The 14 thousand member American Meteorological Society held its 2010 meeting in Atlanta. The AMS is a professional society dedicated to the atmospheric sciences and related fields.
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Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab was unable to bring down a jetliner with the 80 grams of PETN explosive he sewed into his underpants. But he sure brought down the sheer craziness of a federal agency with a track record for knee-jerk reactions that penalize law abiding citizens – but do nothing to thwart the bad guys.
The Transportation Security Administration announced unspecified extra security measures that were immediately implemented upon Abdul’s capture. While the TSA won’t confirm what those measures are, passengers on other flights have reported that they were unable to get up or move about plane during the final hour of their trip, and that blanket usage was prohibited during the same time – presumably to prevent anyone else from secretly igniting their underpants.
Amsterdam's Schipol Airport, gateway to Europe.
I have been on that same Northwest/Delta’s flight from Amsterdam to Detroit several times, and I can tell you that this guy had to get through multiple layers of security. Before anyone can board a flight at Amsterdam’s Schpol airport, one has to pass through standard passport control, where passports are scrutinized by Dutch security. There are always a number of disappointed travelers sitting outside the security office, because their passports were refused until they undergo additional scrutiny behind closed doors. Abdul’s name must not have appeared on Holland’s suspicious passport list.
After they clear passport control, passengers go through metal detectors and have their bags screened before proceeding to their gate. But for those flying to the United States, there is another security screening that takes place at the Northwest/Delta gate. This time, each passenger gets a personal interview by Dutch security personnel presumably employed by the American TSA. Passengers are asked the standard questions… “Where have you been, what have you been doing, who packed your luggage,” etc. Then there is another set of metal detectors for bodies and bags before anyone gets on the plane. Unlike the Dutch screening, this time passengers are forced to remove their shoes – a tip of a hat to shoe bomber Richard Reid.
Somehow Abdul got on the plane. He apparently had the right answers to the questions, and his crotch failed to trip any of the sensors. And the TSA responded with some new regulations that would have done nothing – NOTHING – to prevent Abdul’s diabolical scheme. If a terrorist gets explosives on a plane, he will still be able to use them – as long as he is courageous enough to disobey the seat belt sign.
The TSA announced the irritating, meaningless measures because it feels it has to do something - even when it is powerless to do anything meaningful. There will now be calls for those full-body scanners, the same ones that were criticized by civil rights and women’s groups because they allow screeners to see beneath clothing. A better idea would be to do what other countries do: profile. Take everyone whose passport isn’t attached to a documented, long-time history of law abiding behavior, and run them through additional screening including highly-invasive pat-downs. After all, 80 grams of explosive hidden in underpants is pretty hard to detect.
As I see it, we have three choices: full-body scanning that violates people’s privacy, profiling that violates people’s rights, or new TSA regulations that irritate everyone without providing one bit of actual protection.
Given our society’s adherence to political correctness, I’m betting on the latter.
UPDATE, 1/5/2010: Here is a sure-fire way to make the TSA more effective: Give any TSA employee who finds explosives on a passenger a 50 thousand dollar cash bonus. Really. That includes the Dutch contractors, too. There is no better incentive for a thorough job of screening than by offering big cash for a terrorist collar.
Each week I receive a newsletter from Airfare Watchdog, aggregating low-priced airfares from my home airport in Sioux Falls. For months, about the only special airfares listed in the newsletter have been these four flights: to Las Vegas on Allegiant, to Orlando on Allegiant, to Mesa on Allegiant, and Los Angeles on Allegiant. Hey Delta and United – are you ever going to give Sioux Falls flyers a break? (I won’t call out American Airlines yet, because they are adding Sioux Falls-Chicago service in April.)
After writing a previous blog about the high cost of flying out of Sioux Falls, I asked the Department of Transportation for some data about Sioux Falls airfares. As of the second quarter of 2009 (the most recent data available), the average price of an airline ticket, excluding taxes and fees, was $397.91. Compare that to a single-ticket average of $354.83 in Des Moines, and $290.27 in Omaha. I created a chart from the long-term data, and it appears those booking flights out of Sioux Falls have paid premium prices for years.
