New York Times: “The Federal Aviation Administration said the Trump administration’s plans to construct a 259-foot tall arch less than a mile from Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport would likely not pose risks to aviation safety.”

“But evaluators recommended that red, blinking obstruction lights similar to the ones atop the Washington Monument be added to the design — a common measure for large structures that go up near airports.”

Top Democrats blasted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s controversial reality-show-style road trip, with one saying that if she were to do it, it would be “100 percent illegal,” Politico reports.

Said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY): “I don’t like the fact that this ‘Great American [Road Trip]’ reality TV show took days and days of filming. I don’t like the fact that it was paid for by companies that you have to oversee, companies that you work with, and in our jobs that would be pay for play.”

She added: “It would be 100 percent illegal. It would be inappropriate on every level and not tolerated.”

“The exchange between Duffy and Gillibrand, the ranking member of the subcommittee, spiraled into the pair yelling over one another.”

Intelligencer: “What’s stopping you from celebrating America’s 250th birthday by loading your whole family in the car and road-tripping across this great nation? Work obligations? A boss who won’t let you come and go as you please? The fact that gas now costs more than $4.50 a gallon?”

“Or do you just need a little inspiration?”

“Well, don’t worry, Transportation secretary Sean Duffy is here to help! Not by, like, doing anything to lower fuel costs, but by sharing a family road-trip reality TV show he’s been filming over the past seven months.”

“Friday on Fox & Friends, the secretary and his wife, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, revealed that they celebrated the semiquincentennial by traveling the country with their nine children. And they filmed the whole adventure for a reality series called The Great American Road Trip, which launches on YouTube next month.”

“Spirit Airlines is shutting down operations effective immediately, the airline said in a statement early Saturday, after a White House proposal to bail out the beleaguered budget carrier fell through,” the Washington Post reports.

Wall Street Journal: “The Trump administration is nearing a rescue deal for Spirit Airlines.”

“Under the agreement being discussed, the U.S. government would loan the embattled discount carrier as much as $500 million, receiving in return warrants to take a potential significant stake in Spirit.”

New York Times: “Europe could face shortages of jet fuel if ships are not allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz soon, an association of airports warned top European Union officials on Thursday.”

New York Times: “As the Trump administration seeks to fill a national shortage of air traffic controllers, officials are targeting a new talent pool: gamers.”

“The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday is making a recruiting push aimed at avid players of video games, as the agency strives to fill thousands of vacancies that lawmakers have said leave the traveling public less safe. In a new YouTube ad, the agency is using flashy graphics and the promise of six-figure salaries to convince video game enthusiasts to apply their trigger fingers in service of air safety.”

CBS News: “The shortage of TSA officers is still slowing security lines at major airports, where staffing shortages are more severe than the national average, but wait times seemed to be stabilizing Monday.”

“TSA officers were calling out absent at elevated rates Sunday, even as there were signs that part of their back pay over the 45-day partial shutdown was beginning to reach their bank accounts.”

New York Times: “Most of the Transportation Security Administration’s 60,000 workers began receiving back pay on Monday, easing the financial strain that has troubled them since the partial government shutdown began more than six weeks ago.”

“But with the shutdown persisting, the workers don’t know when they’ll be paid next.”

Tom Homan, the Trump administration border czar, said Sunday that although President Trump signed an order to pay Transportation Security Administration workers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will continue to assist “until the airports feel like they are 100%,” CBS News reports.

Said Homan: “Look, we’re going to continue a nice presence there, and until the airports feel like they’re 100%, you know, in a posture where they can do no normal operations.”

“President Trump signed an executive order to pay Transportation Security Administration workers, a White House official said, bypassing a gridlocked Congress after the latest proposal to fund the broader Department of Homeland Security ran aground,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Wall Street Journal: “Several Senate Republicans are pressing the White House to declare a national emergency to free up money to pay Transportation Security Administration agents if lawmakers fail to reach a deal.”

“Invoking the National Emergency Act, the people said, could give the administration flexibility to use unspent government funds to temporarily pay TSA employees. The potential move comes as tens of millions of Americans prepare to travel for spring break, as well as the Easter and Passover holidays, and face long lines due to workers calling out sick.”

CBS News: “An internal watchdog report in the Department of Homeland Security identified serious vulnerabilities in TSA’s screenings at airports nationwide, among them, one created by a change in the shoes-off policy — and the agency has yet to respond five months later.”