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Australian baggage handlers have been issued a stern warning by the CEO of a top national ground services provider after shocking footage of mishandling emerged online. Qantas and Swissport Australia have launched an “urgent investigation” after employees were filmed slamming luggage onto a conveyor belt. The footage, understood to have been filmed at Melbourne airport, shows three baggage handlers – who have been stood down pending investigation – throwing, kicking, and slamming passengers’ luggage onto a conveyor belt. Some bags are thrown so hard that they fall off the other side of the belt. ... One man is shown laughing...

TSA has put some important constraints on its use of facial recognition — but its current programs are just the beginning. No, you don’t have to participate in facial recognition at the airport. Whether you’ll feel like you have a real choice is a separate question. This system is for general passenger security screening. You step up to the travel document checker kiosk and stick your ID into a machine. Then you look into a camera for up to five seconds and the machine compares your live photo to the one it sees on your ID. They call this a...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WFLA) — Typically when you think of stuffing a bird, you’re thinking of bread filling, onions, and seasoning, but one particular chicken got some attention after authorities at a Florida airport found something “fowl” inside it. Monday, the Transportation Security Administration posted on social media that its agents at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport found a gun smuggled inside a raw chicken. Photos of the desecrated bird carcass showed a gun that was wrapped in a plastic bag and shoved inside it. “We hate to beak it to you here, but stuffing a firearm in your holiday...

Applications for Global Entry are currently taking anywhere from 6-18 months to process. The Department of Homeland Security is encouraging travelers who mostly fly domestic to skip Global Entry and opt for TSA PreCheck instead amid long application wait times that can stretch up to more than a year. “If you do not travel multiple times per year internationally, we recommend applying for the TSA PreCheck Program,” DHS wrote on its website. “Most TSA PreCheck applicants can schedule an appointment in less than 2 weeks and, if approved, can receive a Known Traveler Number (KTN) in about 3 to 5...

The single-shot firearm, which resembles a pen in size and shape, was found during X-ray screening of the man’s luggage at about 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 13, a representative for the TSA confirmed. Massachusetts State Police were called to the security checkpoint, where they interviewed the passenger. After speaking with police, the male traveler was allowed to continue through the airport and ultimately to his destination in Portland, Oregon — sans pen gun. He also would have been allowed to transport the item had he packed it properly in his checked baggage, the TSA said.

Republicans have expressed outrage over the controversial TSA policy. The head of the Transportation Security Administration said on Thursday that "under 1,000" illegal immigrants have been allowed to board planes using warrants as identification this calendar year -- as he faced a grilling on the matter from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. Hawley asked TSA Administrator David Pekoske at a Senate hearing about a TSA policy that allows illegal immigrants to use warrants, which represent civil immigration enforcement and are not criminal arrest warrants, as an alternative form of identification. "How many individuals have presented TSA with arrest warrants or deportation...

President Joe Biden’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced Monday evening it will not enforce mask mandates at airports in light of a judge’s order on Monday that declared mandates on federal airplanes illegal. “The agencies are reviewing the decision and assessing potential next steps,” a Biden administration official said. “In the meantime, today’s court decision means CDC’s public transportation masking order is not in effect at this time.”

A Florida federal judge and Trump appointee has liberated the U.S. airlines from the tyranny of having to enforce mask mandates. United and Alaska airlines did not waste any time in seconding that ruling by dropping their own mask requirements. ... United Airlines and Alaska Air became the first U.S airlines Monday night to drop their own mask mandates just hours after a federal judge in Florida ruled the U.S. government’s mask mandate requirement for airplanes, trains and other transit to be unlawful. “Effective immediately, masks are no longer required at United on domestic flights, select international flights (dependent upon...

DALLAS — Yes, those 7-foot-tall machines at Dallas Love Field are watching you. They want to make sure you’re wearing a mask if you’re boarding a flight or not parking too long at the curb if you’re picking up a returning traveler. Love Field is testing out two Security Control Observation Towers at the airport, one near baggage claim and another near security checkpoints, to figure out whether robotic assistants can both help customers get around and warn passengers who are breaking rules. The robots can also contact airport security and operations in case more help is needed. While not...

On Thursday, which marks the 13th annual Transgender Day of Visibility, the Transportation Security Agency announced new screening standards for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming airline passengers. The TSA will update Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) units in airport checkpoints with an algorithm update that reportedly increases accuracy and efficiency, and replaced the current gender-based AIT system, according to a press release.

