News and notes from around the interweb:

• Singapore Airlines will retire 7 of its 19 Airbus A380s along with 8 Boeing 777s and 13 Airbus narrowbodies.

• New American Airlines wheelchair weight limits for regional jets create problems for passengers

• Going back in time with Pyongyang’s austere hotels

• During Hyatt’s earnings call, its CEO suggested that corporate rate deals will likely involve more dynamic pricing going forward rather than fixed rates; that loyalty member stays are down because those are heavily skewed towards business travel; and that as offices go towards more hoteling rather than having everyone in-office there will be more need for hotel meeting space.

• United is bringing back champagne and poured wine to premium cabins and will stop blocking first class seats for flight attendants

• Here’s why helicopters get Native American names like Blackhawk and Apache: 1969 Army Regulation 70-2. (HT: Marginal Revolution)

  AR 70-28 required that Army aircraft had to be named after “Indian terms and names of American Indian tribes and chiefs.” It also directed that tanks would be named after American generals, infantry weapons “would receive names for famous early American pioneers,” and assault weapons would have “fearsome reptile and insect names,” according to the press release.

  Though the regulation has since been rescinded, the tradition for Army helicopters was set.

• Costco selling Alaska Airlines e-gift certificates for 10% off face value