For some reason or another the movie, "The Fifth Element", comes to mind. Fingerprint recognition, thumbprint scanner its all part of the travel away for you holiday experience now. Don't get me wrong l`m all for airline security for the comfort and safety of all onboard ect. Airport Security screening will now be going to the next level with irisscan technology and thumbprint scanner. Sure its faster hassle free boarding, but how's watching the people watching us?

Eye scanners and futuristic security tunnels may be standard in airports soon as the airline industry seeks to maintain safety while reducing the hassles of boarding a plane that deter some people from flying.
The International Air Transport Association unveiled a mock-up Tuesday in Singapore of what it dubbed the "Checkpoint of the Future," where passengers separated by security risk would walk through one of three high-tech, 20-foot-long (6.1-meters-long) tunnels that can quickly scan shoes and carry-on luggage and check for liquids and explosives.

by The Associated Press
FURTHER READING

As a proud owner of an air radio for listening to atclive in the UK, its very difficult to believe ATC is anything but ready to take a nap at the controls. In fact the absolute professional  attitude in atclive over the radio makes me feel safe! 
In saying that, this week in the news figures show an increase in global passenger numbers. Are our air traffic controlers over worked?

Asleep at the wheel has taken on all too real a meaning for American air traffic control. In addition to the high-profile aborted landing of an Air Force jet carrying Michelle Obama in April, the Federal Aviation Administration currently is investigating two cases of controllers sleeping on the job in January, one in Los Angeles, the other in Fort Worth. Three other controllers already have been fired for falling asleep on the job this year.

The latest string of errors comes on the heels of a 53 percent increase in reported errors from fiscal year 2009 to 2010, representing a rise from 1,233 to 1,887, according to statistics provided by the FAA.

In light of the uptick, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Jay Rockefeller convened hearings on May 25, at which he called the air traffic controllers' working environment "stunning."

For its part, the FAA readily acknowledges the problem.

"We are concerned about the upward trend in operational errors and we are reviewing procedures and training throughout the air traffic control system to ensure we are addressing any safety issues and making any necessary changes," said Sasha Johnson, FAA Assistant Administrator for Communications in a statement to AOL Jobs.

The FAA has begun phasing in reforms for the country's roughly 15,000 air traffic controllers represented by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA). In a bid to protect against fatigue, the FAA has mandated that, as of April, controllers have a minimum of nine hours between shifts. And the practice of staffing just one controller during midnight shifts was brought to an end with additional controllers assigned to the 27 control towers still operating with one-man overnight operations.

Even though the top FAA brass, including administrator J. Bruce Babbitt, has recognized the spike in errors as a problem, NATCA spokesman Doug Church says that the matter, in fact, has nothing to do with performance.

"We don't believe there's a rise," he says. "There's a rise in reported errors." To back the claim that the higher number is simply the result of improved detection, and not negligence, he noted that new radar technology at airport terminals has extended surveillance capability to 40 miles from airports. The likelihood is therefore higher that airplanes flying too close together will be picked up from further away than ever before, he said. "You simply can't compare the numbers."

Other changes that have been implemented include the recent establishment of a non-punitive voluntary error reporting system for the controllers. "This cultural change in safety reporting has produced a wealth of information to help the FAA identify potential risks in the system and take swift action to address them," Johnson said in her statement. But the very move raises the question -- can air traffic control fix itself?

"You have an operator who regulates itself. How can that be?" says Marc Scribner, a land-use and transportation policy analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "At a bare minimum, to ensure proper oversight and to prevent the FAA from having to protect itself, the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) should be spun off from the FAA."

The ATO is charged with the operation of American aviation within the FAA, and its employees include controllers as well technicians and support personnel. Oversight is run through the Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service (AOV), also a branch of the FAA.

"This is a good-government no-brainer," says Bob Poole, the director of transportation policy for the libertarian Reason Foundation. "Every other major OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] government, except Mexico, has removed safety regulation from systems operation. If we did this, we would have a better chance of focusing on major safety problems."

Industrialized nations starting with New Zealand in 1987 began separating its aviation administrations. The idea was even floated in the U.S. in 1994 during the Clinton administration's Reinventing Government initiative before it quickly died off. And while Poole has often been the public face of the controversial movement to privatize air traffic control, what he says he advocates is the "commercialization" of air traffic control. He says that the overhaul need not lead to a formal for-profit entity, but can in fact exist within the government. What is paramount, he says, is a "depoliticization ... that ensures that aviation is regulated at arm's length for safety."

For his part, Church, of NATCA, dismissed any conflict of interest out of hand, but critics of federal control of aviation raise other issues besides those related to oversight.

"Air traffic control is a high tech business," says Chris Edwards, the Director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. "You can't run a high-tech business from a bureaucracy in Washington. It doesn't really work." Edwards says that the need for private participation in air traffic control has become more acute and thrown into stark relief as air traffic control transitions from traditional radar to a satellite-based system.

With NATCA firmly opposed to any privatization, the view of the air traffic controllers is to deal with the problems internally.

