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Tag: Airport security

  • Pup Abandoned at Las Vegas Airport Adopted by Officer Who Rescued Him – Casino.org

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    Posted on: February 22, 2026, 12:31h. 

    Last updated on: February 22, 2026, 12:48h.

    • A two-year-old goldendoodle abandoned at a Las Vegas airport was adopted by one of the officers who helped rescue him.
    • The original owner was arrested after leaving the dog tied to a JetBlue ticket counter
    • Officer Skeeter Black’s family had already been pre-approved by the same rescue to adopt a goldendoodle

    A young goldendoodle abandoned inside Harry Reid International Airport has found a more loving home — with one of the officers who rescued him.

    Officer Skeeter Black with JetBlue, his latest family member. (Image: LVMPD)

    Las Vegas police announced that Officer Skeeter Black and his family adopted the 2‑year‑old pup, renamed JetBlue after the airline where he was left tied to a ticket counter baggage sizer.

    The dog was abandoned after his previous owner, Germiran Bryson, was told she couldn’t board her flight without proper service‑dog documentation. Instead of leaving the airport with the dog or arranging care, she walked away.

    “What began as a heartbreaking act of abandonment has turned into a powerful example of compassion, teamwork, and community partnership,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department wrote in an Instagram post.

    The Leash of Destiny

    Retriever Rescue of Las Vegas, which cared for JetBlue since he was taken into custody on Feb. 2, said it was inundated with hundreds of applications to adopt the pooch after police broke the sad news of his abandonment on Feb. 18. However, there was never really a doubt where he was headed.

    According to police, the very same rescue had approved the Black family to adopt a goldendoodle months earlier, long before JetBlue appeared at the airport.

    Photos and video released by the department show the moment Officer Black and his family arrived at the rescue facility to finalize the adoption. JetBlue, tail wagging, greeted them as if he already knew where he belonged.

    Home-Broken

    JetBlue (Image: LVMPD)

    After Bryson left Germiran at the ticket counter, investigators said, she made her way to her flight’s departure gate. When police confronted her, she explained that the dog had a tracking chip implanted and therefore would find his way back to her.

    At first, police offered to walk Bryson back to the dog and issue her a citation. However, they reported, she became “hostile” when they attempted to detain her, resisting as she was escorted through a security checkpoint.

    She was arrested and booked on three misdemeanor charges, including animal abandonment and resisting a public officer.

    Las Vegas police celebrated JetBlue’s relocation to a home where he’s more wanted.

    “Today, JetBlue’s next journey begins this time, surrounded by the people who stepped in when he needed it the most,” their statement read. “Bon voyage, JetBlue and welcome to a new life where you’ll be loved beyond words by Officer Black and his family.”

     

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    Corey Levitan

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  • The TSA fee for travelers without REAL ID starts soon. What to know

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    A new fee for travelers without REAL ID starts soon. Here’s what to know about the changes ahead and what to do if you don’t have a REAL ID. In December, the Transportation Security Administration announced that passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly will have an option to pay a $45 fee.When will the TSA start charging the $45 fee?According to the TSA, the use of TSA Confirm.ID and a $45 fee to use this identity verification will begin on Feb. 1. The fee only applies to travelers without an acceptable form of ID.Why is the TSA charging this fee, and what does it cover? According to TSA officials, the fee “ensures that non-compliant travelers, not taxpayers, cover the cost of processing travelers without acceptable IDs.” The $45 fee allows passengers without accepted ID to use TSA Confirm.ID for a 10-day travel period.What is TSA Confirm.ID and do I have to use it?TSA ConfirmID is an identity verification system that will establish passengers’ identities at security checkpoints.While using TSA ConfirmID is voluntary, TSA officials say that if you choose not to use it and don’t have an acceptable ID, you may not be allowed through security and could miss your flight.Can I pay the fee online before I travel?Yes. The TSA has a step-by-step guide to pay the $45 fee online here.If I don’t have a REAL ID or don’t pay the $45 fee ahead of time, how long will it take to get through security?According to a recent news release from the TSA, travelers without REAL IDs that use TSA ConfirmID at the airport “will be subject to additional ID verification, screening measures and potential delays.””Travelers who appear at the TSA checkpoint without a REAL ID or other acceptable form of ID and have not already paid the TSA ConfirmID fee will be subject to additional delays which may result in a missed flight,” the TSA release says. “It is important that airline travelers plan ahead to ensure they have an acceptable form of ID to avoid these additional delays as the process can take up to 30 minutes.” TSA officials urge any traveler without REAL ID or acceptable identification to pay the fee online before traveling. For passengers arriving at the airport without paying the fee in advance, there will be information about how to pay at marked locations at or near the security checkpoint in most airports. What are the acceptable uses of ID?Acceptable forms of ID include:REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL) or Enhanced ID (EID)U.S. passportU.S. passport cardDHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependentsPermanent resident cardBorder crossing cardAn acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs)HSPD-12 PIV cardForeign government-issued passportCanadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada cardTransportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)U.S. Merchant Mariner CredentialVeteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)How do I get a REAL ID?Each state handles the REAL ID process differently. You should visit your state’s driver’s licensing agency website to find out exactly what documentation is required, but at a minimum, you’ll need to provide documentation showing your full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, two proofs of address of principal residence and lawful status.Some states may have additional requirements, so check with your state’s driver’s licensing agency website before visiting them in person for additional guidance and assistance.

    A new fee for travelers without REAL ID starts soon. Here’s what to know about the changes ahead and what to do if you don’t have a REAL ID.

    In December, the Transportation Security Administration announced that passengers who do not present an acceptable form of ID and still want to fly will have an option to pay a $45 fee.

    When will the TSA start charging the $45 fee?

    According to the TSA, the use of TSA Confirm.ID and a $45 fee to use this identity verification will begin on Feb. 1. The fee only applies to travelers without an acceptable form of ID.

    Why is the TSA charging this fee, and what does it cover?

    According to TSA officials, the fee “ensures that non-compliant travelers, not taxpayers, cover the cost of processing travelers without acceptable IDs.”

    The $45 fee allows passengers without accepted ID to use TSA Confirm.ID for a 10-day travel period.

    What is TSA Confirm.ID and do I have to use it?

    TSA ConfirmID is an identity verification system that will establish passengers’ identities at security checkpoints.

    While using TSA ConfirmID is voluntary, TSA officials say that if you choose not to use it and don’t have an acceptable ID, you may not be allowed through security and could miss your flight.

    Can I pay the fee online before I travel?

    Yes. The TSA has a step-by-step guide to pay the $45 fee online here.

    If I don’t have a REAL ID or don’t pay the $45 fee ahead of time, how long will it take to get through security?

    According to a recent news release from the TSA, travelers without REAL IDs that use TSA ConfirmID at the airport “will be subject to additional ID verification, screening measures and potential delays.”

    “Travelers who appear at the TSA checkpoint without a REAL ID or other acceptable form of ID and have not already paid the TSA ConfirmID fee will be subject to additional delays which may result in a missed flight,” the TSA release says. “It is important that airline travelers plan ahead to ensure they have an acceptable form of ID to avoid these additional delays as the process can take up to 30 minutes.”

    TSA officials urge any traveler without REAL ID or acceptable identification to pay the fee online before traveling. For passengers arriving at the airport without paying the fee in advance, there will be information about how to pay at marked locations at or near the security checkpoint in most airports.

    What are the acceptable uses of ID?

    Acceptable forms of ID include:

    • REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)
    • State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL) or Enhanced ID (EID)
    • U.S. passport
    • U.S. passport card
    • DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
    • U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
    • Permanent resident card
    • Border crossing card
    • An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs)
    • HSPD-12 PIV card
    • Foreign government-issued passport
    • Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
    • Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
    • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
    • U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
    • Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)

    How do I get a REAL ID?

