Earlier this month, the polling organization Gallup released the results of a random survey of US adults from July 2012 that concluded Americans' views of TSA were more positive than negative. Specifically, 54% of those surveyed thought that the organization was doing a good or excellent job.
Would these results be a surprise to most travelers?
The TSA certainly welcomed this result, featuring a link to the Gallup survey on their home page. While this was certainly good news to TSA management, it may come as a surprise to passengers who have to experience the TSA's procedures on a regular basis.
Most surveyed were not frequent flyers
The positive results could have been a result of who was polled. According to Gallup, only about 12% of those surveyed had flown on a commercial airline flight five or more times in the previous year, and 48% had not flown on a commercial airliner at all in the previous year.
Could the questions have been different?
While there is no reason to doubt the results, one has to wonder what the response would have been to a different set of questions. For example, the survey asked for opinions about the TSA as a whole, and not about the behavior, quality, or performance of the TSA security officers who screen passengers.
Not clear who paid for the poll
Another unknown is who sponsored the survey. Gallup did not state if the survey was paid for by an outside organization or by Gallup. If it were funded by an organization that would benefit from a positive perception of TSA, that would not make the poll invalid, but it could explain why the poll results were released to the public.
Poll results may be out of context
Perhaps the biggest reasons to question the usefulness of the results is that the results were not put in a context of how those perceptions may have changed over time, or more importantly how those results compare with those of comparable organizations.
Since the TSA was established in the wake of 9/11, the public's perception of the organization has gone up and down. The positive results that were reported in the recent Gallup poll would be much more useful to the public if they could be compared with earlier results from similar poll questions. While it is possible that Gallup or the organization that paid for this recent poll may have this kind of comparative data, none were offered in Gallup's report.
Police viewed much more positively than TSA
TSA is not a law enforcement agency, and TSA screeners do not have the power to arrest anyone or use deadly force, it may be quite fair to compare the public's view of police and the TSA. This is especially true because of the steps that TSA has taken to have uniforms that look very much like police uniforms.
In October 2005, Gallup conducted a national poll that revealed that confidence in local police had dropped to a 10-year low, with 53% of those surveyed having either "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the ability of police to protect them from violent crime. In 2011, this figure was 56%.
Police viewed more positively than TSA
While the two polls did not ask the same questions, it may be quite fair to use the TSA and police polls to compare the public's perception of the ability of the police and the TSA to accomplish their core missions. One could conclude that while the public's perception of the TSA in 2012 is good, police had a better public perception in 2011 and in every year from 1996 to 2005.
17 August 2012
08 August 2012
What to do if you get seriously ill on a trip
What would you do if you started to feel really ill either just before or during a trip? Not just a slight head cold kind of sick, but sick with unusual pains or symptoms that you've never felt before? Unless you are are examined by a properly trained medical professional, you may not have any idea how minor or serious your situation may be.
If this happens on your last flight before you return home, your decision is probably an easy and sensible one—get on the flight and get checked out by a doctor when you land.
If you are away from home, or if it happens right before you fly, getting examined by a physician is still a good idea, but if doing so forces a change in travel plans, other considerations may cause you to think about doing something riskier, like going ahead with your trip and hoping for the best:
If this happens on your last flight before you return home, your decision is probably an easy and sensible one—get on the flight and get checked out by a doctor when you land.
If you are away from home, or if it happens right before you fly, getting examined by a physician is still a good idea, but if doing so forces a change in travel plans, other considerations may cause you to think about doing something riskier, like going ahead with your trip and hoping for the best:
- If you are on a bargain air fare with a cancellation penalty, you may decide the the loss of money (including the cost of any new ticket) is worth the risk to your health.
- If changing the schedule means you may miss out on an important event like a wedding or a trip on a luxury cruise.
- If taking time to deal with your potential health issue significantly affects the travel plans of others.
- You convince yourself that the medical advice you get (either from the web or from an actual medical expert) doesn't apply to you.
- Choose an airline fare that allows you to make changes or even cancel the ticket with little or no penalty.
- Buy trip insurance that will reimburse you if you make a change that leads to fees or penalties.
- Make sure that you can get adequate medical attention at your destination, or at any location where you may be changing planes en route
- Purchase emergency medical evacuation insurance if you are traveling overseas, especially to places where sophisticated medical care is unavailable.
