Page 7 - Tom Aspell News Today

Been stranlded the longest. the volcano blew a new plume of ash over scanndinavia forcing some airports to close. tom aspell joins us live from our london bureau. as these people are getting to their destinations you still have the debate over whether this was an over reaction in the first place. >> reporter: thats right. tamron, the airlines are accusing the authorities of closing the air space too quickly but today british air space is open and europe is running about 90% of its scheduled flig...

Monitoring these rescue efforts. hopefully well have good news coming soon today. thanks. well, in europe, air travel is picking up, but there is still plenty of anger amongst those passengers and airlines hit with billions in losses. nbcs tom aspell is in london this morning. and, tom, i guess its going to be a big fight between some of these european carriers and their home governments because theyre going to be looking far little bit of a handout, arent they? >> reporter: thats right, chuck...

When it was just emerging from recession. the estimate is so far $1.7 billion for the airlines. interestingly enough there is already talk that the airlines asking the government for compensation much like the u.s. government did to its airlines after 9/11 and the symptomages in the states. tamron. >> thank you very much. tom aspell live for us at heathrow airport. stunning words from pope benedict as he speaks in public about the church sex abuse scandal. for the first time ever. the husban...

9/11. alex? >> it has to come from somewhere, be it taxpayers or passengers. okay, tom aspell, thank you very much for that. happening right now, the funeral for a civil rights icon. were going to give you some live pictures right now from memphis, tennessee, where youre looking at the funeral for civil rights leader benjamin hooks. the 85-year-old former lawyer, judge and ncaa director died last week at his home. well let you know if someone significant takes to the pulpit and speaks there. ...

It. and colorado was a vote of 70% to 30% and oregon was 60% to 40%. there is clearly public support for this. but its the reluctance and the resistance from the gun lobby thats kept this loophole open like this. >> well, tom, we greatly appreciate you coming on and i know other parents applaud your efforts for being so strong after the death of your son and being a part of this organization. and we greatly appreciate you coming on and talking with us. thank you. >> youre welcome. thank you. a...

Thank you. >> reporter: okay. after a week of grounded flights planes are in the skies over europe and its bus eight europes busiest airport, heathrow, in london. planes are lined up and taking off and landing but some people are still getting back to britain the old fashioned way. still taking the bus. these stranded tourists are heading home from madrid courtesy of long distance coaches provided by the british government. >> i saw a british flag on one of those little jackets. hey! i wanted ...

Volcano in iceland. planes lining up to take off and land at heathrow airport. the first flight landed yesterday afternoon from canada. the passengers on board certainly were relieved to say the least. >> where did you come from. >> vancouver. first to land. excited beyond belief. there were cheers, clapping. it was wicked, i was high-fiving the guy next to me and loving it. >> tom aspell from london, tom, if all goes well, how long before they clear up the backlog of people still waiting to be ...

The rest of europe, normally 28,000 flights a day in european air space. today about 21,000. all of this is going to cost the airlines -- theyre estimating theyve lost about $1.7 billion so far and they say itll take at least three weeks for things to get back to normal, for those aircraft to get back into their normal patterns, the crews in the right place, and the backlog of passengers to be cleared. theres a lot of recrimination going on about how the european governments waited and kept the ...

But there are many more to come. british airways alone estimates there are 150,000 stranded british passengers all over the world waiting to come home. but europe is up and running, as you say. on a normal day, europe will handle 28,000 flights inside european airspace. today they think they will probably get about 21,000 flying. not quite at capacity yet but the airlines doing the best they can. all the big ones, british, klm, air france, lufthansa all trying to get long hall flights first, to ...

The u.s. treasury, another $1.1 billion to the canadian government. the company says this repayment is a sign that they are on the rebound. earlier this month gm announced it lost $3.4 billion during the second half of 09 but the automaker says it will turn a profit this year. again, they got about $52 billion total from the u.s. government. so still a lot ahead in terms of repayment but they say this is a good sign for gm. right now major airports across europe have planes taking off and land...