News and notes from around the interweb:

• Don’t salute Hitler and grab your pilot’s throat because it will end badly for you.

• Spinning off air traffic control is still on the policy agenda. The government should regulate air traffic control, not manage it directly. Canada is far more efficient than the US, and most of the world has adopted this safety best practice.

  
  Copyright: cylonphoto / 123RF Stock Photo

• On the heels of 7-11 gutting its points program Papa John’s is introducing expiration of points after 6 months of inactivity. (HT: Scott G.)

• Surprisingly the Trump administration is defending the Obama administration’s move to stop prioritizing hiring of college-trained aviation graduates as air traffic controllers of favor of diversity backgrounds needing to be trained from scratch.

  CTI graduates greatly out-perform off-the-street hires in making it all the way to full certification. Since it costs FAA about $250,000 to get a recruit all the way through the process, a high wash-out rate wastes considerable amounts of scarce FAA resources.

• Atlanta mayor handed out six figure jobs at the airport to cronies on his way out the door

• TSA wants to inspect your powders, not just your liquids. If it’s a soda can size powder and they can’t identify it, it gets chucked or you have to check it. My worry is that this is getting added onto screening duties without anything less pressing getting taken off which means it’s harder to focus on threats and more risky items are likely to get through the checkpoint. In the meantime the implementation may cause short term delays.

  “Whenever there are new requirements, there are slowdowns at the checkpoint during the transition period,” said Gary Leff, the author of the aviation blog View from the Wing. “During the week you have more regular travelers who adapt more quickly, then you tend to see slowdowns around the holidays as those who fly less frequently, going on past expectations, find out they are carrying something no longer allowed that triggers secondary inspection, and slows down the line.”

  
  TSA Agents in Charlotte Watch News of the TSA’s Failure to Detect Weapons and Bombs, Instead of Searching for Weapons and Bombs (HT: Tocqueville)

• This woman is complaining Qantas lost her bags and compensation doesn’t cover the cost of what was inside but seriously you should avoid checking $14,000 in designer items in your bags when you fly.