Aviation and Airport

Senate votes to bolster border security; rejects increased tax on airline tickets
Senate approves homeland security budget which includes major allocations for border security; for second year in a row Congress rejects administration’s plan to increase tax on airline tickets
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DHS modifies airline passenger information program
DHS wants international airlines to help it check for suspected terrorists who try to board U.S.-bound planes, and for domestic airlines to provide it with lists of all passengers getting on board; DHS checks the lists thus provided against the department’s no-fly watch-list and alert the airlines; trouble is, the no-fly list contains so many inaccuracies that this checking procedure has resulted in many delays – and even in planes being forced to go back to the port of origin, only to discover that a suspected terrorist on board was not a terrorist after all; DHS is now giving airlines more time to implement an improved system
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Foreign companies line up to bid on Midway airport
Earlier this year the firestorm over a Dubai-based company’s plans to run operations in several U.S. ports caused many to rethink the question of foreign ownership of U.S. critical infrastructure assets; still, as the city of Chicago is getting set to lease its Midway airport, all the likely bidders are non-U.S. companies
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Airports security measure may spread foot fungus -- and more
Taking off shoes may help in increasing airline security, but study now finds that it exposes passengers to other risks such as foot fungus and gonorrhea
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Australia considers sole-source Global Hawk purchase
UAVs are increasingly popular among militaries, homeland security agencies, and law enforcements units; the Australian government is on the verge of making a major UAV purchasing decision, and there are four companies competing for the contract and three options on how to buy the drones
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BlastGard raises $1.2 million; expands activities to unit loading device market
A developer of blast mitigation trash cans and other blast-resistant gear receives funding and expands its reach into the airplane-loading market
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Analysis: Growing opposition to administration’s plan to relax foreign ownership rule of U.S. airlines
The administration wants to relax the rules prohibiting foreign ownership of U.S. airlines; critics argue that the administration’s agile word parsing with regard to the term “actual control” of airlines short-changes U.S. national security
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Aussie company, GE to market quadruple resonance shoe-scanning device
An innovative Australian company is licensing its technology to GE to build and market shoe-scanning devices; passengers fumbling with their footwear at airport checkpoints have been a source of logjams and delays, and the TSA is looking for a solution
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Shanghai airport to buy 70 Smiths Detection scanners
China, with an eye to the 2008 Olympic Games, is on a buying spree of explosive detection systems of all kinds, and the latest to benefit is Smiths Detection
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Former DHS IG: U.S. only â€œmarginally saferâ€ than it was in 9/11
Former DHS IG, described by colleagues as a “mild-mannered Texas Republican,” says DHS has made he U.S. safer, but only marginally so
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Industry: TWIC will cost thousands of jobs
The implementation of new ID cards has some worried that illegal immigrants and individuals with criminal convictions who now hold transportation positions may lose their job
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Security glitch cost Delta more than $1 million
In the world’s busiest airport, a routine security check that went wrong ended up costing Delta more than $1 million
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InfoZen wins large TSA contract
Maryland company wins contract to support TSA transportation worker program
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Registered Traveler program to begin by year's end
After months of testing in airports around the country, Registered Traveler, a program where frequent fliers will be able to pass through security much faster with a biometric ID card will begin at the end of this year
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Two convicted in shoulder-mounted missiles scheme
Worries about the vulnerability of commercial aircraft to shoulder-mounted missiles increase, and DHS is examining several defensive technologies; a California court case adds urgency to the search
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