    Each state handles the REAL ID process differently. You should visit your state’s driver’s licensing agency website to find out exactly what documentation is required, but at a minimum, you’ll need to provide documentation showing your full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, two proofs of address of principal residence and lawful status.

    Some states may have additional requirements, so check with your state’s driver’s licensing agency website before visiting them in person for additional guidance and assistance.

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  • TSA renews push to end collective bargaining agreement for airport security screeners

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    The Transportation Security Administration is renewing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s push to end a collective bargaining agreement with airport screening officers — the second such attempt this year, coming just a month after the longest government shutdown on record.

    The agency said Friday the move relies on a September memo from Noem — issued months after a federal judge blocked her earlier directive — that says TSA screeners “have a primary function of national security” and therefore should not engage in collective bargaining or be represented by a union.

    The American Federation of Government Employees swiftly vowed to fight the decision, calling it illegal and a violation of the preliminary injunction issued in June that halted Noem’s first attempt to terminate the contract covering 47,000 workers.

    In the September memo cited by TSA, Noem acknowledged the injunction but did not explain why she concluded it did not prohibit her from pursuing the same outcome through a new directive while the case remains pending. The injunction barred TSA from rescinding the union contract or enforcing Noem’s orders to dismiss pending grievances, but it did not state whether its restrictions would extend to future directives by Noem.

    “It definitely seems like they’re using all loopholes to try to eliminate collective bargaining rights for the transportation security officers,” Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the bargaining unit for TSA workers, said Friday in a phone interview.

    TSA declined Friday to comment on the union’s assertions. An emailed request for comment was sent to Homeland Security.

    The agency said it plans to rescind the current seven-year contract in January and replace it with a new “security-focused framework.” The agreement, reached last May, was supposed to expire in 2031.

    Adam Stahl, acting TSA deputy administrator, said in a statement that airport screeners “need to be focused on their mission of keeping travelers safe.”

    “Under the leadership of Secretary Noem, we are ridding the agency of wasteful and time-consuming activities that distracted our officers from their crucial work,” Stahl said.

    The announcement also comes weeks after Noem held a news conference in which she handed out $10,000 bonus checks to TSA officers who she said went “above and beyond” during the 43-day shutdown, when thousands of airport screeners continued reporting for duty despite missing more than six weeks of pay during the lapse in funding.

    “This is how they’re going to be repaid for coming to work every single day during the government shutdown?” Jones said, calling the agency’s decision “a slap in the face to the people they’re handing checks to.”

    Noem issued her first memo in February rescinding the collective bargaining agreement. But the union sued, claiming the move was retaliation for AFGE’s resistance to the Trump administration’s actions affecting federal workers, such as firing probationary employees. A trial is currently scheduled for next year.

    In granting the preliminary injunction in June, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman of Seattle said the order was necessary to preserve the rights and benefits TSA workers have long held under union representation.

    Pechman wrote that AFGE had shown in its lawsuit that Noem’s directive “constitutes impermissible retaliation,” likely violated the union’s due process, and was “arbitrary and capricious” — findings that the judge said make it likely AFGE will ultimately prevail.

    AFGE represents about 800,000 federal government employees and has been pushing back as the Trump administration has laid the groundwork to weaken or eliminate protections for federal workers in an effort to shrink the bureaucracy.

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  • The shutdown is over. Flights have resumed. Thanksgiving travelers might wonder: What now?

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    The turbulence caused by the longest government shutdown on record may still be fresh on travelers’ minds this Thanksgiving, but experts say preparing for the usual holiday crush of winter weather, heavy traffic and crowded airports can help ease those jitters.

    “I think the shutdown at this point is history for air travel. The airlines understand this time of year so well. They know exactly what they need to do,” said Sheldon H. Jacobson, an airport and airlines operations expert. “The real challenge is making sure travelers can help themselves.”

    Here’s a guide to navigating the busiest travel week of the year:

    Travel forecasts point to packed airports and roads.

    A week after lifting the unprecedented flight restrictions it placed on commercial airlines during the shutdown, the Federal Aviation Administration is preparing for its busiest Thanksgiving week in 15 years, with more than 360,000 flights scheduled between Monday and next Tuesday. That’s more than 17.8 million people who will be screened by the Transportation Security Administration.

    AAA projects 1.3 million more travelers will be on the roads than last year, pushing the total number of people traveling by car to at least 73 million.

    You can’t control the weather, but you can control how prepared you are if a winter storm hits. If your flight is canceled or delayed, will you drive instead or postpone or cancel your trip? Knowing your options ahead of time can reduce stress if a storm leaves you stranded.

    James Belanger, vice president of meteorology at the Weather Company, recommends checking the forecast frequently while planning your trip.

    The Weather Channel offers a Thanksgiving weekly forecast highlighting major airports and highways that could be affected by bad weather — including snow, ice and rain — along with a free online tool that shows how the weather might impact your travel route.

    On Tuesday, the FAA’s busiest day with more than 52,000 flights scheduled, forecasters say rain could cause problems in the Pacific Northwest and for much of the eastern U.S. Airports in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, D.C., could be impacted, according to the Weather Channel.

    Jacobson, whose research contributed to the design of TSA PreCheck, recommends starting your packing by unpacking.

    Check every pocket in case TSA-restricted items, like full-sized bottles, were left behind from a previous trip. This simple scan can help you get through security faster, especially when airports are crowded.

    If you’re traveling with gifts, Jacobson suggests wrapping them at your destination because TSA agents may need to open them.

    When deciding which clothes and shoes to pack, Belanger says to check the “feels like” temperature for a better sense of the weather, especially if you’re not used to the cold.

    And don’t forget a REAL ID is required to fly within the U.S., or you’ll need to bring another accepted form of ID, like a passport or military ID.

    People with iPhones can now also add their U.S. passport details to Apple Wallet, which can be scanned at participating airports if travelers don’t have a REAL ID. More than a dozen states already accept some form of a mobile ID at airport checkpoints, and travelers can go to the TSA website for more details.

    Whether driving is your top choice or backup plan, AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz suggests checking your tires, car battery and fluids, then hitting the road with a full tank of gas as early as possible to avoid traffic. Last year, AAA said, it responded to nearly 600,000 emergency roadside assistance calls during the Thanksgiving travel period to help drivers stranded by dead batteries, flat tires and empty tanks.

    According to an analysis by Google Maps:

    — Traffic on Wednesday is expected to be 14% heavier than usual between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., with peak traffic from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

    — On Thanksgiving Day, the roads will be busiest between noon and 3 p.m.

    — When it’s time to head home, avoid driving from 12 to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, when traffic is heaviest.

    “…is an informed passenger,” Jacobson likes to say.

    Download your airline’s app to track your flight status, and check it regularly as your travel date approaches. That way, if your flight is canceled the day before, you can quickly look for alternatives.

    Driving or flying, leave earlier than you think you need to. Knowing you won’t have to rush to your destination can help calm any nerves, whether it’s lingering anxiety from the shutdown or because you’re traveling with young kids or someone who needs extra help getting around.

    “These are some very simple things to think about, but they’re important things to think about,” Jacobson said.

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  • One Tech Tip: iPhone users can now add US passport info to their digital wallets

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    Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, iPhone users can now add their passport details to their Apple digital wallets.

    The company on Wednesday unveiled its new “Digital ID” system for users to add their U.S. passport information to Apple Wallet, which can be scanned at airport readers if travelers don’t have a Real ID.

    Digital ID acceptance “will roll out first in beta” at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at more than 250 U.S. airports for “in-person identity verification during domestic travel.”

