AirAsia will soon become the world's first airline to check the passports of all its passengers against Interpol's global database of 42 million stolen or lost travel documents.
Spurred on by the arrest of a Dutch teenager identified as “Sarah” in Rotterdam on Monday, who tweeted “hello my name’s Ibrahim and I’m from Afghanistan. I’m part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I’m gonna do something really big bye," dozens of teens are now tweeting bomb-threat jokes to American Airlines.
CEO of FedEx, Frederick Smith, said Thursday that airlines will move quickly to better track aircraft over the ocean after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Smith told the International Aviation Club that maintenance and navigational equipment aboard most airliners could be adapted to keep track of planes, and it would also reduce gaps between planes, making flights more efficient and saving money on fuel. The International Air Transport Association (representing 270 airlines worldwide) recently created a task force to better track planes, and recommendations are likely due before the end of the year.
Supreme Court justices debated Monday how much leeway to grant airlines in reporting security threats that are eventually proven false, USA Today reports. The case involves Air Wisconsin Airlines, which argued that it deserves the same immunity from lawsuits as it granted the Transportation Security Administration, the article says. The airline had lost a $1.4 million defamation case after reporting that a pilot, William Hoeper, was “mentally unstable” and could be armed as a passenger on a flight after he failed a simulator test.
Federal regulators are closer to letting airline passengers use their smartphones, tablets, e-readers and other electronic gadgets during takeoffs and landings.
U.S. travelers will be chosen on a case-by-case basis to use expedited-screening lines at airports without having to provide more personal information than they now give airlines.