"Our system is the largest most complex system in the world. You can't compare what goes on in Canada or the U.K. to what we have here," says Steve Hansen, a controller in Albuquerque and the NATCA Safety Committee chairman. "The current direction the ATO is taking is the best way. The introduction of a safety culture is much healthier by instituting voluntary reporting forces. You can't start sacrificing safety for profit".By Dan Fastenberg, Posted Jun 2nd 2011 @ 3:41PM

Japan Airlines will begin flying nonstop from Tokyo to Logan International Airport next year, an addition that is expected to give a significant economic boost to Boston, the biggest US market without nonstop service to Asia.

The new service, in partnership with American Airlines, will begin in April, and represents a victory for city and state officials, who have been lobbying airlines for years to begin nonstop service to Asia.

Having nonstop flights between the two regions is considered critical to tourism and business and could generate about $175 million a year for the regional economy, according to the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan.

“Our counterparts in Tokyo understand the value of a direct flight that will connect them to our growing health care, biotechnology, telecommunications, and advance technologies industries, and to our prestigious colleges and research universities,’’ Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday in a statement. “This is an invaluable economic partnership for the Commonwealth, and we look forward to the increased tourism, commerce, and economic development with Japan that it will bring.’’

Japan Airlines will offer four flights a week between Logan and Narita International Airport starting April 22, with daily service beginning in June. Making the 13 1/2-hour flight nonstop will shave up to six hours off the time it currently takes Boston passengers, who now have to connect through New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or a number of other cities to get to Tokyo.
Further Reading
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/05/27/japan_airlines_sets_hub_tokyo_service/
By Katie Johnston Chase Globe Staff / May 27, 2011

On Saturday the Grimsvotn volcano erupted prompting fears of a repeat of the travel chaos last April caused by the Eyjafjallajokull eruption which saw flights over Europe grounded for six days and passengers stranded all over the world.

Experts at Europe’s air traffic control organisation, Eurocontrol, have indicated that particles from the Grimsvotn volcano could reach Scotland by today and southern England by the end of the week, depending on wind direction.

The eruption has prompted staff at the region’s airports, including Norwich International Airport and Stansted, to prepare themselves as best they can for potential disruption.

Andrew Bell, chief executive of Norwich International Airport, which lost a six-figure sum as a result of last year’s ash cloud, said: “I couldn’t believe the news a year on almost to the day.

“We’ve got the same issues again but with the benefit of a year that’s passed an awful lot has changed at a regulatory level to ensure that the blanket air ban which really disrupted people last year is very unlikely to happen again this time.”

Mr Bell said as with bad weather conditions passengers travelling from the airport should check with their tour operator or airline before travelling.

There is currently no impact on any flights to or from the region’s airports, but an aviation industry source said if the volcano continues to erupt at same intensity ash cloud could reach the west of the UK on Thursday or Friday.

However, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it was confident that a new Europe-wide safety regime introduced after the Eyjafjallajokull eruption last year would reduce disruption significantly and avoid the continental shutdown that stranded millions.

Under previous guidelines, aeroplanes were summarily grounded if there was any volcanic ash in the air. Now, airlines can fly through ash plumes if they have a safety case demonstrating that their fleets can handle medium or high-level densities of ash.

A CAA spokesman said most major airlines already have safety cases for medium-density ash clouds. He said: “We are in a much better position than last time. Safety will still be paramount but we will be able to drastically reduce disruption compared to last time, provided there is not a huge amount of high-density ash.” The spokesman said a similar level of ash to the Eyjafjallajokull incident would not result in a mass-grounding. “It will be a different picture.”

The Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on Sunday, causing flights to be cancelled at Iceland’s main Keflavik airport after it sent a plume of ash smoke and steam 12 miles (19km) into the air.

Experts have said the eruption was unlikely to have the dramatic impact that the Eyjafjallajokull volcano had in April 2010.

However if it does passengers are likely to not only face disruption but also difficulty in trying to be recompensded after it emerged a number of insurers, including Aviva, that previously paid out claims will not this time.

For flight information at Norwich International Airport log onto www.norwichairport.co.uk/ or Stansted log onto www.stanstedairport.com/

Peter WalshMonday, May 23, 2011 
3:55 PM

Airport officials opened a few gates early Sunday afternoon in the wake of a lengthy power failure that has hampered weekend operations and stranded many passengers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The outage, which began about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, has caused Delta Airlines to cancel more than 250 flights, according to a company spokeswoman. All of the shutdowns affected flights operated by Delta Airlines or its regional carriers.

Concourses A, B, C and D in the main terminal, which used to be known as the Lindbergh Terminal, were closed most of Saturday. All of those concourses except B had power restored around 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Early Sunday afternoon, seven of the 16 gates at concourse B were reopened, said Melissa Scovronski, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission. Crews hope to open three more later Sunday, she said.

The gates are not at full power, so passengers will probably notice temperature controls down in the concourse and nonoperational moving walkways, Scovronski said.

The current power fix is temporary, she said. Officials still don't know the cause of the outage, Scovronski said, adding that it may take weeks for a permanent fix to be completed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495