Relief: Four airport perks coming soon

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There’s nothing fun about going to the airport, and the regulatory climate isn’t likely to change that anytime soon. Security will still be a nightmare, and you won’t be able to bring your own water with you (at least not for a while). Fortunately, there are companies out there looking for ways to make your airport experience better.

So, what can you expect to see in your local airport in the near future? Here are four amenities to whet your appetite for something to counteract the airport security gauntlet:

1. Catch some comfy shut-eye: sleeping on a plane sucks. There’s just no way to get comfortable. And, if you slip your leg alongside the seat in front of you, you do run the risk that it will get slammed by the beverage cart. Well, you’ll be able to use your layovers to rest, soon. Napping nooks, already available at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, are expected to come to San Francisco in the near future. Seven airports are in the early stages.2. Light up a cigar: okay, this one is particularly meaningful to me. A few airports still have smoking areas (I just lit up in Denver last month), but they tend to be unfortunate spaces, not designed to appeal. This is where a company like Graycliff can make a difference. The Bahamas-based cigar and hospitality company has an idea for well-ventilated lounges, featuring cigar rollers (and nothing beats a stick fresh off the bench, at least, not for me). With Graycliff involved, you can expect a stylish, upscale experience. The first is already open at the airports in Nashville and Nassau.

3. Better shopping and eating: the challenge of finding a bite or buying a tie during weird hours could become a thing of the past. From the chance to dine at a Food Network Kitchen to broader shopping options, airports are scoping out ways to enhance the experience of being trapped within their walls. If all the doomsday predictions by the airline industry about the implications of the three-hour delay rule are true, you might need to buy several changes of clothes and meals … because they believe this rule means you will never get home again.

4. Get picked up more easily: no, this has nothing to do with wearing something hot or having that extra cocktail. Rather, airports are opening their minds to parking where your ride can wait for you. You call; they drive around to get you. But, it’s not always that easy. Nature calls, and there’s always a shortage of space. So, look for larger parking lots with bathrooms flight information boards and maybe even dining options? Newark’s already headed down this road, with plans in the works for JFK airport, Cincinnati, Fort Myers and St. George (in Utah).

For more on this topic, head on over to USA Today where airport expert Harriet Baskas explores more upcoming airport amenities.

[photo by msspider66 via Flickr]

Body scanners used as porn by airport security

by Sean McLachlan on

It had to happen sooner or later.

The Nigerian newspaper This Day has reported that security officials at Lagos airport are getting their jollies by watching female passengers go through a full-body scanner.

Nigerian investigative reporters visited the airport during a slow period when security officials had time to spare. The journalists found some of them hanging around the scanner display. Since the scanner blurs the face in an attempt to give anonymity, the officers were hurrying over to the line to peek at the passengers before going back to the scanner to check out their favorites.

The scanner was installed after the failed attack by underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was from Lagos, yet technicians have revealed a full-body scan wouldn’t have caught him. An Israeli security expert who helped plan security at Israel’s super-strict Ben Gurion Airport says body scanners don’t work. Israeli airports don’t use the device.

Many Nigerians feel it is against their religion to expose themselves to a stranger, while others fear the effects of radiation. The investigative journalists witnessed passengers objecting to go through the scanner until security turned off one of the metal detectors, giving them the choice of using the full-body scanner or waiting in a longer line.

$11.5 million buys little security at Newark Liberty Airport

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Security gaps are so big at Newark Liberty International Airport you can drive a truck through them. Literally. Inside the terminal, the TSA goes through bags and confiscates oversized fluid containers, but no inspection occurs when trucks and vans drive through security checkpoints and out onto the tarmac. Security company FJC is responsible for protecting the airport, reports Fox 5, for which it is paid $11.5 million. The company is also responsible for security at New York area airports JFK and LaGuardia.