    The company warned that Digital ID doesn’t replace a physical passport and can’t be used for international travel and crossing borders.

    Apple already allowed people in 12 states and Puerto Rico to add their driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet, while TSA already accepts some form of a digital ID in at least 16 states and Puerto Rico.

    “You can breeze through more than 250 TSA checkpoints faster and more securely than ever before,” the agency’s website says.

    Here’s a guide on how to add your passport:

    Setup

    Open your iPhone’s Wallet app, tap the plus sign at the top and then tap the Digital ID option on the menu. If that doesn’t work for you, type in “Digital ID” into the app’s search bar.

    Grab your passport and follow the instructions. You’ll have to use the camera to scan your passport’s photo page. Next, place your iPhone on the chip embedded on the passport’s back page to authenticate the data.

    Finally, you will need to verify your identity, first by taking a selfie and then by carrying out a series of facial and head movements, such as turning your head or closing your eyes.

    Once the verification procedures are done, the Digital ID will be added to the Wallet.

    How to use

    Using your iPhone to present your Digital ID is similar to using it to make a purchase.

    Double-click the phone’s side button, which calls up the Wallet app. On the stack of cards, tap on the Digital ID. When it’s your turn at the TSA kiosk, hold your phone or Apple watch up to the reader.

    The machine will take your picture, and then your phone will let you review the information that’s being requested, such as name and date of birth. In order to authenticate those details, you’ll have to use the phone’s face or fingerprint scanner.

    What about security?

    Apple says your passport data is encrypted and stored on the device, and it can’t see when or where users present their Digital ID or the data that was shown.

    The use of a face or fingerprint scan makes sure that only the person who the ID belongs to can release the info.

    The company says that iPhone users don’t need to unlock, show, or hand over their device to present their Digital ID.

    Where can I use mobile IDs?

    More than a dozen states already accept some form of a mobile ID at airport checkpoints, according to TSA.

    The list includes: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as Puerto Rico.

    Travelers can go to the TSA website for more details.

    ____

    Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at [email protected] with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.

    ___

    AP Airlines and Travel Writer Rio Yamat contributed.

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  • Some airports refuse to play Noem video on shutdown impact, saying it’s political

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    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Airports big and small around the country are refusing to play a video with a message from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in which she blames Democrats for the federal government shutdown and its impacts on Transportation Security Administration operations.

    Airports in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Seattle and more say the video’s political content goes against their policies or regulations prohibiting political messaging in their facilities.

    Various government agencies, in emails to workers and on websites, have adopted language that blames Democrats for the shutdown. Some experts argue it could be in violation of the 1939 Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities by federal employees.

    The shutdown has disrupted routine operations at some airports, leading to flight delays. Democrats say any deal to reopen the government has to address their health care demands, and Republicans say they won’t negotiate until they agree to fund the government. Some medical insurance premiums would double if Congress fails to renew the subsidy payments that expire Dec. 31.

    In the video, Noem says the TSA’s “top priority” is to help make travel pleasant and efficient while keeping passengers safe.

    “However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay,” she continues.

    The TSA falls under the Department of Homeland Security. Roughly 61,000 of the agency’s 64,130 employees are required to continue working during the shutdown.

    A spokesperson for DHS responded to a request for comment restating some of the message from Noem’s video.

    “It’s unfortunate our workforce has been put in this position due to political gamesmanship. Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.

    DHS said Friday that the video is being rolled out to airports across the country.

    In Columbus, Ohio, the video was not being aired at John Glenn International Airport as of Tuesday. Spokesperson Breann Almos said it is under legal review but did not provide a timeline.

    The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, said it would not air the videos, citing rules against “politically partisan messages.”

    Near the border with Canada, travelers won’t see the video at Buffalo Niagara International Airport or Niagara Falls International Airport. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority said its “long-standing” policy and regulations prohibit “partisan messaging” in its facilities.

    The Chicago Department of Aviation said advertising and public service announcements must follow guidelines that “prohibit content that endorses or opposes any named political party.” In Florida, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport said it has a policy that doesn’t allow political messaging to be displayed in its facility. Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas said it had to “remain mindful of the Hatch Act’s restrictions.”

    “Per airport regulations, the terminals and surrounding areas are not designated public forums, and the airport’s intent is to avoid the use of the facility for political or religious advocacy,” the airport’s statement said.

    Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said the county north of New York City won’t play the video at its local airport. In a statement, he called the video “inappropriate, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation’s top public officials,” and said its tone is “unnecessarily alarmist” as it relates to operations at Westchester County Airport.

    “At a time when we should be focused on ensuring stability, collaboration and preparedness, this type of messaging only distracts from the real issues, and undermines public trust,” he said.

    Even in red states, airports weren’t showing the video for various reasons. Salt Lake City International Airport wasn’t playing it because state law prohibits using city-owned property for political purposes, said airport spokesperson Nancy Volmer.

    The airport in Billings, Montana, “politely declined” even though it has screens that could show the video with audio, assistant aviation director Paul Khera said Tuesday.

    “We don’t want to get in the middle of partisan politics,” Khera said. “We like to stay middle of the road, we didn’t want to play that video.” ___

    Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writers Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado; Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; and Claire Rush in Portland contributed to this report.

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  • Employee accused of stealing 47 vehicles from Avis Budget car rental site

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    SYRACUSE, N.Y. — An employee allegedly stole 47 vehicles from an Avis Budget site at an upstate New York airport and rented them out around the region, police said Friday.

    The car rental company reported to authorities that the vehicles, worth more than $1 million, were stolen from its location at Syracuse Hancock International Airport between June and August.

    An investigation by airport police found that a 31-year-old Avis Budget employee led the theft scheme, which involved renting out the purloined vehicles at other locations around Onondaga County, authorities said. Police declined to release details of how the vehicles were stolen.

    Police are looking for the employee, who no longer works for Avis Budget and is wanted on grand larceny and scheme to defraud charges. Several other people have been arrested in connection with the case, officials said.

    Authorities said 42 of the 47 stolen cars have been recovered.

    A spokesperson for Avis Budget did not immediately return an email message Friday.

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  • Copenhagen Airport temporarily halts flights after drone sightings

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    COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A skilled drone pilot flew two to three large unidentified drones over Copenhagen Airport on Monday night, shutting down the airspace for hours as the unknown perpetrator appeared to be showing off their capabilities over Scandinavia’s largest airport, police said Tuesday.

    Officials chose not to shoot down the drones because the risk was too great because of the airport being full of passengers, the planes on the runways and nearby fuel depots, Jes Jespersen, senior police inspector of the Copenhagen Police, said during a news conference.

    Jespersen called the pilot “a capable actor” and said the culprit seemed intent on showing off their skills and possibly practicing their techniques. The drones disappeared after several hours.

    There were no signs that the drone pilot intended to cause harm to anyone, he added. The drones’ lights turned on and off and appeared to engage in different flight patterns.

    “It all indicates that you are not out to attack anyone, but you are out to show off and maybe to practice,” he said of the pilot.

    Still, authorities couldn’t rule out the possibility of the drones being part of a Russian hybrid attack, he said. The two to three drones appeared to have flown many kilometers to reach the airport. Investigators are looking at how the drones reached the airport — whether it was by land or possibly by boat.

    Flights at the airport resumed early Tuesday, though delays and cancellations continued through the morning.

    “Copenhagen Airport has reopened after being closed due to drone activity. However, there will be delays and some canceled departures. Passengers are advised to check with their airline for further information,” its official website said.

    A drone incident the same evening at the airport in Oslo, Norway, forced all traffic to move to one runway, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Traffic later returned to normal and it’s unclear who was responsible.

