Posts in the category "TSA":

Here at StuckatTheAirport.com we’re a big fan of free wireless Internet at all airports. Slowly but surely we’re moving in that direction. In July, Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) began offering free Wi-FI to all travelers and now comes word that Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) began offering free Wi-Fi at the beginning of this month (August, 2010).  Hooray!

Hooray! Free Wi-Fi at Toronto International Airport

There’s also some fresh art at John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Santa Ana, California.

Mt. Moran by Steven Gilb at John Wayne Airport

Photographs by Steven Gilb, who has been a contributing photographer for Arizona’s Highway Magazine since the 1970s are on display through September 7, 2010 on the Departure (upper) Level near the security screening checkpoints and on the Arrival (lower) Level near baggage carousels 1 and 4.  See more of Gilb’s photos here.

And through September 20, 2010, look for the collection of paintings depicting the Jazz Age that are on display in the Terminal A Vi Smith Concourse Gallery across from Gates 11 -14.

Don't Eat Joe by Dong Moy Chu Kingman

The exhibition includes work by 12 California artists who explored geometric and angular abstraction during the Post WWII era. See more photos here.

And.. check out these photos by Taryn Simon that were published in the New York Times magazine on July 29, 2010.

Contraband becomes art

The photos – including one of a pitcher of salami – are from a set of more than 1000 photos of prohibited items taken from passengers – or discovered in express mail – over a five day period last year at JFK Airport.  (On-line, you can click on an image to see what’s what.) The photos will be part of an exhibition and a book (now on my wish list, Santa) titled “Contraband.”

You can learn more about this project on the New York Times Lens blog.

Categories: Art, Exhibits, Layover, TSA, Wi-Fi, free Wi-Fi
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Sunday here at StuckatTheAirport.com is Souvenir Sunday – the day we take a look at some of the inexpensive and sometimes wacky souvenirs many of us end up buying when we’re stuck at the airport.

This week’s souvenirs come to us courtesy of Pam Mandel, a lucky Seattle gal who just returned from an adventure in Hawaii. (Am I jealous? No way. I love cold, rainy June days in Seattle. Really…)

(Photo courtesy Pam Mandel)

You can read about Pam’s journey – and see some truly lovely photos – on Pam’s Nerd’s Eye View blog, but I caught up with her – via Twitter – when she was hanging around Honolulu International Airport.

It’s always hard to end a vacation. Especially one in Hawaii. But the Honolulu airport softens the transition with plenty of open spaces, art and history exhibits celebrating Hawaiian culture, and a trio of tranquil cultural gardens – Japanese, Chinese and Hawaiian – that can almost make you forget that you’re at an airport.

(Photo by Harriet Baskas)

But this is Souvenir Sunday – which is all about shopping.  I asked Pam to look around the airport shops for something under $10, “of” Hawaii and, ideally, sort of offbeat.

This pineapple slicer caught her eye – but at $13, it was a bit outside our Souvenir Sunday budget.

(Photo by Pam Mandel)

Plus – hello, TSA – wouldn’t a pineapple slicer need to have something built in – like a blade- that can actually slice a pineapple?

So instead we’re settling on these cute pineapple magnets.  Cute as a button, under $10, and a great choice for this week’s Souvenir Sunday.

Thanks Pam, for sending along these photos!

(Photo by Pam Mandel)

Have you found a great souvenir while you were stuck at the airport? If it’s $10 or under, “of” the city or region and, ideally a bit offbeat, please snap a photo and send it along. It may end up featured on a future edition of Souvenir Sunday.

Categories: Airport shops, Art, Layover, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, TSA
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Getting to the airport, going through the security line, and waiting with a herd of other travelers to board a plane takes all the fun of out of air travel, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t you rather get right to the thrilling part – flying?

For a story that went live on Bing Travel today, I found 10 small airports and flying experiences where you get to skip the TSA routine.  Here are a few photos we didn’t get to use in Easy Flier: 10 Airports that Reduce the Hassle.

