| Budget cuts could lead to longer airport waits and Frontier Airlines adds flights from Denver |
|
|
|
|
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned on Wednesday that travelers could face longer waits to get through airport security if Republican-proposed budget cuts are adopted.The fiscal 2011 budget plan passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives does not include President Barack Obama's request for more funds for transportation security officers, full-body scanners and other explosive detection equipment in fiscal 2011.On Hawaii's Big Island " home toan active volcano anda powerful observatory " a holiday can pack a lot more punch. Full story"It will probably result in increases in wait times for passengers in the air environment and those could be significant," she told a Senate appropriations subcommittee, referring to the inability to buy more equipment and hire more security screeners. [Read the full article] NEW YORK — The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday it is sending three screeners for remedial training after a passenger carried three box cutters onto a JetBlue plane at New York's Kennedy airport.On Hawaii's Big Island " home toan active volcano anda powerful observatory " a holiday can pack a lot more punch. Full storyThe box cutters fell out of the passenger's carry-on luggage as he was stowing it in an overhead compartment on Flight 837 to Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, on Saturday night, authorities said. Police evacuated the flight and questioned the passenger, who said he used the box cutters for his work and had forgotten to take them out of his bag.TSA officers re-screened all the passengers, and the flight was allowed to take off at 12:35 a.m. on Sunday, about three hours late, JetBlue Airways Corp. said. [Read the full article] HONOLULU — The Transportation Security Administration says it is disciplining several officers after looking into allegations that workers at Honolulu International Airport didn't screen checked bags for traces of explosives.TSA announced the action Wednesday following a report by KITV that at least 27 workers at the airport were investigated for failing to open and check possibly thousands of pieces of luggage. The Honolulu station reported that, in some cases over a period as long as four months, officers marked suitcases as having been screened when the bags hadn't been examined.The agency says none of the disciplined workers have been on screening duty since the allegations were made.Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. [Read the full article] 
|