TSA
EXPECT FULL PLANES FOR THANKSGIVING FLIGHTS
Airlines expect planes to be full during this Thanksgiving holiday travel season with 90 percent of the seats on each plane occupied. The busiest travel days will be Sunday Nov. 25 and Monday Nov. 26, as folks scramble to return for work from visits with family and friends. To prepare for your journey; review TSA traveler information and security procedures, pack light and check in online before heading to the airport. You should be at the airport at least 90 minutes prior to your flight departure. (USAToday.com, Nov. 8)
TSA REPLACES X-RAY SCANNERS AT SOME MAJOR AIRPORTS
The Transportation Security Administration has swapped out controversial X-ray body scanners with supposedly safer machines at several major airports. The new scanners, which rely on low-energy, cellphone-like radio waves, have been installed in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Orlando and San Francisco. The millimeter-wave scanners use a computer program to detect potential threats and display “a generic cartoon image” of a traveler’s body, while the X-ray machines have generated criticism due to radiation exposure and privacy concerns resulting from the “naked” outline of a person’s body that TSA screeners see. Pro Publica, 10/19/12
TRAVEL NEWS
United launched the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) PreCheck program at O’Hare International Airport, Terminal 1. TSA PreCheck is a new pre-screening initiative which allows customers to volunteer information about themselves to expedite their screening experience. Eligible United customers traveling through Terminal 1 at O’Hare are allowed to leave their shoes, light outerwear and belts on, keep their laptops and leave 3-1-1 compliant liquids and gels in their carry-ons. This should ease their check-in experience. (Unitedcontinentalholdings.com, June 27)
Emirates Airline is embarking on a major expansion of its route network with three additional destinations to be launched in the next six months, on top of the 12 new routes already introduced this year. On November 1, Emirates will launch four weekly flights to Adelaide, rising to a daily service from February 1, 2013. Adelaide will be the airline’s fifth destination in Australia which is currently served with 70 flights per week. The airline’s current twice-daily service to Perth will grow to 19 weekly flights from December 1, becoming a triple daily operation on March 1 next year. (Eturbonews.com, July 4)
TRAVEL NEWS
Delta Air Lines pilots voted to accept a new contract which took effect on July 1, raising pilot pay by an average of 4 percent. Under the terms of this deal, another pay hike of 8.5 percent takes effect at the start of next year, followed by 3 percent raises in 2014 and 2015. (AINonline.com, July 2)
The Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program can speed you through airport security checkpoints by placing you in special lines and skipping the removal of jackets and shoes and the screening of your liquids and laptop. Trusted travelers will be randomly selected to undergo the full screening occasionally but will be placed at the front of the line when this occurs. (Foxnews.com, July 2)
TSA NEWS
The summer travel season is here and the Transportation Security Administration wants travelers to know the following; The TSA Contact Center number 866-289-9673 is now staffed Mon.-Fri. 8am to 11pm ET, weekends and holidays 9am to 8pm. Modified screening procedures are in place for children 12 and under and for seniors 75 and older, they can keep their shoes on. Use the MyTSA app to find out if specific items are permitted and get packing tips. Remember to review and follow the TSA, 3-1-1 rules for liquids in carry-on bags. As many 3.4 oz. or less, containers of liquids packed in one clear, quart-sized, zip-top bag and one per person. (USAToday.com, May 23)
AIRLINE NEWS
Delta Air Lines plans to offer its Detroit to Paris flights year round starting June 1. Previously Delta intended to only offer this service seasonally, June through August. (USAToday.com, May 8 )
Virgin America may go public sometime next year if market conditions keep trending up and the carrier continues its healthy economic growth. British billionaire, Richard Branson, holding a controlling interest in the airline and founding partners are contemplating an initial public offering. (LATimes.com, May 4)
One million passengers have been screened through the Pre-Check program operated by the TSA thus far and the agency considers this as huge success. Pre-Check grants expedited screening upon check-in at certain airports, to frequent, known travelers, who have voluntarily given personal information. (TheHill.com, May 3)
NEW AUTOMATED DOCUMENT SCREENING
The TSA is testing an automated ID and boarding pass check system at Washington, Dulles and George Bush Intercontinental Airports. These machines verify numerous acceptable forms of valid IDs such as; driver’s licenses, tribal IDs and passports, by scanning bar codes much like the self-checkout machines in supermarkets. TSA is counting on this technology to detect fraudulent documents more efficiently than people and help to move passengers through check-in lines more quickly. (USAToday.com, April 16)
TSA EXPANDS BEHAVIOR DETECTION PROGRAM
TSA has expanded their behavior detection pilot program to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. The program involves TSA agents questioning and engaging travelers at checkpoints to determine if additional screening is warranted. This program was first tested in August at Boston Logan and is now being considered for further expansion. A majority of the passengers at the pilot airport checkpoints experience a casual greeting conversation with a behavior detection officer as they pass through travel document verification. Based on traveler responses to the casual conversation, transportation security officers employ specialized behavioral analysis techniques to determine if a traveler should be referred for additional screening at the checkpoint. Data gathered from Boston showed an increase in the rate of detection of high-risk passengers, but additional data is required to understand if the trend seen in the Boston data is statistically significant and replicable at other airports. (BusinessTravelNews.com, Nov. 7)
TSA TESTS PRE-CHECK
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began testing its voluntary passenger pre-screening initiative with a small traveler population at four U.S. airports; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Dallas/Fort Worth International and Miami International airports. TSA will use pre-screening techniques to make intelligence-based risk assessments of domestic passengers who voluntarily participate in the PreCheck program. More Info
HIGH-TECH BODY SCANNERS IN NYC AIRPORTS
Newark Liberty International Airport became the first New York area airport to install body scanning technology to replace a system that has been criticized for invading privacy. The technology was rolled out in July. The new system uses a screen that displays a gray silhouette of a generic body. The screen is placed at security checkpoints in a spot where both the traveler and security agent can see it. Under the previous system, the images of travelers’ bodies were displayed in a separate room where a TSA officer would radio in at the checkpoint that the traveler was carrying an item that needed to be checked. The new system speeds up the process by using yellow boxes to display the exact locations of the offending item. (USAToday.com, Sept. 5)
