air travel

Stories 321 - 340 | << Prev   Next >>

US OKs Dutch Use of Full Body Scanners

US flights will be scanned with new, modest version within 3 weeks

(Newser) - The Netherlands will immediately begin using full body scanners for flights heading to the US, according to an announcement that comes with a report today on the failed Christmas airline bombing. The US opposed their use previously because of privacy concerns, but the Dutch interior minister says that the Obama...

Debate Rages Over 'Strip Search' Airport Scans

Detroit bomb plot pits security against privacy

(Newser) - Next-generation body scanning devices are coming to more American airports, triggering another heated debate over privacy versus security in the wake of the terror attack on a Detroit flight. Experts say the devices, which can detect objects under clothes, could have stopped the attempted Detroit attack. Critics warn that the...

Tightening Air Security Will Take a Toll

Most options come with costs Congress, or fliers, find unpalatable

(Newser) - The White House is talking tough about airline security after Friday's failed bombing, but many options for tightening up the system are either politically untenable, repugnant to travelers, or both. Josh Gerstein takes a look at a few possibilities, and their likelihood of becoming reality, in Politico .
  • Expand the no-fly
...

Senate Bickers as Storm Bears Down on DC
 Senate Bickers as Storm 
 Bears Down on DC 
Tick ... tICK ... tICK ...
Dec 18, 2009 4:49 PM CST

Senate Bickers as Storm Bears Down on DC

Republicans vow to stall; Reid targets Christmas Eve health care vote

(Newser) - Even as Harry Reid plans for a Christmas Eve vote on the Senate health care bill, Republicans are vowing to stall, and a massive winter storm is roaring northeast from the Gulf of Mexico with Washington directly in its path. " It is our intention not to pass this bill...

Schumer Lands in Hot Water Over 'Bitch' Comment

Flight attendant made him hang up on Harry Reid

(Newser) - Chuck Schumer set off an unfortunate cascade of events Sunday when he bridled at a flight attendant’s request that he turn off his cell phone so a plane could take off and then muttered that she was a “bitch.” As the story circulated around the Beltway, it...

Court Derails British Airways Strike

Ballot authorizing walkout illegal; holiday job action may not proceed

(Newser) - Britain's High Court has granted British Airways an emergency injunction to stop a 12-day strike by its cabin crew over the Christmas and New Year's break. The court today backed BA's claim that the ballot of around 13,000 workers by the Unite labor union was illegal because it included...

Dreamliner's Upgrades Good for Passengers, Too
Dreamliner's Upgrades
Good for Passengers, Too
TRAVEL
Dec 15, 2009 9:56 PM CST

Dreamliner's Upgrades Good for Passengers, Too

Cabin will be more comfortable, less noisy

(Newser) - There’s plenty for airlines to like about Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner (it goes farther, faster, on less fuel), but you might not have heard about the upgrades it holds for passengers. Via the Christian Science Monitor :
  • Windows aren’t just 65% larger, but passengers can adjust the tint from
...

12-Day Strike Will Ground British Airways

 12-Day Strike Will 
 Ground British Airways 
cabin crews OK walkout
Dec 14, 2009 2:40 PM CST

12-Day Strike Will Ground British Airways

10-day walkout by cabin crew over staffing to cost airline $500M

(Newser) - Passengers of struggling British Airways will be struggling themselves this holiday season if a strike by cabin crews announced today goes forward. Should labor and management not reach a deal, the job action would ground flights between Dec. 22 and Jan. 2. The walkout by 12,500 workers over staffing...

Mint Unwittingly Finances Tahiti Trip, and More

Frequent fliers buy dollar coins—at cost—with credit cards

(Newser) - Crafty frequent fliers have racked up thousands of free miles by buying coins from the US Mint on their credit cards, and then taking them right back to the bank. The Mint, which ships free of charge in order to get more in circulation, finally got wise to “large...

Woman Gives Birth on Southwest Flight

Chicago-Salt Lake jet diverted to Denver

(Newser) - A woman gave birth to a baby boy on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City that had to be diverted to Denver. Flight 441 was about 100 miles north of Denver Friday when the unidentified woman went into labor. A doctor and two nurses on board...