    Jespersen said nothing immediately linked the Oslo and Copenhagen incidents, but officials would look into any potential ties.

    Security concerns in northern Europe are heightened following an increase in Russian sabotage activities and multiple drones and fighter jet incursions into NATO airspace in recent weeks.

    In 2023, London’s Gatwick Airport closed its runway for almost an hour after a drone was reported nearby. In December 2018, more than 140,000 travelers were stranded or delayed during the Christmas season after dozens of drone sightings shut down Gatwick for parts of three consecutive days.

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  • Travelers no longer have to remove their shoes during security screenings at US airports

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    Travelers racing to catch a flight at U.S. airports no longer are required to remove their shoes during security screenings, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday.

    Noem said the end of the ritual put in place almost 20 years ago was immediately effective nationwide. She said a pilot program showed the Transportation Security Administration had the equipment needed to keep airports and aircraft safe while allowing people to keep their shoes on.

    In this Aug. 3, 2011 photo, an experienced airline passenger holds his shoes and has an unloosened belt while waiting to go through the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser, File)

    “I think most Americans will be very excited to see they will be able to keep their shoes on, and it will be a much more streamlined process,” Noem said.

    While shoe removal no longer is standard procedure at airport security checkpoints, some travelers still may be asked to take off their footwear “if we think additional layers of screening are necessary,” she added.

    The travel newsletter Gate Access first reported that the TSA planned to make the security screening change soon.

    Security screening sans shoes became a requirement in 2006, several years after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001.

    In this Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, file photo, a belt and shoes sit in a trays with advertising that is being used in the safety screening of travelers done by the Transportation Security Administration, at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ann Johansson, File)

    In this Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007, file photo, a belt and shoes sit in a trays with advertising that is being used in the safety screening of travelers done by the Transportation Security Administration, at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ann Johansson, File)

    All passengers between the ages of 12 and 75 were required to remove their shoes, which were scanned along with carry-on bags and other separated items such as outerwear.

    Travelers previously were able to skirt the requirement if they participated in the TSA PreCheck program, which costs around $80 for five years. The program allows airline passengers to get through the screening process without taking off their shoes, belts or light jackets, and without having to take their laptops and bagged toiletries out.

    PreCheck will remain the easier option for the time being since people going through regular screening stations still will have to put items besides shoes on a conveyor belt for scanning, Noem said.

    TSA plans to review other rules and procedures to see how airport screenings can be simplified and expedited, she said. The agency is testing separate lanes for military personnel and families with young children, and expects to pilot other changes in the next six to eight months, Noem said.

    In recent years, federal authorities have explored facial recognition technology and implemented Real ID requirements as a way to verify the identities of passengers.

    A Transportation Security Administration agent signals for the next airline passenger in line at a security checkpoint in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Friday, May 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

    A Transportation Security Administration agent signals for the next airline passenger in line at a security checkpoint in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport Friday, May 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

    The Transportation Security Administration began in 2001 when President George W. Bush signed legislation for its creation two months after the 9/11 attacks. TSA hired federal employees as agents to replace the workers for private companies that airlines had used to handle security.

    Although regular air travelers are familiar with the intricacies of going through airport security, long lines during busy times and bags getting pulled aside for infractions such as forgotten water bottles can make the process fraught.

    President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, asked the public in an April social media post what would make travel more seamless. The following day, Duffy posted on X that, “It’s clear that TSA is the #1 travel complaint. That falls under the Department of Homeland Security. I’ll discuss this with @Sec_Noem.”

    Trump fired TSA Administrator David Pekoske in January in the middle of a second five-year term. Trump had appointed Pekoske during his first term in the White House, and President Joe Biden reappointed him.

    No reason was given for Pekoske’s departure. The administrator position remains vacant, according to the TSA website.

    ___

    Lisa Leff contributed from Sonoma, California.

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  • Battery-powered devices are overheating more often on planes and raising alarm

    Battery-powered devices are overheating more often on planes and raising alarm

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    Devices powered by lithium-ion batteries are overheating more often during airline flights and passengers often put them in checked bags that go into the cargo hold, where a fire might not be detected as quickly.

    Overheating incidents rose 28% from 2019 to 2023, although such events remain relatively rare, UL Standards & Engagement said in a report released Monday.

    E-cigarettes overheated more often than any other device, according to the report.

    In 60% of the cases, the overheating — called thermal runaway — happened near the seat of the passenger who brought the device on board.

    In July, a smoking laptop in a passenger’s bag led to the evacuation of a plane awaiting takeoff at San Francisco International Airport. Last year, a flight from Dallas to Orlando, Florida, made an emergency landing in Jacksonville, Florida, after a battery caught fire in an overhead bin.

    More than one-quarter of passengers surveyed for the study said they put vaping cigarettes and portable chargers in checked bags. That is against federal rules.

    The Transportation Security Administration prohibits e-cigarettes and chargers and power banks with lithium-ion batteries in checked bags but allows them in carry-on bags. The rule exists precisely because fires in the cargo hold might be harder to detect and extinguish.

    UL Standards & Engagement, part of a safety-science company once known as Underwriters Laboratories, said it based its findings on data from 35 passenger and cargo airlines including nine of the 10 leading U.S. passenger carriers.

    The Federal Aviation Administration reports 37 thermal-runaway incidents on planes this year, through Aug. 15. There were 77 reports last year, a 71% increase over 2019, according to the FAA numbers.

    Considering that airlines operate about 180,000 U.S. flights each week, incidents in the air are relatively uncommon, and lithium batteries can overheat anywhere.

    “We also know that one of these thermal-runaway incidents at 40,000 feet does present unique risks,” said UL’s David Wroth.

    Those risks have been known for many years.

    After cargo planes carrying loads of lithium-ion batteries crashed in 2010 and 2011, the United Nations’ aviation organization considered restricting such shipments but rejected tougher standards. Opponents, including airlines, argued that the decision on whether to accept battery shipments should be left up to the carriers, and some no longer take bulk battery shipments.

    The most common lithium-ion-powered devices on planes are phones, laptops, wireless headphones and tablets. About 35% of reported overheating incidents involved e-cigarettes, and 16% involved power banks.

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  • Travelers are getting a head start on the long Labor Day weekend

    Travelers are getting a head start on the long Labor Day weekend

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    Labor Day weekend is upon us, which means lots of people will be traveling. Here’s what to do if your flight gets canceled or delayed.

    Airports, highways, beaches and theme parks are expected to be packed across the U.S. this Labor Day weekend as a lot Americans mark the unofficial end of summer the same way they celebrated the season’s unofficial start: by traveling.

    After what’s already been a record-breaking summer for air travel, the Transportation Security Administration predicted its agents would screen more than 17 million people during a holiday period that started Thursday and runs through next Wednesday, about 8% more than last year.

    The TSA anticipates Friday being the busiest day. In a sign the summer travel season really is winding down, however, the agency said that fewer than 2 million passengers passed through airport security checkpoints one day this week — the first time that has happened since early March.

    If you plan to be part of the crowds heading out of town to enjoy one last blast of summer, here is a rundown of what you need to know.

    AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on Labor Day travel.

    How is holiday travel going so far?

    Busy, as expected, and flight delays were common.

    Airlines had canceled more than 200 U.S. flights as of late afternoon on the East Coast, a modest number by current standards. However, more than 4,500 other flights were delayed, led by Southwest and American, according to tracking service FlightAware.

    Plenty of people appeared to have heeded experts’ advice to get away as early as possible on Friday.

    Lines of cars and passengers appeared at Los Angeles International Airport before the sun was up. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was buzzing early but slowed by midmorning, and parking spaces were still available.

    Why travel over a holiday weekend?

