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Firm behind TSA’s full-body scanners is having a tough time on the stock market
TransportOSI Systems Inc said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued it a “proposed debarment notice” related to privacy concerns over its full-body passenger scanners used in airports, limiting the company’s ability to sign new federal government contracts until the issue is resolved. OSI Systems shares fell as much as 17 percent on the [...]
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Summer travel up in the air: Cramped seats, rising fees and delays
TransportCall it the spring of uncertainty: The government says you can travel with little pocket knives, then decides no, you can’t. Budget sequester trims air traffic controllers’ hours, resulting in airport backups, then Congress restores schedules — for now, anyway. Homeland security curbs airport security checkpoint overtime and says lines aren’t longer, but some travelers [...]
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The 5 most popular guns found this year at TSA airport checkpoints
TransportDespite the focus on the Transportation Security Administration’s proposed and then scuttled plan allowing on board tiny knives and novelty sporting goods equipment, the agency has been busy as usual in 2013 finding loaded weapons and other banned items at airport checkpoints across the United States. The first three months of this year saw an [...]
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Despite a decade of work, TSA’s biometric ID cards still don’t work
TransportThe U.S. Transportation Security Administration, after more than a decade of work, hasn’t developed reliable technology to control port access with biometric identification cards, the Government Accountability Office said. A pilot program ordered by Congress in 2010 to fix card readers was so riddled with errors that lawmakers should push back their deadline for issuing [...]
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TSA spends $800,000 a year to store obsolete equipment
TransportThe U.S. Transportation Security Administration is warehousing $119 million worth of screening equipment in space including an unneeded area the size of an American-football field, the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general said. TSA is renting 72,074 square feet (6,696 square meters) worth of unneeded space in three Texas warehouses to store some of the gear, [...]
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TSA expands its pre-check screening to international travel, too
TransportThe Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that beginning May 7, 2013, in addition to domestic travel, TSA Pre✓™ participants will be eligible for expedited screening on select international travel itineraries. Eligible passengers traveling on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways will be allowed to leave on their shoes, [...]
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The 9/11 pilot’s widow who’s pressing Congress for better cockpit security
TransportA widow of a pilot who died on one of the jets that crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, is gaining congressional support in her campaign to add another barrier to airliner cockpits. Ellen Saracini, widow of United Airlines Flight 175 Captain Victor Saracini, says a flaw persists with cockpit doors, [...]
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TSA Pre-Check eligibility now appearing on airline boarding passes
TransportAirline passengers can now get notification directly on their boarding passes of their eligibility for TSA’s Pre Check security pre-approval program. The TSA said on its blog page on April 25 that Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways are beginning to pre-notify their passengers on boarding passes if they are eligible for the [...]
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U.S. senators question TSA’s decision-making process on tiny knives rule
TransportThe U.S. Transportation Security Administration, after backing off a move to end the ban on passengers carrying pocket knives onto airplanes, may face an inspector general’s investigation into its decision-making. The probe was requested by Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, in a letter to Department of [...]
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TSA delays knives on flights policy in major reversal
TransportThe U.S. Transportation Security Administration has delayed a decision to allow pocket knives on airliners, according to an internal e-mail sent to agency employees today. TSA Administrator John Pistole said in the e-mail the agency wanted to further consult with the airline industry before making the change, according to a person familiar with its contents [...]
