TSA Removes X-Ray Body Scanners From Major Airports, But Some Will Remain

by Jessica Festa on

For all those who are against having to go through X-ray body scanners at airport security, you’ll be happy to know some are now being removed. During the past few weeks, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been quietly switching them out for safer radiation machines.

While the main goal of the change is to speed up the lines at security checkpoints in major airports, the transition will also lead to less passengers being exposed to radiation.

So far these X-ray machines, called backscatters, have been replaced at Boston Logan International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago O’Hare, Orlando and John F. Kennedy in New York.

One concern people have with the backscatters is the fact that the radiation has been linked to cancer at higher levels. Moreover, the machines produce images of passengers’ naked bodies. The new millimeter-wave scanners help these problems by instead emitting low-energy radio waves similar to those in cellphones, as well as producing generic cartoon images instead of the person’s actual body.Before you get too excited, know the backscatters are not being phased out altogether. They are still being used at certain airports, including some major ones. Additionally, in late September the TSA awarded three companies potential contracts for the next generation of body scanners. One of the systems, made by American Science & Engineering, uses backscatter X-ray technology.

“They’re not all being replaced,” TSA spokesman David Castelveter told ProPublica. “It’s being done strategically. We are replacing some of the older equipment and taking them to smaller airports. That will be done over a period of time.”

The upside to this is research has found the radiation emitted from the body scanners is trivial and nothing to worry it. That being said, many scientists are also arguing that if there is a safer alternative that allows passengers more privacy, the TSA should use it.

“Why would we want to put ourselves in this uncertain situation where potentially we’re going to have some cancer cases?” David Brenner, director of Columbia University’s Center for Radiological Research, told ProPublica last year. “It makes me think, really, why don’t we use millimeter waves when we don’t have so much uncertainty?”

Nothing is simple, however. Research has shown the millimeter-wave scanners have a much higher false-alarm rate, 23% to 54% compared to 5% with backscatters. The TSA hopes using both machines in different airports will lead to competition, creating better technologies at a lower cost.

[Image via Carolina K. Smith, M.D. / Shutterstock.com]

[Via Chris Elliott]

Apple’s Passbook Gives Us A Glimpse Of The Future Of Air Travel

by Kraig Becker on

A few weeks back, to much fanfare, Apple released a new version of their popular iPhone and an updated version of iOS, the operating system that powers the device. Dubbed iOS 6, the latest edition of the software as been a bit of a mixed bag for most iPhone users, who now enjoy improved social networking integration, better messaging and a smarter Siri, but have been cursed with Apple’s new sub-par maps app.

Lost in the hype of the shiny new device and the kerfuffle that has been the maps fiasco, was the inclusion of a new app called Passbook. The app promises to be an electronic wallet for all of your digital coupons, membership and gift cards, movie tickets and boarding passes. Passbook collects those items from other apps, emails or direct download through the Safari browser and conveniently keeps them all well organized in a single place. When it comes time to use one of your coupons or tickets, you simply have the cashier scan a bar code on the screen of your phone and you’re on your way.

That’s not all Passbook can do, however, as it is also time and location aware. That means that it will automatically display relevant passes on your phone’s lock screen based on where you are. So if you walk into a Starbucks it will automatically display any active gift cards and as you arrive at the airport, the app is already placing the relevant boarding pass on your screen. It will even alert you of any changes to your flight time or departure gate, helping to ensure you don’t miss it.Digital boarding passes are not really all that new or innovative, as a number of airlines have been using them for a few years now. But Passbook makes it a breeze to collect and keep track of those passes and its inclusion as a pre-installed app on all iPhones means that more people will start using it on a regular basis. We all know that once a technology gains more mass market appeal, more companies will support it, which means Apple’s Passbook will probably be a gateway to better paperless options when traveling in the future.

