[Updated 12/31: The Transportation Security Administration dropped the subpoenas! Good! Read more here. ] The past day or so has been rough on two bloggers – Steve Frischling (Flying with Fish) and Chris Elliott (Elliott.org). Each posted a leaked copy of a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) memo about the new security rules rolled out in […]
Last week’s fizzled Christmas Day terrorist attack on Delta/NW Flight #253 from Amsterdam to Detroit ignited a wave of new security measures at airports and on airplanes. Airport and airline spokespeople and TSA officials say domestic passengers will likely notice some heightened security procedures, such as explosive-sniffing dogs and added law enforcement presence at many […]
Yesterday I had the great honor of joining more than 60 kids from Spokane, Washington on a quick trip to the North Pole. We flew, of course. On a special Alaska Airlines flight. And for most of those kids it was their first time going to the airport, the first time flying on a plane, […]
Like many travelers, the infamous, eccentric, libertarian-leaning magicians known as Penn & Teller have a gripe with airport security. Not with the people who work for the TSA, but with the idea OF the TSA. And while the average traveler can just complain about the security checkpoint experience, Penn & Teller make it part of […]
Last week I joined a group of Seattle airport TSA workers for a two-day class in what I thought was going to be all about patience. But patience was just a tiny part of it. Here’s a link to the Well Mannered Traveler column I wrote for MSNBC.com about the experience. In the meantime, here’s […]
I spent two long and truly educational days last week attending a TSA training course. My report on the class will show up in my in Well-Mannered Traveler column on MSNBC.com this Thursday, but this post in the TSA’s Evolution of Security blog reminded me of one of the break-out sessions in the class. (Guess […]
[Updated 12/31: The Transportation Security Administration dropped the subpoenas! Good! Read more here. ] The past day or so has been rough on two bloggers – Steve Frischling (Flying with Fish) and Chris Elliott (Elliott.org). Each posted a leaked copy of a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) memo about the new security rules rolled out in […]
Last week’s fizzled Christmas Day terrorist attack on Delta/NW Flight #253 from Amsterdam to Detroit ignited a wave of new security measures at airports and on airplanes. Airport and airline spokespeople and TSA officials say domestic passengers will likely notice some heightened security procedures, such as explosive-sniffing dogs and added law enforcement presence at many […]
Yesterday I had the great honor of joining more than 60 kids from Spokane, Washington on a quick trip to the North Pole. We flew, of course. On a special Alaska Airlines flight. And for most of those kids it was their first time going to the airport, the first time flying on a plane, […]
Like many travelers, the infamous, eccentric, libertarian-leaning magicians known as Penn & Teller have a gripe with airport security. Not with the people who work for the TSA, but with the idea OF the TSA. And while the average traveler can just complain about the security checkpoint experience, Penn & Teller make it part of […]
Last week I joined a group of Seattle airport TSA workers for a two-day class in what I thought was going to be all about patience. But patience was just a tiny part of it. Here’s a link to the Well Mannered Traveler column I wrote for MSNBC.com about the experience. In the meantime, here’s […]
I spent two long and truly educational days last week attending a TSA training course. My report on the class will show up in my in Well-Mannered Traveler column on MSNBC.com this Thursday, but this post in the TSA’s Evolution of Security blog reminded me of one of the break-out sessions in the class. (Guess […]
Given how stressed we all get over air travel these days, it’s easier than ever for even the most well-mannered traveler to do or say something that gets them in hot water at the airport. But sometimes a mishap or a meltdown can boil over into a potential or actual federal offense. So it’s a […]
Shifting rules and over-zealous staffers can trip up even the most checkpoint-savvy traveler. (Flip-flops on or off? Is mascara a liquid or a gel?) But it may not be the TSA you have to worry about; watch out for other travelers. So far in 2008, the TSA has discovered 519 guns – many of them […]
Every dog has its day. For Pino, that day is Friday. Pino, the oldest of the 500 working dogs in the TSA’s National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program, will be retiring on Friday after 10 years and 11 months of service to the airport K-9 team at Lambert-St.Louis International Airport (STL). During her career, the […]