Baggage Screening GAO Report.

Privacy

Privacy and Facebook and Twitter.

Immigration from Mexico Net Zero Zero.

Moving

RegisteredTraveler

US/UK

Extradition Treaty.

Locally Available Oil/Gas

That's if you disregard the environmental costs.

Boiling the frog

Testosterone and the Adolescent American Male.

TSA's precheck

Problems.

AirBUS

Painted over ball lock release pins. (escape slide over wing deployment)

AirBUS

Painted over ball lock release pins. (escape slide over wing deployment)

Arizona Immigrants Adapt to Crackdown

From the NYTimes, what to do in case of arrest.

Arizona Immigrants Adapt to Crackdown

From the NYTimes, what to do in case of arrest.

Well, that was insane

Jet Blue Pilot Defense.

AWD

Loss of Aircraft.

Boycotting West Bank Settlements

The Crisis of Zionism.

In Flight Fire

Virgin.

737-airworthiness issue

From the Federal Register.

737-airworthiness issue

From the Federal Register.

Auto Check In

TSA is automating checks of IDs and Boarding Passes.

Visas for Dollars

Cutting in Line.

GAO Studies

Transportation Security Administration: Progress and Challenges Faced in Strengthening Three Key Security Programs, GAO-12-541T, March 26, 2012:
3 Key Security Programs.

Additional Actions Needed to Mitigate Risks and Strengthen Overstay Enforcement, GAO-12-599T, March 27, 2012:
Visa Waiver Program.

Asia

The Brief.

Cabin Flight Crew Not Talking

Not Speaking. Well, this can't be good.

Activists

Delayed.

DOT's on time performance report for airlines

DOT 40-12

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Contact: Bill Mosley

Tel: (202) 366-4570





Airline On-Time Performance, Cancellation Rate in February Improve from Last Year; Mishandled Baggage Rate at All-Time Low

No Tarmac Delays Longer than Three Hours on Domestic Flights or Longer than Four Hours on International Flights in February



The nation’s largest airlines posted an on-time arrival rate of 86.2 percent in February, up from both the 74.5 percent on-time rate of February 2011 and from January 2012’s 83.7 percent rate, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report released today. The on-time arrival performance during February 2012 was the highest February percentage on record since comparable on-time data was first reported in 1995.



In addition, the reporting airlines compiled a mishandled baggage rate of 2.64 reports per 1,000 passengers, the lowest rate for any month since carriers first reported this data in September 1987.



Cancellations were also down in February from a year ago, as carriers canceled 1.0 percent of their scheduled domestic flights, down from February 2011’s 4.9 percent cancellation rate and down from January 2012’s 1.5 percent.



Airlines reported no tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights or tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights in February.



The larger U.S. airlines have been required to file complete reports on their long tarmac delays for domestic flights since October 2008. Under a new rule that took effect August 23, 2011, all U.S. and foreign airlines operating at least one aircraft with 30 or more passenger seats must report lengthy tarmac delays at U.S. airports.



Also beginning August 23, carriers operating international flights may not allow tarmac delays at U.S. airports to last longer than four hours. There is a separate three-hour limit on tarmac delays involving domestic flights, which went into effect in April 2010.



Exceptions to the time limits for both domestic and international flights are allowed only for safety, security or air traffic control-related reasons.



The monthly report also includes data on on-time performance, chronically delayed flights, flight cancellations, and the causes of flight delays filed with the Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by the reporting carriers. In addition, the report contains information on consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. This report also includes reports of incidents involving pets traveling by air, as required to be filed by U.S. carriers.



Here's the news release.


here's the full report.

Citizen Belligerents

Not a term of affection, afterall.

Why Airport Security Is Broken

Fixing It. (from the WSJ)

Jet Blue Pilot Melt Down Indicted

Indicted.

Schneier On Airport Security

In case you are not familiar with his column, I'm a big fan.

By the way, he has a new book out: Liars & Outliers

This is the guy who wrote BlowFish and then sold it to British Telecom, also a major hunk.

Terrorist

Financing.

Frontier Fined

DOT 41-12
Friday, April 13, 2012
Contact: Bill Mosley
Tel.: (202) 366-4570



Frontier Fined for Violating Rules Protecting Air Travelers with Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today assessed a civil penalty of $50,000 against Frontier Airlines for violating rules protecting air travelers with disabilities.

“The Department of Transportation is committed to ensuring that airline passengers are treated fairly, and passengers with disabilities are no exception,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “At DOT, we take our aviation disability rules seriously and will continue to take enforcement action when airlines violate these rules.”



An investigation by DOT’s Aviation Enforcement Office into complaints filed against Frontier found that the carrier violated the DOT regulation implementing the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) with respect to its transportation of an individual with a disability.



