After getting called out by airlines, airport officials, and lawmakers for super long lines at the nation’s airports, the Transportation Security Administration says it’s increasing staff at checkpoints as part of its effort to cut down on those excessive wait times. [More]
airport security
Travelers Have Left $4.32M Behind In Airport Security Bins Since 2008
By 5.2.16
When you’re fumbling through airport security — putting your shoes and belt back on, finding your glasses again, stowing your laptop back in its bag — do you make every effort to make sure you’re not leaving anything behind in the plastic bins? Maybe you’re not doing as thorough a job as you think, because someone is leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars in loose change behind every year. [More]
Authorities Searching For Flight Attendant Accused Of Leaving Bag Full Of Cocaine At LAX
By 3.22.16
Although airline personnel and airport employees may not have to take off their shoes or undergo the same security procedures as travelers, there are still checks in place to keep workers from carrying whatever they want onto planes — like, say, a bag full of cocaine. [More]
Shoes That Look Like They’re Made With Guns, Bullet Bracelets Will Get The TSA’s Attention
By 3.1.16
Obviously, when people travel, they bring part of their closet with them on the road. But if your closet includes shoes that resemble guns and bracelets with realistic looking bullets on them, just be prepared for the Transportation Security Administration to have a few questions if you’re packing that kind of fashion heat in your carry-on bag. [More]
Father Claims 10-Year-Old Daughter Experienced “Uncomfortable” Two-Minute TSA Pat-Down
By 1.6.16
While it’s normal for travelers to undergo additional screening procedures from the Transportation Security Administration when there could be something amiss, the father of a 10-year-old girl says she was made uncomfortable by a two-minute pat-down after she left a juice pouch in her carry-on. [More]
TSA Agent Accused Of Stealing Cash From Passenger’s Wallet At Security Checkpoint
By 9.21.15
When travelers send their personal belongings off into x-ray machines at the airport, we expect them to come out on the other side exactly how they entered. But officials at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport say one man happened to notice his wallet come through a security screening a bit lighter than it had gone in, leading to the arrest of a Transportation Security Administration agent. [More]
Parents: Remember To Check Your Kids’ Carry-On Bags Because Hatchets, Grenades Aren’t Allowed On Planes
By 8.7.15
Parents, we are not here to tell you how to be a parent. But might we suggest you oversee your child’s packing efforts before you head to the airport? You know, just in case said kid decides to include a dangerous weapon in their carry-on bag. [More]
Homeland Security Secretary Reassigns TSA Head, Tells Agency To Revise Airport Security Procedures
By 6.2.15
After yesterday’s report that undercover government agents were able to sneak mock explosives and weapons past Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at airports in 95% of tests, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is making some changes: He’s reassigned the acting administrator for the TSA and says he’s directed the agency to revise screening procedures “to address specific vulnerabilities identified” in the undercover operation. [More]
Report: TSA Agents Failed 67 Out Of 70 Undercover Tests
By 6.1.15
UPDATE: Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has since reassigned the head of TSA and directed the agency to address the vulnerabilities identified in the report. [More]
TSA Pocketed $675K Last Year Thanks To Your Loose Change
By 4.7.15
All those pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters we leave behind while dashing through airport security certainly add up. In fact, the Transportation Security Administration pocketed almost $675,000 last year because we were in too big a rush to pick up our loose change. [More]
Having Your Laptop Picked Up By Someone Else At The Airport Is No Fun — Unless That Person Is An NFL Player
By 3.9.15
There are many bad or just plain annoying things that can happen when your belongings are mixed up with someone else’s in the airport security line — someone else could be going through your private information, or trying to sell your electronic equipment. But when is it kind of cool that a total stranger has your stuff? When that stranger happens to be a professional football player. [More]
Traveler Says TSA Jailed Him For Making Complaint, Lied In Court About Bomb Threat
By 2.4.15
What line does a traveler need to cross before he’s deemed worthy of arrest by airport security agents? According to one man, not only was he detained overnight after attempting to file a complaint about the way he was being treated, but a TSA supervisor then lied under oath about a bomb threat the traveler never made. [More]
Traveler Arrested For Allegedly Slamming Bag Into Elderly TSA Agent During Carry-On Dispute
By 12.3.14
Listen, we’re all looking for a little wiggle room when it comes to increasingly more cramped commercial flights, but when airport workers tell you something isn’t gonna fit as a carry-on, that is not the time to turn up the rage. Logan Airport officials say a man was arrested yesterday at a security checkpoint after allegedly slamming his too-large-to-carry-on backpack into a 74-year-old Transportation Security Administration agent. [More]
Let’s All Be Grateful Not To Be Standing In A Mile-Long Airport Security Line Right Now
By 12.1.14
The turkey might be off the table, the stuffing has been all stuffed into bellies and the pumpkin pie plate is likely bare.Thanksgiving is over, but there’s still time to give thanks, and be grateful that we’re not standing in an airport security line that’s a literal mile long. [More]
You Won’t Get Through Airport Security With 58 Bricks Of Pot, 2 Guns And 350 Rounds Of Ammo, FYI
By 9.22.14
Don’t let the headline mislead you: It’s pretty much guaranteed you won’t get through airport security with 57 bricks of pot and any amount of guns and ammo. But the point here is that someone actually tried to hide all those very prohibited objects in luggage. Transportation Security Administration agents put the kibosh on that over the weekend at John F. Kennedy International Airport in NYC. [More]
SF Giants Fans Can Now Pay $179/Year To Speed Through Security Line
By 9.9.14
If you’ve been to a Major League Baseball game this season, you may have noticed that one or more of the gates at the stadium now has TSA-like security checkpoints, as the league has required that all teams scan all attendees with metal detectors starting next season. And just like the airport, the lines can back up and cause annoyance. So of course some company is looking to make a buck off impatient baseball fans. [More]
Fake Airport Security Screener Tricks Women Into Pat-Downs
By 7.17.14
The world has enough problems with actual, inept TSA agents who have never heard of our nation’s capital. We don’t need jerks posing as airport security just to molest female travelers. [More]
Charge Electronic Devices Before Flying Back To U.S. Or You Might Not Be Allowed On Plane
By 7.7.14
If you thought you could escape the probing playfulness of the TSA by traveling abroad, you were mistaken. The agency recently announced that travelers flying directly to the U.S. from certain, unnamed overseas airports will be required to power-up their carry-on electronics devices in order to board their flights. [More]
