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E L L I O T T' S TRAVEL NOTES
Travel news, opinion and analysis

June 10, 2004

Report: TSA Failing to Secure Airports
The Transportation Security Administration is not doing enough to maintain control over the perimeters and secured areas at commercial airports, according to a General Accounting Office Report released Tuesday. TSA has not yet determined how to identify security weaknesses at commercial airports, nor has it prioritized its funding to address critical needs, the report (GAO-04-728) said. GAO also said although the agency has taken some steps to reduce security risks posed by airport workers who have access to secured areas, it has limited security checks to fingerprinting due to costs and complexity. A joint investigation by the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration, among others, last November concluded that fingerprinting did not stop 4,200 airport workers from falsifying immigration, social security and criminal information in order to gain access to secured areas. GovExec | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- Globe: Fix holes in airport screening now
-- UPI: TSA must do better in future

• Maybe they should have killed the TSA when they had the chance, as I recommended a few years ago. But the government agency's rhetoric has made some sense recently, as I noted in a 2004 interview. If only the reality would match. Send us your comments.

Continental Employees in Drug Bust
Federal agents on Wednesday charged six Continental Airlines employees with smuggling hundreds of pounds of cocaine into the country through Newark Liberty International Airport. The workers were baggage handlers at the airport who used their positions to divert suitcases of cocaine from customs inspections, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The workers also laundered millions of dollars in profits by taking suitcases filled with cash out of the country, again using their positions to bypass inspection, authorities said. The employees traveled to Miami, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere to import the drugs and export the cash. AP | Posted 6:45 a.m.

New Fee For 'Navigation Service'
WestJet Airlines is increasing one of the fees it adds to the price of a ticket by $3 as a result of new charges the airline will pay for navigational services in coming months. Calgary-based WestJet said Wednesday it will charge its customers $9, $15 or $20 depending on the distance travelled to cover new Nav Canada services that come into effect Aug. 1. WestJet previously had been charging $6, $12 or $17. Nav Canada is the not-for-profit corporation that provides navigation and related services to airlines, airports and private aircraft operating in Canada or in Canadian air space. The corporation announced in May that it would to increase its service charges by an average of 7.9 per cent so it can break even in its 2004-05 financial year, which begins in August. CP | Posted 7 a.m.

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• And finally ... high prices, terrorist attacks, massive crowds. So why are we still traveling this summer? Easy. We haven't had a real vacation in years. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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