The app is already supported by United and American Airlines, and we’re told that Delta will jump on the bandwagon soon too. But airlines aren’t the only ones that are quickly adding support for the new system. Major League Baseball now offers Passbook-based tickets for games and online movie ticketing service Fandango sends its passes to the app as well. The best part is, most businesses are already equipped to scan Passbook entries, which isn’t the case with similar services on other phones that employ Near-Field Communications technology for their approach to the digital wallet.

As technology evolves, there may soon come a day when you won’t need to leave home with anything other than your smartphone. That day probably isn’t as far off as we think either.

Airline Passengers Want More Quick Self-Service Options

by Chris Owen on

The Airline Passengers Bill of Rights gave air travelers compensation when bumped, a refund of fees for lost baggage, a ban on hidden fees and more. Now, airline passengers want more control via self-service and mobile-based offerings to reduce stress during travel according a survey released this week.

“What passengers really want is to avoid delays and to be kept informed of what is happening,” said Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA in a Travel Daily News report. “Nearly everyone surveyed said they would welcome any queue-busting services and 89% voted self-boarding as their top technology.”

Among findings in the survey;

  • 79% of passengers use online check-in regularly or occasionally
  • 68% prefer automated bag drop as opposed to checking it with an agent
  • 62% of passengers use social media, a higher rate than the general population
  • It’s not that today’s air traveler is anti-social; 80% of younger travelers (18-24) are active on social media, compared to 39% of the over-55s but neither group really wants to buy travel via their smartphone
  • The number of passengers with smartphones rose over the past year from 54% to 70%, fueling the desire for more self-service options

The Air Transport World (ATW) seventh annual survey was conducted with 2,526 passengers from more than 70 countries, a representative sampling of the 280 million passengers who pass through six of the world’s leading airports each year at Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Beijing, Frankfurt, Mumbai and São Paulo.




[Flickr photo by ericksonkee]

New Art Exhibition Features ‘Banned Booty’ Confiscated From Airport Security Checkpoints

by Jessica Marati on

Ever wonder what happens to the tweezers, sewing scissors and Swiss Army Knives abandoned by hapless travelers at airport security? While most probably ended up in the landfill, some contraband nail clippers have received a second life through a new contemporary art exhibit from California artist Steve Maloney.

The exhibit, called “Banned Booty – Palm Springs Checkpoint,” opens October 18 at the Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, California. It will feature mixed-media installation pieces created from items, mostly sharp-ended, that were confiscated from carry-on luggage by the Travel Security Administration at the Palm Springs International Airport. The exhibit’s intention is “to ‘continue the conversation’ about present-day air travel,” particularly its relation to everyday lives and the city of Palm Springs, says a press release. According to Maloney:

American travel changed radically after September 11, 2001. The Banned Booty series captures a small aspect of this change. What used to be routine – checking into a flight and passing through the final security check point with no concern for the nail files or scissors stuffed in your bag – was transformed into a drawn-out endeavor.

The exhibit’s opening day will feature guests like Mayor Steve Pougnet, Palm Springs City Councilman Paul Lewin and Shannon Garcia-Hamilton, Federal Security Director for the TSA in Palm Springs, who will gather to participate in that conversation first-hand. For more information, visit BannedBooty.com.

ExpertFlyer Launches Seat Alert App

by Grant Martin on

With airlines constantly reducing the number of free seats available at booking, more and more passengers are finding it impossible to guarantee seating when they purchase their tickets. Because of this, many travelers wait until they reach the airport to get a seat, resulting in parties being separated and less than ideal assignments near the back of the plane or in between other passengers.

The airlines take most of the fault for this, but there are a few neat tools to use if you want to get around the seat monster.

ExpertFlyer just released theirs for the iOS (Apple) platform. The tool basically takes a look at the seats available for each flight on which you’re traveling then alerts you when something changes. So if you’re stuck in a middle seat on UA 884, for example, you can ask the tool to search every day and then nudge you when a window seat opens up. The service is free, and is an extension of the greater offerings that ExpertFlyer provides.

Check out the iTunes page for more information.