Flight Wisdom

2008 is Here, and we’ll only be able to use it as an opening thought for a few more posts. Many exciting things have happened to our luggage in recent weeks. Let’s talk about the security screening process a bit.

The picture is from the TSA’s SimpliFLY page. The idea, and certainly better than some other [...]

One can be shocked by the repeated stories of woe and disaster…here are some that are not to be believed. Airline complaints in the United States overall are up this year, increasing 47.2% in the first six months of 2007, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In order…the top five complained about U.S. airlines [...]

The Labor Day weekend is upon us…our spin-off blog, The Infrequent Flier, has its travel tips for the holiday season. For us here at Flight Wisdom, we wish you happy travels.

Operators of some CRJ-100, 200, and 440 jets have until Friday to comply with new restrictions issued by the Canadian and US governments. Increasingly [...]

Today in the Sky reports that, unannounced, Delta raised fees on August 1st. Same-day confirmed standby has doubled to $50, the direct booking fee has doubled to $20, their $50 change fee is now a $75 change fee. $75 is now also the charge for redepositing unused frequent-flier miles and for booking frequent flier tickets [...]

Frontier Airlines is expanding its service to Puerto Vallarta with flights from San Jose and Sacramento, beginning December 15th. Service will be operated three times weekly from San Jose, and four from Sacramento, with 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft, operated by Republic Airlines. One of the San Jose flights will be operated by Frontier’s own A319 [...]

Here’s a collection of interesting articles we’ve been sitting on for a while and haven’t yet written about.

PCWorld, in a series of articles, asks about what should a passenger do if a passenger next to you if watching pornography on his laptop? Or passengers not watching movies with headphones? (Credit to the Consumerist for referring [...]

Effective August 4th, cigarette lighters will no longer be banned from aircraft. The change, which applies to disposable butane lighters, and refillable lighters, has been advocated by the TSA, which hopes to devote more time to looking for actual security threats…like bottled water.
People in TSA security lines are already tense, due to the confusing collection [...]

It is a question we often ask ourselves…Perhaps a few bits of info should give you pause…

The body of an Asian male in his 50s was found in the nose gear wheel well of a United 747 yesterday at San Francisco International Airport. Counting the most recent victim, the FAA has tallied 75 stowaway attempts [...]

Our ‘friends’ at the Coalition for Luggage Security are trying to scare us into giving their sponsors money to transport our luggage separately from ourselves. In a recent press release, ‘Travel Fears Proving to be True’, they comment that “in the wake of these events our nation’s airports have stepped up security, but the threat [...]

We don’t appreciate the media reporting airline delays as Flights from Hell. It seems too much hype as opposed to more useful reporting.
Reuters comments that if airlines “want to ensure long-term survival, they say they have no choice but to restrain capacity, fill as many seats as possible and cut costs wherever they can.”
It is [...]

For the first time, this Roundup was written while our editor was sitting at an airport, awaiting a flight. Hmm…perhaps a story on Airport Wifi is in order?

The Coalition for Luggage Security….don’t you love their press releases as much as we do? They reported(and we use the term lightly) on the 13th about a British [...]

Qatar Airways will be launching a national advertising campaign in the United States today, with service to New York on June 26th, and to Washington on July 19th.
Continental Airlines will be moving up the start of Newark to Mumbai service to October 1st due to positive market response to the proposed flights.
Aer Lingus will be [...]

The New York Times offered some advice recently on coping with the TSA liquid and gel ban. As they put it…
SINCE the Transportation Security Administration began cracking down on liquids, gels and aerosols in carry-on luggage last summer, travelers determined not to check their bags have been haunting the trial-size aisles at Wal-Mart, trolling for [...]

Last week, Kip Hawley, the head of the Transportation Security Administration submitted his own post to the people at Aviation Daily on the subject of employee screening and the recent increase in TSA activity in Florida.
You can have a look at the post in full. Here are some highlights and points

Terrorists are adaptive, patient, and [...]

“Do knee-jerk reactions that limit our freedom of expression and travel make us safer?” - Persuasive Games asks, and has created Airport Security, a game that allows you to inspect each passenger and his luggage and remove forbidden items…as the list of forbidden items changes constantly…Try it out here…

USAToday reported on Friday that the TSA is testing whether it can allow people without boarding passes to enter the secure areas at airports. If the test programs at Dallas-Fort Worth and Detroit are considered successful, many airports are fighting for the right to allow others past checkpoints. Thus, those waiting for arrivals would be [...]

The Registered Traveler Program allows travelers to submit biometric information and thus allow them to speed through security lines for a fee. Part of that fee is given to the TSA and the other part to the private industry managing the program.
The TSA’s portion includes a security threat assessment for each applicant and misc. expenses. [...]

As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, Cleveland’s Hopkins Airport had a forty percent increase in passenger travel Wednesday as opposed to a normal weekday. As part of this Thanksgiving rush, the TSA confiscated a dozen baked pies, as pie filling is apparently, unknown to these passengers, a banned substance.
While we are sure many passengers were [...]

As Upgrade: Travel Better reported last week, the TSA reserves the rights to fine you in the event you have prohibited stuff in your carry-on luggage. The agency collected over 1.5 million dollars in fines last year, and considering the increasing security measures implemented at airports and proposed, they may opt to levy more fines. [...]

We are always hunting around the net looking for blogs with interesting articles to bring to our readership. Six Kids and a Full Time Job provided the below TSA Statement of Guidance, sent from the TSA about a recent Jewish religious observance.
“STATEMENT OF GUIDANCE: Succot is a significant religious holiday for Jews. It is 7 [...]

In addition to issues of liquid and gel bans, free speech apparently ends at the security checkpoint. As Upgradetravel reports, an individual seeking to make a statement wrote an inflammatory statement, “Kip Hawley is an idiot” on his clear plastic ziploc bag that he placed his toiletries in.
The statement led to questioning by the police [...]

As reported by the Seattle Times, Seattle-Tacoma Airport has decided not to apply for the government’s Registered Travel Program.
The TSA’s Registered Traveler Program is set to provide expedited security screening for passengers who volunteer biometric and biographic information and successfully complete a security-threat assessment. The information is collected by private organizations licensed by the TSA, [...]

MSNBC reports here on what happens to items confiscated by the TSA. As reported, Pennsylvania is even listing the items on Ebay, although generally they are sold at public auction in bulk.
To view these items on Ebay, the Pennsylvania State Surplus list can be viewed here. The sheer volume of the items shown in these [...]