The petition cites incidents where they claim religious men and even a single mother and baby were insulted, and in some cases were asked to deplane for “security reasons.” 

As of Wednesday, a little more than 100 people had signed the petition.

Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here

Denver Weather Summary: 42 degrees

Continue Reading

Last week, the Denver District Attorney’s Office dropped the charge against Collins, and on March 15, delivered a notice of claim in the matter — a required predicate to a potential lawsuit. Addressed to Denver Manager of Safety Troy Riggs and Denver City Attorney Kristin Bronson, the letter that introduces the document states in part that “the precise amount of damages cannot be currently calculated, but Andrew Collins suffered trauma and economic damages that would justify an award of more than a million dollars.”

According to Silverman, Collins is “a great guy and did nothing wrong. It’s not a crime to be naked in your hotel room in Denver.”

Adds Collins, who was suspended by United shortly after his bust and has yet to be reinstated, “For me not to be able to do what I love to do and trained to do for so many years has been hard. It’s been like living in purgatory.”

As Silverman tells the story: “There were thunderstorms on September 19, so the flight Andy was piloting was diverted to Colorado Springs. The people in Denver waiting for the next flight had a different pilot take over, and Andy was transported to Denver at night and United put him up in the DIA Westin, where he was assigned room 1017.”

This was Collins’s first stay at the airport hotel. “Usually they send him to hotels further down Peña [Boulevard] or downtown,” Silverman points out. “But they sent him to the Westin because he was going to deadhead to Council Bluffs, Iowa, the next day, and this way, he would have a chance to get some sleep.”

The next morning, he continues, Collins “opened the curtains to let in some light and watch the planes take off. He was going to take a shower when he got a call from another pilot, who talked to him about the election.” At the time, Collins was a candidate to lead the United Airlines pilot union, which Silverman characterizes as “a prestigious and lucrative position.”

Collins “was really absorbed in the phone call, and he had no idea that people inside the terminal were looking at him,” Silverman states. “He had no way of realizing it. And then, all of a sudden, there’s banging on the door and it’s the Denver police.

“Rather than giving him a chance to do anything, they immediately handcuffed him,” Silverman says. “Now, the police can avoid a warrant if they have exigent circumstances, like if someone had been beating up someone else in the room. But the only allegation, as it turned out, was that there was a naked man in the window. Somehow the police got it in their minds that there may have been some masturbation, but while they were hauling him out of the room, the sergeant got a call from other police officers, who said there was no evidence of masturbation. But they said, ‘We’ll figure that out later,’ and off to jail they went for two days and two nights of a horrible experience before Andy could be bonded out and see a judge.”

Here’s video from the incident, captured by the body camera of Officer Karl Coleman, who went to the room with Sergeant Kimberly Pfannkuch. By the way, a 2007 Denver Post story reports that Coleman was the subject of at least fifty investigations between January 1997, when he joined the department, and September 2006, and 21 violations were sustained. He also earned a suspension without pay after pleading guilty to drunk driving following a 2002 crash.

According to Silverman, at a hearing last week, “Coleman claimed under oath that he entered room 1017 because he had the consent of Captain Collins. But if you watch the video, you can hear Officer Coleman loudly command, ‘Sir, we are coming in with or without your permission, so open the door.’ Now, ‘consent’ is a pretty common term for laypeople to understand — and lawful consent is knowing and voluntary, without coercion or threat. The officer could have just knocked on the door and said, ‘Sir, some people are seeing you in the window,’ and then monitor it with people on the plaza to see if the activity would stop. But both these officers testified that they thought being naked in a window constituted a crime of indecent exposure. And they were way wrong.”

As such, Silverman maintains, “the prosecutors realized that the case had a whole bunch of problems. After all, before the hearing began, the prosecutors stipulated that nobody saw any evidence of masturbation or sexual stimulation of any kind, and that the distance was so great that they were not going to ask any witness to make an identification of my client.”

The Denver DA’s office subsequently moved to dismiss the charge, much to Collins’s relief. “It was a great day for me and my family,” he says. “It was a lot better than two days earlier or, for that matter, six months ago.”