Without Allegiant Air service in Sioux Falls, the price gap between Sioux Falls and other cities would probably be even greater. 
According to the Research and Innovative Technology Bureau of Transportation, the bargain carrier Allegiant now accounts for 21.43% of the passenger traffic in Sioux Falls, second only to Northwest (which used to dominate the airport) at 22.48%. Skywest (feeder for United) is third at 20.20%, followed by United at 11.40%, and Pinnacle (feeder for Northwest) at 7.58%. The numbers were compiled between September, 2008 and August, 2009. With a relatively even spread of passengers across several carriers, one would think that Sioux Falls would have a competitive price structure – but that does not appear to be the case.
I should perhaps mention that the entire Sioux Empire has fallen victim to full retail-priced ticketing. Airfare Watchdog says this about the airport in Sioux City, IA: “Sure there are fares from Sioux Gateway Airport…but they’re way too high to meet our Dealhound standards.”
Sioux Falls airport has embarked on a major redevelopment project. It includes a renovation of the terminal building, and improvements to the runway area. The project will make a great “first impression” on visitors who land in Sioux Falls for the first time.
Architect's rendering of renovations at Sioux Falls airport. (And a depiction of how many residents will use Sioux Falls airport if things do not change.)
To pay for the project, the airport authority intends to impose a $4.50 facility fee on airline tickets. That is certainly not a huge amount compared to the fees charged by other airports I have visited, especially when many (unlike Sioux Falls) have degraded to the condition of bus terminals. But as things are right now, I may never have to pay that fee – because prices set by the major airlines serving Sioux Falls have forced me to take my business to other airports.
Previously, I have written about the dramatic cost savings by driving to catch a flight in Omaha, because competition (mainly from Southwest) keeps air fares there very low.
Now, as I find myself needing to take a trip to Atlanta in January, I have realized that driving to ANY airport in the Midwest will result in better fares than those charged in Sioux Falls.
Here are the actual, lowest fares posted on the airlines’ own websites for a round trip flight to Atlanta on Saturday, January 16, returning Wednesday, January 20. Flying on Saturday and Wednesday gives the airlines every benefit, because those are two of the cheapest days of the week on which to fly. Examining the numbers, I was not surprised that it is significantly more expensive to fly out of Sioux Falls (FSD) than Omaha or Minneapolis. But I was amazed to find that it is much cheaper to fly to Atlanta on those dates by driving to airports in Sioux City, Fargo, or even Rapid City!
—Cheapest round trip fares (taxes and fees included) to Atlanta from six Midwest cities on Jan 16, 2010, returning Jan 20, 2010. Fares posted as of 10 AM on November 4, 2009:
Delta United
FSD 566.91 568.00
OMA 358.59 346.90
MSP 224.20 245.40
SUX 459.80 -
FAR 360.40 480.00
RAP 320.40 367.00
Out of curiosity, I checked the price by flying the route backwards, from Atlanta to Sioux Falls on those same dates. Delta charges $20 dollars less for that route. It seems like the only way to get affordable air fares out of Sioux Falls is by visiting one of the destinations Allegiant serves.
I am not a penny-pincher trying to squeeze a nickel. I am not opposed to paying extra money to use Sioux Falls airport. But when the additional cost to “fly local” is in the hundreds of dollars, I object and vote by packing my baggage in my car – and taking my travel business elsewhere.
When people ask for travel advice about a place they have never visited, I tell them to take the water tour. Cities in every country in the world grow up around their lakes, rivers, and oceanfronts – so that’s where you will find that city’s identify and history. Norfolk, Virginia is one of those places.
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I’m not really a frequent flier anymore, but I travel enough to believe the merger of Northwest and Delta will be the death of small-market air service.
My airport, in Sioux Falls, was always Northwest-dominated, feeding into the airline’s main hub in Minneapolis. Delta and United also served Sioux Falls, acting as quasi-competitors. But now that Northwest and Delta are one, there is barely any competition in Sioux Falls.
I just had my first real experience with this, trying to book a one-way fare to Norfolk, Virginia for a Saturday in October. I didn’t expect it would be difficult to find a decent price, since I am pretty flexible in my travel plans, and was booking for a weekend over a month away. I have been shopping all of the travel websites to see what I could find. I have kept track of the fares for a couple weeks, and have truly been shocked by what I have been seeing.
