Travel Roundup: Inspectors Back Off MGM Mirage CityCenter, Air France Replaces Sensors, Jacksonville Hotel's Razing and More
Clark County building inspectors told to back off CityCenter project -- Clark County building inspectors were told to use verbal warnings and communications rather than write up violations at MGM Mirage's CityCenter project. Previously, inspectors failed to notice serious structural flaws at the Harmon Hotel, part of the CityCenter project, which caused MGM Mirage to cap the tower at half of its size. [Source: Las Vegas Sun]
Air France replaces air speed sensors on entire fleet of Airbus jets -- Air France replaced air speed sensors on its entire fleet of Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft, after facing pressure from pilots. The pilots believed the devices were part of the reason for the crash of Flight 447. So far, investigators have focused on the the aircraft's external speed monitors, or Pitot tubes, which may have iced over and gave false readings. Before the accident, Air France had begun replacing the tubes but not on the plane that crashed. [Source: Associated Press]
Jacksonville, Fla. Park View Inn to be razed -- Downtown Jacksonville, Fla.'s 43-year-old Park View Inn may be torn down this summer. Once it was only place to stay in downtown Jacksonville, but now it's overrun by homeless people and a magnet for weeds and trash. Arson damaged the hotel and also injured three firefighters in 2005. The hotel, owned by Jacksonville Hospitality Holding Inc., has garnered more than $113,000 in fines since last year and, according to the city, its owners aren't fixing its multitude of problems. Now the city is proposing to demolish it. [Source: Florida Times-Union]
Qatar Airways orders 24 Airbus jets -- Qatar Airways ordered 24 jets from the Airbus A320 series for $1.9 billion at the Paris Air Show. Akbar al-Baker, Qatar Airways chief executive, announced the order for the planes, also saying he would get delivery of the first two jets before the end of the year. Qatar Airways flies to 80 destinations worldwide. [Source: Associated Press]