- Purchase supplemental medical insurance if you medical plan doesn't cover expenses at your destination (most US medical plans have limited or no coverage for medical treatment overseas).
Check out the Ebook Project Video
28 July 2012
New Ideas for the Ebook Project
The AirSafe.com Ebook project is still in its early stages, and will continue to accept contributions until the end of next month. To read more about the project, please visit books.airsafe.com.
While the ebooks will be based on current information in the web sites, new ideas are welcome, so please feel free to send any ideas you have to AirSafe.com at feedback.airsafe.com. In my own recent trips, I've had several situations that will probably end up in one of the ebooks.
The Stowaway Dog
My flight flight from Boston to London was crowded but uneventful, until about a half hour before landing when it became clear that a young woman in the row behind me had a dog, and that the dog had just had a bowel movement.
Fortunately, this happened at the end of a six hour flight, and not at the beginning. From a conversation the passenger had with the flight attendant on the way out of the aircraft, it was clear that the passenger had been trying to hide the fact that she had a dog, and that she owed the airline some kind of fee or fine.
What this passenger did was against airline regulations, and more important may have put the dog through unnecessary stress. It is legal to travel with pets on most flights, but it is important to follow the relevant rules or regulations to ensure that your pet arrives safely. This usually includes an additional fee paid to the airline, and in the case of international travel, a passenger would have to follow the appropriate rules of the destination country. If this were not done, and my belief is that the passenger on my flight probably didn't do this, then the dog may be put into quarantine, or even worse denied entry into the country.
After thinking about this incident for a few days, I decided that in the future, if I thought that a passenger were trying to sneak an animal on board, and I found this out while the aircraft were still at the gate, I would inform a flight attendant about the situation.
International connections and airport security
Having made several international flights recently, I've had a chance to see how security for international transit passengers is handled in several countries. While the general rules and restrictions are similar, how they are enforced is a bit different depending on where you are.
We've written extensively about the TSA, and nothing I saw recently represents a major change in policy. However, some things that are now normal in the US are not done in the same way overseas. For example, when making a connection through London's Heathrow Airport, I had to pass through a screening checkpoint before boarding my connecting flight. While the checkpoint had the standard x-ray machines for baggage and the walk-through metal detectors for passengers, passengers could keep their shoes on and there were no full-body scanners like the types that are becoming more common in the US.
Another difference was the treatment of electronic devices. While the TSA allows passengers to keep iPads and notebook computers in their carry-on bags, the UK authorities required all electronics to be taken out and screened separately.
While making a connection in Bahrain, I observed a very different approach to security. It was clear that the security personnel put a high priority on processing passengers quickly. There were a shortage of plastic bins for items like laptops, and I only saw a few passengers taking anything out of their carry on luggage for screening. It didn't seem to matter. I didn't see anyone slowing down the conveyor belts to give any bag a more thorough review, and although the walk-through metal detectors were beeping regularly, I saw no secondary screening of passengers.
Lessons to take away
The observations I made on these flights led to a few insights. First, I'm continued to be surprised by passengers who take shortcuts to save a few dollars, and in the process put others (including small animals) at risk. My advice is that when you travel, plan ahead of time if you are going to do something that is out of the ordinary, because the consequences of not planning may spoil your trip.
Also, in this post Osama bin Laden era, security is still a concern, but there appears to be less consistency in how different countries deal with security issues. Passengers should continue to follow all the common rules and guidelines about security, but be prepared to deal with differences you may see during your travels.
Tell Us Your Story
If you have an idea about what should be added to the upcoming ebooks, please contact us at feedback.airsafe.com. If you want to pass on an airline complaint, visit the AirSafe.com complaint system at complain.airsafe.com.
Finally, please support the Ebook Project at books.airsafe.com.
While the ebooks will be based on current information in the web sites, new ideas are welcome, so please feel free to send any ideas you have to AirSafe.com at feedback.airsafe.com. In my own recent trips, I've had several situations that will probably end up in one of the ebooks.
The Stowaway Dog
My flight flight from Boston to London was crowded but uneventful, until about a half hour before landing when it became clear that a young woman in the row behind me had a dog, and that the dog had just had a bowel movement.
