Yuletide Secure and Safe Flying in the USA

      As you wait in line at crowded US airports remember the reason you are getting screened by the TSA.  Evil people try to hijack and blow up airliners, and the bad guys like to try their attempts around Christmas and New Year.  Think of Pan Am Flight 103 and the notorious "Underwear Bomber."   Those TSA screeners are working under great pressure as screening is no easy task.

       You may wonder and be frustrated  by how many children, grandmothers, invalids and holiday pies are subjected to pat-downs or frisking.  "What jerks, Grandma can't be a terrorist!"  Actually, Grandmas could be an unknowing dupe for a terrorist plot; and many terrorist groups gladly use children.  There was one case in on April 17, 1986 when a Palestinian terrorist Nezar Hindawi packed a bomb into the carry-on bag of his pregnant Irish fiance, Anne Mary Murphy. The bomb was found by a very alert El Al security agent at London Heathrow.

        Then again, even supposedly knowledgeable and skilled journalists will carry on and incite rants on travel blogs and the like about the TSA infringing on rights against unreasonable searches.  Those types are being irresponsible.  Whether they are searched by government personnel or by airline personnel a host of US laws, international conventions, ICAO standards and airline security management systems - not to mention common sense - require that reasonable measures be taken to keep weapons and explosives off of aircraft.  That is why US courts have consistently upheld that such searches - applied to everybody - are "reasonable." Of course the current whine and nonsensical assertion that the TSA "has never stopped a terrorist" is ludicrous and maintained by those unschooled in aviation security and intelligence and law enforcement tradecraft.  (Sort of like saying the NYPD has never stopped a burglary. Think about it.) Of course, you can't prove that the TSA never stopped an act that didn't happen...yet in a recent week TSA screeners discovered 32 loaded firearms that passengers "forgot" were in their hand luggage.  (As a Canadian Customs Officer once remarked to me, only somebody from the US would "forget" they had a weapon in their baggage or trunk of their vehicle.)

         These TSA screeners are doing their best to handle lots of people and make flight secure and safe.  Speaking of safety, with the nasty weather we're experiencing over the Twelve Days of Christmas, don't get too upset at your airline for canceling your flight or flights.  If you are traveling in the Northern USA in Winter you need to plan and be prepared for adverse weather....Fact of life:   Prudent and competent pilots know the limitations of their aircraft and themselves and do not fly in severe weather.  Of course, a big portion of this problem is the system of hubs and spokes resulting from airline deregulation and "consolidation" (mergers, less point to point flights and fewer choices --- and higher fares in many markets) that gets totally paralyzed by bad weather.  Just as is the case with TSA screening, your airline is having you endure delays or cancellations for safety reasons.

          Of course, if you'd like to travel without the screening hassle or the snow cancellations, I'd say take the train, like those of us in the Snow Belt used to do.  Unfortunately, we Americans created Amtrak and then have lost the political and economic will to make it more than a Third World system - when we need a system of systems as Germany, Italy, Japan and China have.  That is the subject of another blog entry. Stay tuned and Happy Yuletide and New Year.

World Doesn't Come to an End but Amtrak Service Inaugurated Between Norfolk and New York

      The World did not come to an end on December 12th as some thought the Maya Calendar foretold (or is it December 21st) but for the first time in some 40 years a passenger train ran from Norfolk to New York and vice versa.  Governor Bob McConnell of Virginia, a staunch conservative Republican has not been infected with the ideology that subsidies for rail passenger service are somehow contrary to free enterprise and the needs of the public and economy (while subsidies for highways, trucking, and airlines are somehow desirable) and has backed this service as well as a service between New York and Lynchburg and increased service between New York and Richmond and Newport News.  Shortly after it was inaugurated it became apparent that the Lynchburg service was covering more than the Commonwealth's investment in it.

      Governor McDonnell has been aided by a "can do" attitude on the part of  Norfolk Southern's CEO Wick Moorman and his leadership team.  Norfolk Southern understands that passenger trains running on a freight railroad that do not interfere with its freight traffic reflect highly on the railroad.  The author has been told by other railroad executives that the only thing keeping the nation's freight carriers from further partnerships with Amtrak with name trains that would sometimes but not always involve some profit for the freight carrier is the issue of liability and insurance coverage.  (The main reason Amtrak was founded was the withdrawal of the mail subsidy from the railroads and taxation and other poliucies on the part of state and local governments.) 

      This is good news for citizens of Virginia and the Middle Atlantic States as these trains make it easy for those who prefer not to drive (including soon-to-be senior citizens such as myself); business people; tourists; and the public as a whole to travel without having to deal with highway congestion or the walk up air fares charged by the so-called regional airlines that are outs-sourced spokes of the major carriers hubs.  (Cheapest Washington-Norfolk next day purchase round trip out in the morning and back in the evening on Orbitz for a round trip on a US Airways - on an outsourced "commuter" aircraft - is $405.   Amtrak's standard non-discounted fare is $108 round trip.  As of now same day round trip service from Washington involves a train to Newport News with a connecting bus across Hampton Roads in the morning but same seat service on the way back, with it being possible for patrons from Norfolk to Washington to have same day service.)  

