Airport Check-in
Roger Yu, USA TODAY, 7/7/2008 and 7/14/2008 (excerpted)
ATLANTA: New law leads to fight over guns at airport
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta is reminding the public of a rule that may seem obvious to many travelers: No guns are allowed at the airport unless they're locked in a hard case and packed in checked luggage.
The airport is reiterating the statement because some may be confused by a new state law that expands the rights of Georgia gun owners. House Bill 89, which went into effect Tuesday [July 1], allows Georgia residents with firearm licenses to bring concealed weapons onto public transportation, in state parks and in restaurants that earn at least half their revenue from food.
In a press conference last week, Ben DeCosta, the airport's general manager, said the new law does not change the no-guns policy at the airport. "Our legal team has reviewed (the bill) and has determined that despite the passage of this legislation, the airport continues to fall under the public gathering exception found in the (state law)."
The airport's position isn't sitting well with Republican state Rep. Tim Bearden. In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the author of the law threatened to show up at the airport with a gun. DeCosta said Bearden would be arrested if he did. "I said I have family to pick up at the airport (Tuesday), and I had every intention of exercising my legal rights," Bearden said.
Bearden changed his mind and joined as co-plaintiff — along with gun rights group Georgia Carry — in a federal lawsuit challenging the airport's policy last week. "We put this in the proper venue, and that's the court."
Editor's Note: On July 15, USA Today reported that Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said “guns should be allowed in public areas” of the nation's busiest airport. A hearing is scheduled August 11 in U. S. District Court for the lawsuit filed by GeorgiaCarry.org, which wants a restraining order to keep the airport from enforcing the gun ban.
PORTLAND, Ore.: New service flies to Seattle
At a time when several airlines are going under, a new air service has launched between Portland, Ore., and Seattle. SeaPort Airlines began flying last Monday, using nine-seat Pilatus PC-12 aircraft to link the two Northwest cities.
SeaPort offers eight round trips Monday through Friday and four on weekends. Because flights take off from a private terminal at Portland International, passengers don't have to clear security and can show up as late as 15 minutes before departure.
The 40-minute flights land at Boeing Field, which is closer to downtown Seattle than Seattle-Tacoma International. In all, the downtown-to-downtown travel time is about 90 minutes, compared with more than three hours to drive or fly commercially, says SeaPort co-founder Kent Craford. An unrestricted round-trip ticket costs about $300.
MIAMI: Fliers flow more quickly through security
Travelers at Miami International are passing through the security checkpoints at a faster pace, says the top Transportation Security Administration official overseeing the airport.
Redesigning the checkpoints and tinkering with staffing policy largely did the trick, according to Mark Hatfield, TSA's federal security director for Miami.
In February, only 26% of passengers waited 10 minutes or less at its eight checkpoints. Since May, about 90% of passengers wait 10 minutes or less, he says.
TSA employees at MIA used to work full time, leading to some idle time between peak travel periods.
Now, about a quarter of its employees work part time, allowing the TSA to assign more people to the checkpoints during busy hours.
A mobile unit of TSA officers was also formed to be deployed to busy spots throughout the day, particularly to Terminals D and E, which process more than 60% of the airport's traffic.
MINNEAPOLIS: Device-charging stations in 2 terminals
Minneapolis-St. Paul now has 22 charging stations throughout the Lindbergh and Humphrey Terminals. Sponsored by Samsung Mobile, the 8½-foot-tall towers include four outlets per station, letting travelers recharge their electronic devices for free.
Similar stations are available at five other airports: New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Orlando and Dallas/Fort Worth.
PHILADELPHIA: US Airways delays Beijing service
US Airways, which planned on launching a daily flight between Philadelphia and Beijing in spring 2009, will delay the service by a year.
CHINA: China adjusts routes for Olympics
In time for the Summer Olympics, flights from Europe now have more direct paths as they fly into some of China's biggest cities.
European flights to Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong previously had to fly on routes that went over or near Beijing. New routes to those airports have been shifted farther south, which results in a shorter flight path. In addition, European flights to Beijing now also take a more southern route, which shaves the total distance.
As a result, flights from Europe to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong will be on average about 60 nautical miles shorter, says the International Air Transport Association, which worked with the Chinese government to establish the new routes. With 475 European flights arriving in China a week, the airlines will save about 26,000 tons of jet fuel a year, IATA says.
"We call this route the Olympic Bypass. It will alleviate air traffic delays and congestion," says Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general, in a statement. "The experience of previous Olympics host cities tells us that there will be significantly more air traffic in China's skies during the Olympics."