Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia promised the United Nations it would add 200,000 barrels of oil to its daily output. Nevertheless, oil prices hit $139.89 a barrel this morning before falling back to $134.86.

On June 22, an 'Oil Price Summit' will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

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Yesterday, I wrote about Eric Longabardi's piece on former FAA safety inspector Darrin Wargacki, recently fired from his job.

Wargacki says he reported unsafe pilot training procedures at PHI Inc. — one of the largest helicopter transport companies in America — and was fired for blowing the whistle.

The FAA says Wargacki simply lacked the people skills required for the job of aviation safety inspector.

Longabardi just informed me that a PHI Helicopter went down on Monday, killing four people. From the Houston Chronicle:

Shortly after picking up a patient in Huntsville, a medical helicopter tore through pine trees and crashed in the Sam Houston National Forest early Sunday, killing all four aboard. 

…The Bell 407 helicopter was part of a fleet operated in Texas and other states by PHI Air Medical, a Lafayette, La.-based company that employed the crew. 

The Associated Press reports that rescue crews "struggled to find the wreckage in the dense Sam Houston National Forest" and that the "cause was being investigated."

(photo credit: Robert Dibrell, Houston Chronicle)

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In Collision Course: Fired from the FAA, investigative reporter Eric Longabardi looks into the case of why FAA inspector Darrin Wargacki was fired from his job.

Wargacki says he reported unsafe pilot training procedures at PHI Inc, one of the largest helicopter transport companies in America.

According to Longabardi, the FAA says Wargacki "just didn't have the kind of customer friendly people skills they were looking for in an FA aviation inspector."

PHI transported over a million passengers last year, and reports 600 pilots on its payroll.

"Most of the company’s business is in transport for the oil and gas industry based in the US Gulf-coast and as a major player in hospital medi-vac helicopter operations throughout the US." 

At least two government agencies and a Congressional oversight committee are looking into the real reason as to why Wargacki lost his job.  

(photo credit: The Enterprise Report) 

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The New York Times' Micheline Maynard has an interesting article on what airlines are doing to keep costs down as fuel costs go up, up and away.

"They are power-washing jet engines more often to get rid of grime, carrying less water for the bathroom faucets and toilets, and replacing passenger seats with lighter models."

And interesting analysis:

"'Eight years ago, 15 percent of the price of an airplane ticket went to pay for jet fuel; now, it is 40 percent, according to the Air Transport Association, the industry’s trade group.

If prices stay where they are, the nation’s airlines will collectively spend $61.2 billion this year on jet fuel — more than five times what they spent in 2002, when travel fell sharply after the September 2001 terrorist attacks."

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Former Health Secretary Tommy Thompson spent his last years as a bureaucrat being criticized for his thin efforts to help Ground Zero workers receive appropriate health care.

Now, Thompson is cashing in on the tragedy. The Associated Press reports that Thompson's private company, Logistic Health, has been awarded an $11 million dollar contract to track approximately 5,000 sick Ground Zero workers for the Center For Disease Controls (CDC).

The contract is for one-year of services.   

Ironic.

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A Morgan Stanley report is forecasting oil prices to soon reach $150 a barrel.

How can airlines afford to fly? I asked this question in my column for Pajamas Media last month, when oil hit a record-breaking $135 a barrel and American Airlines announced it would be charging a $15 fee for a passenger's first checked bag ($30 round trip).

A Boeing 767 flying from New York to Los Angeles consumes approximately 9,000 gallons of fuel. 

This morning, I pumped gas here in Los Angeles — now at a record $469.9 a gallon.

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In what's being called a favorably "drastic action," the U.S Air Force's (USAF) highest ranking officials — military and civilian — have been forced to resign over last summer's nuclear blunder. 

In August of 2007, an Air Force crew flew a B-52 bomber across the country — totally unaware that it was transporting six, nuclear-tipped missiles. The incident led to a report revealing that the USAF's handling of nuclear weapons was in drastic need of oversight and review.

An earlier blunder which also contributed to today's shake up — called "The Taiwan Incident" — involved the USAF mistakenly shipping four, ballistic missile warhead fuses to Taiwan. The order was supposed to be for helicopter batteries.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates takes responsibility for the historic move which was announced today at the Pentagon.

Gates said an internal investigation found a common theme in the B-52 and Taiwan incidents: "a decline in the Air Force's nuclear mission focus and performance" and a failure by Air Force leaders to respond effectively.

(Photo: Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael Moseley, left, and Secretary Michael Wynne.)

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Fuel being what is is, the aviation industry is moving from cutting frills to charging fees to grounding planes. 

American is charging $15 for a your first checked bag. Delta is charging $25 for a phone reservation. U.S. Airways has eliminated snacks. Today, United Airlines announced it is grounding 100 of its planes.  

United said current fuel prices created a 'challenge' of more than $3 billion, and said the measures would offset that challenge by 2009, assuming the industry as a whole takes similar actions. 

Bloomberg's Michael Janofsky wonders if weight scales will be next? 

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