Collins stresses that “my attorney, my family and me, we didn’t want any publicity for this, and we didn’t have any for probably two months into the process. But then somebody contacted somebody and it ended up in the Denver Post. Because of the fascination with airlines and such, I suppose, it quickly became an international news story. And that was difficult, to say the least.”

For one thing, Collins was suspended from flying and had to drop out of the race to head the pilots’ union. “Unfortunately, union politics are probably not much different from national or state politics,” he allows. “It can be a pretty rough road. My credibility was questioned. I had been unjustly arrested and had a mug shot taken. When this happened, it was only three weeks before the election, and somebody paid to get a copy of the mug shot and passed it around at an election meeting, most likely to ensure that I wouldn’t be a viable candidate. So I felt I had no other choice, after working so hard, than to pull my candidacy.”

This was distressing enough — but the effect the media attention had on Collins’s family was even more devastating, he reveals: “Two of my boys were at the same Air Force base out in West Virginia, and they had to deal with jokes from people who outrank them and questions about their father. ‘What was he doing naked? Does he do this often?’ — those types of things.”

In addition, he says, “my wife, who is a thirty-year flight attendant for United Airlines, was subject to all of those sorts of issues when she went to work. The flight attendants fly with the pilots, and it was a well-known story. She had to deal with a lot of comments from people.”

Moreover, he confirms, “I’m still suspended. I think the union is working with them for my return, but I’m not sure where they are in the process, so I can’t really talk about it. But it’s hard to say how things would have panned out without all the media. It wasn’t until the media got the story that United was forced to make a statement about this.”

If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.

SHOW ME HOW

Newsletters

SUCCESS!

You have successfully signed up for your selected newsletter(s) – please keep an eye on your mailbox, we’re movin’ in!

For his part, Silverman is still mulling over the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Denver and, perhaps, the Westin, for not tinting the windows of room 1017. Silverman actually stayed in the room after being hired by Collins, and says that at certain times of the morning, the sunlight hitting the window gives the illusion of privacy even as it exposes the room’s occupants to the possibility of being seen by people in the terminal, as his client was. However, he divulges, “We are most concerned about [the hotel’s] employees so blithely assisting DPD’s violation of its customer’s constitutional rights.”

Because of the city’s response, Silverman contends, “Andy Collins went from being a highly respected United Airlines pilot with decades of experience to the guy who was naked in his room at the DIA Westin. It’s been humiliating and disturbing for him. But thank goodness the criminal case is over and he can get on with his life.”

“I certainly feel like I’ve been harmed in this process,” Collins says. “But now, all I want to do is get back to normal — to get on an airplane and do my job. I’m good at my job. I’ve been at United for 22 years and have been flying for commercial airlines for 26 years. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

In response to an inquiry from Westword regarding the case, Kelli Christiansen, communications director for Denver’s Department of Safety, emailed this response: “As you know, we do not comment on pending legal matters.”

Update at 8:30 a.m. March 19: This post has been updated to include a statement by the communications director for Denver’s Department of Safety and additional information about Officer Karl Coleman.

By Celeste Bott

Law360 (March 18, 2019, 6:47 PM EDT) — United Airlines customers urged an Illinois federal judge Friday to deny the airline’s bid to dismiss their lawsuit alleging the carrier violated Illinois’ consumer fraud law by collecting kickbacks on sales…

By Race Results Weekly, with LetsRun.com analysis at bottom
(c) 2019 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

NEW YORK (17-Mar) — Belay Tilahun pulled off a surprise win in the United Airlines NYC Half here today, taking the lead only in the final kilometer to grab the men’s title.  Tilahun, who was entered by a local club and started just behind the invited pro athletes, was clocked in 1:02:10. There was no such drama on the women’s side, where world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei won by a full minute after a solo effort over the second half of the race.

This was the 14th running of the event, which featured a hilly, challenging point-to-point course from Brooklyn’s Prospect Park to Manhattan’s Central Park, finishing in the same spot as the TCS New York City Marathon. More than 25,000 runners competed in the 13.1-mile/21.1-kilometer race.

