steven frischling

Encounters With A TSA VIPR Team & Is The Amtrak Logo Really A Security Risk?

The legality of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams Teams have been questioned by many, although authorized under 6 U.S.C. § 1112 , stating that the mission is to “augment the security of any mode of transportation at any location within the United States,” even a Department of Homeland Security (DHS)…

Hey Alec Baldwin, The TSA Never Touched Your Kid This Morning

This morning actor Alec Baldwin sent out a curious tweet to his more than one-million Twitter followers that read, “Flying from Nassau, Bahamas 2 NY. TSA “random selects” my 5 month old daughter 4 a pat down. I am not kidding. #travelinginUSAisadisgrace“   Ignoring the actor’s history of issues with the airline industry, there are…

Why Rep. John Mica Really Wants To Privatize The TSA … Corruption, Agendas & Personal Financial Gain

Congressman John Mica’s (R-FL) rants about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are nothing new. Rep. Mica, who represents Florida’s 7th Congressional District, was involved in the creation of the TSA and began becoming vocal about the privatization of the agency in 2010, focusing his energy on Orlando Sanford International Airport. Why tiny Orlando Sanford International…

American Eagle Airlines To Be Renamed ‘Envoy’ … and why it is amusing

Since 1984 American Airlines‘ regional airline has been named American Eagle Airlines. While most regional airlines are subcontracted by mainline carriers, American Eagle Airlines was wholly owned by American Airlines’ parent corporation AMR, now the American Airlines Group, and served only American Airlines with its fleet of more than 250 regional aircraft.   Now, as…

Ryanair & Google To Change How We Buy Plane Tickets … Not Really

Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ireland’s Ryanair, an airline known more for its lack of a positive passenger experience and nickel and diming its passengers than anything else, claims his airline is on the cusp of “completely transform how consumers search for, select and buy airline tickets.”   In an interview published in The Irish Independent…

The TSA’s Banned vs Approved Items Conundrum … A Video Guide

As millions of travelers throughout the United States get ready for Christmas Dinner with their friends and families, followed by flights home with new gifts, gadgets and home baked pies from Mom, there may be some confusion regarding what passengers may or may not bring through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) check points.   This topic…

Santa & Flight Crew Meet New Flight Safety Requirements

Thousands of aviation professionals around the world work tirelessly year round to ensure that Santa One‘s annual global flight goes off without a hitch. The logistics involved in ensuring that Santa Clause is able to depart the North Pole Sleighport on time to deliver gifts to boys and girls around the world on time involves…

Wifi In The Sky … That Is Faster Than Your Living Room

Today launched the official start of Jetblue’s new in-flight wifi service Fly-Fi, which will allow not only allow gate-to-gate wifi service starting in January 2014, but also speeds of 12Mbps from a geosynchronous satellite 22,000 miles up.   As Jetblue flight 9400 boarded aircraft N804JB today for non-stop service from New York’s JFK International Airport…

British Airways’ Travel Choose Your Own Adventure Video … check this out …

As kids many of us probably remember reading the Choose Your Own Adventure series of books. The ability to change the direction of a story, or the out come of a moment, intertwined with our learning to read, comprehend and most importantly learn that our destiny is in our hands.   Travel is like a…

LAX Airport Shooting – Part 2 – TSA BDOs, Why?

Ten years ago the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) adopted a new concept for aviation security in the United States when it started the Screening of Passengers by Observation Technique (SPOT) Program, through the training and deployment of Behaviour Detection Officers (BDO).   The theory behind the TSA implementing BDOs is that these officers are not watching…