According to Fox 5:

The exclusive Fox 5 video shows FJC security guards stopping trucks at the checkpoint, then walking around the truck using a mirror to look at the undercarriage of the vehicle, but never actually examining the cargo inside the truck. Over and over, FJC guards do nothing more than glance inside trucks that are filled with cargo. The cursory inspections of the trucks’ contents lasted about 5 seconds and never actually involved a guard entering a single vehicle. After which the FJC guards simply waved through each and every truck. It is a security process that totally surprises counterterrorism expert Bill Vorlicek, who screened the video.

The range of risks to which the airport, passengers and employees are exposed is wide. Explosives, in particular, could cause mayhem. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates that “an average delivery truck can carry anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 tons of explosives,” reports Fox 5.

Port Authority COO Ernesto Butcher told Fox 5 the security lapses were “unacceptable.” The report continues:

“Vehicle inspections are just one of a series of multilayered checks to ensure the safety of cargo being brought to the secure side of the airport, but they are critical and will be continually monitored,” Butcher said in a statement. “Port Authority officials have re-emphasized to all FJC security guards and their supervisors the need for continual diligence and proper inspection techniques during their shifts.”

Ask Gadling: Where do all our TSA checkpoint confiscated knives and corkscrews end up?

by Scott Carmichael on

A reader asked an interesting question on our Facebook page – what does the TSA do with all our knives, tools and corkscrews after they confiscate them at the checkpoint? We did a bit of homework and found out that the final destination is different for each state.

View more Ask Gadling: Travel Advice from an Expert or send your question to ask [at] gadling [dot] com.

In Illinois for example, the TSA delivers all their loot to the state surplus facility, where it is put it up for sale on their auction site. Think Ebay, but with bigger stuff and fewer silly fees for sellers. Small items like knives, kitchenware and tools are sold in bulk, which means you can’t go online to buy a single Swiss Army Knife – you need to settle for 90lbs of them, or 80lbs of assorted corkscrews.

In some other states with lower amounts of confiscated items, the knives are destroyed. In all states, guns are given to local police agencies.

So, unless you want your $100 Swiss Army Knife to end up at the bottom of a bulk lot of knives being sold for $50, leave it at home or keep it in your checked luggage.

Remember, the TSA checkpoint does not provide mailing envelopes for sending items home, so once they find a restricted item, you’ll need to surrender it or leave the checkpoint and find a way to get it sent home. Also, if you show up with an illegal item, you will lose it and will most likely need to answer to an airport police officer.

A list of all state and federal surplus sites can be found here: USA Government sales

%Gallery-100009%

Crazy TSA search goes too far

by Annie Scott on

When Kathy Parker headed through TSA at Philadelphia International Airport for a regular business trip to North Carolina, she had no idea about the ordeal she was in for.

After being selected for a more in-depth search on one of the tables — out in the open where everyone can see — they went through her stuff, including her more personal items like receipts and diet pills (and they asked if they worked), and she was subjected to questions about the checks in her purse (they were made out to her husband). Basically, it seems that the TSA agents suspected she was in a “divorce situation,” reports Philly.com, and thought she was emptying her husband’s bank account.

Wait, the same TSA people who never notice my tube of toothpaste?

We certainly spend plenty of time irritated by the TSA’s lack of common sense and/or courtesy, but at what point do they truly cross the line? Is this kind of investigating any of their business?

TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said, “”If the search is complete, and shows individuals not to be a threat to the aircraft or fellow passengers, they are free to go.” Wait, what? I think embezzlement and or possibly stealing from your husband (which she wasn’t) falls pretty far outside those parameters. Davis says she was “probably” held because her “behavior escalated.” If you were holding me hostage and reading my receipts, you can bet my “behavior” would “escalate,” too.

Vic Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania ACLU, is on Parker’s side, thank goodness, calling the incident “‘preposterous’ and a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches.”

The TSA is not the FBI, and in this blogger’s opinion, the agents in question should be disciplined. This is a case of bullying and abuse of power, and at the very least a case of bored workers acting recklessly with someone else’s well-being in their hands. What do you think?

[via Philly.com]

[Photo by Mobile Edge Laptop Cases]