Oakland Airport Security Line
There are a lot of TSA stories out there recently. MMV “underwear” looking technology, have to put your shoes directly on the belt, and now you must use all three of your names when making airline reservations.
Some security measures I understand, but others leave me wondering if they provide real security or just a false sense of security? Ok, is it that much work for me to write out my middle name on my reservations? Or is it that hard for me to put my shoes directly on the xray belt? No, probably not, but I am a frequent traveller and try to pay attention to the newest rules.
Even though the “laptop in a bin”, your “3oz of liquids in a ziploc” and “have your boarding pass out so 2 people can check it” rules have been around a long time, many people still have a hard time understanding the rules. Are changing them frequently going to speed up the security lines? What happens for people that don’t have middle names? Are they going to be security checked?
The government contends these changes will increase security and will reduce mistakes. The three names will limit the mistakes of people being on the “Do Not Fly” list. Opponents worry that fliers will just be losing more privacy and not gaining any new security.
Hopefully this is the last TSA security changes until at least August when I get to blog about them requiring your birth date and gender when booking a flight too.
Image: tigerpaw511
The first Airbus A320 plane assembled in the northern China
The first Chinese-built Airbus A320 passed its flight trial and is planned to be delivered to China’s Sichuan Airlines by the end of June. This is the first Airbus built outside of Europe and there are quite a few more planned. Airbus hopes to be producing four A320’s per month by the end of 2011.
Airbus ressures customers of the planes quality, even though it was built in a different location. “This A320 assembled in China unquestionably demonstrated the same quality and performance as those assembled and delivered in Hamburg or Toulouse,” Fernando Alonso, senior vice president at Airbus, said in a statement.
Many analysts see China as a booming airline market. With more and more people being able to afford to fly, air travel has been taking off (yes, pun intended). China is even attempting to build its own airliners, the ARJ-21.
Source: Reuters Image: CCTV
Southwest Boeing 737 winglet overlooking LA
A 47 year old woman on a Southwest Airline’s flight from Florida to California ran into some trouble texting messaging someone while on her way to her seat.
She states that a flight attendant approached her and “rudely” told her to turn off her phone and buckle up. The woman states she totally complied and turned it off immediately and sat down. She continues saying the flight attendent returned and harassed her 6 more times before leaving the gate, not listening to her showing him that she turned off her phone.
He suposidly came back to her twice more while the plane was on its way to the runway and he decided to throw her off the plane. The flight was then returned to the gate, the woman was arrested, and the flight continued on.
Personally this seems like a bunch of hogwash and someone found a lawyer who likes publicity. First off a flight attendant can’t control what the plane does. The pilot would have to be informed of the situation and make the call to return to the gate. Then police are not going to just arrest this woman if she really did nothing wrong.
Of course Southwest Airlines is not commenting at this time, but I am sure they are looking forward to comment and set the story straight.
Source: Tennessean.com Image: Krobie
Great shot of Ryanair Boeing 737 on its way to Germany.
Ryanair is probably he best known airline for having crazy ideas for making money. From odd advertisements from talks of charging customer to use the lavatories. This new idea is crazy, since Ryanair use to advertise you could avoid the $15 “check in at the counter” fee by checking in (and printing your boarding pass) online at home. Of course if you decide to go the cheaper route and print your boardingpass at home — don’t lose it. That will be a $60 charge.
A lot of people will always ask “how the heck does Ryanair have such cheap prices?” Well I think it is quite obvious how their fares can stay so low. The European Union has been “working with” Ryanair to make sure they have more truthful advertising and more transparent with their fees.
Even though we might complain about baggage fees going up a few bucks, at least us in the US don’t have to deal with these silly and confusing fees.
Source: Wired Image: Andreasmarx
Millimeter wave technology produces whole body images (woman at left, man at right) that reveal what's under your clothes, including Metallic or non-metallic devices and objects are displayed.
Remember those scanners from Total Recall? The kind that could see through your clothes and detect if someone is carrying something they shouldn’t? The future is getting closer and that has a few people worried about privacy.
L3 Communications is testing new Millimeter Wave (MMW) technology scanners at six airports around the country, with up to twenty airports planning to start using MMW technology later this year. Unlike the Total Recall’s “just walk right through” scanners, passengers still must remove jackets, metal items, and shoes and step into a small glass chamber. Sensors take about 3min to read the energy coming off the human body and can detect if there is anything that shouldn’t be on the person.
Even though the faces of passengers are blurred out and the technology does not allow printing or storing in anyway, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that this technology is too intrusive, showing catheters, underwear, and other non-natural items under a person’s cloths. Not to mention that it quite easily shows the curves of the person’s body which can be seen on the image with this blog.
At this point it is being offerred by the TSA as an alternative to a traditional pat-down search. The TSA states that more than 99% of passengers given the choice are choosing the MMW technology, but I wonder if they know what the scan is doing. Passengers might think it is like the “sniffing scanner” which is mostly harmless.
Although the concept of this seems like a smart idea, actually seeing the images produced would make me feel uncomfortable being scanned with a MMW scanner. If you get a pat-down you can see the person and know they are being professional. How does one know what a TSA agent is doing with the images they are seeing via MMW in their “remote location.” Although images cannot be recorded, what stops someone from taking photos of the screen? I love technology and would hate to hinder the evolution of Total Recall type scanners. I think if people are informed what the scan fully entails (ie maybe have an example picture next to the scanners) and are given this as a choice, then I think this technology can work and keep people safe.
Thanks Jessica for the tip!
Source & Image: LiveScience.com
