When a security breach at Newark Liberty Airport caused an entire terminal to be shut down for six hours, the passengers channeled their rage through song. Pretty incredible to see that many smiling faces singing "Hey Jude" during that mess.
Newark Airport turned into a mess on Sunday when an unidentified man strolled into an area reserved for screened passengers. The episode led to an evacuation of Terminal C and delayed thousands of travelers for hours. So how did the guy get past security personnel? The TSA guard at the exit was "chatting on his cell phone at the moment of the trespass." Naturally. [NYDN, NYDN]
After last week's thwarted terrorist attack, you'd heard that airlines and airports had stepped up security, and you can expect a friendly TSA employee to give you a good pat-down the next time you catch a flight. But prepare yourself for some ridiculous questions, too. Says one passenger: "They were asking us what we had for lunch." [NYP, CBS News]
Not quite as many people are planning to travel over the long weekend. But don't assume that means you'll have an easier time leaving the city if you do plan on traveling. A new report indicates LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark Airports ranked as the three worst airports in the nation for on-time arrivals through the first nine months of the year. [NY1, AP]
Brace yourselves. The nation's airlines and airports are about to get even more dysfunctional. The downturn in the economy has forced airlines to slash their flight schedules and swap out larger planes with smaller ones, which means you can now look forward to longer delays and even more crowded flights this fall. The silver lining: Bathrooms on planes still exist for the time being, even though at least one airline has figured out that it can save a few bucks if it gets you to do your business before you get on board. [WSJ, NYDN]
Three or four men hijacked a Mexican airliner carrying 104 passengers. The plane is sitting on a runway at the Mexico City airport. A "square box" has been found onboard, and all passengers have reportedly exited the plane.
Because what everyone on Wall Street is looking for right this moment is a more lavish and expensive way to travel, US Helicopter announced today that it hopes to resume flights between the Wall Street heliport and JFK and Newark beginning in January. But even now penniless, suicidal financiers may want to take note of the news: We're pretty sure jumping from the top of a skyscraper is painful enough without getting caught in the rotor blades of a passing helicopter. [NYT]
Are you fond of air travel, but loathe to be out of sight of advertising messages for a single moment of your trip? Sure, they put ads on the airplane tray tables and all through the airport and on the cabs and on the outside of the planes themselves. But are you expected to stand there at the luggage carousel for up to five minutes without seeing an ad pass in front of your face repeatedly? Not any more, damn it! A marketing company is now selling ads on the luggage carousel itself. So it goes by you again and again until you just can't stand it. A good media buy for the Suicide Hotline. [The god damn press release, via Adfreak]
The Post's Andrea Peyser, who is like a mix of Ann Coulter, Ed Koch, and a rat with rabies, has a few things she can't stand: liberals, whiners, all things pure and good. Now you can add to that list "millimeter wave technology," an improved airport full-body security scanning method. It sees through clothes and leaves nothing to the imagination! "It's enough to make me rethink my hairstyle. I'm not referring to my head." Gross, Andrea Peyser. Jesus. She watches a woman go through the scan, and cleverly riffs, "The machine also shaved off 15 pounds, a good argument for scanning females." I get it, women are fat! Then, she insists that a man go through, so she can look at his penis:
