Prescription for bag checks: CT scans
Trump budget request will lead to faster lines for carry-on luggage screenings, TSA says.
President Trump’s budget for fiscal year 2019 has yet to win congressional approval but one of the president’s top security chiefs is touting a portion of the spending plan that could speed up airport screening across the country.
At a conference on security last week, Transportation Security Administration Administrator David Pekoske praised a budget request to spend nearly $71 million to purchase 145 new airport scanners that rely on computed tomography to check carry-on bags.
Computed tomography scanners, also known as CT scanners, have long been used for medical imaging and also are installed at airports to screen checked luggage. But they have only recently been scaled down to be used for carry-on luggage.
During a speech at the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, Pekoske said the scanner can view the contents of a bag in three dimensions, allowing security officers to flip the image on the screen 360 degrees.
“This CT technology goes from a two-dimensional view to a three-dimensional view so the officers can move [the image] around and they can slice it,” he said. “You are going to get a much better view.”
The technology could speed up the screening process by allowing passengers to leave all items, including laptop computers and liquids, in the bag. Testing on carry-on luggage has already begun.
“I’m really excited about that program and I think it’s going to make a huge difference at our checkpoints,” Pekoske said.
But to help pay for the new technology, the proposed budget calls for raising the passenger security fee charged to all fliers by $1 per one-way trip next year and $1.65 in 2020, raising the total fee in 2020 to $8.25 per one-way ticket.
The same budget proposal calls for a nearly $2 increase to two separate fees charged by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on travelers entering the country via boat or airplane.
Start-up gets funds to ease overbooking
Following the ugly case of David Dao, the Kentucky doctor who was dragged from an overbooked United Airlines flight, the U.S. airline industry vowed to fix the problem of oversold planes.
Now some airlines seem to be backing up their promises with money.
The parent company of British Airways and the venture arms for JetBlue and Qantas recently offered $2.6 million in financing to an Atlanta start-up that has created software designed to end the drama and frustration of overbooked flights.
Volantio has created software that contacts passengers via a mobile device days before their flight to ask if they would be willing to accept offers of upgrades, vouchers and frequent-flier points to give up their seat in the case of overbooking. If the airlines need to unseat a passenger, the software automatically contacts those passengers willing to give up their seats and rebooks them on a later flight.
Volantio’s software is in use by Qantas, Iberia, Alaska Airlines, Volaris, Emirates and other carriers.
“We view the funding as a strong vote of confidence that we are on the right track with what we are building, and that the industry believes we have a leading solution,” said Azim Barodawala, chief executive of Volantio.
Among the latest investors in Volantio are the International Airlines Group, the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling. Also offering financing is Qantas Ventures, the venture capital arm of the flag carrier of Australia, Qantas; and JetBlue Technology, a subsidiary of JetBlue.
The rate of passengers involuntarily booted from planes has dropped dramatically since the Dao incident, as some airlines have changed policies and increased the amount they will offer — as much as $10,000 — to get fliers to voluntarily give up their seats.
Def iant Qatar Airways to expand
Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways, has never shied away from a fight.
When Delta, United and American Airlines accused the Doha-based carrier in 2016 of competing unfairly by accepting subsidies from its oil-rich government owners, Al Baker responded by promising to add dozens of new U.S. destinations.
The new destinations included Atlanta, the biggest hub for Delta Air Lines.
“I like to rub a little salt on the wound of Delta when I announce these flights,” Al Baker joked at a news conference.
Al Baker remains defiant. Last week, he announced that Qatar Airways plans to add 16 international destinations and expand service to eight other cities in response to a blockade launched last summer by several Middle Eastern countries.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt accused the country of Qatar of harboring, funding and championing Islamist terrorists. The countries cut air, sea and land links with Qatar, among other punitive measures.
During a news conference, Al Baker dismissed suggestions that the blockade will hurt his carrier.
“These destinations are not the whole world,” he said in response to a reporter’s question about access to neighboring countries. “There are so many other nice places in the world. So, we have not lost anything.”
Over the next two years, he said, Qatar will add new flights to airports in Germany, London, Portugal, Estonia, Malta, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Turkey, Greece and Spain.
“We are very defiant, and Qatar Airways will keep on expanding and keep on raising the flag for my country all over the globe,” Al Baker said.