FAA suspends controller for watching movie on duty

An air traffic controller has been suspended for watching a movie when he was supposed to be monitoring aircraft, deepening the Federal Aviation Administration’s embarrassment following at least five cases of controllers sleeping on the job. In the latest incident, the controller was watching a movie on a DVD player early Sunday morning while on [...]

Full-body scanner arrives at Minneapolis airport

Security officials at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport began using a new, high-tech body scanner at one of its checkpoints Wednesday, saying the full-image technology is a critical tool to help head off potential threats. The full-imaging scanner — the first in Minneapolis — screens passengers for metallic and nonmetallic items, including plastic or chemical [...]

Atlanta airport delays have most ripple effects

A study says more delays at major airports across the country were attributed to problems at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport than at any other. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the report by the Government Accountability Office shows that problems in Atlanta affect air traffic all over the country. Hartsfield-Jackson is the world’s busiest airport. Hartsfield-Jackson ranked [...]

Airports up, running as ash clears over Europe

A band of volcanic ash was drifting in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean Monday and adding hours to flights from North America to Europe as planes diverted around it. Flights across Europe were operating normally after the dispersal of another plume of volcanic ash that disrupted air traffic and forced some airport closures over [...]

Security upgrades mean delays at Charlotte airport

Airline travelers in the Carolinas should expect longer waits as security is upgraded at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Multiple media outlets report that officials plan to close a security checkpoint Monday through the end of April to install full-body scanners. Charlotte is one of a new wave of airports getting the equipment as the country beefs [...]

Air travelers to see tougher security before beach

For those who haven’t flown in a while, be prepared to be scanned, swabbed or thoroughly patted down. Maybe all three. Many spring break travelers are about to have their first encounter with airport security measures stepped up after Christmas, when a man was accused of trying to blow up a U.S. jetliner using explosives [...]

Some air travelers complain about body scans

Hundreds of U.S. air travelers have lodged complaints over use of full-body security scanners in the past year, charging they violate personal privacy and may be harmful to their health, documents released on Tuesday showed. The United States began testing the devices in a pilot program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but the pace [...]