Category Archives for Airports.
Security staff in India are being told to smile less. They’re worried about the perception of lax security, in other words security theater, although the agency’s director seems to believe that good security treats passengers poorly.
We’d be much better off with airports that efficiently moved people from their initial location to their gate, and on arrival to their final destination, than with sprawling complexes that are cumbersome to traverse but accommodate more retail.
You can only sell off the airport’s future income stream once. Investing the money is new mega-terminals means not investing the money in things that would actually improve the airport most. As a result these choices mean the New York JFK travel experience will be worse than it otherwise could be.
TSA policy allows you to bring empty shell casings with the primer removed or discharged. So bullets that have been disabled and cannot be fired are fine.
Unless that bullet could keep your drink cold in which case they’re going to confiscate it. Since they have plenty of abandoned drinks at the checkpoint they want their drinks to be cold.
This is an incredible story. Air traffic controller Anthonius Gunawan Agung was working at Palu airport in Indonesia on Saturday when several earthquakes occurred.
The tower evacuated but he stayed behind to ensure Batik Air flight ID 6231 got off the ground. It was a 5:55 p.m. scheduled departure. The captain pushed back 3 minutes early and was cleared for takeoff at 6:02 p.m.
The TSA doesn’t keep us safe. TSA detection rates are likely worse than before the federalization of security. And the only travel experience worse than going through TSA is actually working for TSA.
That’s because the misconduct of senior officials goes unpunished, too. In fact frontline staff who speak out suffer from retaliation, according to a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform report.
The US have a ‘visa waiver’ process which is more or less still a visa. Eligible passengers fill out an ESTA, Electronic System for Travel Authorization, to seek permission to travel.
That form has a question, “Do you seek to engage in or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities, espionage, sabotage, or genocide?”
Conventional wisdom is that you cannot fly in the U.S. with weed. Colorado Springs airport installed amnesty boxes so that passengers could leave their weed rather than break the law (free pot for airport employees).
Now though LAX has posted an official policy that you can bring pot through security at the airport.
Last week I flew to Chicago to have dinner at Kyoten, an omakase sushi restaurant in Logan Square which opened just before Labor Day. This is the new location for Chef Otto Phan whose Kyōten Sushiko has been my favorite restaurant in Austin for the past two years. He’s moved to the Windy City completely, and his new effort is even better than what he was doing in my home town.
I don’t make the decision to fly for a meal lightly, and I don’t make restaurant recommendations unless I’m sure. Everyone I ever recommended Elephant Jumps in Northern Virginia to as truly outstanding Thai food has thanked me for it. And I’ve heard from scores of readers about it over time.
Atlanta airport is the world’s busiest. When you look at the number of flights many of the other busiest airports drop down in the rankings, major international airports often have large widebodies dominating but fewer flights. Atlanta certainly sees its share of widebodies but is also a major domestic hub with narrowbodies and regional jets.
It turns out that Chicago O’Hare isn’t that far behind Atlanta when ranked by number of flights. And each airport’s construction plans tell us that the busiest title may be about the flip in the new few years.
Checked bag fees have gone up, at United to $30, but passengers aren’t getting more for their money. Instead the typical baggage experience is like this — just watching your bags get ignored. For $30 they should receive a private escort!
Now an everyday hero named Ephraim Sibeko is going viral for one man’s fight to keep suitcases straight and undamaged as they’re delivered to passengers.
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 »