Belay Tilahun of Ethiopia winning the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half in 1:02:10 (photo by New York Road Runners; used with permission)

Tilahun, a 23-year-old Ethiopian who lives and trains in Addis Ababa, worked his way through the field, outlasting Daniel Mesfun of Eritrea in the final stretch on a cold and sunny morning. Temperatures were barely above freezing (35F/2C) as the race began, with Americans Paul Chelimo and Parker Stinson making brief attempts to control the pace in the opening two miles/3 kilometers.

Mesfun, who set a personal best 1:01:13 to win the Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon in Tempe, Arizona, in January, bolted to the front just past two miles and continued to lengthen his gap on the field. He hit 5-K in 14:43 and by 10-K (29:09), he was eight seconds ahead of Chelimo, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist in the 5000 meters who was making his half marathon debut. Tilahun had moved into third by 10-K (29:22) and was soon running with Chelimo.

At 15-K Mesfun (43:49) still had a lead of more than 20 seconds and appeared on his way to a comfortable victory. But over the final miles in Central Park, Tilahun suddenly surged into view, and with Mesfun clearly fading, seized his opportunity. Mesfun’s lead was down to just two seconds at 20-K (58:53) and he could not respond moments later when Tilahun came flying by. The Ethiopian broke the tape in 1:02:10, with Mesfun (1:02:16) just ahead of the fast-closing Chelimo (1:02:19).

“When I came here I was confident that I had it in me to win,” Tilahun said through an interpreter. “Starting from about 15-K I was using everything I had, and I thought with about two kilometers to go I could catch him.” Though he has impressive credentials– including a 27:11.83 PR for the 10,000 meters from 2016 and a win at the São Silvestre Road Race 15-K in São Paulo, Brazil, last New Year’s Eve– Tilahun did not come to the start line as part of the invited pro field. He wore bib 1163.

Tilahun’s ring

Chelimo experienced a series of weather-related travel delays on his journey from his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He arrived in New York City in the early morning hours of Saturday, but remained determined to score a win in his debut. “I think I’m very fit, but the New York Half is no joke,” he said. “I’m used to the track [and this course was] just up and down and up and down, the terrain was hilly, flat, hilly, so I didn’t have that turnover.” Coming off the highest mileage of his career, he was using the event to improve his strength for the track, where he hopes to race the 5000/10,000 double at this year’s IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Olympic marathoner Jared Ward finished fourth in 1:02:33, leading a wave of American runners as the next seven finishers across the line, including Noah Droddy (fifth in 1:02:39) and Brogan Austin (sixth in 1:02:41). Defending champ Ben True finished 10th in 1:02:56.

LRC analysis following the women’s recap.

Top 10 Men

Joyciline Jepkosgei winning the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half in 1:10:07 (photo by New York Road Runners; used with permission)

The professional invited women, who had a 12-minute head start on the rest of the field, ran a conservative pace in the early kilometers in Brooklyn, just under 6 minutes for the first mile and a comfortable 17:31 for the opening 5-K. In the fifth mile/8th kilometer, as the runners crossed the Manhattan Bridge between boroughs, Jepkosgei, Kenyan compatriot Mary Ngugi, and defending champion Buze Diriba of Ethiopia began to surge. Kenyan Edna Kiplagat, Americans Emma Bates, Des Linden, and Kellyn Taylor maintained contact until the sixth mile/10 kilometer, when Jepkosgei, who holds the half marathon world record (1:04:51 in Valencia, Spain, in 2017), made a decisive move. She passed 10-K in 33:51 and continued to drop the pace through 15-K (49:55), with the chase pack (now down to Diriba, Ngugi, Bates, and Linden) nearly 40 seconds behind.

Jepkosgei cruised through Central Park, hitting 20-K in 1:06:28 before breaking the tape in 1:10:07. Ngugi out-sprinted Diriba for second, with both women clocked in 1:11:07. Bates (1:11:13), who had maintained contact with the African pair through 20-K, pulled away from Linden (1:11:22) for fourth.