Fortunately, this happened at the end of a six hour flight, and not at the beginning. From a conversation the passenger had with the flight attendant on the way out of the aircraft, it was clear that the passenger had been trying to hide the fact that she had a dog, and that she owed the airline some kind of fee or fine.
What this passenger did was against airline regulations, and more important may have put the dog through unnecessary stress. It is legal to travel with pets on most flights, but it is important to follow the relevant rules or regulations to ensure that your pet arrives safely. This usually includes an additional fee paid to the airline, and in the case of international travel, a passenger would have to follow the appropriate rules of the destination country. If this were not done, and my belief is that the passenger on my flight probably didn't do this, then the dog may be put into quarantine, or even worse denied entry into the country.
After thinking about this incident for a few days, I decided that in the future, if I thought that a passenger were trying to sneak an animal on board, and I found this out while the aircraft were still at the gate, I would inform a flight attendant about the situation.
International connections and airport security
Having made several international flights recently, I've had a chance to see how security for international transit passengers is handled in several countries. While the general rules and restrictions are similar, how they are enforced is a bit different depending on where you are.
We've written extensively about the TSA, and nothing I saw recently represents a major change in policy. However, some things that are now normal in the US are not done in the same way overseas. For example, when making a connection through London's Heathrow Airport, I had to pass through a screening checkpoint before boarding my connecting flight. While the checkpoint had the standard x-ray machines for baggage and the walk-through metal detectors for passengers, passengers could keep their shoes on and there were no full-body scanners like the types that are becoming more common in the US.
Another difference was the treatment of electronic devices. While the TSA allows passengers to keep iPads and notebook computers in their carry-on bags, the UK authorities required all electronics to be taken out and screened separately.
While making a connection in Bahrain, I observed a very different approach to security. It was clear that the security personnel put a high priority on processing passengers quickly. There were a shortage of plastic bins for items like laptops, and I only saw a few passengers taking anything out of their carry on luggage for screening. It didn't seem to matter. I didn't see anyone slowing down the conveyor belts to give any bag a more thorough review, and although the walk-through metal detectors were beeping regularly, I saw no secondary screening of passengers.
Lessons to take away
The observations I made on these flights led to a few insights. First, I'm continued to be surprised by passengers who take shortcuts to save a few dollars, and in the process put others (including small animals) at risk. My advice is that when you travel, plan ahead of time if you are going to do something that is out of the ordinary, because the consequences of not planning may spoil your trip.
Also, in this post Osama bin Laden era, security is still a concern, but there appears to be less consistency in how different countries deal with security issues. Passengers should continue to follow all the common rules and guidelines about security, but be prepared to deal with differences you may see during your travels.
Tell Us Your Story
If you have an idea about what should be added to the upcoming ebooks, please contact us at feedback.airsafe.com. If you want to pass on an airline complaint, visit the AirSafe.com complaint system at complain.airsafe.com.
Finally, please support the Ebook Project at books.airsafe.com.
24 July 2012
AirSafe.com Air Launches Traveler Ebook Project
After the positive response to AirSafe.com's first ebook, AirSafe.com Baggage and Security Guide, we've decided to launch a new series of ebooks aimed at air travelers, and we'd like to ask for your help.
Like the first ebook, this one will be provided without cost to the traveling public, and will provide air travelers with a valuable resource that will help them avoid or manage many of the common problems they face when they fly.
The Problem
For years, AirSafe.com has provided the traveling public with vital information about airline safety, airport security, and other issues that matter to travelers. But because this information is available exclusively online, it is often out of reach just when you need it most...
The Solution
AirSafe.com plans to take the best of its online information and put it into a series of ebooks that anyone can download for free and keep on hand at all times. A traveler in trouble just turns on a smartphone and all the information he or she needs is available in an instant.
The Project
The goal of the project is to use the insights gained from running AirSafe.com to create several ebooks, each of which covers a specific area of common air traveler concerns:
How You Can Help
AirSafe.com has teamed up with Indiegogo to ask you to support this project. This project seeks to collect $5,000, and all of the money will be used for professional services such as editing and ebook formatting, in order to ensure that the products will work with all popular ebook devices and smartphones, including the Kindle, Nook, iPad, and iPhone.
Your support will help ensure that these ebooks will continue to be offered for free, and will be able to help travelers for years to come.
