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Three US Airways employees at Philadelphia International Airport have been fired, and a number of others disciplined, for selling their employer-issued "buddy" passes for a profit on flights between Philadelphia and Tel Aviv, Israel. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia are investigating, US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher said. The three employees fired were a US Airways manager, a fleet service agent, and a customer service agent, Lehmacher said. "Several employees were involved in a fraudulent ticket scheme that involved using employee travel benefits to and from Tel Aviv," he said.

The NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit today against the City of Philadelphia for refusing to accept a billboard bringing attention to the number of prisoners held in the United States. The billboard, which was to be posted at Philadelphia International Airport said: "Welcome to America, home to 5% of the world's people & 25% of the world's prisoners. Let's build a better America together. " The lawsuit, filed in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, claims the city violated the NAACP's First Amendment rights.

Going somewhere this winter? For the price of less than a tank of gas, one airline says it will take you there. Southwest is offering one-way tickets to selected destinations starting at $35. Of course it's during the off-season. That is, it applies to flights Nov. 30 through Dec. 14 and from Jan. 4 through Feb. 15. And the fares won't be valid for travel on Sundays, usually a big day for business travelers. The deeply-discounted fares are on sale until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time Thursday.

It's part of getting passengers, and their bags, on and off planes more efficiently. About 900 US Airways Group flights come and go at Philadelphia International Airport each day, and those planes are serviced by ground equipment, like baggage tugs and catering trucks. To improve getting bags to and from planes, and with less down time for equipment maintenance, US Airways on Friday opened a $22 million ground-service equipment shop, at the west end of the airport in Tinicum Township.

The city may have to sell major assets such as the Philadelphia Gas Works or the airport to deal with the $5 billion hole in the municipal pension fund, according to Sam Katz, chairman of the state board overseeing city finances. "There have to be solutions or [the pension-fund deficit] is going to choke the city," Katz told reporters Tuesday. "When you think that $500 million a year in an operating budget of $3.6 billion goes to pay benefits for services rendered in the past, that's a tough place for a city to be. . . . We're strangling in our own pension juices.

This takes money laundering to a different level. Customs and Border Protection agents at Philadelphia International Airport seized more than $11,000 from a Jamaica-bound passenger on Saturday after he tried to hide the cash, stashing some of it in six boxes of Irish Spring Soap in his luggage, officials said today. There is no limit to how much cash can be brought in, or taken out, of the country, but travelers are required to declare amounts in excess of $10,000. The passenger was released and allowed to depart Saturday after agents returned $200 to him and seized the remaining $11,143 he was carrying.

Southwest Airlines has canceled eight flights to or from Philadelphia International Airport today after the airline grounded part of its fleet for safety inspections. The inspections of about 80 of the airline's Boeing 737-300 jets were ordered over the weekend after a 5-foot tear opened up in the skin of a plane carrying 118 people, forcing it to make an emergency landing at a military base in Arizona. Canceled flights to Philadelphia include: 1654 from Manchester; 730 from Boston; 3320 from Boston; 2088 from Providence.

A $5.3 billion expansion of Philadelphia's airport - which the Nutter administration sees as vital to the region's growth - is being met with concerns from two airlines, and some nearby neighbors in Tinicum Township. Those concerns, presented with support from Delaware County officials and soon-to-be U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan, were expressed clearly Thursday at a City Council committee hearing. US Airways Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. object to costs they will bear to pay for the expansion, and Tinicum residents are fuming over property that will be lost to a portion of the development.

Passengers aboard a US Airways flight bound for Bermuda were delayed for more than 6 hours at Philadelphia International Airport "due to a security concern," said a spokesman for US Airways. According to the FBI, a crew of three baggage handlers was dispatched to load luggage onto Flight 1070. When they arrived at the aircraft, they found a fourth man already there in uniform. They did not recognize him. When they asked the fourth man why he was there, he clambered onto a baggage cart and drove it away.