“I didn’t think I would be running by myself like that,” admitted Jepkosgei, who will make her long-awaited marathon debut in Hamburg, Germany, on April 28. “But when I started to maintain the pace there was nobody behind me, so I decided to go on my own. I did not want to chase anyone, I was running my own race.”

Bates, who won the USATF marathon championship last December, achieved her goal to be the top American finisher in New York. “I wanted to shoot for that spot and try to pick off as many people as I could,” said the Boise State grad, who trains in solitary in the mountains in Idaho. “The last 800 meters I just had nothing left. [Ngugi and Diriba] just have that extra kick in the end so there was no keeping up with them. But I’m proud of my effort and I ran pretty even pace.”

Many athletes in the field were using the race as preparation for a spring marathon. That includes Linden, who last year became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985 and will seek to defend her title on April 15. She came to New York hoping to test her competitive gears on a course that presents similar challenges to Boston. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a performance in New York that was as good as this in terms of just really competing and engaging,” she said. “I probably got over my head a few times and then recovered just fine. I was able to cover some things, fall back, regroup, remain in contact after that. That’s what racing is all about. Really good practice and a good positive step for the last couple of weeks heading into Boston.”

The winners each took home $20,000, with prize money going down to 12th place as part of a $115,000 race purse.

LRC analysis below results.

A pair of Americans won the wheelchair divisions, with Daniel Romanchuk taking the men’s race in 51:35, ending the four-year winning streak of South African Ernst van Dyk (52:08), who edged American Aaron Pike for second. On the women’s side, Tatyana McFadden (57:18) finished nine seconds clear of defending champ Manuela Schar of Switzerland.

LRC note: Race Results Weekly is owned by David Monti, the elite athlete coordinator for the NY Road Runners.

LetsRun.com analysis

Don’t let the bib fool you: Tilahun is a pro

Tilahun may have not been in the elite field, but he is an accomplished professional athlete. He said he won $25,000 at the São Silvestre Road Race on New Year’s Eve. He won the Bix 7-miler last year and $12,500 there. He was 4th at the Ethiopian track trials for 10,000m in 2016.

The men’s field this year in NYC was pretty weak, and it looked designed to give Chelimo the shot at the win. In a day and age where sub-60 half marathons are pretty common, there were no runners in the field with a sub-60:00 PR. There were only two runners in the field with a sub-61 half marathon. One of them was 42-year-old Abdi Abdirahman (1:03:15 today) and the other Evans Cheruiyot, who only ran 1:09:54. So we like the fact a guy like Tilahun just showed up and won it. Technically Tilahun runs for the West Side Runners (a local NYC club), but we don’t see any NYRR races for him.

Joyciline Jepkosgei to make marathon debut in Hamburg, will try and make Kenyan team for Worlds at 10,000m

Runner-up Mary Ngugi (also known as Mary Wacera) was until this year the US all-comers record holder in the half marathon, but Jepkosgei showed why she is the fastest half marathoner ever in the world. Jepkosgei ran away from the field with ease. She will make her marathon debut in Hamburg next month.

Jepkosgei is the best non-marathon women’s road runner ever as she has the fastest times ever at 5,000 (en route to a 10k), 10k, and the half marathon. She set seven road world records in 2017. She did say she would try to make the Kenyan team for Worlds at 10,000m this year (she has run 29:43 on the roads).

Paul Chelimo using the half to get ready for 5,000/10,000m double at Worlds

Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo’s half debut didn’t result in the win he wanted, but he was pleased with the effort. Afterwards, he said he wants to do the 5,000/10,000m double at Worlds and had some interesting comments about the 5,000 being dropped from the Diamond League and the new qualifying system for the Olympics. We’ve got all of that in a separate article here.

Emma Bates keeps running well, new Olympic qualifying procedures may cause her to SKIP World Champs in marathon

Emma Bates won the US Marathon Champs in December in 2:28:18. Today, she finished ahead of Des Linden as the top American in 1:11:13.  Bates was happy with her run saying, “I’m very pleased. The goal was top American if possible. I’m proud of my effort.” Up next for her is the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. Bates is not planning on doing a spring marathon, and initially was considering doing the IAAF World Championships in the marathon. However, with USATF’s announcement Friday that it would put emphasis on time rather than world ranking in selecting the US team for Worlds, Bates may now not do the World Championships and focus on doing a fast World Marathon Major where should could get an automatic Olympic qualifier by finishing in the top 10 or running sub-2:29:30.

