TSA agent wanted on traffic violations – bypasses security at the airport

by Scott Carmichael on

Another of the TSA’s finest was arrested on Friday as she tried to board a Houston bound Continental plane at Newark airport.

Wanda Weems, of Newark New Jersey is a TSA agent, and for reasons unknown to us, she decided that she was too important to deal with things like airport security.

Instead of standing in line like the rest of us, she used her TSA credentials and a staff line to enter the secure area of the airport, which also means her belongings were not screened.

Before the plane was able to take off, she was arrested, where a police investigation showed that she was wanted on traffic warrants.

Because of the security breach, the flight was delayed for over an hour as all the passengers were told to disembark for re-screening.

I’m actually quite impressed with the way the TSA handled this – someone tried to bypass security, and somewhere in the system the authorities were alerted. I’m not sure whether this is just a coincidence, or whether the TSA actually implemented checks to prevent this from happening. Either way, another rotten apple has been removed from the ranks of the TSA.

Delay grounds entire airline for a month

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Delays in Newark are keeping an entire airline on the ground. We’ve seen how a single flight’s delay can have impacts at airlines across the country, but preventing an entire airline from going wheels up … that’s huge.

JetAmerica has had to defer its launch for a month, citing problems getting takeoff slots at Newark Liberty International Airport. This isn’t the first time an airline’s blamed an airport, but it must resonate with the many passengers who have spent too much time at Liberty gates thanks to delays.

Of course, this holdup is costing JetAmerica, the wannabe low-cost carrier, an absolute fortune. So far, it’s had to refund half a million dollars to more than 6,400 passengers, ostensibly because the folks in Newark temporarily clipped its wings.

If JetAmerica ever does really get off the ground, it will offer 34 flights a day, servicing such desirable destinations as Toledo, Lansing and South Bend.

No discounts for rental cars

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There’s still money in rental cars, according to the latest from the New York Times. In May, the average rental rate (airport) for a compact ride was $345.99 for a week – as long as you booked it seven days in advance. That’s an increase of 73 percent from $199.65 in May 2008, according to Abrams Consulting Group, which watches this stuff. As of mid-June, the 2008-to-2009 change was narrower: $210.38 to $347.44 (up 65 percent).

The price increases, it seems, are our own fault. Demand is down 15 percent, which forces the rental car companies to cut their fleets back – ultimately engineering a shortage that pushes up prices. So, if we were renting more cars, they would be cheaper.

One of the side-effects of this dynamic is that cars are staying in the rental fleets longer. Remember when you’d never see a rental car with more than 30,000 miles on it? Well, don’t count on that threshold any more. The average rental car’s age is now up to 11 months – that has to be forever in dog years – as companies try to extract as much value from each ride as possible.

There are a few ways you can find a cheaper rental car, which you can learn after the jump.

Start looking early. If a rental car company isn’t sold out for when you want it (always a possibility), you’ll pay a fortune for the little remaining inventory.

Skip the airport lots. You could wind up paying an extra 30 percent that way. Head into the local city instead – or even better, the ‘burbs. A friend of mine used to manage a rental car location outside Boston and used to tell me just how accommodating they would be: discounts, pickup and drop-off and so on.

Don’t be afraid to upgrade. The last thing you want to do is sink even more money into this endeavor, but a few extra dollars can go a long way, especially if you need to be comfortable on a long road trip.

Want more tips? Read the original article in the New York Times.

Last minute emergency passports no longer welcome in the United States

by Scott Carmichael on

For decades, travelers who were struck by disaster and lost (or forgot) their passport were usually able to have an emergency passport issued by the border police at their airport. I know several people who had their passport stolen a week before a long trip, but were able to have a travel document issued just 2 days before their departure.

The ability to travel to the US on an emergency passport has come to an end due to advances in technology. The United States demands that all passports of visitors arriving on the Visa Waiver Program contain a radio frequency ID chip with their biometric information.

Visitors from non Visa Waiver countries need a visa, and therefor always need a passport, so the ability to travel on an emergency passport never applied to them.

Sadly, nobody has figured out how to embed one of these RFID chips in last minute travel papers, so anyone who loses their passport is now up poop creek without a paddle. Since the US has no intention of creating an exception to their RFID rules, people without a passport will have to go through the process of getting a “real” replacement before they can head towards the United States, and in many cases will have to cancel or delay their travel plans.

The good news is that the United States is the only country that requires an RFID/biometric passport, so travelers heading to other countries will be fine.
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Silicone breast explodes upon landing at Los Angeles airport

by Scott Carmichael on

Here is one you don’t hear every day – exploding breast implants (partially) caused by flying.

Irena D. was on her way from Moscow to Los Angeles on an unnamed airline.

When she boarded the plane, she was not feeling too well, but things really got out of hand when she stepped off the plane and collapsed. Apparently, one of her size F silicone implants had ruptured.

Doctors were quick to point out that the plane may not have been the main reason for the damage, but that the pressure difference could have accelerated an existing defect in the silicone product.

She is out of danger now, but is stuck in bed for at least a week. Doctors explained that she won’t be able to have the breast implant replaced, though I’m not enough of an expert to know why, nor was I aware that a simple defect in a silicone implant could cause it to rupture like this. You really do learn something new every day.

Think Irena D made waves on her flight? Click the images below to see what havoc these girls caused on their flights.


You can find Gadling on Twitter, as well as the most of the Gadling Team: Mike Barish, Kraig Becker, Catherine Bodry, Alison Brick, Scott Carmichael, Justin Glow, Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Hotfelder, Tom Johansmeyer, Jeremy Kressmann, Heather Poole, Jamie Rhein, Annie Scott, Karen Walrond, Kent Wien, Brenda Yun.