While you’re probably eyeing the weather reports of storms, snow and sleet with trepidation, there are other things to consider before you head to the airport during the holiday season. For example: Your aunt makes the best darn pumpkin pies this side of the Mississippi and she wants to send one back with you because she’s the best aunt ever. Should you pack it in your checked luggage or can you bring it as a carry-on? [More]
TSA
New Airport “Exit Portals” Don’t Rain Down Money On Travelers Or Anything Fun
By 11.18.13
If you’re going to make me step into a clear tube that shuts behind me I darn well better be going to Narnia or get showered with hundred dollar bills. But hopping into a one-person contraption on the way out of the airport doesn’t look like much fun at all, especially in light of the already overly annoying security process. [More]
Suspected Gunman In Custody After Shots Reported At Los Angeles Airport
By 11.1.13
Police have a suspected gunman in custody at Los Angeles International Airport after a shooting there this morning that reportedly wounded multiple people and has disrupted flights across the nation. Some flights are still being allowed to depart, but it seems no LAX-bound planes will be landing there for now. [More]
Air Marshal Admits To Taking Photos Up Women’s Dresses During Boarding Process
By 10.18.13
It’s bad enough when your run-of-the-mill bad consumer takes advantage of public situations and films what shouldn’t be filmed, but it feels even ickier when someone whose job it is to protect people does it. An air marshal arrested yesterday admits that he took cell phone pics up women’s dresses and/or skirts while they boarded a Southwest Airlines flight in Nashville. [More]
Airport Security Lines Are Long Because You Don’t Feel Like Stacking Your Bin After Screening
By 10.2.13
Look! On the horizon! There’s something clogging up the airport security lane. Is it a screaming toddler? Is it the guy who always forgets to take his belt off? No, it’s… a bunch of bins backing up the conveyor belt because there aren’t enough workers to remove them. [More]
Passenger Sues US Airways For Allegedly Misplacing Her Husband’s Ashes
By 9.20.13
It’s been two years since the ashes of a Philadelphia-area woman’s late husband went missing during a US Airways flight to England, and she says the airline has been ignoring her ever since. We first told you about her story back in January, but that didn’t turn up the ashes or an explanation. Now she’s filed a lawsuit in the hopes of getting the airline’s attention. [More]
The TSA Frowns Upon Customers Bringing Stun Guns On Planes, Even If They’re Pink
By 9.18.13
There’s a handy tool on the Transportation Safety Administration’s web site, where you can fill in the following blank with whatever you’d like to take with you on a plane: “When I fly, can I bring my _____?” The TSA will tell you whether or not it’s fine to have your best friend Mark with you or even a pair of short scissors. But a stun gun? Nope, not even if it’s pink. [More]
TSA Misconduct Cases On The Rise; Agency Not Following Up On All Complaints
By 7.30.13
In theory, the Transportation Security Administration is supposed to be a last line of defense against terrorists and other folks who want to do bad things on airplanes. With so many lives on the line, employee misconduct of any kind can’t really be tolerated, but the last few years have seen an increase in bad behavior by TSA staffers. [More]
TSA Making It (A Bit) Easier To Enroll In Expedited Security Screening Program
By 7.19.13
We’ve been writing for quite some time about the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck (or as the TSA obnoxiously insists on writing, “Pre✓™”) program, which allows vetted travelers to go through an airport security screening process. To enroll, consumers need to be a member of certain airlines’ frequent flier programs or already part of other trusted-traveler services, but starting this fall, the TSA will open up online enrollment in PreCheck… with one major catch. [More]
The TSA’s Instagram Of Confiscated Items Exhibits Quite An Enthusiasm For Hashtags
By 7.3.13
If you have had it up to here — and I mean, all the way up here — with baby and food and baby food photos on Instagram, we’re here to let you know there are other options. The Transportation Security Administration’s new Instagram of confiscated items will likely not have any of the aforementioned pictures, unless your baby is actually a grenade. [More]
The TSA’s Solution For My Reluctance To Open Baby Food Jars? A Pat-Down
By 6.19.13
While we’re not fans of hands-on pat-downs from security, we understand that they exist as an alternative or a supplement to being screened at a scanner. But one Consumerist reader wants to know why a pat-down would be viewed as a way to ensure that he’s not carrying explosive materials in baby food jars. [More]
Flannel-Wearing Teen Claims TSA Told Her “You’re Only 15, Cover Yourself”
By 6.18.13
While I’m not totally down with what the kids are wearing these days, I do remember quite well being asked if I honestly thought I was “going out of the house dressed like that.” And from the photo one dad has posted of what his daughter was wearing when she says a Transportation Security Administration agent humiliated her and told her “You’re only 15, cover yourself,” a flannel shirt and stretch pants would likely never have elicited that parental reaction. [More]
TSA Agents Don’t Care If You’re Chewbacca Himself — That Lightsaber Is Suspicious
By 6.10.13
For any fan of Star Wars, it would be hard, nay — impossible — to contain the squeals of glee one’s mouth would emit upon meeting any of the franchise’s most important cast members (Jar Jar Binks, we are definitely not talking to you). But it seems the Transportation Security Administration either don’t know the man who filled Chewbacca’s furry shoes or aren’t willing to give Peter Mayhew special treatment. He was stopped while boarding a flight on account of his cane, which, of course, is shaped like a lightsaber. [More]
TSA Replaces Backscatter Airport Scanners With Technology That Won’t Show Your Private Bits
By 5.31.13
We’ve come a long way, baby, and it seems the days of worrying over whether or not Transportation Security Administration agents were snickering at your nude image on an airport scanner are over. The backscatter scanners are gone — so now we can get back to worrying about what kind of funk we’re picking up in our socked feet during the security line walk instead. [More]
Man Who Exercised 1st Amendment Rights By Stripping At Airport Still Owes TSA $1K
By 5.10.13 — Updated: 5.13.13
Remember the man who stripped down to his birthday suit at an Oregon airport to express his First Amendment rights? We know we sure do. And while a judge said that act was totally protected by the Constitution, he’s still got a pesky $1,000 fine from the Transportation Security Administration hanging over his head. He says he’s ready to fight that, too. [More]
In Case You Were Wondering, The TSA Frowns On Carrying Skull Fragments In Your Luggage
By 4.25.13
There are plenty of things you can’t take on planes — weapons, ginormous bottles of shampoo, whathaveyou — and oh yeah, also, human remains. That might seem like a no-brainer, but what if you don’t know you’re toting bones about? Two women apparently didn’t realize they had skull fragments in it, but the Transportation Security Administration soon clued them in. [More]
TSA Decides To Keep Ban Of Small Knives On Planes In Place For Now
By 4.23.13
After a few weeks of backlash against the idea from the airline industry, flight attendants and air marshals, the Transportation Security Administration has decided to delay lifting the ban against small knives aboard airline flights. A few weeks ago the TSA said passengers would be allowed to carry knives that met certain descriptions, as well as some sporting equipment. [More]
At The Airport It’s Best To Just Forget Your Sandwich’s Name If It’s Called “The Bomb”
By 4.18.13
Ah, lingo. Friend of businesses trying to come up with relevant names for products, say “The Bomb” sandwich, and nemesis of those not in the know everywhere else. Seems the Transportation Security Administration wasn’t amused by a man discussing his aforementioned sandwich, as you will note that “The Bomb” includes the word “bomb” in it. And the guy was at an airport. [More]