She said, “The whole Olympic standard definitely throws a weird wrench into it [my fall plans to do Worlds]. Maybe [I’ll do] a fall marathon. I was hoping to maybe run the World Championships if I get selected. Now, who knows what the plan will be. Maybe a Berlin or Chicago, a fast race possibly. Making top 10 at Worlds would be ideal, but you never know with Doha being so hot [so it makes more sense to go run Berlin or Chicago where you can also get a time qualifier].”

Des Linden Says All Going Well in Build-up to Defending in Boston, Says if Current Olympic Rules Were in Place She May Have Gone in a Different Direction in Her Career

Linden is getting ready to defend her Boston Marathon crown next month and was fifth in 1:11:22.

She said, “It was a lot of un. I don’t think I’ve ever had a performance in New York like that was as good as this in terms of competing and engaging. I probably got in over my head a few times and then recovered just fine. It’s a good positive step heading into Boston.”

This is Linden’s first Boston build-up under coach Walt Drenth and she said, “It’s been different. Everything’s different. I feel a little bit fresher. I feel like I have the lifetime mileage and I can sacrifice the big mileage weeks.”

Linden was asked about the new USATF qualifying procedures for the Olympics (which makes it more likely the top 3 at the marathon Trials may not make the team, especially on the men’s side). She said, “It’s kind of a mess. It’s a little bit frustrating for a lot of athletes. Obviously for our Trials it takes a lot of the excitement out of it. For me personally it doesn’t change my day. I got to get a time, I want to be top 10 at majors. I want to be top 3 [at the Trials]. I look at it like that. But I’ve been on both sides of it. In 2008, I thought I had an outside shot of making the team. I thought I could finish in the top 3 and I thought I could run 2:32. If that [option to make the team] hadn’t been on the table, maybe I go in a different direction in my career… There’s a lot to consider… On the women’s side you have to be thinking under 2:30 to make the team even on a hilly course.”

Jared Ward Says Being Dad to Baby #4 Has Caused More Treadmill Running, Says He Wasn’t Consulted about New Qualifying Procedures for Olympics

Jared Ward finished fourth today, 14 seconds behind Paul Chelimo. Fourth was a fitting place to finish as his wife gave birth to baby #4 seven weeks ago and as a result Ward has been doing more training on a treadmill (up to 30 or 40 miles a week), so he can watch the other kids and give his wife a bit of a break.

He said his Boston prep is going well.

When asked how the new qualifying procedures for the Olympics announced by USATF to LetsRun.com would affect him he said, “It’s going to be different. For those that don’t want to worry about it, you choose a marathon and you hit the standard. Fortunately for us there are a number of major marathons in America and an opporunity to get one of those auto times by finishing in the top 10, and I imagine we see a lot of US athletes take advantage of that.”

When asked by LRC if he thought a solution to protect the sanctity of the Olympics Trials would be for the IAAF to make a rule that the top 3 at the Japanese and US Olympic Trials equals automatic selection he said, “Yes. I don’t know where you draw the line in exceptions, but I do think it makes sense in countries that are going to have more than three athletes who are going to hit the standard [in an event] and when there’s media opportunities for a chance to showcase our sport with a trials it would be nice if they preserved that as a viable option. So yes but I don’t know the answer to those. I’m glad I don’t have to make those decisions.”

More: LRC Paul Chelimo Wants to Do 5,000/10,000m Double at Worlds, Speaks Out Against Olympic Qualifying Changes

EMBED More Videos

From pre-race, through the official finish – get your on demand look at runners crossing the finish line in the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half.

NEW YORK, New York (WABC) — Thousands of participants were off and running Sunday in the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half.

The 14th running of the race took more than 25,000 runners on a 13.1-mile park-to-park tour from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

The race starts in Prospect Park and passes through iconic New York City landmarks, including Grand Army Plaza, the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal and Times Square.