For a tiny airport, the New Bedford Regional Airport in Massachusetts offers some surprising options.

(Courtesy Greg Cormier)

The only Ben & Jerry’s ice cream vending machine at an airport is located here, along with the Airport Grille, which has a pretty snazzy logo and, we hear, great food.  Learn about the airport’s candy-blue chairs and the routes-served here.

At the Rotorua Airport in New Zealand, you can usually skip security screening if you’re flying on a regional jet with fewer than 90 passengers. So you can spend your time instead learning about the life of Rotorua-born aviatrix Jean Gardner Batten and getting your picture taken with one of the 10 6-foot tall Maori-style carvings in the terminal.

The Easy Flier slide show has more information about 10 small “no-hassle” airports and flying experiences, including the King County International Airport/Boeing Field in Seattle, the Trail Regional Airport in Trail, British Columbia, which doubles as the clubhouse of a local flying club, and the Lake Hood Seaplane Base in Anchorage, AK.

Have a favorite small “no-hassle” airport? Share details of your find here.

Categories: Air Travel, Airports, Security, TSA
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Late Thursday afternoon  (January 14, 2010) Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano released a(nother) new statement about additional aviation security precautions being rolled out at the nation’s airports.

What will those new precautions entail?

According to Napolitano’s statement, “…Some of these measures include enhanced random screening, additional federal air marshals on certain routes and adding individuals of concern to our terrorist watch list system.”

None of that sounds all that new. But on the ground, says a TSA spokesperson, that means that, depending on what airport you’re in, you might notice “an increase in measures such as…behavioral detection officers and a wider use of tools like explosive trace detection.  Not just at the checkpoint but throughout the airport environment.”

The bottom line, says Napolitano: “…travelers should allot extra time when flying…”

Allotting extra time, of course, means getting to the airport even earlier than you do now.

But even with all these new procedures, it’s a fair bet that your trip through the security checkpoint will go smoothly and you’ll end up just hanging around the airport waiting for your flight.

If you’re at Miami International Airport (MIA) this Saturday, January 16^th, you can spend that extra time watching a fashion show in the Central Terminal (On Departure Level, Terminal G by the $10 Boutique).

The show will last for an hour, from 1:30 to 2:30, and feature women’s, men’s and children’s clothing and accessories from a variety of airport vendors. There will also be sampling of Toblerone chocolate, and a performance by Venezuelan composer, producer and singer Claudio Corsi, who now lives in the Miami area.

Not planning on being at Miami International Airport this Saturday?  If you’re across country at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), you can fritter away a few extra hours playing pinball – for free.

The free pinball machines are part of SFO’s exhibit about the history of pinball that will be on view through April 2010.

Categories: Air Travel, Events, Exhibits, Fashion, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Rules, Security, TSA
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I spent much of the day yesterday writing a column for MSNBC.com about the pros and cons of airport body scanners.

That column, which posts Thursday, January 14^th, 2010, focuses on some of the privacy issues surrounding the “virtual strip search” aspect of these machines.

I didn’t have room for in the story for the comments of airport terminal planner and designer, Pat Askew, from Perkins+Will.

We don’t think of it right away, but Askew points out that these big, expensive body scanner machines will not only change the TSA procedures, but also have an impact on the look and layout of present – and future – airport terminals.

Askew says:

• Body scanning machines take more space, especially width-wise, than do the current magnetometers (or walk-through metal detectors).  It’s already hard to find space in existing terminals for all the necessary equipment they needs to be there;
• Processing rates are greater with body scanners than with metal detectors. This means longer lines, more machines – and more required space;
• Explosive detection devices for carry-ons will soon be required. This equipment will be smaller, but similar to the technology currently used for checked luggage. It will replace the current x-ray machines used to examine carry-ons and operate in much the same way, but may be larger and slower….and need more space.

So next time you’re Stuck at the Airport, take a good look around. That great piece of public art in the terminal may soon need to make way for a hulking piece of security equipment.

Categories: Architecture, Security, TSA, Terrorism
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