Here are summaries of some interesting air travel news stories from this past week. We have mainly selected articles that deal with air travel delays and air travel and airport issues, with a few additional interesting stories tossed in. You may follow the links if you would like to read the full stories. Topics include: Rats in Orlando Airport, Open Skies for US and Europe, Nipple Ring Incident in Lubbock, Passenger Bill of Rights Rejected, TSA comes to New Orleans, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey makes plans to relieve congestion, and American and Delta are back on schedule.
Dreaded rats cause big airport stink
TravelMole
http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1127502.php?mpnlog=1
Rat stench has been a persistent problem at Orlando International Airport (OIA), top customs officials say. US Customs and Border Protection officials complained to Orlando International Airport officials that passengers and inspectors became "ill" earlier this month -- nearly a week before a satellite security checkpoint was shut down because workers were sickened again by dead-rat odors. The first-floor customs checkpoint for arriving foreign passengers at Airside 1 was shut down temporarily after some agency workers got sick.
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Historic Open Skies agreement has clear
benefits for passengers
TravelMole
http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1127508.php?mpnlog=1
The much-publicized Open Skies Agreement between the US and the European Union starts this week, lifting bilateral restrictions on flights between the two areas.
The agreement allows US airlines to expand nonstop service from their hubs to coveted destinations, particularly those favored by higher-paying business travelers. With Open Skies, we are removing the barriers and restrictions to transatlantic travel, and the consumer will be the real winner, with a greater choice of gateways to European destinations, said Jean-Philippe Perol, US Chairman of the European Travel Commission. European carriers, for now, seem to prefer to add more code share partnerships, according to International Travel Daily News.
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Port Authority To Tackle Airport
Congestion Issue
WCBSTV
http://wcbstv.com/local/Airport.Congestion.Plan.2.685852.html
The Port Authority Board of Commissioners is expected to take a major step toward dealing with airport congestion Thursday. To ease the problem the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is looking a new funding proposal and intends on construction of aircraft departure hold-pads, the extension of various taxiways to reduce bottlenecks and the construction of new taxiways and the reconfiguration of existing taxiways.
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Traveler says she was forced to remove
nipple ring
cnn.com
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/27/nipple.ring.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
A Texas woman who said she was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane called Thursday for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation. "My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on February 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems. Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. "Our security officers are well-trained to screen individuals with body piercings in sensitive areas with dignity and respect while ensuring a high level of security," the agency said in a statement.
The TSA responds that Transportation Security Officers involved properly followed procedures in that incident. However, in the future TSA will inform passengers that they have the option to resolve the alarm through a visual inspection of the article in lieu of removing the item in question. (http://www.tsa.dhs.gov/press/happenings/lubbock.shtm)
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Airport travelers' IDs will get
high-tech screening
New tools used to tighten security
The Times Picayune
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/money-0/1204698118267450.xml&coll=1
Passengers boarding flights at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport will notice a change at the airport's security checkpoint. Instead of being verified by a simple visual scan, passenger identification and boarding passes now will be given the once over by government employees carrying black lights and magnifying loops. The change is the result of the Transportation Security Administration's decision to take over the job of validating passenger identification at the nation's airports. The job had been performed by contract workers hired by the airlines, said Kevin McCarthy, federal security director for the TSA in New Orleans. TSA agents are trained in "detecting behavioral clues and interviewing techniques," he said. The TSA employees are trained to identify each state's holograms and detect attempts at copying them. Despite the additional steps, McCarthy said the change should not result in any long-term delays at the security check-in.
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Appeals court rejects passenger bill of
rights
Law required carriers to provide food,
water, clean toilets to travelers
MSNBC (Associated Press)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23795241/
A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down a state law requiring airlines to give food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck in delayed planes, saying the measure was well-intentioned but stepped on federal authority. The law was passed after thousands of passengers were stranded aboard airplanes for up to 10 hours on several JetBlue Airways flights at Kennedy International Airport on Valentine's Day last year. The court said that while the goals of the law were "laudable" and the circumstances prompting its adoption "deplorable," only the federal government has the authority to pass such regulations. Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, the prime sponsor of New York Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, said in a statement that the ruling "is a disappointment to anyone who has suffered at the hands of airlines that care more about profits than their customers." In a statement, the air transport association said the ruling vindicates its position that airline services are regulated by the federal government and that a "patchwork" of state and local measures would not benefit customers.
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American, Delta schedules back to
normal
Airlines canceled hundreds of fights
for inspections of MD-80s, MD-88s
MSNBC (Associated Press)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23825547/
American Airlines canceled a handful of flights on Friday as it finished up its inspections of wiring bundles on some of its planes, while Delta Air Lines resumed normal service after completing its inspections. Delta Air Lines Inc. completed its inspections Thursday night. Delta said Thursday it would cancel 275 flights, affecting 3 percent of Delta's worldwide flight schedule, to make the re-inspections. At American, inspectors from the airline and the Federal Aviation Administration focused on fixing the spacing between cords used to secure bundles of wires in the auxiliary hydraulic systems of its MD-80 aircraft. The inspections came almost three weeks after the FAA ordered a check of maintenance records at all U.S. airlines following criticism of the agency's handling of missed fuselage inspections at Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. Southwest officials have said they repaired small cracks in the fuselages of six planes last year and four this month.
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Weary of lost luggage, airport
headaches, travelers ship bags ahead
from the Wisconsin State Journal
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/biz/index.php?ntid=278648
As struggling airlines add extra-luggage fees and travelers worry about growing security restrictions, services like Luggage Forward and Luggage Free have emerged as ways to bypass the hassles of checking bags. While typically seen as a luxury, more Americans are using such options for run-of-the-mill trips. Others are simply mailing bags themselves, using the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx Corp. or UPS Inc. The idea behind the luggage delivery services is to make traveling as headache-free as possible. Customers load up their suitcases as usual, with no special packaging needed. A pickup time is scheduled, usually for a two-hour window. If the bags are being sent to a hotel, the concierge will typically call customers to let them know their belongings have arrived. Rates vary depending on the weight, distance and speed of the delivery. For example, sending a large bag (65 pounds) from New York City to San Francisco with a pickup date in five days would cost $149 through Luggage Forward. Last year, airlines lost seven bags for every 1,000 passengers, according to the Department of Transportation.
Until next time - Happy Travels!
-Gus
