U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, the Delaware County Democrat, has written to the head of the Federal Highway Administraiton, asking him to step in and help find an alternative-- maybe a new cell phone lot -- to ticketing drivers who park on the I-95 ramps. Here's the story from today's Inquirer.   

Southwest has made a meal of other airlines' fees. using them as a key component of its marketing to tell customers the carrier isn't like the other guys. But financial pressure is forcing Southwest to find extra revenue and today it announced a fee that bears some similarity to others airlines' charges. For $10 you can be an "early bird," automatically checked in on a Southwest flight ahead of the usual 24-hour period.

By being in this new, more privileged boarding group, customers have  better shot at sitting where they want in a Southwest cabin where all seats are unreserved. This doesn't seem a lot different than other carriers charging something -- usually more than $10 -- to reserve certain seats on their planes. One news story has popped up on Southwest's move, and here's more information from its Web site.  

Airline traffic may be stabilizing at a lower level this fall but that won't help American flight attendants. The airline says it's eliminating more than 900 jobs, although some will be through voluntary leaves. Find more here ....

Philadelphia has become one of 20 airports where U.S, Customs and Border Protection has set up a "trusted traveler" program designed to speed up reentry to the country for frequent fliers. By agreeing to a background check, a traveler can skip the lines waiting to clear Customs and use a kiosk that will scan his or her passport, allowing the person to breeze through. Read more details of the program here. 

UPDATE: The latest on Southwest's use of unapproved parts on some of its airplnes: The FAA gave the airline until Dec. 24 to replace all of the parts. Yesterday's post with background is here:

Southwest Airlines has suspended a vendor that supplied it with 737 jet parts that weren't federally approved, and is still talking to the Federal Aviation Administration about keeping planes flying while it replaces the parts. Read more here.

The big push is on to stop drivers headed to Philadelphia International Airport from idling on highway shoulders awaiting cell phone calls from arriving passengers. This story has been hard to miss the last few days, especially since this is the end of the vacation season, there are not a lot of other things going on, and few stories are this easy for the media to cover ... lots of visuals of PennDOT crews putting up new signs telling drivers to go to the park-and-ride lot, troopers issuing tickets.

For those who have missed the recent news, here are The Inquirer's news story from this morning, a column by Karen Heller covering some of the same ground, and Daily News's feature about one of the first motorists ticketed.

Chatter about cell phones -- where you use them around Philadelphia airport and elsewhere, including on airplanes -- is all the rage right now. If you've visited this blog before you know where I stand: Motorists arriving at PHL should not be parking on the entrance ramps to use them; cell phone shouldn't be allowed in voice mode on an airline flight; and perhaps talking on them, and certainly texring on them, should be against the law, period.

I posted a commentary Friday (see it just below) on the effort to get drivers to use PHL's designated cell-phone lot on Bartram Avenue. The Inquirer's story about PennDOT putting up new signs warning motorists not to park on the ramps is here. Drivers have a hard time finding the obscure lot if they're not  familiar with the airport area, and lousy signage for years hasn't helped them. Weighing in on the problem today is AAA Mid-Atlantic, the motor club's regional branch, which has campaigned for five years for better signage and is still disappointed by just telling drivers they'll be ticketed, yet the signage is still poor.

But finding a good place to park while waiting for PHL arriving passengers is only a small part of the bigger debate going on  of how cell phones should be used. A good roundup story on an old topic, should talking on phones on airline flights be allowed, was published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today, and you can find that one here. (Don't worry: It's still very unlikely to happen.)

 Also coming, I predict, is a fairly widespread ban on texting while driving and perhaps a ban in some places on all use -- yes, a total prohibition -- on talking and driving. I first reported in January that the National Safety Council wants to see a total ban. The New York Times has a running series on the topic that started earlier this summer. Here's the latest development in that series: Another key safety group endorses a texting-while-driving ban.