Transportation

United Airlines has suffered a recent spate of flight incidents. They range from a tire falling off an airplane on takeoff from San Francisco International, an engine fire on a flight from Houston InterContinental to Fort Myers, an airplane sliding off the runway at Houston Intercontinental and a hydraulic system failure on a flight from San Francisco International to Mexico City. To throw even more gasoline on the fire, this weekend an external panel mysteriously disappeared off a United flight. In all incidences, there were no fatalities or injuries. 

There are currently five services that grant quicker passage through U.S. airport security. Here are the pros and cons of each.

Biometric technology is expanding at airports across the United States — and the world — and transforming the way we move through them, from checking a bag to boarding the plane.

The Transportation Security Administration is moving forward with plans to implement facial recognition technology at U.S. airports and is working with the Department of Homeland Security’s research and development component to analyze data to ensure that the new units are working correctly, agency officials told Nextgov/FCW. 

Airplanes seem to be coming apart in midair. An Alaska Airlines flight was disrupted when the door plug on a section of its fuselage broke off after takeoff. The airplane model, Boeing 737 Max, has been under scrutiny since airplane crashes dating to 2018 and 2019.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has reported that 6,737 firearms were stopped at the nation’s federalized airport security checkpoints in 2023. This is an increase of just under 3 percent from 2022, when 6,542 firearms were detected. On the surface this may raise an alarm for travelers; however, a deeper dive into the numbers suggests otherwise.  

The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.9 million people on Nov. 26, the highest number on record. As the volume of passengers continues to rise, what will airport security checkpoints look like in 2035, when such high daily volumes are the norm?

Americans are catching a break on the cost of flying for the busy holiday travel season. 

The Transportation Security Administration has detected a record 43 firearms at Midway Airport so far this year.

The airline said in an internal memo that it would board economy passengers with window seats before others in economy to save time.