American Airlines will suspend flights to 15 smaller US cities starting October 7th. Matt Doyle spoke with the Lake Charles Regional Airport Director about their inclusion on the list…
Cut 1 (31) “…I’m Matt Doyle”
____________________________
Two tropical depressions should have the attention of residents along the Gulf Coast. Kevin Barnhart has the story.
cut 2 (28) “I’m Kevin Barnhart”
_____________________________
American Airlines is suspending flights out of Lake Charles from October 7th through November 3rd.
American says it the first step in an evaluation of their network, but Lake Charles Regional Airport Director Heath Allen says it’s surprising considering how strongly they’ve bounced back.
Cut 3 (11) “…percent”
American has also canceled flights to 14 other smaller US cities through the same period.
Allen says their data indicates they had been filling American flights out of Lake Charles at 70 percent, which is a healthy number right now.
Cut 4 (09)“ …the fall.”
American received ten billion dollars in federal stimulus funds on the condition that flights and their workforce were maintained. That requirement ends September 30th. American reported losses of more than two billion in the last quarter.
Allen says thankfully they still have United providing flights to Dallas, but the loss of access to the American network will be difficult to recover from.
Cut 5 (05) “…away”
_________________
Eight SEC teams have announced their plans for fans at football games this season, with all of them having capacities somewhere between 20 and 25 percent. Governor Edwards expects we will know the situation at Tiger Stadium in the next ten days…
Cut 6 (09) “…26th”
LSU opens the season in Baton Rouge on September 26th against Mississippi State.
Edwards says the capacity limits won’t just be based on how safely you can space people out in the stadium, but how safely you can move people around the stadium.
Cut 7 (12) “…the game.”
Face coverings will also be mandatory at all SEC games.
Edwards says he is also waiting on plans from ULM, UL Lafayette, and La Tech as well as LSU. He’s confident their proposals will be adequate.
Cut 8 (08) “look like.”
______________________________
All eyes are on the tropics as two tropical depressions are expected to form into named storms today. State Climatologist Barry Keim says the closest system to Louisiana is tropical depression 14 and is currently getting organized in the Western Caribbean.
Cut 9 (13) “…cone of uncertainty.”
The storm is expected to peak at tropical storm strength.
Keim says the tropical depression 13 is also gaining steam but is about 750 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands in the Atlantic.
Cut 10 (10) “…as a hurricane.”
Keim says both storms are likely to impact the US and Louisiana could be a landing spot for either or both.
Cut 11 (10) “…both of them.”
A tropical wave coming off of Africa is a third area of concern.
________________
The Louisiana Treasury Department announces they returned a record 63-million dollars in unclaimed property for the fiscal year that ended June 30th. State Treasurer John Schroder says the previous record was 52-million dollars, which was set during the previous fiscal year
Cut 12 (11) “…keeps climbing”
Each year millions of dollars in unclaimed cash, such as payroll checks, royalties, and life insurance proceeds are turned over to the State Treasurer’s Office. Schroder says this past year his office returned more than two million dollars to a family in New Orleans and he has another great example
Cut 13 (08) “…$268,000 too”
Schroder says he’s pleased to set a new record during a pandemic
Cut 14 (10) “…better timing”