Why is your plane late? Airlines can make more money selling 70 airplanes worth of tickets per hour than they could if they limited themselves to the 60 airplanes per hour that the runway can handle. A long but excellent post on what is causing the delays at the airport.
posted by Coop on Jan 30, 2008 - 34 comments

Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey is valiantly fighting European attempts to extend the EU's emission trading scheme to aviation. Those silly Europeans, Ms. Blakey has argued, are so overexcited about global warming that they are even using helicopters with thermal imaging systems to enforce a green tax on outdoor BBQs! Unfortunately for her argument, it turns out that the story she quoted is a complete hoax. Now, unlike Brownie, nobody would ever accuse Ms. Blakey of being a novice. Apart from previous tenures at, among others, the Department of Transportation and the NTSB, Ms. Blakey also founded Blakey & Agnew, a "public affairs" firm with a special focus on transportation issues.
posted by Skeptic on May 27, 2007 - 9 comments

An interesting project from the latest Vectors Journal. "Legend has it that Paglen, who has been called the Fox Mulder of cultural geography, was personally instrumental in provoking the military to extend the perimeter around Area 51 by several miles in an attempt to thwart one of his counter-surveillance efforts" [via]
posted by tellurian on Feb 16, 2007 - 5 comments

FedEx Thunderstorm Deviations. "FAA radar track sequence of a bank of FedEx aircraft getting into Memphis as thunderstorms pass over the airport" (Google video). I'm having Rip Off flashbacks.
posted by schoolgirl report on May 15, 2006 - 57 comments

Terrorists not allowed in space (the FAA would like to regulate commercial space flights)
posted by gunthersghost on Jan 8, 2006 - 22 comments

This is an odd way to find out about an earthquake in California.
posted by eriko on Sep 28, 2004 - 23 comments

F.A.A. Official Scrapped Tape of 9/11 Controllers' Statements Shit happens? Or does it? " At least six air traffic controllers who dealt with two of the hijacked airliners on Sept. 11, 2001, made a tape recording that day describing the events, but the tape was destroyed by a supervisor without anyone making a transcript or even listening to it, the Transportation Department said today."
posted by Postroad on May 6, 2004 - 29 comments

Last week a Honolulu circuit court judge ordered an injunction against Mainline Airlines LLC, after discovering that the low-fare-to-Hawaii airline was not registered with the FAA. On further investigation, a college student has been accused of claiming ownership of Mainline, despite it having no planes, crew, FAA registration, or for that matter anything other that a web site. At least Frank Abagnale used a real airline to commit fraud...
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Jun 13, 2003 - 5 comments

Questioning the myth of plastic knives and boxcutters. "This fictoid serves to divert public attentions from the responsibility, and legal liability, of the government and airlines to prevent major weapons — such as guns, bombs, chemical sprays and hunting knives [all of which were mentioned in flight attendant and passenger cell phone calls] from being carried aboard airplanes. If such illegal devices had been smuggled aboard the planes, the liability could amount to billions of dollars. If, on the other hand, it could be disseminated that the hijackers had only used plastic knives, such as those provided by the airlines for meals, or box cutters, which were allowed on planes, neither the airlines, the screeners at the airport, or the FAA, which regulates the safety of airports, could be held legally responsible."
posted by fotzepolitic on May 31, 2002 - 7 comments

During Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's visit to Crawford, Texas, this week, his representatives asked the FAA for his flights to be worked only by male air traffic controllers, according to today's Dallas Morning News.
posted by rcade on Apr 27, 2002 - 13 comments

Now this is progress: FAA-Certified Bomb Resistant Aircraft Baggage Container. Since before Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbee in 1988, this technology has been in development. It has finally passed the FAA test. Check out the cool video of the tests. I, for one, will feel safer in the air.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow on Feb 11, 2002 - 5 comments

The Solution?...Fly Naked
So you can sneak a bomb in your shoe. The only solution is to fly naked. You can't bring anything on board; it all has to be shipped separately on cargo jet. There has to be an air marshall on every flight -- no in plain clothes (because nobody's in clothes) but sitting in front of the cockpit, heavily armed and ready. It's getting that ridiculous. What can we do?
posted by riley370 on Dec 28, 2001 - 23 comments

Your tax dollars at work? Apparently the FAA is paying $50 a click to make sure that Americans are well informed passengers. What ever happened to Public Service Announcements? Anyone want to buy a $200 screwdriver?
posted by shoepal on Dec 18, 2001 - 11 comments

Um...you might want to reconsider that American Airlines flight... The Federal Aviation Administration has given American Airlines special permission to allow passengers to board its flights before the airline determines whether they are on the FBI's watch list, according to an FAA security directive obtained by USA TODAY.
posted by tpoh.org on Sep 27, 2001 - 6 comments

Human flag. 72,000 San Diegans came out this past weekend to make a human stars and stripes. Apparently the FAA wouldn't give clearance for a helicopter to take aerial photos. How ironic.
posted by afx114 on Sep 23, 2001 - 8 comments

During a severe Air Defence Emergency in the US a regulatory scheme known as 'SCATANA' is automatically invoked to deal with the situation and minimise threats. The central provision of the plan is to 'disable navigation aids which the attackers might be relying on'. This didn't happen last Tuesday (FAA confirmed, NORAD refused comment). Could it have prevented the planes reaching their targets? Are there now serious grounds for concern regarding the implementation procedure of military provisions essential for preserving American airspace security? The Register appears to think so.
posted by Kino on Sep 17, 2001 - 7 comments

US air space open again, sort of. But the FAA later revealed that all foreign carriers -- except for Canadian airlines and planes diverted during the crisis -- were barred from landing here. US airlines, meanwhile, were allowed to bring in flights from overseas airports if they met the new airline security rules, which were being hidden from the public.
posted by krisjohn on Sep 13, 2001 - 2 comments

This is a list of airports currently meeting FAA security standards. Possibly of some benefit to those needing to use air travel for business, to reunite with loved ones, etc. I discovered this link while visiting Flightview, which has been down most of the day, presumably due to traffic. Flightview is a flight tracking system which runs on standard PCs.
posted by bargle on Sep 13, 2001 - 1 comment

"Lawmakers [have been] told in classified briefings that additional attacks are 'possible if not probable' and they should not assume a false sense of security. This message has been conveyed with a very deliberate and serious level of magnitude." I've been worried about this from the beginning. Who knows if there aren't more terrorists cooling their heels in some airport somewhere because the FAA grounded all the planes so fast? Or that they don't have some evil plan to freak us all out first, get us worked up into a "yeah, we're gonna get 'em!" frenzy, and then do something else just as bad to make us feel helpless?
posted by aaron on Sep 12, 2001 - 24 comments

FAA=The Keystone Cops? What kind of legal fallout can we expect from this? Considering the kind of wealth onboard the doomed flight, how much of us little'uns safety is considered on a general basis? I went to the airport the other day to pick up my dad, and unlike the other times where I'm asked to "change the display" on my phone and my cigarette pack is opened, they now lazily let me pass. Is there really any FAA supervison? We all have stories. Anyone care to share? Links, theories, conspiracy theories, stories. Please tell.
posted by crasspastor on Apr 2, 2001 - 4 comments

FAA Clears Airline in Flying Pig Debacle. Another reason not to fly if you can avoid it.
posted by Mr. skullhead on Nov 30, 2000 - 0 comments