    Boston resident Dani Fleming flew across the country to visit her son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. She got to the airport at 4:30 a.m. for her departing flight and was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the lines moved both there and at San Francisco International Airport.

    “The flight was easy. (I) napped for a little bit, watched movies,” Fleming said. “This was a breeze.”

    Benjamin Schmeiser and his wife and 16-year-old daughter planned to fly from Chicago to San Diego to attend a concert of 1970s rock bands. It was the family’s first flight together since COVID-19 hit.

    “We have been looking forward to this trip for quite some time, and I’m happy that we can get the whole family in on the trip,” Schmeiser said while waiting at O’Hare International Airport. “A lot of us are huge live music fans, and we love sports. Now that travel is open, it’s much more affordable, we’re able to travel a lot more.”

    Where are the potential trouble spots?

    Weather is the leading cause of flight delays. Forecasts call for rain and maybe scattered thunderstorms from Texas to New England plus parts of Florida over the weekend, spreading over more of the Southeast on Monday.

    Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was still working to restore all services after what airport officials described as a possible cyberattack last weekend. Flights have been running normally all week, but the airport told passengers to arrive extra early and to avoid checking bags, especially on smaller airlines, because of problems with the bag-sorting system.

    Michael Novick got to SeaTac 30 minutes earlier than usual and checked three bags for his American Airlines flight to Dallas on Friday. “I was a little concerned about what things might look like, but it was absolutely seamless,” he said. “It was a normal day.”

    The only thing out of the ordinary: gate agents checked boarding passes manually, Novick said.

    What are prices like?

    Motorists are getting a break on gasoline. The nationwide average Friday was $3.35 per gallon, compared to $3.83 a year ago, according to AAA.

    For electric vehicles, the average price for a kilowatt of power at an L2 commercial charging station is about 34 cents. The average is under 25 cents in Kansas and Missouri but tops 40 cents in several states, including New Hampshire, Tennessee and Kentucky. Hawaii is the costliest, at 56 cents.

    Average airfares in July were down 7.1% from June and 2.8% from July 2023, according to the government’s consumer price index. Steve Hafner, CEO of the travel metasearch site Kayak, said airfares are dropping as the peak summer-vacation season ends.

    When is the best time to hit the road?

    Early morning or late evening. Transportation-data provider INRIX says traffic will be heaviest between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, when people head home.

    When will airports be busiest?

    The TSA expects to screen 2.86 million people Friday. That’s impressive, but it won’t rank among TSA’s top 15 days — 14 of which were this year. The single-day record of 3.01 million was set July 7, the Sunday after Independence Day.

    TSA says it has enough screeners to keep the time it takes to get through regular lines to 30 minutes or less and to no more than 10 minutes for PreCheck lines.

    American Airlines expects to operate 6,400 flights Friday, the same as Thursday, and 6,300 on Labor Day itself.

    What should I do if my flight is delayed or canceled?

    Check your flight’s status before leaving for the airport. It’s better to be stuck at home than stranded at the airport.

    If your flight is canceled, the airline might automatically rebook you. That might not be the best option.

    “Get on the phone (to the airline’s help center), get in front of an agent, reach out to the airline via social media if you have to, but find out what the other options are,” says Julian Kheel, the founder and CEO of Points Path, a browser extension that lets users compare fares with deals available using frequent-flyer points.

    Kheel said agents at the airport have more leeway to help but might be overwhelmed by the number of passengers needing help. DIY rebooking on the airline website or app might be faster, he said.

    Phone tip: If the airline has international help numbers, call one of those to get through more quickly.

    What about refunds and reimbursement?

    Airlines are required to provide refunds — including for extra fees paid — to passengers whose flights are canceled for any reason. However, they are not required to pay cash compensation, and no major U.S. airlines do. Only Alaska, Southwest and JetBlue even promise travel vouchers if the cancellation is their fault.

    If you’re stuck overnight, ask the airline about paying for a hotel, meals and ground transportation. All major U.S. airlines except Frontier promise to help with all three for “controllable” disruptions, according to the Transportation Department’s airline-policy dashboard.

    Keep receipts for all out-of-pocket expenses in case you can file a claim later.

    A few final tips

    — Leave early. Everything will take longer than you expect, including getting through airport security.

    — Watch the weather. Even if skies are clear at home, there could be storms at your flight’s destination or along your road route. Have a backup route.

    — Don’t check a bag. About one in every 170 checked bags was lost, damaged or stolen in May, the latest month covered by government figures.

    — Be nice. “Go with the flow. You don’t need to hate on the customer-service people. They’re doing the best they can,” said Shannon Beddingfield of Texas as she prepared to board a flight to Orlando, Florida.

    __

    Teresa Crawford in Chicago, Mat Otero in Dallas, Haven Daley in San Francisco and Jae C. Hong in Los Angeles contributed reporting.

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  • Friday’s preholiday travel breaks the record for the most airline travelers screened at US airports

    Friday’s preholiday travel breaks the record for the most airline travelers screened at US airports

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    ATLANTA — A record was broken ahead of the Memorial Day weekend for the number of airline travelers screened at U.S. airports, the Transportation Security Administration said Saturday.

    More than 2.9 million travelers were screened at U.S. airports on Friday, surpassing a previous record set last year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, according to the transportation security agency.

    “Officers have set a new record for most travelers screened in a single day!” the TSA tweeted. “We recommend arriving early.”

    The third busiest day on record was set on Thursday when just under 2.9 million travelers were screened at U.S. airports.

    In Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport had its busiest day ever. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport broke a traffic record on Thursday when 111,000 passengers, airlines crew and airport employees were screened at security checkpoints. The second busiest day followed on Friday when 109,960 people were screened, according to the TSA.

    With 104.6 million passengers, the Atlanta airport was the busiest in the world last year, according to Airports Council International.

    U.S. airlines expect to carry a record number of passengers this summer. Their trade group estimates that 271 million travelers will fly between June 1 and August 31, breaking the record of 255 million set last summer.

    AAA predicted this will be the busiest start-of-summer weekend in nearly 20 years, with 43.8 million people expected to roam at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday — 38 million of them taking vehicles.

    The annual expression of wanderlust that accompanies the start of the summer travel season is happening at a time when Americans tell pollsters they are worried about the economy and the direction of the country.

    In what had long been celebrated every May 30 to honor America’s fallen soldiers, Memorial Day officially became a federal holiday in 1971, observed on the last Monday in May.

    Jason Redman, a retired Navy SEAL who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, told The Associated Press last year that he honors the friends he’s lost. Thirty names are tattooed on his arm “for every guy that I personally knew that died.”

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  • TSA unveils passenger self-screening lanes at Vegas airport as ‘a step into the future’

    TSA unveils passenger self-screening lanes at Vegas airport as ‘a step into the future’

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    LAS VEGAS — Federal airport security officials unveiled passenger self-screening lanes Wednesday at busy Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, with plans to test it for use in other cities around the country.

    “How do we step into the future? This is a step,” said a system designer, Dimitri Kusnezov, science and technology under secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “The interface with people makes all the difference.”

    The Transportation Security Administration checkpoint — initially only in Las Vegas, only for TSA PreCheck customers and only using the English language — incorporates a screen with do-it-yourself instructions telling people how to smoothly pass themselves and their carry-on luggage through pre-flight screening with little or no help from uniformed TSA officers.

    “We want to avoid passengers having to be patted down,” said John Fortune, program manager of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Screening at Speed” program and a developer with Kusnezov of the prototype.

    Instead of a boxy belt-fed device using a stack of gray trays, the futuristic-looking baggage and personal belongings inspection system looks like a scaled-down starship medical magnetic resonance imaging machine. It uses an automated bin return that sanitizes trays with germ-killing ultraviolet light between users.

