ATLANTA – Bomb threats against two U.S. airline flights on Saturday prompted North American air defense fighter planes to scramble to accompany them to their destination in Atlanta, an airport spokesman said.

The planes landed safely at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, no bombs were found and the airport had returned to normal operations, said airport spokesman Reese McCranie.

Threats against Delta Air Lines Flight 1156, coming from Portland, Oregon, and Southwest Airlines Flight 2492, from Milwaukee, had been deemed credible, McCranie said.

Several media outlets reported that a Twitter user going by the name Zortic wrote of planting bombs on the two planes, stating in a message to a Delta Twitter account, “I have a bomb on one of your planes, but I forgot which one when I left the airport. Can you help me find it?” Those tweets have since been deleted.

Neither the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the investigation, nor the airport confirmed the source of the threats.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled fighter jets from McEntire Joint National Guard Base in South Carolina, said NORAD spokesman Preston Schlachter. A pair of fighter jets accompanied each of the aircraft as it landed, he said.

Southwest said in a statement that 86 passengers were aboard its flight, and that they were being rescreened.

The incident comes five days after bomb threats were made against two other Delta flights. One was arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from San Francisco, and another was departing the New York airport for Tel Aviv.

ATLANTA, Jan. 24 (UPI) — Two airplanes at the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, from Delta Airlines and Southwest Airlines, are being searched after a bomb threat on Saturday.

Stephen Emmett, a spokesman for the FBI, told the New York Times the threats were credible. Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the planes to the airport.

Parts of the Atlanta International Airport have been shut down while the threat is assessed.

The bomb threat was received via Twitter, and Southwest says “customers and the aircraft are being rescreened.”

The airport is the world’s busiest by passenger traffic and by number of landings and take-offs.

UPDATE: No bombs have been found on the planes, and the FBI will be searching for the person who made the threat.

NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) –

The FBI is investigating what it calls a credible bomb threat made against a Delta Airlines flight Saturday traveling from Portland to Atlanta and one made in reference to a Southwest Airlines plane going from Minneapolis to Atlanta. Both planes have now been cleared and deemed safe but it caused a tense few hours for travelers.

At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, a bomb squad and dog unit met both planes after they were escorted in by military aircraft.

Rachel Gontowski, who was traveling from Atlanta to New Orleans, says, “They were just taking people off one by one.”

Authorities say the threats were made on Twitter, with one reading, “A bomb will be detonated at a random time of my choosing. Strongly recommend you don’t try anything stupid.”

Southwest flight 2492 was already scheduled to stop in Atlanta once it left Minneapolis. Then it was to continue on to New Orleans. Passengers booked on the flight from Atlanta say they initially didn’t know about the threat while at the airport, but they quickly figured out what was going on.

“All the information we got was through social media basically,” said Victor Tavares.

Some were too scared to board. Vanessa Roggia explains, “The plane was less than half-full. There were tons of empty seats, a lot of people at the Atlanta airport were like there’s no way I’m getting on this flight. A lot of people left.”

Although it still bore the same flight number, the airlines switched out the planes. The one the threat was made against still sits in Atlanta. The FBI says both the Southwest plane and Delta aircraft have been cleared and did not have any explosives on board.

After landing in New Orleans, passenger Troy Williams said, “I’m glad to be here safe. I’m glad they caught that, acted on it.”

Now, the investigation into who sent the threatening tweets is underway.

Copyright 2015 WVUE. All rights reserved.

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Delta Airlines said Monday night that a bomb threat involving Delta Flight 468 caused two of its planes tied to the same number to be deplaned and searched at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, ABC News reported Monday.

“Earlier this evening, another airline received a threat regarding Delta Flight 468. Delta currently operates two aircraft under that specific flight number — San Francisco to New York-JFK which is currently on the ground at New York-JFK and New York-JFK to Tel Aviv, currently in the boarding process,” Delta said in a statement.

“Proper security procedures are being followed for both aircraft. Delta has passed this information along to federal authorities.”

The plane that had come in from San Francisco was a Boeing 757 with 171 passengers, and the one slated to fly to Tel Aviv, Israel, was a Boeing 777 with 215 passengers.

Passengers were bussed from the tarmac to the terminal while the planes were searched.

Last Updated Jan 19, 2015 11:03 PM EST

NEW YORK – An alleged bomb threat at JFK Airport spurred a large police response Monday evening.

CBS New York reported alarms went off inside the airport, signifying a security alert around 8:15 p.m., EDT. Officials said somone had phoned in a bomb threat to a Delta Airlines flight landing at JFK, which had come in from San Francisco.

Delta reported that another airline received the threat regarding Delta 468. The flight number belongs to two flights – one from San Francisco to JFK, which was the landing flight that prompted the emergency response, and another from JFK to Tel Aviv that was in the boarding process late Monday.

All of the passengers were taken off of the aircraft and the plane was removed to a remote section of the airport.

Investigators boarded the plane along with bomb sniffing dogs and equipment to determine if the bomb threat was credible.

Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo says the Boeing 757 was evacuated and taken to a remote part of the runway where it was swept and found to have no explosives. No injuries were reported.

