Archive for February, 2010

Security checks and emergency?

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued some guidelines to how TSA employees should act in the event of a medical emergency, while doing their security check work. The guidelines are quite clear that TS employees are not expected to step in with emergency work while they are involved in security checks. The TSA would not take the initiative to provide first aid training to its employees. Any effort made by TS employees to pitch in with emergency work , would not be viewed as being part of their normal roles and responsibilities. If they anyway wanted to contribute to ‘good Samaritan acts’ they would have to do so after getting permission from their supervisor. Any failure to do so, would be viewed as dereliction of duty.  This leads to the question whether the TSA is encouraging its employees to stay aloof in the face of human need, and if this is really in the best interests of security of passengers.

There are many who would criticize these moves by the TSA as promoting a stand-offish and selfish attitude. But the TSA makes it very clear that its first and foremost duty is to provide security checks that are foolproof, and that there are other officials to attend to emergency work.

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Dirty Secrets kept close to heart by airlines

It seems airlines specialize in keeping dirty secrets close to their heart. And they are quite good at this, and unless you are snooping around, you may not be able to guess that anything is wrong. The issue of recycling stuff is something that should be of top priority with airlines. Everyone seems to be so concerned about global warming and what we are doing to our planet. It’s natural to expect that airlines would be doing their bit to preserve the environment. But that’s not quite the case, if you were to believe a report by Green America. The report gives the highest rating of B-Minus to any airline in the US, on the parameter of recycling in the airline industry.

The airlines that got the top ranking B-Minus were Delta as well as Virgin America. At the other end of the scale was Us Airways that got an abysmal F. US Airways deserves to be shamed, big time. The report says that no major airline has any concerned efforts or program to minimize waste. Passengers generate as much as 0.6 kgs of waste on a per passenger basis. This is just too high. And airlines are not doing enough to recycle stuff that should get recycled.

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Pet travel travails

There are lots of people who have pet travel travails because they feel for their pets. For these people, bundling their pet into a hold is beastly behavior and something that does not become humans. After all, when you cannot think of traveling in the cargo hold, which is all so cold, how can you ever dump your beloved pet there? There is something perverse about traveling in comfort yourself, and condemn your pet to pet travel travails. But some people beg to differ. There is a study that says that around 10% of all people are allergic to animals, and if pets are allowed into passenger cabins, such people can face attacks of asthma as well as anaphylaxis, which can be life threatening, given the fact that airplanes are mostly bereft of medical facilities.

If you have to choose between passenger safety, and pet travel travails, most airlines would not compromise on passenger comfort and health. Airlines are firmly of the view that preferences and needs of pet owners should not gain precedence over the needs and comfort of passengers. After all, airlines are primarily for passengers and not for pets. That’s where they get their bread and butter from.

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Top airport ratings

When it comes to ratings of airports, you do not know as to which to value and which to trash. After all, there are so many ‘rating’ agencies and so many marketing agendas and planted surveys to be pushed, that it is tough to know as to which is the top airport based on survey ratings. While this is all so fine, it is quite true that the JD Power top airport rating ranks quite high on credibility as it is quite thorough, as well as comprehensive in its process and methodology. This study takes into account 12,000 survey respondents, and while Detroit Metropolitan came in first in the large top airport category, in case of medium it was Kansas City with Indianapolis coming in first in the small airport segment.

While these were the top airport ratings, the relative ratings of these were much lower as compared to rental cars as well as hotels. The main reason for this was that good eating, baggage delivery and safety as well as clear signage are aspects that most airports are not paying enough attention to.  This is despite advancements in areas like wi-fi, online check-ins and parking lot management that have greatly improved.

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How a four year old can be a security threat

There are some things that only the TSA (Transport Security Admin) is capable of doing. Like taking a four year old disabled child to be a security threat. The incident happened in Camden, where a cop’s four year old son was forced to take braces off his son, before boarding a plane to Orlando. The son Ryan, had braces on his legs as he is disabled. Now the TSA officials at Camden, refused to let Ryan through with his braces, as they actually expected the braces to be taken off, and for him to walk on his own through the metal detectors. This was supremely stupid, and could also cause a major public relations disaster for the TSA, for its insensitivity.

What’s more, there are indications that according to regulations, the boy should have been taken to a private area, where he could be given a swab to help trace for any explosive materials. While airline safety is paramount, sometimes things are taken to an extent that are quite inexplicably stupid and insulting too. it transpires that the TSA security director had to call Ryan’s dad Bob and apologize for the incident. But that’s not the point. The point is, what should be done that such monstrous measures do not have to be taken in the first place?

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UK high speed rail hits a bump?

With more and more countries getting on to the high speed bandwagon, it seems the country that gave the world its first railways seems to have hit a bump in its own bid to set up high speed railways. There is a move to try and connect London and Scotland by high speed rail, with the ruling Labour Party having laid down a white paper on this. But it seems as if the opposition Conservative Party is quite skeptical of this move and has shot down the proposal. The company that has been commissioned to make the report is High Speed Two, where the Tories say that they are not keen on getting any details of the project before it is made public.

It was initially assumed and also expected that the deal to start the high speed rail link would be with general consensus. But then, it is quite clear that the Tories are in no mood to be party to a deal that could be taken behind closed doors and yet later impact the public in ways that may not necessarily be so good. After all, such public works do involve public and private land which may be taken up by the railways, with its attendant issues and backlashes.

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Print Story: Travel officials push back on business travel – Yahoo! News

Print Story: Travel officials push back on business travel – Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON – The CEO of Internet travel site Travelocity said Wednesday that misguided criticism of business travel has led to a lot of confusion about what’s acceptable.

Speaking to a Senate subcommittee on tourism, Sam Gilliland said the Treasury Department’s failure to carefully define what Read the rest of this entry »

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Link between luxury airlines and wines

Part of the experience in luxury airlines has to do with the kind of wine that is served on board. After all, when you pay so much money, you would have to ensure that you have access to the best food and wine, so that you get your money’s worth. If you want to check out wines offered by airlines, do look at Qantas, which had been rated with as many as four gongs for its delectable wines that it boasts of. This is as part of the cellar in the sky awards, and here the first class wine offerings won three of the four awards. But then economy class wines were not considered, which seems to be all fine, given the fact that economy class wines generally do not really count for much.

In luxury airlines and the wines they serve, you would also be happy to note that Qatar Airways fared much better in both its business and first class offerings, in terms of consistency. Of all the luxury airlines, only 27 competed in the ‘Wines on the Wing’ award. While this may be more fun than anything else, it does show up the good choice of wines that you have if you spend a little more money and travel up front.

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Hotels & Leisure Travel – Yahoo! News

Hotels & Leisure Travel – Yahoo! News

Blackstone, Hilton lenders agree on debt: source

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Private equity giant Blackstone Group has come to an agreement to restructure its Hilton hotels chain debt, a source familiar with the situation said Read the rest of this entry »

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Yahoo! 404 – Page Not Found

Yahoo! 404 – Page Not Found

Use the Escape key to return to the search box. Use the right arrow key to explore related concepts.

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