    Travelers step into a separate clear glass body scanning booth with a video display inside showing how to stand when being sensed with what officials said is the type of “millimeter wave technology” already in use around the country. A reporter found it sensitive enough to identify a forgotten handkerchief in a pocket. He did not have to remove his shoes.

    “Really, one of the main aims here is to allow individuals to get through the system without necessarily having to interact directly with an officer and … at their own pace,” said Christina Peach, a TSA administrator involved in the system design. “It’s also about not feeling rushed.”

    Nationally, nearly all passengers who pay to enroll in the TSA PreCheck program pass through screening in 10 minutes or less, agency spokesman R. Carter Langston said, while regular traveler and carry-on screening takes about 30 minutes.

    Peach said eight uniformed TSA officers might be needed to staff two lanes of the new system, compared with 12 officers in lanes today.

    However, Kusnezov and Karen Burke, TSA federal security director in Nevada, said agents including union members would just be freed from hands-on screening to focus more attention on broader security concerns.

    “No one is going to lose their job,” Burke said.

    Fortune declined to estimate the cost of designing the system, but he said the type of scanners used were similar to ones already deployed around the country.

    Officials said they’ll time how quickly travelers pass through the prototype during evaluations this year.

    Testing is being done at a unique-in-the-nation “innovation checkpoint” that TSA unveiled in 2019 in a sprawling international arrivals terminal that opened in 2012 at Harry Reid airport. It already features screening lanes with instruction displays and estimated wait times.

    “This change in technology is for people who want to get through a checkpoint faster,” said Keith Jeffries, a former TSA director at Los Angeles International Airport and now vice president of K2 Security Screening Group, a company that installs screening systems at shipping ports including airports. “It’ll be a great step, but I anticipate it will be for the experienced passengers.”

    Jeffries, in an interview on Tuesday with The Associated Press, compared the new system to self-checkout lanes that were introduced in the 1980s and are now common at supermarkets across the nation. He recalled that some shoppers initially avoided scanning their own purchases.

    “It’s going to take time to educate the public,” he said of the TSA screening lanes. “You’re going to have a new generation of travelers that just wants to get through with the least amount of hassle and delay. I think eventually we’ll see more and more of them.”

    Harry Reid International Airport was the seventh-busiest passenger airport in the U.S. in 2022, ranked by Airports Council International behind New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. In 2023, the Las Vegas airport handled a new record of 57.6 million arriving and departing passengers.

    The Transportation Security Administration reported its busiest day ever at the airport last month, screening nearly 104,000 travelers and their luggage as they headed for airline flights Feb. 12, the day after the NFL Super Bowl was played at Allegiant Stadium.

    ____

    Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

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  • Missing door plug that detached from Alaska Airlines plane found in Oregon backyard

    Missing door plug that detached from Alaska Airlines plane found in Oregon backyard

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    An aircraft engine is being tested at Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix.

    Alwyn Scott | Reuters

    A missing door plug that could be key to the investigation into what caused it to detach from a plane midflight Friday has been found in the backyard of a Portland, Oregon-area resident, officials said Sunday.

    After the end of a news conference in which National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy laid out the probe’s status, she returned to give a piece of positive news: “I’m excited to announce that we found the door plug,” she said.

    Identifying the resident who sent two photos of the item to the NTSB only as Bob, a schoolteacher, she said, “Thank you, Bob.”

    “We’re going to go pick that up and make sure that we begin analyzing it,” Homendy said.

    At the end of the first full day of the NTSB investigation into the accident on board Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, the agency’s chair indicated that some factors were complicating the probe: The plane’s cockpit voice recorder’s record of the event was inadvertently taped over, and, at the time, the door plug had not been found.

    “That is unfortunately a loss for us,” Homendy said, lamenting the loss of voice data and sounding frustrated during a news conference Sunday night. “That is a loss for safety.”

    A JetBlue Airways plane taxis next to American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines aircraft at Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday, April 6, 2020.

    Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Homendy supports expanding the minimum time recorded on the devices from two hours to 25 hours. Such a time span would have saved the cockpit voice data from Friday’s accident.

    She said the device from Friday’s flight automatically recorded over the pertinent voice data because someone failed to power it down. It starts a fresh recording, wiping out the last one, every two hours.

    “The circuit breaker was not pulled,” Homendy said.

    ‘They heard a bang’

    She described chaos and communication issues on board the Boeing 737 Max 9 as flight crew reported hearing a loud noise and the cabin rapidly depressurized Friday evening over the Portland area.

    “They heard a bang,” she said.

    The plane’s first officer lost her headset in the depressurization, and the captain had headset problems, as well, Homendy said. So they turned on a speaker for communication, she said.

    “Communication was a serious issue,” Homendy said.

    At the same time, the cockpit door opened violently, and a laminated emergency checklist pilots use in just such a situation flew out, the chair said.

    “It did blew open during the explosive decompression,” Homendy said of the cockpit door.

    The pilots turned to another reference guide, a handbook, she said, as a flight attendant took three tries to shut the cockpit door.

    “The actions of the flight crew were really incredible,” Homendy said. “It was very violent when the door was expelled out of the plane. There was a lot going on.”

    Homendy said the situation could have been far more dire had the plane been at cruising altitude, about 35,000 feet.

    Earlier Sunday she spoke to NBC News about task ahead for NTSB investigators and said the “stakes are high.”

    The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered some Boeing 737 Max 9 airplanes, the model flown in the Alaska Airlines incident, to be grounded and issued a directive requiring inspections before certain aircraft can fly again. The new directive affects 171 planes worldwide.

    During Sunday night’s news conference, Homendy described some of the damage inside the plane. It included two seats, unoccupied by chance, that sustained such violent force that their frames had “torqued.”

    Both seats in row 26 were missing their headrests, and one was missing a seat back. In all, damage was found along 12 of the plane’s seat rows, Homendy said.

    She expressed concern over three babies who were held in the laps of their caregivers. The NTSB, the FAA and Alaska Airlines all recommend, but don’t require, that young children travel in car seats secured in separate, ticketed seats.

    Analyzing the door plug

    Investigators are looking at how the door plug — a panel where an optional emergency exit can be placed depending on passenger capacity — was fastened before it blew out of the plane, Homendy said.

    They also want to know more about air pressurization alerts that went off on the plane during flights on Dec. 7 and on Wednesday and Thursday, the latter being the days before the accident.

    She said the airline prohibited the aircraft from embarking on long flights over water — specifically from traveling to Hawaii — until the issue could be checked out more thoroughly. By Friday night’s flight from Portland to Ontario, California, that inspection hadn’t been completed, Homendy said.

    She said the issue had been described to the NTSB has “benign” and that it was unclear whether there was any correlation between those alerts and Friday’s accident.

    Homendy said investigators were focused in part on how the door plug was fastened and whether there were failures related to it, although she said the structural integrity of the aircraft was intact following the accident.

    She described two hinges at the bottom of the plug that allow a small degree of opening for routine inspections as well as four “stop fittings” in the shape of circles.

    “The purpose is to prevent that door plug from being pushed out of the air frame,” she said.

    All those elements were going to get a close look, Homendy said.

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  • Holiday travel is mostly nice, but with some naughty disruptions again on Southwest Airlines

    Holiday travel is mostly nice, but with some naughty disruptions again on Southwest Airlines

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    Conditions were mostly nice this year for travelers flying ahead of and on Christmas, but some naughty disruptions again plagued those flying with Southwest Airlines.

    For millions of people traveling over the holiday, this year was much better than last. Christmas morning put a bow on a relatively smooth weekend.

