Paid security lanes to help frequent fliers

by Aaron Hotfelder on

A $100 yearly fee might make the trip through those dreaded security lanes a lot smoother for some travelers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport (full story here). After TSA background checks, fliers would be issued a Clear card, which would allow them to make it through security in just four minutes. The program was first instituted in Orlando, where about 40,000 people have signed up, and it is under serious consideration at Atlanta’s airport.

This seems like a good idea to me, and I’m certain that some frequent fliers would find the $100 fee a small price to pay to ensure faster movement through security. Plus, it would mean there are that many fewer people in the regular security lines, where I’ll be, thinking of how to spend the $100 I’ll have saved by not buying into this program.

I wonder, would anyone like to see this program implemented more fully? Would you pay the $100 to be able to speed through security for a year?

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“We need YOU to land this plane!”

by Aaron Hotfelder on

We’ve all seen a variation of the same scene in movies or on television: an airplane is cruising along at 30,000 feet when, suddenly, the pilot is put out of commission- either due to terrorists, a heart attack, or, most often, snakes. Suddenly, a flight attendant or passenger is called upon to land the plane, aided by the patient voice of someone in a control tower. “See that red lever?” they’ll say. “Let it up gently.” Usually, the de facto pilot has nerves of steel and manages to make a safe, albeit bumpy, landing.

Because movies and television are always completely faithful to reality, and they never exaggerate for dramatic effect, it may seem as if this scene could actually happen in real life. Not so, says Patrick Smith in his newest “Ask the Pilot” column. If there’s a certified pilot sitting next to you, telling you just what to do and when, you might have some fighting chance, says Smith. But in any other circumstances, your future is a little more bleak:

“The chance of success: approximately zero percent. I reckon [you] would be highly fortunate just to locate a microphone switch and figure out how to communicate. Keeping the plane upright would in some ways be the easiest part. It’s the small stuff that presents the greatest challenge: working the radios, dialing in changes to the FMS (flight management system) and autoflight panels, changing speeds and altitudes. Dictating such tasks from afar would be difficult enough. For the hapless passenger pressed into duty, getting them right would be even more challenging.”

Take a look at what you’re up against here.

Airport Cell Phone Waiting Lots

by Iva Skoch on

OK, call me slow (no, go ahead, I’ve gotten worse comments on this site). I only get to an airport every week or so, but I’d wondered what the signs saying “CELL PHONE LOT” meant. These are signs placed way out near the long-term parking lots, far from the airport and usually with an arrow directing traffic off somewhere.

Maybe my confusion has been signs like this one on the right. Maybe because it’s that I always go limo to the airport (just kidding).

Well, I reached the end of my curiosity rope and found out that many airports have set up short term “waiting” parking zones for those picking up travelers. They’re called anything from a “cell phone waiting area” to “cell phone lot” to “stage and go lot.”

The idea is that people (not commercial drivers) wait in these parking lots until called for a pick-up from inside the airport, rather than doing endless circles round the “arrival” pick-up area. They’re usually free for between a half-hour and one hour.

Great idea for those who are prevented from driving and talking at the same time, or those who haven’t discovered the possibility of checking on flight time arrivals using the one-billion or so websites out there.

The strange thing? Most airports have fifty or so temporary parking slots for those waiting for the call, while Houston’s airport has 1,000 spaces.

Travel flexibility has its virtues

by Grant Martin on

In an earlier discussion about travel notebooks, I mentioned that I use an IBM Thinkpad X31, a light little laptop that’s good for bouncing around airports and cities across the world.

On a flight to San Francisco last week, I found another reason why I like these machines: takeapartability. On the first leg of my trip between Detroit and Houston I discovered that my machine wouldn’t boot — something about the hard drive media not being recognized by the BIOS. So using a broken pen cap and another pen I unscrewed the hard drive caddy, reseated the drive and reassembled the chassis. Problem fixed. I’d like to see you do that with your Mac Book.

I suppose one could project this metaphor to many travel-related things: Be flexible and crafty on the road and you can always keep yourself happy. Just make sure that your plans/hardware aren’t so complicated that you can’t fix them on your own.

People dislike the TSA, says Institute for the Study of Obvious Things

by Aaron Hotfelder on

A new AP survey shows that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), in charge of security at US airports, ranks just behind FEMA, and ties with the IRS, in a list of the most unpopular federal agencies. Since its creation under the Department of Homeland Security as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the TSA has been at the center of a number of controversies and the target of frequent complaints. Many of the nearly 9,000 complaints that the TSA received between January and October of 2007 were for long wait times going through security, seemingly arbitrary rules, and employee rudeness. In addition, screeners have drawn criticism for failing to detect fake bombs in government tests– as many as 75% passed through unnoticed in one airport.

On the other hand, the article notes that “53 percent of air travelers think TSA does a “very” or “somewhat” good job,” and it’s unlikely that many people write in to the TSA to compliment the job performance of their personnel, even when they do a good job. TSA’s spokeswoman Ellen Howe said that the travelers should realize that TSA employees are “good people motivated by the mission.” She added: “Our officers take a lot of disrespect from the public… These people are on the front lines and they deserve our respect.”

Personally, I’ve never had a complaint about a TSA employee, but some of the agency’s policies do strike me as rather arbitrary. For instance, a three-ounce bottle of liquid can’t blow up an airplane, but a four-ounce bottle can?

For a closer look at airport security personnel, check out Barbara Peterson’s March 2007 investigative piece in Conde Nast Traveler, “Inside Job: My Life as an Airport Screener.”