The incident comes just a day after two commercial airliners nearly collided at JFK. The near-miss happened when a Caribbean Airlines flight crossed in front of a fully-loaded JetBlue flight that was going near full-speed for takeoff.

An all-clear has been given after a suspected bomb threat on a Delta Airlines flight that departed from San Francisco International Airport and landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Monday, a spokesman said.

Delta Airlines flight 468 departed from SFO and landed at JFK Airport around 7:40 p.m. EST, which is 4:40 p.m. PST, according to Jon Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

About 200 passengers on the plane had boarded off, he said.

A K-9 search was conducted on the aircraft and baggage before the all-clear was given as of 10:21 p.m. EST, which is 7:21 p.m. PST, Pentangelo said.

Pentangelo did not know the source of the alleged threat, which remains under investigation, he said.

Port Authority spokesman Ron Marsico said the plane was cleared without incident.

The plane had departed from SFO shortly before noon today and was scheduled to depart from New York for Tel Aviv, Isarel, an airport duty manager said.

No further details were immediately available.

A request for comment from Delta Airlines was not immediately returned this evening.

Copyright © 2015 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

If there was any doubt that lower oil prices were a gift to the nation’s big airlines, just check out the latest results and outlook from Delta.

Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in a statement that lower fuel prices should save the company more than $2 billion this year.

The airline is already doing well. Delta reported a fourth-quarter profit, excluding one-time charges, that topped expectations Tuesday.

Shares of Delta rose over 3% in early trading on the news.

The forecast for Delta looks even sunnier. Delta promised strong profit margins for the first quarter and predicted earnings growth in the double digits for the full year.

Delta, along with other airlines, were among the top performers on Wall Street last year thanks largely to lower fuel costs. The stock gained nearly 70% in 2014.

Southwest, which will report earnings on Thursday, soared about 120% last year, making it the top performer in the SP 500. Its shares rose on Tuesday morning as well.

So did the stocks of rivals United Continental, American, JetBlue and Alaska Air. Those four airlines will also report their latest results in the coming days.

Shares of smaller airlines Spirit and recent IPO Virgin America also gained altitude on Tuesday.

But while the sudden plunge in fuel costs is sure to help the airlines for the rest of the year, Delta did take a hit in the fourth quarter as a result of how fast they fell.

The airline technically reported a loss due mostly to a $1.2 billion charge it took to adjust for the cost of fuel-hedging contracts that had been set up in anticipation of higher energy prices.

Most airlines use such hedges so they don’t get caught off guard by a big spike in fuel costs.

Still, it appears that investors are more excited about the possibility of cheaper fuel in the future than about the hedging mishap.

Lower energy prices also mean that consumers and business travelers are more willing to fly as well. To that end, Delta said that its revenues were up nearly 6% in the fourth quarter.

Passenger revenue in the United States surged nearly 11%, a clear sign that Americans are taking to the friendly skies in droves.

But the increase in Delta’s overall sales was higher than the increase in passenger traffic and capacity. That shows that Delta and other airlines are also doing well thanks to a litany of surcharges that travelers are now forced to pay.

So it will be interesting to see if lower fuel prices eventually lead to lower fares now that the airlines are raking in big profits.

An all-clear has been given after a suspected bomb threat on a Delta Airlines flight that departed from San Francisco International Airport and landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Monday, a spokesman said.

Delta Airlines flight 468 departed from SFO and landed at JFK Airport around 7:40 p.m. EST, which is 4:40 p.m. PST, according to Jon Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

About 200 passengers on the plane had boarded off, he said.

A K-9 search was conducted on the aircraft and baggage before the all-clear was given as of 10:21 p.m. EST, which is 7:21 p.m. PST, Pentangelo said.

Pentangelo did not know the source of the alleged threat, which remains under investigation, he said.

Port Authority spokesman Ron Marsico said the plane was cleared without incident.

The plane had departed from SFO shortly before noon today and was scheduled to depart from New York for Tel Aviv, Isarel, an airport duty manager said.

No further details were immediately available.

A request for comment from Delta Airlines was not immediately returned this evening.

Copyright © 2015 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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Passengers on a Delta Airlines flight out of San Francisco International Airport and bound for Tel Aviv got a scare Monday when a bomb threat — which turned out to be unfounded — was called into the airline’s headquarters.

The plane, Delta Airlines Flight 468, landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York at 7:40 p.m. eastern time, where about 200 passengers got off the plane. A K-9 search of the airplane was conducted and no bomb was found.

The plane had departed from SFO shortly before noon Monday and was scheduled to depart from New York for Tel Aviv, an airport duty manager said.

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The source of the threat is still under investigation, according to Jon Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The plane was still in the air at the time of the threat. When it landed in New York passengers were ordered to leave everything on the plane, including their carry-on bags, according to NBC 4 New York. Passenger Austen Holman told NBC said the captain didn’t announce what was happening until the plane had landed. He said the the captain calmly told passengers: “’We have some bad news. There’s been a threat on this plane.’”

“Everyone was like, ‘What does that mean?’” she told NBC. “For the most part, everyone remained pretty calm.”