Free Republic

New legislation being proposed in California would ban the expedited security screening company Clear from operating in the state’s airports, as proponents say the service raises equity issues given it effectively lets wealthier people skip ahead of passengers waiting in line to be screened by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. The bill, SB-1372, the first of its kind in the U.S., would require third-party vendors like Clear to get their own dedicated security lane or lose the ability to operate in California airports. Clear charges members $189 per year to verify passengers' identities at airports, allowing them to bypass TSA...

Are you aware that there have been two near-catastrophes at major American airports (DC Reagan and NY JFK) where airplanes were cleared to cross runways as another airplane was taking off? A runway collision on takeoff is almost by definition the deadliest form of airline disaster, since two or more airplanes, at least one fueled up for the coming journey, collide at takeoff speed, likely engulfing them in fireballs. That is how the deadliest airline disaster in history, happened in Tenerife, killing 583 people. The first incident took place last Thursday, April 18, at Reagan National Airport when the tower...

Not too long ago, Gavin Newsom got caught with his hand in the cookie jar of political cronyism. In response to a draconian law passed raising fast-food worker wages to $20 an hour, known as A.B. 1228, Newsom carved out a little exemption for his friends at Panera Bread on the laughable grounds that these establishments bake bread on the premises. In reality, the owner of several Panera establishments was a high school buddy who was a really good donor to his campaigns. Once caught, Newsom backed off, but right when he thought no one was looking, he went right...

The city of Boston has begun housing hundreds of illegal border crossers at Logan International Airport, even in the face of Massport’s Interim CEO’s claims that the airport was “not an appropriate place” to house migrants. On Mon., Mass. Dem. Gov. Maura Healey demanded that President Joe Biden loosen the federal purse strings, as more illegals began filling up the corridors around Logan.

This is a broadcast clip on the 11 worst airports in America according to a Wall Street Journal survey. Here they are from worst to 11st worst:NewarkNew York JFKDallas-Ft. WorthOrlandoFt. LauderdaleNew York LaGuardiaMiamiSan Juan, Puerto RicoDenver and Charlotte (tied)11. Chicago ORD

US citizens traveling domestically have to show a valid identification card or a passport to board a plane, but signs at certain airports say there are different rules for some newly arrived migrants. The signs claim the Transport Security Administration is working with Customs and Border Protection to “validate adult non-US citizen travel documentation when the traveler does not otherwise have an acceptable form of identification.” In practice, this means migrants who have entered the country using the CBP One app – some 45,000 people a month – can use it as their travel document and even choose whether to...

House Republicans are urging President Joe Biden’s Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, to reject reported plans that would see United States airports transformed into migrant camps for tens of thousands of illegal aliens. A total of 70 House Republicans, led by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO), are asking Buttigieg to drop plans in which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “has proposed housing 60,000 migrants at four public airports and various other facilities in New York and New Jersey,” they write: These airports and their communities rightfully fear being transformed into larger versions of...

Imagine, going to the airport and through all the indignities of security just to eat at the P.F. Chang’s near gate B12 and then go home. Or better yet, imagine trying to get to your gate and having to deal with people just poking around and taking their sweet time while you have a flight to catch. Every side of this scenario is uniquely miserable, yet more airports are trying to tempt locals into visiting the shops and restaurants in their terminals without all the hassle of actually flying somewhere. Orlando International Airport is now getting in on the action,...

Hundreds of flights have been delayed or canceled as Hurricane Idalia wreaks havoc across the Sunshine State, causing a handful of airports to shutter Wednesday ahead of the destructive storm’s impact. Several major airports were closed, including Tampa International, St. Pete-Clearwater International, Boca Raton, Gainesville Regional and Tallahassee International. They may reopen Thursday depending on damage, officials said. Over 700 flights in and out of Tampa International Airport were canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

The UK's air traffic control system has been hit by a 'huge network failure' on one of the busiest days of the year - causing chaos for tens of thousands of holidaymakers that could last days. Britain's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said it is experiencing 'technical issues' that have forced controllers to reduce the rate that aircraft are able to land and take off. This has led to hundreds of flights being delayed both in and out of the UK. Britons returning from Tenerife told MailOnline they had been told to expect a wait of at least 12 hours....

The New York Times took a deep dive into FAA data on near-misses between planes. So, as it turns out, airplanes are nearly crashing mid-air far more regularly than anyone initially thought. After a slew of almost-crashes over the past few months, The New York Times decided to take a deep dive into the issue. In fact, there have been at least 46 close calls involving commercial airlines in the last month alone. These incidents have reportedly been highlighted in preliminary FAA safety reports, but they haven’t been publicly disclosed. The outlet says that while there haven’t been any major...