Contribute
You can contribute using PayPal or a credit card, and everyone who contributes $1 or more will receive AirSafe.com's thanks, as well as other benefits. Please visit books.airsafe.com for more details.
Find Out More
Visit books.airsafe.com or check out the video above to find out more about this project and more about the work of AirSafe.com.
Like the first ebook, this one will be provided without cost to the traveling public, and will provide air travelers with a valuable resource that will help them avoid or manage many of the common problems they face when they fly.
Check out the Ebook Project Video
The Problem
For years, AirSafe.com has provided the traveling public with vital information about airline safety, airport security, and other issues that matter to travelers. But because this information is available exclusively online, it is often out of reach just when you need it most...
- An airline damaged your luggage, and you want to make sure that you ask the right questions and get the right paperwork filled out.
- The gate agent announces your flight is cancelled, and you need to book an alternate flight quickly.
- On the way to the airport, you realize you left your driver's license at home, and you need to know what alternative IDs the TSA will accept.
- A TSA agent is conducting what you think is an inappropriate search, and you don't know how to respond to the situation.
The Solution
AirSafe.com plans to take the best of its online information and put it into a series of ebooks that anyone can download for free and keep on hand at all times. A traveler in trouble just turns on a smartphone and all the information he or she needs is available in an instant.
The Project
The goal of the project is to use the insights gained from running AirSafe.com to create several ebooks, each of which covers a specific area of common air traveler concerns:
- Airline Complaints Do's and Don'ts - Will cover the basic rules and requirements that passengers must follow when they file a complaint against an airline, airport, or government agency.
- Travel with Children - Will include many of the common concerns parents face when flying with infants or children, plus key information for parents whose children need to fly alone.
- Dealing with common travel issues - This ebook will give very practical advice on how to deal with problems like lost bags, cancelled flights, air rage, and inappropriate behavior by security personnel.
- Once all three ebooks are completed, a fourth one containing all the content from the first three ebooks will also be published.
How You Can Help
AirSafe.com has teamed up with Indiegogo to ask you to support this project. This project seeks to collect $5,000, and all of the money will be used for professional services such as editing and ebook formatting, in order to ensure that the products will work with all popular ebook devices and smartphones, including the Kindle, Nook, iPad, and iPhone.
Your support will help ensure that these ebooks will continue to be offered for free, and will be able to help travelers for years to come.
Contribute
You can contribute using PayPal or a credit card, and everyone who contributes $1 or more will receive AirSafe.com's thanks, as well as other benefits. Please visit books.airsafe.com for more details.
Find Out More
Visit books.airsafe.com or check out the video above to find out more about this project and more about the work of AirSafe.com.
21 June 2012
Introducing AirSafe.com's Wedding Week
June is a very popular month for weddings, and for most it is a happy occasion. If you have to fly to get to that wedding, things may go wrong and spoil an otherwise joyful occasion.
Today, AirSafe.com introduces what we hope will become an annual affair, Wedding Week on FlightsGoneBad.com. This site features complaints submitted to the AirSafe.com Complaint system complain.airsafe.com. Every day until the end of June will bring a new complaint about how a wedding, a wedding anniversary, or a honeymoon was ruined by an air travel issue.
The first complaint, United Partner Airline Issue Ruins Wedding Night is from a new bride who spent Christmas Eve (which was also the night of her wedding) keeping her children from being stranded in a strange airport.
Tune in every day until June 30th for another tale of high stress, missing bags, unexpected charges, and other wedding-related surprises.
Today, AirSafe.com introduces what we hope will become an annual affair, Wedding Week on FlightsGoneBad.com. This site features complaints submitted to the AirSafe.com Complaint system complain.airsafe.com. Every day until the end of June will bring a new complaint about how a wedding, a wedding anniversary, or a honeymoon was ruined by an air travel issue.
The first complaint, United Partner Airline Issue Ruins Wedding Night is from a new bride who spent Christmas Eve (which was also the night of her wedding) keeping her children from being stranded in a strange airport.
Tune in every day until June 30th for another tale of high stress, missing bags, unexpected charges, and other wedding-related surprises.
