• Ten years on, TSA continues to evolve

    As the ten year anniversary of the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) approaches, TSA Administrator John Pistole says the agency is making the necessary moves to enhance aviation security while becoming more customer-friendly

  • TSA fires agent over sex toy comment

    A TSA security screener at Newark Liberty International Airport was fired after he left a sexually suggestive note in the bag of a woman passenger. The woman, a New York attorney who flew from New Jersey to Dublin, opened her bag when she arrived at her Dublin hotel, and found a note, written on a TSA Notice of Inspection form, attached to one of the sexual toys she was carrying with her in the bag. The note said: “Get your freak on!” TSA investigated, identified the offending screener, and fired him. The agency also apologized to the passenger.

  • TSA expands pilot screening program for pilots

    Last week the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expanded its trial program that allows pilots to skip airport security checkpoint lines to Washington Dulles International Airport; Dulles is the sixth of seven test locations for the “Known Crewmember” program which offers pilots an expedited screening process in the hopes of minimizing wait times for passengers

  • TSA expands trial of behavior analysis program

    Detroit’s Metro International Airport will soon become the second test ground for the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) “chat down” program, as it is called by critics; under the program, which was tested earlier this year at Boston’s Logan Airport, TSA security screeners ascertain whether a passenger is a threat or not based on their reactions to several interview questions

  • Iris recognition system deployed at Gatwick Airport

    AOptix Technologies and Human Recognition Systems (HRS) announced their integrating of AOptix InSight VM iris recognition system into thirty-four automated e-Gates at the Gatwick Airport South Terminal

  • Iranian airline sanctioned for ties to terrorism

    On Wednesday the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on sanctioned Mahan Air, an Iranian airline, for supporting terrorism

  • Muslim woman removed from flight over misheard phone call

    A Muslim-American woman is suing Southwest Airlines after she was removed from a flight in March for a misheard phone conversation

  • Behavioral observation as a security method questioned

    Agencies in charge of airport security believed they had a good idea: why not add behavioral observation of passengers as an added layer of security on top of the various screening and scanning machines already placed at airports around the United States; experts question the method’s efficacy

  • IATA calls for harmonization and vigilance in aviation security

    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments and other aviation stakeholders to join airlines in a partnership to improve aviation security and the experience of both travelers and shippers; key to this is early adoption of IATA’s Checkpoint of the Future (CoF), a supply chain approach to cargo security, harmonization of measures among governments and constant vigilance to new threats

  • Tallahassee airport upgrades security

    ADT Commercial was selected by the City of Tallahassee, Florida to upgrade the security at the city airport — and integrate the different security solutions; the integrated system includes video surveillance, access control, and emergency notification systems

  • New Zealand relaxes passenger X-ray screening requirement

    To save money and speed up the processing of international passengers, New Zealand no longer requires 100 percent screening of bags of passengers entering the country; Kiwi farmers are worried about the move carry the risk of introducing animal disease into the country; the 100 percent screening mandate was imposed after a foot and mouth outbreak in 2001

  • House considers industry advisory group for TSA

    House lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would create an industry advisory panel for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on aviation matters

  • Children no longer have to remove shoes at airports

    DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said that her agency is changing its airport security policy for children twelve years and younger who will no longer be required to remove their shoes at airport checkpoints; in addition, Napolitano said the agency’s new policies seek to avoid pat downs for children by using other screening techniques

  • Iris scanners help passengers zip through airport security

    Airline passengers in the United States could soon be zipping through security checkpoints thanks to iris scanners; London’s Gatwick and Qatar’s Doha International airport have already implemented iris scanners from AOptix Technologies, which allow passengers to simply walk through a checkpoint as the scanners can accurately read a person’s iris from as far as eight feet away

  • TSA: Aviation security "stronger and more secure" ten years later

    Lisa Farbstein, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA); discusses new technologies implemented by TSA and DHS and the agency’s shift to a more risk-based approach to passenger screening