On Thursday, TSA officials announced new standards for screening transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming airline passengers. TSA officials said they will begin implementing an enhanced screening technology later this year and also plan on changing its operating procedures to reduce the number of pat-down screenings without compromising security. Additionally, TSA officials say they have removed gender considerations when validating a traveler’s identification at security checkpoints. They are also making the TSA PreCheck more inclusive. TSA has updated its Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Nonconforming Passengers webpage to provide information to the traveling public on all gender-related updates, including changes to AIT (advanced...

Nine flight attendants from six states said Monday they are suing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the federal mask mandate on public transportation, arguing the COVID-19 rule obstructs their normal breathing over many hours and threatens aviation security because passengers refuse to comply. They want a judge to vacate the rule, which was recently extended to April 18, and prevent the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services from issuing such a mandate again. The attendants filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado because one plaintiff, Victoria Vasenden of Southwest...

Hours after the U.S. Senate voted to repeal the federal transportation mask mandate—which the White House quickly threatened to veto—a group of commercial pilots filed the first legal challenge by airline workers to overturn the requirement to wear masks on all public transport. On March 15, 10 commercial airline pilots from six states filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), asking the court to strike down the federal transportation mask mandate, arguing that...

A number of pilots are suing over the extension of the Transportation Security Administration's ongoing mask mandate for air travel. "In court paperwork, the 10 commercial airline pilots – who work for American JetBlue and Southwest – argued that the CDC issued an order 'Requirement for Persons to Wear Masks While on Conveyances & at Transportation Hubs' on Feb. 1, 2020 'without providing public notice or soliciting comment,'" Fox Business reports. "The pilots are asking the court to "vacate worldwide the FTMM (federal transportation mask mandate)' calling the move an 'illegal and unconstitutional exercise of executive authority.'" The pilots also...

The Senate on Tuesday voted to nix a requirement to wear masks on public transportation as the country rolls back coronavirus rules and restrictions. Senators voted 57-40 on the resolution, which would reduce Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requirements that most people wear masks on public transportation, including trains, airplanes and buses. The bill was introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.) each voted for it. Hassan, Kelly, Bennet and...

Officials with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are prolonging mask rules for public transportation until April 18 even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said most citizens may ditch face coverings. According to a White House official, the CDC will collaborate with additional agencies regarding an updated “policy framework” as to when the rules may be lifted, NBC News reported Thursday. “The requirement was set to expire on March 18 after having been extended twice before,” the outlet said.

A federal mask mandate for airline passengers will remain intact despite a rule issued Feb. 25 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ease mask guidance in other settings. The mask mandate for airline passengers and airports, issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), remains in effect until at least March 18, when it expires. The mandate could still be extended. “The mask requirement remains in place, and we will continue to assess the duration of the requirement in consultation with CDC,” TSA spokeswoman Alexa Lopez told news outlets on Feb. 25. The TSA mandate was announced...

A Florida woman has been arrested for allegedly using a $15,000 PPP loan to hire a hitman to murder the 24-year-old woman she claimed stole her boyfriend. Le'Shonte Jones, a TSA agent at Miami International Airport, was fatally gunned down in front of her daughter, 3, outside their home at Coral Bay Cove Apartments in the Miami suburb of Homestead, on May 3, 2021. Her toddler was also injured. Jasmine Martinez, 33, is charged with first degree murder for masterminding the plot. Police say Martinez took out a $15,000 pandemic relief loan, which she claimed was for her one-woman beauty...

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Friday acknowledged it was allowing illegal immigrants to present arrest warrants as identification to get on airplanes but said it was ending the practice.“For non-citizens and non-U.S. nationals who do not otherwise have acceptable forms of ID for presentation at security checkpoints, TSA may also accept certain DHS-issued forms, including ICE Form I-200 (Warrant for Arrest of an Alien),” a spokesman for the agency told The Epoch Times in an email.The TSA is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which also includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Later in the day, though, the...

Illegal immigrants worried about having proper identification to fly can now use an arrest warrant as an alternate form of ID when presenting to airport security, according to a TSA letter obtained by the Daily Caller.Responding to Republican Texas Rep. Lance Gooden’s Dec. 15 inquiry about illegal migrants flying across the country, TSA Administrator David Pekoske explained that certain Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents may be considered acceptable forms of alternate identification for non-citizens, including a “Warrant for Arrest of Alien” and a “Warrant of Removal/Deportation.” -Daily Caller"TSA’s response confirms the Biden Administration is knowingly putting our national security...