The briefing in brief: ICE agents are patrolling Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. The DOT backs off a plan to tie transportation funding to immigration policy. BWI opens a terminal connector with five new gates. EVA Air will fly from Washington/Dulles to Taipei. WestJet backs off nasty new coach configuration after passenger objections. Lufthansa will outfit all its planes with Starlink WiFi. Allegiant will buy Sun Country for $1.5 billion in cash and stock. Chicago seeks cash for naming rights at O'Hare and Midway airports. And much more.

THIS WEEK IN TRUMP TRANSIT POLICY
It is never quiet with the Trump Administration running what passes for U.S. transportation policy. Here's the latest news that may (or may not) affect your life on the road:
        Federal ICE agents will be on the scene at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport for at least three weeks. The agency said it'll patrol passenger bridges and terminals while "checking and verifying documents" of departing and arriving passengers. Local news reports say federal agents already have detained or arrested more than a dozen MSP employees after they cleared TSA security lines.
        The Transportation Department has admitted defeat in its efforts to tie funding to a state's willingness to enforce the Trump Administration immigration policies. The DOT dropped its appeal of a November court decision that blocked it from withholding federal transit funds to states based on immigration issues. More than 20 states had challenged the DOT attempt to stop funding--or even claw back previously allocated funds--if Secretary Duffy decided a state wasn't assisting ICE and/or Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
        A federal judge in Seattle halted another Trump Administration attempt to strip TSA employees of collective bargaining rights. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem first tried the ploy in March. A court stopped it. She tried again (apparently in secret) in September. The Seattle judge ruled that action "plainly" violated the earlier court order and injunction. The TSA granted employees collective bargaining rights in 2011.
        A Washington jury needed just 35 minutes to acquit a man charged with a felony last September for allegedly pointing a laser at Marine One, the helicopter that carries President Trump. The case was brought by Jeanne Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The defendant was a 33-year-old homeless man and his public defenders said the alleged laser pointer actually was a "cat toy keychain."
        Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary called President Trump a "liar" who is "historically wrong" on most geopolitical issues. O'Leary is virtually the only airline boss who has set himself in opposition to Trump. In fairness, however, O'Leary hates any politician who doesn't do what he wants, so … grain of salt.

BWI OPENS TERMINAL CONNECTOR WITH FIVE GATES
Baltimore/Washington International has opened its new Terminal A/B Connector, which, you might guess, connects Terminal A and B. The two-story project--estimated to cost between $400 and $500 million--covers more than 140,000 square feet and includes five departure gates, new restrooms, more food and beverage concessions and a new baggage handling facility. An additional 78,000 square feet of the existing airport was renovated along with the new connector.
        Washington/Dulles gets a new international nonstop later this year. EVA Air of Taiwan says that it'll launch nonstops between IAD and Taipei/Taoyuan International in July. The four weekly flights will be served with Boeing 787-9s configured with 26 business class seatbeds, 28 premium economy seats and 224 coach chairs.

WESTJET BACKS DOWN FROM NASTY SEAT CONFIGURATION
Under pressure from very unhappy flyers who posted embarrassing videos on social media, WestJet says it'll scrap a new seat configuration. The airline was busy reconfiguring coach cabins of some narrowbody aircraft with non-reclining seats pitched with just 28 inches of legroom instead of the carrier's already skimpy 30-inch coach standard. The reconfiguration was all about stuffing a row of six extra seats on planes, but WestJet admitted this week that the new layout "didn't meet the needs of our guests." WestJet says planes that already have the new configuration will be returned to previous standards by removing the extra row of seats.
        Lufthansa says it will configure all of its planes with Starlink WiFi starting later this year. The three-year project won't just affect Lufthansa, however. Lufthansa's other airlines--Swiss, Austrian, Brussels and others--will get Starlink, too. That'll involve a total of about 850 aircraft, Lufthansa says.

BUSINESS TRAVEL NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Las Vegas-based Allegiant Airlines has agreed to buy Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines. The $1.5 billion deal of niche carriers is part cash and part stock and includes debt. Sun Country's boss, Jude Bricker, is a former Allegiant executive. Allegiant claims Sun Country will retain a significant presence at MSP Airport, where it is the primary counterweight to hub carrier Delta Air Lines. Delta currently commands about two-thirds of the traffic into and out of MSP.
        European Sleeper, a private and partially crowd-funded rail service, says it'll launch night trains between Paris and Berlin in March. Routes from Brussels and Amsterdam to Milan are scheduled for June. The company in 2023 launched its first route, from Brussels to Prague with stops in Amsterdam and Berlin. More details on the company's runs are here.
        International tourism to the United States fell by 6% last year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. About 68 million people visited the United States in 2025 compared to 105 million who visited France and 96.5 million who arrived in Spain.

WELCOME TO LOU MALNATI CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL …
In case you thought airports don't have enough corporate branding, Chicago's Department of Aviation may raise funds with a wide range of branding rights at O'Hare and Midway airports. According to a request for information (RFI) published by the city, corporations would be able to slap their names on everything from parking areas to charging stations. The RFI wouldn't bind Chicago to accepting sponsorships, but when was the last time any political entity said no to cash? There are some caveats--the Midway and O'Hare names apparently are sacrosanct, so you really won't be able to fly from an airport named for a deep-dish pizza chain--and some federal guidelines to follow. But the branding future appears limitless. After all, Thermos is based in the suburb of Schaumburg, so it could sponsor water fountains. Isn't Turtle Wax, based in nearby Willowbrook, a natural for the parking lots? And I don't know about you, but I'm not necessarily against waiting out a flight delay at the Crate & Barrel Club.