03 June 2012
Two plane crashes in two days in Ghana and Nigeria
2 June 2012; Allied Air; 727-200; 5N-BJN; flight 111; Accra, Ghana: The aircraft was on a cargo flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to Accra, Ghana, and overran the runway after landing. The aircraft struck a minivan on a nearby road, killing all 10 of the occupants. None of the four crew members were killed.
Because no airline passengers were killed, this is not counted as a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com.
3 June 2012; Dana Air; MD83; 5N-RAM; flight 992; Lagos, Nigeria: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria, and crashed in a residential area near the airport.
The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash, and all eight crew members and 139 passengers were killed. The plane reportedly struck a power line and then crashed into at least one apartment building.
This was the 18th fatal crash of an MD80 series aircraft and the first since the August 2008 crash of a Spanair MD82 in Madrid.
Related
Fatal MD80 series crashes
Fatal 727 crashes
Crash rates by model
Recent plane crashes
Because no airline passengers were killed, this is not counted as a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com.
3 June 2012; Dana Air; MD83; 5N-RAM; flight 992; Lagos, Nigeria: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria, and crashed in a residential area near the airport.
The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash, and all eight crew members and 139 passengers were killed. The plane reportedly struck a power line and then crashed into at least one apartment building.
This was the 18th fatal crash of an MD80 series aircraft and the first since the August 2008 crash of a Spanair MD82 in Madrid.
Related
Fatal MD80 series crashes
Fatal 727 crashes
Crash rates by model
Recent plane crashes
01 June 2012
Falling hot metal chunks from a 777 engine hit Toronto suburb
28 May 2012; Toronto, Canada; Air Canada 777, flight AC001: During or shortly after takeoff, an Air Canada 777 taking off from Toronto's Pearson International Airport developed serious engine trouble which caused the liberation of several pieces of metal and led to a shutdown of its right engine. While several cars on the ground were damaged, no one on the ground was injured. After dumping excess fuel, the flight crew returned safely to the airport about 90 minutes after taking off. None of the 318 passengers and 16 crew members were injured.
Map of airport area
Canadian investigators who interviewed the pilot were told that there was loud bang from from one of the engines when the aircraft was about 1,000 feet above the ground. Several witnesses near the airport also heard an exceptionally loud takeoff, and noticed either smoke, flames, or debris coming out of one of the engines.
Several pieces of metal from the right engine came down in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto that is adjacent to the airport. At least four vehicles at a gas station were hit and damaged by debris, including one car that had its rear window smashed. One witness stated that the debris was too hot to touch.
Car damage and chunk of engine
Incident investigation
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be investigating this incident, along with representatives of Air Canada and the engine manufacturer General Electric (GE). Early findings indicate that there was no damage to the front end of the engine, indicating that a bird or other object was not likely the cause of this engine failure. The Safety Board plans on releasing a written report about this incident.
While parts separated from the engine, this event is considered to be a contained engine event because the liberated pieces exited through the tail pipe of the engine and did not penetrate the engine case. Although uncontained engine failures are considered more potentially hazardous to people in or near the affected aircraft, this Toronto incident shows that even contained engine failures have the potential to be potentially fatal to people on the ground.
Photo: Rick Madonik, Toronto Star
Airport Map: National Post
Canadian investigators who interviewed the pilot were told that there was loud bang from from one of the engines when the aircraft was about 1,000 feet above the ground. Several witnesses near the airport also heard an exceptionally loud takeoff, and noticed either smoke, flames, or debris coming out of one of the engines.
Several pieces of metal from the right engine came down in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto that is adjacent to the airport. At least four vehicles at a gas station were hit and damaged by debris, including one car that had its rear window smashed. One witness stated that the debris was too hot to touch.
Incident investigation
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be investigating this incident, along with representatives of Air Canada and the engine manufacturer General Electric (GE). Early findings indicate that there was no damage to the front end of the engine, indicating that a bird or other object was not likely the cause of this engine failure. The Safety Board plans on releasing a written report about this incident.
While parts separated from the engine, this event is considered to be a contained engine event because the liberated pieces exited through the tail pipe of the engine and did not penetrate the engine case. Although uncontained engine failures are considered more potentially hazardous to people in or near the affected aircraft, this Toronto incident shows that even contained engine failures have the potential to be potentially fatal to people on the ground.
Photo: Rick Madonik, Toronto Star
Airport Map: National Post
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