Airports

Category Archives for Airports.

China’s Wuhan Airport Has Now Re-Opened

by Gary Leff on April 8, 2020

Apr 08 2020

Wuhan Tianhe International Airport is 16 miles from the city center of Wuhan, capital of the Hubei province. As the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 breakout, it has been shut down since January 23. The airport was disinfected on Friday.

The airport, which is a focus city for China Eastern, China Southern, and Air China, re-opened today. It has historically had non-stop flights to New York, San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Paris, Dubai, Sydney and other destinations in Europe and Asia.

Airport Will Convert To Makeshift Morgue In Preparation For Coronavirus

by Gary Leff on March 28, 2020

Mar 28 2020

A part of Birmingham airport in the U.K. is being converted to a makeshift morgue to initially hold 1500 bodies but with plans to covert to 12,000 as the need arises. Existing storage capacity is expected to be overwhelmed, and staff transferred to the airport facility to handle the volume.

U.S. Immigration N95 Mask Stockpile Won’t Go To Hospitals, Goes To TSA Instead

by Gary Leff on March 27, 2020

Mar 27 2020

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has 1.5 million N95 masks sitting in an Indiana warehouse.

And after discussions about what to do with the masks on Wednesday, it was concluded that “CBP has no plans to offer the masks to hard-hit hospitals, or hand them over to the Federal Emergency Management Agency…” Instead those will be given to the TSA. And CBP will acquire 1.5 million masks to replace those, competing with orders placed by hosptials.

Singapore Bans Short Term Visitors And Transit Passengers

by Gary Leff on March 22, 2020

Mar 22 2020

Singapore is implementing a ban on both short term visitors and transit passengers, starting Monday at 11:59 p.m. local time.

As of this writing Singapore has 432 confirmed cases. The city-state is doing a good job of containing the virus. A concern here is resources, having to identify, monitor and treat incoming cases when their health care system stretches thin.

TSA Screeners Can Go Home, Get Paid For 14 Days At A Time “No Questions Asked”

by Gary Leff on March 20, 2020

Mar 20 2020

TSA screeners are calling out from work by the hundreds, in a challenge that’s expected to get significantly worse, after the agency announced that screeners are now allowed to take paid time off, no questions asked under “weather and safety leave” if they feel at all uncomfortable reporting to work. In fact, it’s expected that thousands of screeners will begin calling out from their jobs.

Expect REAL ID To Be Delayed “Due To Coronavirus”

by Gary Leff on March 18, 2020

Mar 18 2020

The TSA has been saying that starting October 1, 2020 they are only going to accept IDs at security checkpoints that are compliant with a 2005 law that’s been getting kicked down the road for years. There are still a few states that aren’t issuing these IDs, and many people in states that are haven’t replaced their drivers licenses with new ones.

The prospect of turning away passengers from flying en masse never seemed plausible one month before the Presidential election. The October 1, 2020 deadline, which has been pushed off for years, inevitably will be pushed off again.

Now, with coronavirus, we know what excuse the Department of Homeland Security is likely to use.

Airport Immigration Insanity: We’re Cramming Everyone Together Body-To-Body

by Gary Leff on March 15, 2020

Mar 15 2020

The U.S. is limiting international travel and funneling it through a limited set of airports. That’s supposed to allow them to screen passengers better entering the country. Here the government is failing and making things worse.

The virus is already here and spreading. We don’t know how badly because we are keeping out foreign tests. Our solution to that appears to be keeping out foreigners and forcing everyone in close proximity to each other to encourage spread.

You Can Now Bring More Than 3 Ounces Of Hand Sanitizer Through TSA Checkpoints

by Gary Leff on March 14, 2020

Mar 14 2020

The TSA has relaxed its liquid ban to allow up passengers to bring up to 12 ounces of hand sanitizer through security checkpoints, rather than the 3.4 ounces they typically permit.

Of course the larger limit for hand sanitizer calls into question why other liquids remain limited.

LAX Will Allow Taxis – But Not Uber – To Pick Up Curbside Again

by Gary Leff on March 6, 2020

Mar 06 2020

Last fall LAX banned taxis and ridesharing services from picking up passengers curbside. Passengers were bused to an off airport lot where they’d meet their ride. (The lot is actually an easy walk from the Southwest terminal 1.)

Initially after banning curbside pickups chaos ensued but after enlarging the lot and getting better signage the process wound up being merely inconvenient.

How’s This For A Creepy Tweet From TSA?

by Gary Leff on March 4, 2020

Mar 04 2020

The TSA responded to one of my tweets, divulging personal information about me, and it’s a reminder of how much freedom we’ve given up in the name of a false sense of security.