    By midday Monday, only 138 flights within, into or out of the U.S. had been canceled and 1,366 were delayed, according to the tracking website FlightAware.

    For this holiday season, U.S. airlines prepared for massive waves of travelers by hiring thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other workers — in an effort to avoid the delays and cancellations that marred travel in 2022, culminating with the Southwest Airlines debacle that stranded more than 2 million people.

    Still, Southwest experienced hiccups again over the weekend that the airline was looking to clear by Monday. Just 2% of the airline’s flights were canceled Monday, though 12% were delayed, which is 524 flights total, according to FlightAware.

    On Saturday and Sunday, Southwest canceled 426 flights and delayed 2,689 flights, FlightAware data showed.

    A Southwest spokesperson blamed the issues on dense fog in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday that prevented planes from landing and said some additional cancellations may be necessary Monday ahead of what was expected to be a full recovery on Tuesday.

    Auto club AAA predicted that between Saturday and New Year’s Day, 115 million people in the U.S. would travel at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home by air or car. That’s up 2% from last year.

    More than 2.6 million people were screened by the Transportation Security Administration on Thursday, according to TSA records. Data from the weekend is yet to be released.

    Over Thanksgiving, a record number of people traveled through U.S. airports, topping pre-COVID numbers in 2019 with a single-day record of 2.9 million people screened by TSA on Sunday, Nov. 26.

    Compared with the holiday season last year, more mild weather has helped keep air travel schedules on time.

    But on the ground, road conditions were dangerous in parts of the country on Christmas Day, thanks to accumulating snow and ice in the Midwest and Great Plains. Most of Nebraska and South Dakota were facing blizzard conditions, and parts of eastern North and South Dakota were facing ice storms, according to the National Weather Service.

    The busiest days on the road were predicted to be Saturday, Dec. 23, and next Thursday, Dec. 28, according to transportation data provider INRIX.

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  • Record Thanksgiving travel rush off to a smooth start despite snowy forecast

    Record Thanksgiving travel rush off to a smooth start despite snowy forecast

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    The late crush of holiday travelers picked up steam Wednesday, with about 2.7 million people expected to board flights and millions more planning to drive or take the train to Thanksgiving celebrations.

    Airline officials say they are confident they can avoid the kind of massive disruptions that have marred past holiday seasons, such as the meltdown at Southwest Airlines over last Christmas. As of Wednesday evening that appeared to be the case.

    U.S. airports reported 59 flight cancellations into, out of or within the U.S. Wednesday and 2,750 flight delays, according to FlightAware, a tracking service. FlightAware said anything less than 300 cancellations and 4,000 delays per day is considered very good.

    Buffalo Niagara International Airport in New York said it was checking all vehicles arriving at the airport and performing additional security screenings after a car crashed and exploded at a nearby checkpoint on the U.S.-Canada border. But the airport said it remained open and fully operational. All four border crossings in the area were closed, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission said.

    Snow showers could snarl traffic in other parts of the country. The National Weather Service was predicting accumulating snow in northern New England Wednesday, including up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snowfall in northern Maine. Snow was also expected to hit the northern Rocky Mountains on Thanksgiving Day, bringing up to 1 foot of snow to parts of Wyoming by Friday.

    Security lines at airports could be long. Delta Air Lines is telling passengers to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their flight if they are traveling within the United States, three hours early if they’re flying overseas — and maybe earlier on Sunday and Monday.

    Jordan Sessions heeded that advice and got to the airport early Wednesday for a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Oakland, California. But the Portland airport wasn’t crowded and the check-in lines were short, so he wound up waiting a bit for his flight.

    That wasn’t the case for Brittany Dandridge, who found lines out the door when she arrived for her flight from Dallas to Oakland.

    “Luckily I was traveling with my dog and they allowed me to skip the line,” she said.

    The Transportation Security Administration said it screened more than 2.6 million passengers Tuesday and it expected another 2.7 million passengers to come through airport security on Wednesday. On Sunday, it expects to screen 2.9 million passengers, which would surpass a previous record set on June 30.

    Lines ebbed and flowed all morning Wednesday at Moynihan Train Hall in New York. Some travelers said they opted to travel by train for convenience or lower prices. Others said they just wanted to avoid any chaos at the airport.

    Matthew Hudnall and Abby Greenbaum were traveling from Atlanta to New York to Boston to visit family with their 5-year-old daughter. By the time they reach Boston, they will have taken a total of nine trains, they said.

    “I think we thought it would be calmer and less stressful than flying. So, far that’s true,” Greenbaum said.

    Amtrak said it was expecting 750,000 passengers between Nov. 19 and Nov. 26. The company said travelers could see some boarding delays this weekend because of high passenger volumes.

    The holiday will also test the Federal Aviation Administration, which faces shortages of air traffic controllers at key facilities that caused reductions in flights to the New York City area this summer and fall.

    U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said during a news conference Monday that the government prepared for holiday travel by hiring more air traffic controllers, opening new air routes along the East Coast and providing grants to airports for snowplows and deicing equipment.

    Airlines have also added tens of thousands of employees in the last couple of years, and Southwest says it bought more winter equipment to keep planes moving even during sub-freezing temperatures.

    AAA predicts that 55.4 million people will travel at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home between Wednesday and Sunday, the third-highest forecast ever by the auto club. AAA says most of them — 49.1 million — will drive.

    Drivers will get a break from last year on gasoline prices. AAA says the nationwide average for gas was down to $3.28 a gallon on Wednesday, compared with $3.63 a year ago.

    Charging stations — not gas prices — were on the mind of Guy Maughan as he set out last week in his Tesla on a 13-day Thanksgiving road trip that will take him from his home near Seattle to his brother’s home in Los Angeles and then to his parents in Phoenix.

    Maughan said he and his travel companion — a 7-month-old golden doodle named Nala — expect to spend only about $150 to charge the car along the 3,000-mile (4,800-kilometer) route.

    “I love driving, I love road trips, and the car takes care of all the heavy lifting,” said Maughan, who is a real estate agent. “I just put in the destinations and it tells me where we’re going to stop. I’m thoroughly enjoying it.”

    Air travelers will enjoy lower prices too. Airfares in October were down 13% from last year, according to government figures, and fares around Thanksgiving have been about 14% lower than a year ago, according to the travel site Hopper.

    Even so, the high cost of rent, food, health care and other expenses were weighing on people’s travel plans.

    Jason McQueary, a 25-year-old social worker and graduate student, said rent and other essentials eat up most of his paycheck and he was grateful for his credit card points, which brought down the cost of his roundtrip flight from Denver to Chicago from $450 to $150.

    “I was just like, ‘Man, I’m glad I only come home once a year,’” said McQueary, who was waiting to get picked up Tuesday after arriving to Chicago O’Hare International Airport to spend Thanksgiving with family in his hometown of Byron, Illinois.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Claire Savage and photographer Erin Hooley in Chicago, Associated Press Video Journalist Terry Chea in Oakland, California, and Associated Press writer Joseph Frederick in New York contributed to this report.

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  • Record crowds are expected to take to the air and roads for Thanksgiving

    Record crowds are expected to take to the air and roads for Thanksgiving

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    DALLAS — Despite inflation and memories of past holiday travel meltdowns, millions of people are expected to hit airports and highways in record numbers over the Thanksgiving break.

    The busiest days to fly will be Tuesday and Wednesday as well as the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 2.6 million passengers on Tuesday and 2.7 million passengers on Wednesday. Sunday will draw the largest crowds with an estimated 2.9 million passengers, which would narrowly eclipse a record set on June 30.

    Meanwhile, AAA forecasts that 55.4 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home between next Wednesday and the Sunday after Thanksgiving, with roads likely to be the most clogged on Wednesday.