     
        As North Carolina, like Virginia,  is one of the forward leaning states when it comes to train travel, it is anticipated that the two states will ink North Carolina Rail and Virginia's subsidized Amtrak services to create a rail corridor from New York and New England through Washington and Richmond and the Research Triangle all the way to Charlotte.  Currently there is one daytime round trip from New York to Charlotte,  The Carolinian.  Amtrak's Crescent  passes through North Carolina in the wee hours of the morning.   This service is a positive "back to the future" way to travel as seen at left on the former Southern Pacific's Golden State Limited.   (Photo Courtesy of Classic Trains magazine.)    Modern Amtrak coaches offer similar amenities - air travelers today can merely dream of such spacious and comfortable seating in Economy Class.   Below left is the type of seating found in the Amtrak cars assigned to the new Norfolk route, similar to the Golden State Limited.

         Unfortunately, if you read the comment thread on this link to The Pilot  you'll see that there are a fair number of ideologues who are strongly opposed to any taxes going to transportation infrastructure other than roads.   Part of this is due to the politicization of  of passenger rail investments as a result of the anti-Obama wave after the 2008 election when the right wing seized on high and higher speed rail as Obama-associated initiatives and in which we saw some rather irational anti-passenger rail rampages in Wisconsin and Ohio based purely on Tea Party type ideology. For detailed discussions on the merits of passenger trains the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) has excellent material available on its web site at   http://www.narprail.org/   .



http://hamptonroads.com/2012/12/amtrak-launches-service-morning-norfolk

Aviation Security in the Skies of The Star of Bethlehem

     For those of us who have worked in or engaged in diplomacy for the region it has been a tense and frustrating year for the Middle East.  It certainly has not been the best year overall for Middle East airlines.  Tourism to Egypt isn't exactly making a come back.  With much of the "Arab Spring" turning into an Arab "Time of Troubles" and as we enter the Christmas Season this year and approach the New Year of 2013 the skies of the Star of Bethlehem and over the lands of the Children of Abraham...where Jesus was born and lived, the Prophet Mohammad recited and preached and the City of David and Solomon, are all, as they have been for decades the center of strife.  Syria is in the midst of a tragic Civil War; Israel is under siege; Shia and Sunni are at odds; the President of Egypt is being called a New Pharaoh and Iran is seeking a nuclear arsenal.  However, even with Damascus' Airport all but closed, and crowds demonstrating in Tahrir Square there are bright spots on the Arabian Peninsula - prosperous and growing airlines and prosperous and thriving cities. 
     Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways, to name the main ones, are now contenders. (I hope to see comments from executives from airlines such as Oman Air, Saudi, Jazzera etc. to remember them!)  They are strategically located with their hubs in Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai on the Arabian Peninsula and central to connections to and from Europe, Central Asia, Africa, South America and the Far East and Australia.  The cities and countries they fly from and are based in are almost literally oases of peace and commerce.  As in real estate, these airlines are doing well because of the location, location, location  of their bases.  Their networks can funnel passengers from all over Europe and the Mediterranean and Africa beyond the Gulf Region eastward and vice versa.   (On a recent trip to South America I was amazed to see throngs of Argentine passengers boarding an Emirates flight to Sao Paulo and beyond.) Generally, these airlines and their countries are safe - and secure.  (Emirates is even a leader in Aviation Security training.)
      This, however, does not mean that those charged with the security of air transport in the region can be complacent.  One thing is certain - geography is not a static factor.  The GCC states and their airlines as now being in the major league crossroads of air commerce, much as Europe became in the 1960's and 70's and 80's face a wider spectrum of challenges.  In addition to the dangerous factions lurking on the periphery of the Arabian Peninsula, sectarian strife, the Israeli-Palestinian situation, rumblings in Central Asia, Aviation Security  (AVSEC) professionals concerned with the area, whether they are in Doha, Riyadh, Chicago, Islamabad, Moscow, Delhi, Canberra or Frankfurt now have to be very concerned about cybersecurity, cybercrime and cyberterrorism based in Nigeria or Russia or New York.  I won't speculate on the cyber horrors that integrated Safety Management Systems (SMS) and Security Management Systems (SeMS) will have to deal with in the area of flight operations for fear of giving the bad guys food for thought. 
      One thing is for sure, 2013 will continue to be full of challenges. AVSEC professionals based in the region have hopefully considered the effect of geopolitical strife on aviation prosperity in their region and hopefully have crisis management and recovery plans in place integrated with their national military and civil defense contingencies.  Instead of Icelandic volcanoes those interested in "macro"  AVSEC in the region need to think about conflict and missiles in the Straits of Hormuz.  At the micro level they need to be concerned with the same passenger facilitation issues that our United States TSA does.   God bless and keep those men and women of good will and all faiths and nationalities who are doing their best to keep our skies and travels safe whether it is for Christian pilgrims visiting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; Catholics the Vatican or Fatima, Moslem hajis making the Haj to Mecca, or Haddasah Ladies from Great Neck visiting Israel.