Billions Spent to Annoy Travelers

Transportation Security Agency's multi-billion-dollar budget mostly spent on passenger screening

Just a few days ago, I wrote a post on an inexplicable lapse in the TSA screening process that I personally experienced at Denver International Airport, the world's 10th busiest airport and the fifth busiest in the US, and the overzealous screening at tiny Telluride Regional Airport just three days later. This morning, I began to wonder how much this inconsistency is costing taxpayers.

The TSA's 2007 budget was $5.3 billion, 80 percent of which went to passenger screening (and annoying) at the nation's airports. In no other country that I have visited recently are passengers required to remove their shoes, toss bottled water, take laptops out of briefcases, limit carry-on toiletries to 100 ML or less and display said toiletries in a clear plastic, zip bag of a particular size (one quart).

Admittedly, $5.3 billion (or maybe more by now) is a fraction of what we have spent to invade and occupy Iraq ($500 billion or so since 2003), bail out insurer AIG ($85 billion) or on the proposed bail-out (thus far) for the Big 3 auto companies ($15 billion, but that's supposed to be repaid). It's also an awful lot less that the National Park Service allotment of $2.4 billion to preserve, protect and revitalize our great national treasures or the pathetic $145 million with federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

When Congress reconvenes in 2009, write to your Senators and Representatives -- whether continuing in office or newly elected -- if you think these priorities are as lopsided as I do.

Big Snow & Big New Lift at Whistler

Peak2Peak gondola a technological wonder and a skier's dream

The new Peak2Peak gondola that will be inaugurated on Friday, December 12, links two on-mountain stations on Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains, for the first time enabling people to ski/snowboard both mountains in a day without having to return all the way to Whistler Village. As if to bless the new lift (right, photo by Ian Anderson), the snow gods have been depositing fat white flakes on North America's biggest resort.

This state-of-the-art Doppelmayr 3S tri-cable gondola is a transport lift like no other. Its 16 Sky Cabins cross 2.73 miles (4.4 kilometers) from mountain to mountain. Between its farthest-apart beefy towers, built to withstand wind and weather, is the world’s longest unsupported span: a stunning 1.88 miles (3.024 kilometres) above Fitzsimmons Creek. It is also the world’s highest lift of its kind crossing the valley floor at a maximum of 1,427 feet (at 436 meters). The cabins were unveiled in September, and load testing began on October 1. Since then, skiers and riders have been salivating.

A Super Launch for a Super Lift

I wish I were going to the Peak2Peak launch but can only be there vicariously via a live webcast of launch ceremony -- and so can you. It will be transmitted beginning at 10:30 a.m. PST on http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/webcast. The official ribbon cutting is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at the gondola terminals on both mountains.

The first cabin to take off from Blackcomb to Whistler will ferry 22 locals who were nominated as "the most deserving" in the resort's Ride of Their Life contest. In the first cabin from Whistler to Blackcomb will be auction winners who bid for the places, with auction proceeds going to the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation that supports community organizations throughout the Sea to Sky Corridor. The day will be full of festivities from breakfast to "grand" après-ski celebrations.

Ski Season: It Ain't Over Till It's Over

But it's almost over in the snow-rich San Juans, despite a March dump

Telluride snared an amazing 22 inches in 24 hours. Too bad they close next week. Snow fell at a rate of two to four inches per hour throughout the area Friday evening and night. Below are three images, courtesy of the resort, that are heartbreakers for any skier or snowboarder who can't make it down there before the lifts stop running after Easter. I'm one of them!

Other San Juan ski areas also have been slammed this season -- and in the ski/snowboard world, being slammed is a good thing. Silverton Mountain, which netted 20 inches out of that storm and boasts a 125-inch base (that's more than 10 feet), remains open until April 28. Durango Mountain Resort is also about to end weekday operations but, with a 66-inch base, they extended their season to operate every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through April, conditions permitting. Wolf Creek operates seven days a week through April 4, then the next two Saturdays and Sundays.

Ski areas closer to the populous Front Range stay open longer, but somehow, it's especially sad to see a premature end to the season in the San Juans.

America's Healthiest Airports

What makes an airport healthy? Health magazine has some answers and has published a list

According to Health magazine, it seems to be a combination of factors that contribute to physical health and mental health by offering "nutritious food, special relaxation zones, walking paths, the latest safety technology, and a whole lot more." Other pluses: noise reduction, children's play areas and environmental stewardship. The opportunity to move around, to eat food that's not bad for you and to be in a stress-reducing place contribute greatly to an airport's health factor.

In a piece called "America's Healthiest Airports," the magazine selected the America's top ten -- and the links I have used are to the magazine's evaluations and descriptions, not to the airports' own websites:

1. Phoenix Sky Harbor
2. Baltimore Washington International Airport
3. O'Hare International (Chicago)
4. Detroit Metropolitan
5. Denver International (right)
6. Washington National
7. Dallas/Fort Worth International
8. Logan International (Boston)
9. Portland International (Oregon)
10. Philadelphia International

Of course, living in Colorado, I am more familiar with DIA than any other airport. Recently opened in the main terminal is the Vertical Mile Market (right), bright and inviting and offering some not-so-great-for-you snack foods but also far more healthy options than the newsstands. You'd never know from the food-court lines at various fast-fooderies that DIA does have healthy options, but they do exist.

The B Gates (aka, Concourse B), offer the most healthy options (be sure to choose wisely) including Cantina Grill Express, Itza Wrap! Itza Bowl!, Jamba Juice, Que Bueno! Mexican Grille, TCBY Yogurt, and Wolfgang Puck Express. TCBY also is in the main terminal and at the C Gates. For those who like to walk, the B Gates are also along DIA's longest concourse, so once through security, passengers can take a nice long hike there. Another walking opportunity is to use the skybridge rather than the train to reach the A Gates and to walk from the main terminal to A instead of using the moving walkways to approach security.

To Honor or Not to Honor "Error Fares"

Airlines don't always honor ultra-low fares that they posted by mistake

"The Middle Seat," an always-informative Wall Street Journal column on air travel, tackles an interesting topic today. In "When Airline Fares Are Too Good to Be True," columnist Scott McCartney discusses situations that occur when someone at the airline makes makes a mistake in fare quotes and passengers snap up the bargain deals. Some airlines live with their employees' errors, while others backpedal and don't honor their unintended offers.

McCartney cited to recent dramatic examples of backpedal ing carriers. "British Airways PLC canceled 1,200 reservations for 2,200 passengers from the U.S. to India last fall when it mistakenly offered tickets for $40 on October 2." The airline claimed that passengers should known have better and gave them an apology $300 vouchers for a trip from the US to India that had a short booking deadline. Some passengers have sued, but so far, the courts have reportedly sided with the airline. I think "Super Nanny" should have been enlisted to send BA to the "naughty chair."

Another example: "In January, American offered first-class tickets from the U.S. to Australia for the coach price of $1,100 round-trip. First-class round-trip tickets actually cost as much as $20,000. American refused to honor the tickets and offered passengers $200 vouchers as compensation."

The parent corporations of United, Continental., Southwest, JetBlue and Singapore Airlines told McCartney that "their policy is to not cancel tickets even when a mistake is discovered, no matter how large the error."

True TSA Tale: Read It to Believe It

Does TSA stand for Transportation Security Agency - or for Totally Screwed "Ap"?

A few weeks ago, I posted my experience of having a mostly used-up tube of sunscreen confiscated because a Transportation Security Agency screener said that a 100-milliliter container is the limit for a carry-on item, not the 110 ML I had with me -- even though there was nowhere near 110 ML of lotion in it. That was only irritating. My more recent experience was amusing, astonishing or horrifying, depending on how you view the entire process of airport security.

Early on Thursday afternoon, I checked in at the Great Lakes Aviation counter at Denver International Airport for a flight to Telluride. I didn't really look at my boarding pass, and neither, evidently, did the TSA agent charged with comparing boarding passes with picture IDs. Because of heavy regional snow, I was eventually switched from the cancelled Telluride flight to one going to Cortez. In the process of changing flights, one of the several podium agents who looked at my original boarding pass finally noticed something odd and asked, "Who is Christopher Weber?" I had no idea who he was other than being an alphabetic neighbor, coincidentally with the same initials. Mostly, I was astonished that I had passed TSA's so-called security procedures and a couple of gate agents before anyone noticed that I could not possibly be Christopher Weber.

After that DIA underperformance, the screeners at Telluride Regional Airport (TEX, right), from which I flew yesterday, made up for it with excessive zeal. At this time of year, the only commercial service is Great Lakes' two daily flights using 19-passenger Beech 1800 aircraft. Four (4) TSA screeners were on duty for a daily passenger count that cannot possibly exceed 38. Of the 11 or 12 of us on my flight, three of us were "selected" for extra screening. Our checked bags were opened and riffled through, as were our carry-ons. Many items removed from our luggage were swabbed for explosives or some other lethal substance. We were all patted down. I guess that quartet had to justify their underworked existence at TEX at this time of year.

After we were all cleared and were waiting to board the Denver-bound flight, I started telling someone about the Christopher Weber mix-up at DIA. A fellow sitting within earshot said, "Was that on Thursday? I'm Christopher Weber, and when I got to the airport, Great Lakes told me that I had already checked in."

British Airways Cabin Crew Strike, Cont.

Airline withdraws flight benefits from stiking cabin crews

Some people take airline jobs because they can bid hours and try to schedule their work around the rest of their lives, but I'll wager that most do so for the travel benefits. So it seems especially harsh that British Airways chose to punish cabin crews who went on strike to protect their working conditions and, I think, their very jobs. Click here for my earlier post and here for the Unite union's website including a backgrounder that they refer to as "The Truth About the BA Dispute," and BA's online outreach message to passengers. The latter, of course, will go away from the website when the issue is resolved. The union is also issuing Twitter updates. The Guardian, the well-respected newspaper that used to be called the Manchester Guardian and is anchored in a historic manufacturing, mercantile and shipping city and is traditionally sympathetic to unions, is currently conducting a poll about whether pulling flight benefits was too harsh. When I clicked on it, more than one-third of the respondents believed that it is.

I am in North America, far from the strike action and perhaps in no position to judge, but the union points out that cabin crew members are the airline's major point of contact between the company and the passengers, and from these thousands of miles, it seems that BA's choice of punitive measures might, in the end, be counterproductive.