Runners end the race near the iconic TCS New York City Marathon finish line in Central Park.

The men’s winner was Ethiopia’s Belay Tilahun, while Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei won in the women’s division.

The 24-year-old Tilahun completed the course in 1:02:10, overtaking Eritrea’s Daniel Mesfun, who led for the majority of the race but finished six seconds behind.

Jepkosgei, the world record-holder in the half marathon, won her first-ever solo race in the United States in 1:10:07. Mary Ngugi, also of Kenya, finished one minute later in second.

Daniel Romanchuk and Tatyana McFadden, both of the United States, won the wheelchair divisions.

The event featured a star-studded professional athlete field with nine Olympians and nine Paralympians, including all four defending champions in Ben True (USA), Buze Diriba (ETH), Ernst van Dyk (RSA), and Manuela Schr (SUI), along with 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden (USA) and Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo (USA) who made his much-anticipated debut at the half-marathon distance.

In addition to the professional athletes and 25,000 citizen runners, nearly 1,000 youth runners participated in 1200-meter heats through Times Square in the Rising New York Road Runners race at the United Airlines NYC Half.

NYRR is celebrating 20 years of providing free youth running programs, serving nearly 250,000 youth across the country annually through Rising New York Road Runners.

Watch the United Airlines NYC Half Highlight Show:

———-
* More New York City news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

Expansion on existing routes—such as London to Denver, added a year ago—is less risky. “We served London from all of our hubs except Denver,” Quayle says. “So I know the prevailing fare.”

Gupta, 35, used the same process when deciding to add a daily flight from Bismarck to Chicago, which started last June. “We know that on Bismarck to Denver, we get these fares . . . and we know American flies it, so we have some historical data available there.”

The analysis then expands to include a range of financial, operational and other considerations.

“We look at profitability, passenger makeup, what kinds of destinations we can serve via Chicago, and what share will we cannibalize on our existing flights?” Gupta says. “You have opportunity cost: If you’re flying one route, you’re not flying another.”

Airport characteristics also come into play. Gate availability constraints and aircraft movement restrictions limit options in places like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Newark, while midcontinent hubs allow more flexibility, Gupta says.

Over the past two years, United added 28 routes from Chicago, where it operates about 650 flights a day, its busiest airport.

“We have to determine whether adding frequency (to an existing route) or adding a new market is better,” Gupta says. “That’s where strategy comes in: What are we trying to do in Houston, Chicago and Denver?”

Even if all other factors line up, United can’t add a destination unless it has enough of the right kind of planes available to serve the route. “The plane has to be the right size and in the right location,” Gupta says.

The decision to start a route today can be dictated by what aircraft was ordered several years ago. When United wanted to launch a route between San Francisco and Tahiti, it needed a Boeing 787-8. One became available when United took delivery of a larger 787-9 that replaced the 787-8 it was using on an existing route.

“A new 787-9 comes in, and it can fly Munich to San Francisco—that frees up the older 787-8, and we can start a new route,” Quayle says.

Having the right plane doesn’t always mean you can fly it where you want to go. To add Houston to Sydney, one of the longest nonstop flights in the world at nearly 8,600 miles, much of it over water, United needed special government certification to fly on one engine for up to 240 minutes in case of emergency, nearly double the industry standard.

Other routes might require permission from countries such as Russia or China to fly over their territory. “We work with our government affairs team, who coordinates with FAA, DOT and the State Department,” Quayle says.

NETWORK RULES

Eventually, it comes back to the map.

“The network drives almost everything—gates, access to facilities, de-icing equipment and manpower,” Gupta says. “We need pilots, flight attendants and technicians, or we can’t fly.”

The network matters in another crucial way. When United added a flight from Los Angeles to Missoula, Mont., last year, planners also were looking at its Denver hub, which United already serves from Missoula. United figured that enough L.A. passengers bound for Denver would be willing to connect through Missoula in return for a lower fare than they would pay for nonstop service. From Denver, United can fly passengers on to 60 other domestic destinations. Therefore, route planners estimated the L.A.-Missoula flight would be 80 percent full, making it profitable.

