U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta announced continued progress in rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast’s transportation system, including the return of passenger flights to the area and the arrival of the first Department of Transportation ship to aid recovery efforts. “Every day we are making more progress in repairing the transportation systems destroyed by Hurricane Katrina,” Mineta said. Commercial flights began serving the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport today, the first since the airport was severely damaged last Monday. Northwest and Mesa Airlines each flew one round-trip flight between Mississippi’s Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport and Memphis, Tennessee.