News notes from around the interweb:

• Freckle Butt Fred’s Big Adventure

  Thank you @AmericanAir @FlyGRFord @DFWAirport & Ontario International airport for an amazing first time experience flying. Thank you to all the flight crews, @TSA, and airport employees for your kindness towards us a miniature service horse team.
  #frecklebutt #miniservicehorse pic.twitter.com/vZ9VSu0Xfk

  — Charlie~Fred~George (@RfroeseRf) February 15, 2020

• Regional carrier Mesa seems to have improved its operating performance which is notable because I just tend to internalize Mesa = Bad. It’s amazing that Jonathan Ornstein still runs things there after all these years.

• Some readers on FlyerTalk have noticed that United has done some re-banking at its Denver hub, so that the earliest morning flights to Denver flow from the West Coast and connect East instead of the other way around. I wrote back in September to expect this for an interesting reason,

  [P]eople on the West Coast get up earlier and are more open to 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. departures, so it makes sense to offer them Eastbound connections through Denver.

  At the same time those early flights haven’t sold as well for United on the East Coast. According to United “people on the West Coast have to get up earlier” because of the east coast business day.

• Didn’t we learn from Airplane! not to eat the fish? American is learning that about the trout in Argentina.

  

• No one can explain why planes stay in the air a bit of an exaggeration, but science is hard.

• A sight to see!

  Video captures impressive Etihad A380 crosswind landing at London Heathrow during Storm Dennis today (Video: speedbirdtv). https://t.co/5JO5x17wSE pic.twitter.com/wxVkhSkxP0

  — Breaking Aviation News (@breakingavnews) February 15, 2020

• I don’t think he is sick.

  Chinese runner in Coronavirus lockdown does 6,250 laps in his living room over 4:48:44 for 31 Miles! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mcsj8jcmvx

  — FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 13, 2020