Category Archives for Airports.
TSA is working on three new security systems that reimagine airport checkpoints, investing in technology to screen more passengers effectively using self-service rather than scaling up the number of screeners the government employs. Passengers will start using the first one beginning next month.
Three former United Airlines executives engaged in a bribery scheme involving renovations at Newark airport. They accepted bribes from a maintenance and construction company to secure a restroom renovation project.
In exchange they received renovations to their own homes, electronics and jewelry and total bribes over $1.2 million. They steered the business to the most expensive contractor, who submitted a two page bid in comparison to dozens of pages for competing contractors. Then the employees inflate contract change orders to help the company recoup its bribe expenses.
If you’re a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, a major hub, you’ve seen it all. Or so you thought. Enter the shipment from Hong Kong: 2,536 pink-packaged syringes of vaginal tightening gel. Not just a few samples, but thousands. Do you smile, or seize the packages and prosecute them? Or bring them home for a fun Saturday night? The choice is yours. But choose wisely.
Saturday Night Live spoofed Thanksgiving week travel with their “Thanksgiving Week Airport Parade” which opens, “Good morning from Newark airport, everybody’s third choice.” The parade is sponsored by Hudson News which is amazing:
The U.S. sent the Dutch government a missive reminding them that a decision to ban a U.S. airline was in violation of the E.U.’s Open Skies treaty with the United States. The government said, yeah you’re right sorry.
But now the airport is talking about a work-around.
The blog post explores unconventional strategies for navigating long lines at airport security, particularly when facing the risk of missing a flight, suggesting that in dire circumstances, cutting lines or using guerilla tactics can be justified. It delves into the ethical and practical aspects of these actions, using personal experiences and examples to illustrate situations where bending the usual airport norms might be necessary for catching a flight.
Around 900 Jews from Detroit flew to D.C. to join a protest march against Hamas, seeking return of hostages taken on October 7th. However bus drivers who had been contracted to pick up the group from Washington Dulles airport learned of the purpose of the trip, and reportedly engaged in a sick out, refusing to pick up the group. After scrambling for transportation around 600 people made it, while 300 – stuck on the tarmac for hours – eventually returned home
If you’re trying to travel somewhere without the proper authorization you shouldn’t try to do it from Singapore. And you shouldn’t then try to bribe someone in Singapore to let you do it anyway. And that bribe certainly should be just $50.
The traditional hub-and-spoke model, once dictated by local traffic generating high fares, is being redefined by cities like Charlotte and Atlanta, which have become central nodes for connecting flights. Despite their non-central geographic locations, these hubs thrive by leveraging strategic north-south connections, outperforming traditional expectations and contributing to the evolving dynamics of airline profitability.
The Foshan Shadi airport, located near Guangzhou and Shenzhen, recently gained notoriety on Chinese social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo for being dubbed “the most ghetto airport in China,” with features like handwritten flight information and lack of gender-separated toilets. Despite its reputation, the airport, which serves as a secondary hub for China United Airlines, offers incredibly low flight prices, with tickets to Inner Mongolia priced as low as ¥10 ($1.37).
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
