Ray LaHood

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is raising the bar for the treatment of airline passengers this spring. You'll see more transparency in ticket pricing, better deals for bumped passengers, and reimbursement of luggage fees when checked bags are lost or delayed.

Toyota says complaints by its cars' unintended acceleration have dropped 80% compared to April, , as the world's largest automaker continues to make strides in repairing the nearly 8 million vehicles recalled in the U.S. to over sticky gas pedals and accelerators that get hung up on floor mats.

A House committee continues to press Toyota about what it knew when regarding unintended acceleration in its vehicles. Lawmakers now suspect Toyota of being less than forthcoming about the "new" brake-override feature it's installing.

Though the Transportation chief quickly backed down from his initial advice that owners of recalled cars "stop driving" them, Toyota can only chalk this up as one more disaster. Still, it's scrambling to get cars fixed and will have plenty of explaining to do when it reports earnings this week.

At the auto show in Detroit, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood described "Cash for Clunkers" as "the most wildly successful program ever." The remarks suggest the guzzler trade-in program may not have driven into the sunset. But with a majority of Americans opposing it, a retread may not be the best idea.