A few federal ticket taxes were suspended on July 22nd when U.S. Congress couldn’t find time to vote on them due to another pressing issue that you may have heard about: the debt ceiling.

A slew of consumers had bought plane tickets online or through travel agents and paid those taxes unnecessarily before the expiration date. Delta is the first major carrier to announce that it will refund those dollars to its consumers, according to USA Today.

“Senate Democrats said Monday they hoped to bring a bill to the Senate floor to temporarily reauthorize the FAA and end a partial shutdown that has caused the agency to furlough nearly 4,000 employees and halt airport modernization projects,” the paper reports.Continue reading...

Green marketing is in the spotlight ahead of Earth Day on Thursday; Earth Day's 2010 sponsors include P&G, Siemens, Wells Fargo, UPS, and Philips. [Brandweek | TreeHugger]

Toyota is set to agree to a $16.4 million fine today for not telling U.S. officials about a pedal defect. On Friday, the automaker recalled 600,000 minivans over rust problems, and confirmed safety concerns with its Lexus GX 460 model SUV. [AP | USA Today]

KLM, Lufthansa, and British Airways test flights are giving hope to the millions of passengers grounded by Iceland's volcanic ash. European transport ministers meet today to discuss resuming air travel. Air France, meanwhile, appears to be weathering the disruption. [BBC | NYT | CNN | Businessweek]

American, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways and JetBlue won't charge for carry-on luggage. [AP]

GM took church-goers for a Sunday drive yesterday. [Detroit Free Press]

ESPN seeks to dominate the sports circuit by purchasing NCAA basketball. [Business Insider]Continue reading...