“It’s kind of mind-boggling,” Gupta says. “When we look at it, it’s about combining the fares: How much does it cost us to fly that passenger? It’s not just how much is it to fly that segment?”

With all those variables, planners look at far more routes than they can add.

“For every route we announce, we’re analyzing 10 or 20 routes behind it,” Quayle says, declining to name the also-rans. “Maybe we didn’t think the market was big enough, or we didn’t have the right aircraft or the slots for arrival or departure.”

Still, it doesn’t always work. United canceled service from O’Hare to Champaign after a year because demand didn’t meet expectations. United dropped a Los Angeles-to-Singapore flight just as quickly. “We were going to be the only carrier flying nonstop from L.A. to Singapore,” Quayle recalls. “It was a great idea: The market was huge, it was a premium market.”

It also was crowded with Asian carriers flying much larger planes on connecting routes. “They can discount like crazy and charge $200 round-trip. We didn’t think they’d do what they did.”

United replaced the route with a second flight from San Francisco to Singapore. “These are $150 million to $200 million planes, so you can’t be wrong too often,” Quayle says. “If you’re wrong a lot, you’re not going to be in this job too long.”

MANHATTAN, New York City (WABC) — As Vanessa Diservio prepares for the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon, she’s not only running for herself — but also to set an example for her students.

The physical education teacher at New York City’s Hudson High School was instrumental in introducing the Rising New York Road Runners program to her students just over two years ago, and since then, she’s seen the program — and the teens — flourish.

“It’s been contagious,” she said. “Students from all grades, all backgrounds, doesn’t matter. They all just want to come out and run.”

And her work ethic has rubbed off on her students.

“This program, it pushes me because I think about the people here that are trying really hard,” Rising NYRR member Vivily Hailey said. “And my teacher herself, she works a lot for this program. And I feel like I owe that to all these people that care so much to give my all as much as I do.”

It’s also helping some students come out of their shells.

“I was a little shy, but now I feel like I fit in, like I finally found where I fit in,” Brandon Francis said. “And it’s exercising. I like exercising, so it’s the best of both worlds.”

Diservio noticed the impact.

“His confidence level is through the roof,” she said. “He’s engaged in classes. He feels more comfortable to contribute in other classes besides phys ed. He’s made friends.”

Diservio is being joined on the half-marathon course by one of her students. Adama Samake is running the 13.1-miles race for the first time, thanks to her support, advice and encouragement.

“She’ll sometimes tell me, ‘Oh, you can do anything if you put your mind to it,'” he said. “So it was always like, that moment, every time I’m about to race, I think about it. Like, ‘Oh, you can do it. You can do it.’ I just put everything out of my mind and just push through it.”

Diservio is proud of his progress.

“He was like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,'” she said. “And I said, ‘There’s no reason why you can’t. Give me one reason why you can’t do it.’ And he said, ‘the money.’ And I said, ‘We’ll take care of that.’ ‘Sneakers.’ ‘We’ll take car of that for you.’ And once he said yes, he’s dedicated his free time, his weekends, his early mornings, to running and training.”

The two will begin the half together, and Diservio said she’ll try to keep up with him for as long as she can — as both are hoping to motivate others.

“I’m trying to inspire the kids that are my age or younger to get running,” he said. “Especially with the New York Road Runners.”

And the long term inspiration could change lives.

“I think that if they can see that, ‘I can run 13 miles,’ you know, then what’s to stop them at their age,” Diservio said.

The United Airlines NYC Half Marathon is this Sunday, March 17. Our coverage begins on Eyewitness News at 6 a.m., with live reports along the route.

Our race coverage begins at 7:10 a.m., streaming live at abc7ny.com. Then stay tuned for the highlights show on Channel 7 at 1 p.m.

CLICK HERE for more information on the race.

———-
* More New York City news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube

(Reuters) – Air Canada and United Airlines on Friday became the first major carriers in North America to warn of negative impacts on business due to the grounding of Boeing Co’s 737 MAX planes.