    The weather could snarl air and road traffic. A storm system was expected to move from the southern Plains to the Northeast on Tuesday and Wednesday. Parts of Maine, Vermont and northern New Hampshire are expected to get 3 to 7 inches (7 to 17 centimeters) of snow between Tuesday night and Wednesday.

    U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said during a news conference Monday that the government has tried to better prepare for holiday travel by hiring more air traffic controllers, opening new air routes along the East Coast and providing grants to airports for snowplows and deicing equipment. He warned travelers to check road conditions and flight times before leaving home.

    “Mother Nature, of course, is the X factor in all of this,” he said.

    The good news for travelers by plane and car alike: Prices are coming down.

    Airfares are averaging $268 per ticket, down 14% from a year ago, according to the travel site Hopper.

    Gasoline prices are down about 37 cents a gallon from this time last year. The national average was $3.29 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA, down from $3.66 a year ago.

    A survey of GasBuddy users found that despite cheaper pump prices, the number of people planning to take a long driving trip this Thanksgiving hasn’t changed much from last year. Patrick De Haan, an analyst for the price-tracking service, said inflation has cooled but some things like food are still getting more expensive. Consumers are also charging more on credit cards and saving less.

    “Sure, they love the falling gas prices, but a lot of Americans spent in other ways this summer and they may not be ready to open their wallets for Thanksgiving travel just yet,” De Haan said.

    Jennifer Bonham opted to take the train from New York to Kansas City to spend Thanksgiving with her fiance after checking out flights and finding them “astronomically expensive.”

    “My fiance had an idea. He’s like, I wonder if there are trains? So we go to looking and it was honestly the best price that we got. I don’t have any money. I’m a single mom. The cheaper, the better,” said Bonham, while switching trains at Chicago’s Union Station with her teenage daughter.

    Thanksgiving marks the start of the holiday travel season, and many still haven’t shaken last December’s nightmare before Christmas, when severe winter storms knocked out thousands of flights and left millions of passengers stranded.

    Scott Keyes, founder of the travel site Going, is cautiously optimistic that holiday air travel won’t be the same mess. So far this year, he said, airlines have avoided massive disruptions.

    “Everyone understands that airlines can’t control Mother Nature,” Keyes said. “What really irks people are the controllable cancellations — those widespread disruptions because the airline couldn’t get their act together because their system melted down the way Southwest did over Christmas.”

    Indeed, Southwest didn’t recover as quickly as other carriers from last year’s storm when its planes, pilots and flight attendants were trapped out of position and its crew-rescheduling system got bogged down. The airline canceled nearly 17,000 flights before fixing the operation. Federal regulators told Southwest recently that it could be fined for failing to help stranded travelers.

    Southwest officials say they have since purchased additional deicing trucks and heating equipment and will add staff at cold-weather airports depending on the forecast. The company said it has also updated its crew-scheduling technology.

    U.S. airlines as a whole have been better about stranding passengers. Through October, they canceled 38% fewer flights than during the same period in 2022. From June through August — when thunderstorms can snarl air traffic — the rate of cancellations fell 18% compared to 2022.

    Even still, consumer complaints about airline service have soared, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. There have been so many complaints, the agency says, that it has only compiled figures through May.

    The airlines, in turn, have heaped blame on the Federal Aviation Administration, which they say can’t keep up with the growing air traffic. In fact, the Transportation Department’s inspector general reported this summer that the FAA has made only “limited efforts” to fix a shortage of air traffic controllers, especially at key facilities in New York, Miami and Jacksonville, Florida.

    Meanwhile, staffing levels in other parts of the airline industry have largely recovered since shedding tens of thousands of workers early on in the pandemic. Passenger airlines have added more than 140,000 workers — an increase of nearly 40% — according to government figures updated last week. The number of people working in the business is the largest since 2001, when there were many more airlines.

    ___

    Associated Press reporters Melissa Perez Winder in Chicago and Alexandra Olson in New York contributed to this story.

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  • 4 dead, 2 injured in separate aircraft accidents in Wisconsin, authorities say

    4 dead, 2 injured in separate aircraft accidents in Wisconsin, authorities say

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    Two people were killed and two others injured Saturday in a midair collision at an airport in Wisconsin

    OSHKOSH, Wis. — Two people were killed and two others injured Saturday in a midair collision at an airport in Wisconsin.

    A Rotorway 162F helicopter and an ELA Eclipse 10 gyrocopter collided shortly after noon local time at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, authorities said. The aircraft belonged to individuals attending the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual fly-in convention in Oshkosh but were not involved in the air show, a statement from the organization said.

    The association, citing the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, said two people were killed and two injured. The injured were taken to a local hospital and were in stable condition.

    The association said further information would be released as additional details are confirmed. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

    Separately, a plane earlier Saturday crashed into Lake Winnebago near Oshkosh, killing two people, according to the sheriff’s office. The NTSB is also investigating that case, which involved a single-engine North American T-6 aircraft.

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  • Report says plane rolled upside down in crash near California airport, killing father, injuring sons

    Report says plane rolled upside down in crash near California airport, killing father, injuring sons

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    Federal investigators say a single-engine plane rolled upside down before crashing near a Southern California airport, killing a father and severely injuring his three sons on the Fourth of July

    MURRIETA, Calif. — A single-engine plane rolled upside down before crashing near a Southern California airport on the Fourth of July, killing a father and severely injuring his three sons, federal investigators said in a preliminary report.

    The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released the report on the crash that killed Jared Newman, 39, of Temecula and injured his sons.

    Newman was at the controls of a Cessna 172N operated by a pilot school when it went down near French Valley Airport in Murrieta, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

    The plane had made a touch-and-go landing on a runway when it then climbed, veered left, and at about 60 feet (18 meters) above the ground dropped one wing, rolled over and disappeared behind a building, according to airport surveillance video cited in the NTSB report.

    “A witness reported that the airplane’s approach to runway 18 was ‘unstable’ and the flaps appeared to be fully extended,” the report said.

    The witness saw the plane slowly climb towards some buildings, its wings rocking back and forth before it disappeared behind the building, the report said.

    The plane apparently struck a 50-foot tall (15-meter) building in an industrial complex near the airport, the NTSB said.

    Televised news footage showed the plane upside down in a parking lot.

    The NTSB said skies were clear and cloudless at the time of the crash.

    The crash killed Newman and left his sons Caleb, Connor and Elijah Newman with serious injuries.

    Federal Aviation Administration records indicate Newman obtained his private pilot’s certificate on June 19, allowing him to carry passengers.

    Only days after the accident, six people died in the crash of a business jet that was trying to land at the same airport.

    That plane crashed in a field and burst into flames during the second of two landing attempts in fog just before dawn on July 8.

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  • Pilot escapes with minor injuries when small plane crashes into hangar’s roof at California airport

    Pilot escapes with minor injuries when small plane crashes into hangar’s roof at California airport

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    Authorities say a pilot escaped with only minor injuries after a single-engine plane crashed nose-first into the roof of a hangar at a Southern California airport

    LONG BEACH, Calif. — A pilot escaped with only minor injuries after a single-engine plane crashed nose-first into the roof of a hangar Monday at a Southern California airport, authorities said.

    The crash happened around 2:30 p.m. while the pilot of the Cessna 172 was “practicing landings and takeoffs” at Long Beach Airport, south of Los Angeles, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

    Video aired by ABC 7 showed the nose of the plane embedded in the hangar’s roof, with the tail sticking straight up.

    The pilot, who was the only person on board, had to be extricated from the wreckage and was hospitalized with minor injuries, the news station said.

    About 45 gallons of fuel leaked from the plane after the crash, the fire department said.

    The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

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