The Eurozone is in complete disarray, and the Euro has fallen against the dollar. Does that mean it will be cheaper for American to travel to Europe? Not exactly, says Barbara Peterson, senior aviation correspondent at Conde Nast Traveler. Airfare costs depend on more than the exchange rate. 

On Wednesday, American Airlines declared that it would lay off 13,000 workers or 15 percent of its workforce. The company is attempting to emerge from bankruptcy, which it filed last November. Along with the layoffs, the company is seeking to cut employee pensions and some health benefits. AA CEO Tom Horton called the decisions "painful" but said in the end, the moves would preserve tens of thousands of jobs that would have otherwise been lost.

American Airlines' parent company, Texas-based AMR, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday morning, making it the last major airline in the U.S. to do so. American, the nation's third largest airline, will continue operations during the restructuring, which it hopes will reduce labor costs and $29.6 billion in debts. AMR has lost $982 million since the beginning of the year, and has posted annual losses for the last three years. In recent years, American has struggled to compete against United and Delta, both of which merged with other airlines after going through their own reorganizations.

In the days after Hurricane Irene, many travelers find themselves stranded after cancelled flights or suspended train service kept them from going where they wanted to go. Even without extreme weather conditions complicating travel, most travelers have an an airline horror story or two, and many times the source of the problem is not the cancelled trip or lost bag, but inadequate customer service or lack of information from the airline. Several airlines are seeking to remedy this problem by using social networking for customer relations — a tactic many different types of companies are employing nowadays.

Hurricane Irene made landfall in New York Sunday morning, downgraded to a tropical storm after hitting the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Philadelphia, and New Jersey particularly hard over the weekend. Last night, the storm reached New England, triggering floods in Vermont. At least 16 deaths have been reported as a result of the storm. This morning, after being grounded through the weekend for Hurricane Irene, airlines at New York City's three major airports are readying their planes and crews for departures.

Earlier this morning, Rep. John Mica (R-FL) told The Takeaway the Democrats were to blame for partial shutdown at the Federal Aviation Agency, after Congress failed to pas a funding extension last weekend. But what does this shutdown mean for consumers at the airport? Barbara Peterson, senior aviation correspondent for Conde Nast Traveler, talks about how airfare has changed since the government can no longer collect taxes on airline tickets.

Barbara Peterson, Conde Nast Traveler’s Senior Aviation Correspondent, discusses the trend of air traffic controllers falling asleep, problems with plane maintenance and planes losing their cabin roofs, rising airplane prices, last-minute canceled flights, and other aviation matters. She’ll also be answering questions from callers! If you have a question about air travel, call us at 646-829-3985!

After another incident of an air traffic controller falling asleep while on the job alone, the FAA announced yesterday that it will now post an extra staffer on overnight shifts in 27 control towers across the country. The incident in Nevada early Wednesday morning is the sixth time this year an air traffic controller has fallen asleep while working alone during a night shift.

A Sacramento bound Southwest Airlines flight declared an in flight emergency on Friday when five feet of paneling ripped out of the 737's ceiling. Flight 812 made a rapid descent from its cruising altitude of 36,000 feet down to 11,000 feet and later landed safely at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station.  

In the recent past, airlines have been caught being lax in their adherence to maintenance inspections. In 2008, the FAA levied a $7.5 million penalty against Southwest for its failure to do mandatory inspections for fuselage fatigue on some of its planes. Southwest wasn't the only airline.

We’ve been reporting on the devastating East Coast snowstorms all week, hearing your stories and seeing your photos. Today we take a look at how the blizzard has affected post-holiday travel. Yesterday, hundreds of passengers bound for Vancouver sat on the tarmac at JFK Airport in New York for over 11 hours — and that’s not the only horror story circulating between airline terminals.

Many air travelers, both passengers and pilots, have expressed their frustration with the full body scanners and enhanced pat-downs enacted by the Transportation Security Administration earlier this month. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano say our privacy is a small sacrifice for our safety, but many people don't think this is a tradeoff they want to accept.

The investigation continues into how Uma Farouk Abdulmutallab was allegedly able to smuggle explosives onto Northwest Airlines Flight 253. President Obama from Hawaii said in a press conference that "we need to determine just how this suspect was able to bring dangerous explosives aboard an aircraft and what additional steps we can take to thwart future attacks." At The Takeaway, we want to find the answers to that, too: What exactly went wrong, and how can it be prevented in the future? To help with the answer is Barbara Peterson, a senior aviation correspondent for Conde Nast Traveller, and Chris Yates, and aviation security analyst for defense publication Jane's.

After Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, flown by Colgan Air, crashed in Buffalo, New York, earlier this year, a federal safety inspector at Colgan Air said he had reported to his supervisors that planes were flying at incorrect speeds, with a broken radio, and failing multiple attempts at landing properly. That safety inspector is Chris Monteleon, who says his complaints were ignored; he was relegated to a desk job.

Monteleon joins The Takeaway to talk about his experience with Colgan Air. Barbara Peterson, a Senior Aviation Correspondent for Conde Nast Traveller, also joins the show to talk about airline safety.

During the holidays, weather problems have stranded passengers throughout the nation. But what does future travel have in store for passengers? To tell us about what 2009 may bring is Barbara Peterson, the senior aviation correspondent for Conde Nast Traveller.