I have sort of a love/hate relationship with flying. It wasn’t until mid-July of 1999 when I took my first airline flight from Baltimore to Toronto at the age of 37. It’s not that I avoided flying, I just never had an occasion or opportunity to do so up until then. The longest trip I’d ever been on up until then was when my family – me, my dad, mom, my brother and his fiancée, drove from Harrisburg PA to Myrtle Beach SC, pretty much straight through except for a brief stop for breakfast and a few very brief “pit...

A JetBlue flight landing at Logan International Airport in Boston nearly smashed into a private jet which took off without permission, the National Transportation Safety Board has revealed. The incident, on February 27, was captured in a chilling photograph from the JetBlue flight's cockpit which shows the LearJet aircraft obstructing the runway as it came into land. Only the quick-thinking of the JetBlue Flight 206 pilot prevented a collision, investigators said. The pilot performed a 'climb-out maneuver' to narrowly avoid the other aircraft. The LearJet's 63-year-old captain - flying for Hop-A-Jet, a Florida-based private charter company - had been told...

This story emerged from an unlikely source involving Glenn Beck’s recent vacation to Europe. As reported at The Blaze, while Beck was overseas he had a disturbing conversation with his travel agent. He was told, “You should see Europe now while you can.” The reason is that the United Nations has been rolling out “sustainability goals” for the travel industry, particularly when it comes to air travel. They are trying to force airlines to get to “net zero” in terms of emissions. As we recently discussed here, the technology doesn’t currently exist to achieve net zero for commercial airlines without...

The most Chicago thing ever happened 20 years ago — an airport was bulldozed overnight Then-Mayor Richard M. Daley boldly showed how he ran the city the night he ordered the destruction of Meigs Field on Northerly Island. When the sun came up over Chicago on March 31, 2003, it shone down on six large Xs that were bulldozed overnight into the runway of a small downtown airport. Under the cover of darkness, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley made it clear who ran the city when he ordered the destruction of Meigs Field on Northerly Island without alerting the City Council,...

Both the EVG railway union and the huge Verdi services union are combining forces to push for increased pay for their memberships amid persistent inflation. Verdi last week said the union was calling for 120,000 workers — including security and ground workers at all German airports except in Berlin — to walk out. Almost all major airports are on strike, including Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart. The German airport association ADV warned that as many as 380,000 airline travelers would not be able to take their flights because of the planned strikes. The EVG union is calling for 230,000 workers...

Phil Washington, Joe Biden’s embattled nominee to head the Federal Administration Aviation, has withdrawn his nomination ... Reuters’ piece .. didn’t refer to Washington’s miserable performance when questioned by Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) in which he went 0-for-7 on aviation policy. ... Nor did they refer to the exchange between Washington and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in which it’s quite possible that Washington committed perjury by claiming that a contract at the center of a pay-to-play criminal investigation in California in which Washington is “materially involved” was already in force before Washington became head of LA Metro. ... While the...

An American Airlines plane collided with a shuttle bus on a taxiway at Los Angeles International Airport Friday night, injuring five people. The collision happened just after 10 p.m. local time when American Airlines’ A321 plane was being towed from a gate and the bus was transporting passengers between terminals. “The aircraft that was being towed from a gate to a remote parking location made physical contact with a bus traveling on the south side of the LAX airfield,” Los Angeles World Airports, the governing body for LAX ... Of the five injured, four were transported to local hospitals including...

VIDEOA couple of months ago my Cousin Jerry who flew down here to South Florida and told me that his airport experience was absolute HELL. I thought that he might be exaggerating until I reviewed a number of airport scenes of recent holiday travel. When I was a kid, airports were places of glamor and welcome respites from the everyday hum-drum world. Unfortunately they now seem to have turned into overcrowded combative hellholes as you can see. And they are at their worst during what is supposed to be a festive Christmas and New Years holiday season.p.s. Be sure to...

Why would any law-abiding American balk at permitting the feds to vacuum up his biometric data at the airport? The Transportation Security Administration is running a pilot program in which travelers stand in photo kiosks that compare their faces with a federal database of photos from passport applications, driver’s licenses, and other sources. TSA promises its new airport regime, which could vastly expand next year, will respect Americans’ privacy. If you believe that, I can sell you a bridge in Brooklyn really cheap. TSA has long been one of the most intrusive and inept federal agencies. For 20 years, every...