'Counterproductive' Offsets Ditched

Green flying schemes salve consciences, not environment

(Newser) - Carbon offsets are becoming big business, but many emissions experts say green travel is too good to be true. Responsible Travel was one of the first travel firms to offer customers the chance to pay extra money to help offset emissions caused by their air miles. But it has now...

Stowaway Mouse Grounds JFK Flight

Passengers forced to switch planes after sighting

(Newser) - A mouse sighting delayed a Delta flight from JFK to London last night, the New York Times reports. Passengers were switched to another plane after the tiny intruder was spotted in the cabin. "Plain and simple, there’s not supposed to be a mouse on the airplane,” an...

Northwest Pilots Were Working on Laptops: NTSB
Northwest Pilots Were Working on Laptops: NTSB
runaway plane
Oct 26, 2009 3:12 PM CDT

Northwest Pilots Were Working on Laptops: NTSB

Captain, first officer deny falling asleep in cockpit

(Newser) - The pilots of the Northwest flight that wandered 150 miles past its destination were working on their personal laptops in the cockpit, a violation of company policy. The two denied falling asleep and could hear the radio when they fell out of communication with ground personnel, they told NTSB investigators...

Pan Am Lives&mdash;in Man's Garage
 Pan Am Lives—in Man's Garage 
GLORY DAYS DEPT.
Oct 26, 2009 11:50 AM CDT

Pan Am Lives—in Man's Garage

Trips to Thailand net vintage headphones and the like for cabin mockup

(Newser) - To Anthony Toth, Pan Am was the epitome of airline class, with its top-notch, martini-pouring first-class service and in-flight music so excellent that the United Airlines employee brought along a tape recorder to record it on trips as a boy. Now that he’s 42 and owns a home, he’...

Northwest Pilot: We Weren't Sleeping
Northwest Pilot:
We Weren't Sleeping
runaway plane
Oct 24, 2009 9:55 AM CDT

Northwest Pilot: We Weren't Sleeping

But he won't offer more details on why they overshot airport

(Newser) - One of the pilots of the infamous Northwest flight that missed the airport says neither he nor his co-pilot were napping. "I can assure you none of us was asleep," says Richard Cole, who gave separate interviews to ABC and the AP. "It was not a serious...

Flight Attendant: 'I Have No Idea' When We're Landing
Flight Attendant: 'I Have No Idea' When We're Landing
runaway plane
Oct 23, 2009 10:42 AM CDT

Flight Attendant: 'I Have No Idea' When We're Landing

Investigation continues into errant Northwest flight

(Newser) - The passengers aboard the Northwest flight that overshot the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles—possibly while the pilots napped—didn't have a clue anything was amiss beyond a nagging sense that the flight was taking a long time. One tells the Star Tribune that he asked about it, and a...

For $249 Annual Fee, United Will Waive Bag Charges

Fee covers two bags per flight, and up to 8 passengers booked at same time

(Newser) - Fly United frequently, or planning to use the airline for the next couple family vacations? For a $249 annual fee, United will waive fees for your first two checked bags—and it covers up to eight people traveling on the same booking. With a $20 charge for the first bag...

Airport Seize Your Stuff? Look for It on eBay

TSA's confiscated items end up being sold via state agencies

(Newser) - From knives to baseball bats to cake-cutters to corkscrews, and including at least one kitchen sink, the Transportation Security Administration confiscates around a million items from air travelers every month, CNN reports. Guns are turned over to law enforcement and shampoo bottles end up in the trash, but the rest...

8 Years On, Critics Call Airport Security 'Theater'

Critics see cockeyed focus on 'pointy objects,' none on real threats

(Newser) - Billions of dollars in spending since 9/11 has given airport security officers plenty of ways to catch terrorists—but are critics right in calling it "security theater"? Take the “millimeter wave whole body imager,” which pinpoint “anomalies” on your person: Sure, it will spot a...

3 Brits Guilty in '06 Plot to Bomb Transatlantic Flights

Planned use of liquid explosives sparked restrictions still in effect

(Newser) - Three British Muslims were convicted today of conspiracy to blow up airplanes with liquid explosives in a failed 2006 plot that led to restrictions on drinks and toiletries on flights, the Times of London reports. Ringleader Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar, and Tanvir Hussain were retried after a jury last...

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