Talking Travel: New Airline Security Measures

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To borrow a line from Bob Dylan: “The rules they are a changin’” when it comes to airport security. On Christmas Day, a 23-year-old Nigerian named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. Abdulmutallab supposedly had two different kinds of explosives hidden in his underwear, which he then tried to ignite not long before the plane was scheduled to land. You can read more about the initial incident here, and about the federal charges filed against Abdulmutallab here. In the wake of the attack, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration immediately imposed new travel rules for those flying into the United States. You can see the TSA’s guidance for travelers here. In Episode Four of Talking Travel, Robert Reid and Tom Hall of Lonely Planet try to make sense of the new rules, and about airline safety in general.  One measure that the Dutch are pushing for more wider adoption is the use of full body scanners (that’s a passenger at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the photo) for passenger screening. Tom talks about a trip up to Manchester, England where the so-called “naked scan” technology is now in use. You can read about his experience, and see photos (if you follow the link, that’s NOT Tom in the middle picture…he wanted me to point that out).

Also in the podcast, you’ll hear from the BBC’s Colette Hume, who, on the day after Christmas, managed to inadvertently get an aerosol can of hairspray past two baggage checks at Sydney Airport on a flight to New York. Robert and Tom will talk about the “new normal” when it comes to feeling safe as an air traveler.

We also talk about Lonely Planet’s “World’s Worst Cities” feature. Poor Wolverhampton, England! You can see a defense of some of the cities mentioned in the list by going to Lonely Planet’s Facebook page.

Near the top of the podcast, Robert mentions his New Year’s Eve outing to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Manhattan Bridge in New York City. He mentioned a song and a video. Here are both: