US Government Working on Facial Recognition For Boarding International Flights — Or Enter Airline Lounge

by Gary Leff

Apr 24 2017

The administration’s executive order on travel included a lesser-noticed provision fast-tracking border exit controls in addition to the greater attention given to restrictions on who could enter the country.

Once the government has facial recognition database in place, the government’s project head says “it may be used for far more than simply verifying departures” and that it could be used by TSA (for domestic airport security as well) and even shared with airlines “to use facial matching for access to their lounge.”

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When Man Shot Passengers at Baggage Claim in Fort Lauderdale, the Airport Response Was a Giant Cluster

by Gary Leff

Apr 23 2017

On January 6 a mentally ill man (who had previously tried to turn himself in to the FBI) flew from Anchorage to Fort Lauderdale. He checked a bag with his handgun, collected the gun from baggage claim, and after loading it in the restroom proceeded to kill 5 people and wound 6 more before surrendering to police at 1 p.m. in the afternoon.

Though the ‘all clear’ was given six hours later, some people couldn’t get out of the airport until long after midnight. The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel investigated what went wrong with the response

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American’s Flight Attendants Union President Blames His Airline and a Passenger for Today’s Viral Video

by Gary Leff

Apr 22 2017

A video of an altercation between an American Airlines flight attendant and a passenger went viral after the flight attendant reportedly grabbed the passenger’s stroller and nearly hit her baby in the process.

Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Bob Ross, representing flight attendants at the airline, put out a statement. And it’s deplorable.

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