The individual filing the complaint, a quadriplegic who has no use of his arms, legs, or torso, is unable to sit upright in an aircraft seat without support and restraint. Frontier failed to provide him appropriate notice, in advance of the return portion of his round-trip transportation, that Federal Aviation Administration requirements prohibit seatbelt extenders as restraint devices for his upper body, even though the carrier had permitted him to use the devices in three prior flights, including the outbound flight of the trip in question. On the return flight, the individual did not have an alternative restraint method and was removed from the flight. The Department’s disability regulation requires airlines to provide passengers who notify them that they use a wheelchair for boarding, as this individual did, of any limit on the carriers’ ability to accommodate passengers with a disability, even if the passengers do not request the information.



Frontier also violated the Department’s disability regulation by failing to provide the passenger with adequate assistance in pre-boarding and getting on and off the plane, despite receiving multiple advance notices that the individual had a disability and needed assistance prior to his flight. DOT requires airlines to provide assistance to passengers with disabilities while boarding and deplaning aircraft, including the use of wheelchairs, ramps, mechanical lifts and service personnel where needed.

The consent order is available on the Internet at The docket. Use DOT-OST-2012-0002 as a search term.

Latin America

Future of U.S. Relations With.

Airline Fuel Costs

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Contact: Dave Smallen

Tel: 202-366-5568





MEDIA ADVISORY



BTS Releases February Airline Fuel Cost and Consumption Data




The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), today updated its Airline Fuel Cost and Consumption web page with preliminary February data.



Cost per gallon for U.S. airlines’ scheduled services:



February 2011 $2.77

January 2012 $2.93

February 2012 $2.98





The page provides scheduled service cost and consumption numbers. Use the “Select a Service” dropdown to see all services or non-scheduled.



See The Fuel Cost and Consumption page: Summaries by month are also available.



Preliminary fuel cost and consumption numbers are industry summaries only. Airline fuel costs may be affected by hedging. The next monthly web update is scheduled for May 11.



Individual airline numbers are available through September on the BTS website. Individual airline numbers for October, November and December will be available with the BTS fourth-quarter financial release scheduled for May 10. Individual airline numbers for January and February will be available with the BTS first-quarter financial release scheduled for June 27.

Sky Steward is Sued by AMR

No End.

More on the story, from CourtHouseNews.


Here's the back story,

AA Flight Attendant brings comedy to the disciplinary process.

Comic Relief Terminated.


Take this job and shove it.

Fired and Sued.

UK

Future.

Granny forced to remove adult diaper

From the WSJ, by John Stossel.

7-5 fuel pump directive

Arching.

Oil

CRS Report, courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists.

Do not track

New Absurdities, from NPR(dot)org.

Pilot Not Threat, gets damages

From CourtHouseNews(dot)com.

Living In A Hyper-Connected World

Warning. . . file size is HUGE.

China's Emerging Leaders

Report.

Border Crossing Data

DOT 38-12

Friday, April 6, 2012





BTS Releases 2011 Border Crossing/Entry Data



Friday, April 6, 2012 - The number of commercial truck crossings into the United States from Canada and Mexico was 10.4 million in 2011, 1.7 percent more than in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration.

The 2011 increase follows a 9.4 percent rise in 2010 after two years of decline during the recession period of 2008 and 2009. The truck-crossing numbers are included in the 2011 border-crossing data posted today on the BTS website.

Collection of border-crossing data was begun in response to signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. The data allows tracking of cross-border traffic since the signing and is used for transportation planning, port studies, travel analyses, and corridor assessments.

The database also includes numbers of incoming trains, buses, containers, personal vehicles, and pedestrians entering the United States through land ports and ferry crossings on the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico border.

The database shows that 151.0 million people crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in personal vehicles or as pedestrians in 2011, an 8.9 percent decrease from 2010. Also, 59.6 million people entered the U.S. from Canada in personal vehicles or as pedestrians in 2011, a 4.2 percent increase from 2010. Border crossing/entry data from 1995 to 2011 can be found on the BTS website.

Contact Dave Smallen: 202-366-5568.

Denial of Passport for Back Taxes

See third paragraph.

The Other Arab Spring

Environmental Collapse Prefigures Disaster.

Not a drop to drink.

BackUp Link.

Do Not Track Legislation

From the NYTimes, some prefer no Internet users participate.

Report

Airline Quality Rating Study.

Strip Searches

Everytime.


Editorial on lower left margin for week of April 9th, 2012, (Stripped-Down Logic By MILT POLICZER is hysterically funny and should be read by all.Update: April 11, 2012: it (the editorial on strip searches as authorized by the Supremes) has apparently been removed, (sorry) you would have gotten a good chuckle out of it.You might search the web on google using the authors name.

Update: Found it!

CourtHouseNews Editorial On Strip Searches.

Air Consumer Report March 2012

The good, the bad, the putrid.

Sept 11 Remains

Some remains sent to landfill.

Gob'mnt Cell Phone Trackin'

ACLU's article via Cryptome(dot)org.