffic control system is in fact far less precarious, in terms of safety, than people imagine it to be. The real threat to the system's integrity has as yet received little attention.... Renegade slowdowns deliver a clear threat within the agency, yet a threat so technical that it remains invisible to the outside world." The story finds that "many of the public concerns about air-traffic control -- that the equipment is dangerously old, that safety is compromised, that poorly monitored aircraft threaten to collide in midair -- are largely unwarranted."
Tags: Newark International Airport; LaGuardia; JFK; aviation; Lufthansa; United Airlines; Continental; hubs; FAA; unions
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Some Airlines Mishandle Food, Sewage Disposal
"Some of the country's biggest airlines and in-flight caterers have violated federal health regulations of food storage and sewage handling, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration records. So far this year, the agency has sent six 'warning letters' about violations to carriers including Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Continental Airlines - twice the number send during the same period in 1997." Trains and buses are also discussed.
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Re-Engineering: Amtrak Boss Struggles to Get Train Service on Track in the U.S.
The Journal takes a look at the continuous struggle faced by Amtrak to compete with increased airline traffic and highway travel. New Amtrak president and chief executive George Warrington has large plans for the renovation and revitalization of Amtrak such as faster trains, better customer service, and remodeled stations. But because of past financial problems, Congress has said that Amtrak must operate without federal operating subsidies by 2003 "or face restructuring or liquidation." Unfortunately for Amtrak, in 2000 federal subsidies were close to $184 million. Machalaba finds out how Amtrak is collaborating with Continental Airlines and the U.S. Conference of Mayors to build support for a new passenger rail system in the U.S., one that George Warrington believes can be as commercially viable as the rail system that runs through Europe.
Tags: Railroads; transportation; Amtrak
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Airline Regulators Fret Over Several Breakups Of GE Jet Engines
The Journal writes about the engine failures in DC-10 aircraft. Most of the failures involved a disintegration of the engine with shards of metal flying about. The engines were CF-6 engines made by General Electric Co and the story further states the efforts GE is making to avert any more jet-engine breakups.
Tags: jet; aircraft; engine; airline; accident; Continental; GE; CF-6 engine; flying; flight; FAA
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No title (id: 6117)
KMGH-TV (Denver) reveals a consistent pattern of security lapses at Denver Stapleton Airport, including unsecured perimeter fences, unlocked security doors, sleeping security guards, weapons passing unnoticed through security points and the near theft of a 727 jet by a former airline mechanic, May 29 - June 2, 1988.
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No title (id: 5530)
KOA Radio (Denver) uncovers abuses of animals shipped on major airlines; finds cases where pets are lost, dropped, killed from heat exhaustion, and injured when left unattended on the tarmac; also finds airline employees do not know the laws regarding handling animals, May 23 - 30, 1988.
Tags: Weber continental
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No title (id: 4413)
Dallas Morning News finds that not only is the FAA stretched to its limits by the proliferation of airlines, but it also may give preferential treatment in enforcement of safety laws, specifically toward Continental Airlines, Feb. 23 - 24, 1986.