Here is what I found on Orbitz.com, and the other travel sites are very similar. The least expensive one-stop fare for a one-way ticket out of Sioux Falls on a Saturday is $737 plus taxes? Really? The only conclusion I can reach is that Northwest and Delta are gouging Sioux Falls. I prefer to fly from my home airport, and I am willing to pay a little extra to do so. But this is ridiculous.
I then researched fares for the same flight out of Omaha, a three hour drive from here. I know that Southwest Airlines (which is not included in Orbitz listings) has routes into Omaha, and have always heard its influence is profound. Judging by what I see, I totally agree.
I checked the Southwest website to confirm what I suspected. Southwest’s price for the same route on the same day is so low that Northwest/Delta matches it, seemingly for competitive reasons.
Actually, the final price is not the same. I need to check two pieces of luggage, a simple act that would cost me 40 dollars in fees from Northwest/Delta. Two pieces of luggage are free on Southwest, so you can guess which airline I booked, even though it means a three hour drive to Omaha just to get on a plane.
One would expect more and more travelers will make the pilgrimage down I-29 to use the Omaha airport instead of Sioux Falls. As a former Northwest silver elite frequent flier based in Sioux Falls, I am sad to see it happen. But the new, merged, more expensive airline is forcing travelers to do it.
Postscript: Rather than booking a one-way ticket, I found it is more “affordable” to buy a roundtrip ticket from Sioux Falls-Norfolk for $497. But the point stands – even that is three hundred dollars higher than driving to Omaha – and that’s before you factor in the checked luggage fees.
We were all gathered in Geneva, Switzerland. Three thousand important people – and me.
The World Climate Conference (called WCC-3, because it was the third such gathering) brought together prominent scientists and global policymakers. The conference was held to discuss what is now called “climate change and variability,” to create the basis for the Copenhagen treaty talks scheduled for December. My role was small, as a panelist in the expert segment on communicating climate information. So I was able to spend time observing and learning.
It was a fascinating process, as one might imagine, being on the inside of what will be a global debate in the next few months. For instance, we heard from the man who will be one of China’s negotiators in Copenhagen, where a Kyoto-like treaty will be hammered out. He suggested that the world should adhere to Kyoto, which the United States opposed, in part, because it gave China and other “developing countries” something of a pass from carbon emission regulations. He also insisted China (which is now the world’s biggest C02 producer) is entitled to a break because of its sizable population, and low, $2400 annual income. But – and I thought there was a bit of news in this statement – he also said he had made eight trips to the US in recent months to talk.
During my presentation, I showed some polling data regarding Americans’ views on the cause of climate change (manmade vs. natural causes), and showed how those views have evolved in the past year.
I also talked about the way climate information races around the internet. Not even those who study climate change and variability can keep up with it all. I put a live Twitter search up on the big screen, so everyone was able to see how often Americans tweet the words “climate change” and “global warming” along with scientific information and personal opinion.
I displayed a graph revealing those terms were tweeted over 17,000 times in the previous month.
I have been to many international conferences over the years, but this one was special because the results of the World Climate Conference will form the basis for treaty talks that will affect most people on the planet. I consider myself very fortunate to be invited WCC-3, and to spend time with my weather colleagues in the great city of Geneva.
Photos are from IISD. Information about the conference is available through the WCC-3 website.
My weather colleague and friend Francis Wilson, of Sky News in London, defines English summer as “three fine days and a thunderstorm.” In my experience this description is accurate, including a recent layover at Heathrow airport. One fine August day – overcast and 63 degrees.
Heathrow Airport
I do enjoy flying British Airways. Their seats are leather, and have a width appropriate for the average adult body. BA also serves proper airline snacks – cookies with coffee, or proper sized bag of nuts, even on a short flight. That is much better than the mini-bags of pretzels we are subjected to in the US.
But even better than that was the midday fare on the KLM City Hopper from Geneva to Amsterdam.
Lunch on KLMWe had a cheese sandwich, a chicken salad sandwich, and a choice of beverage (wine or beer included). Keep in mind, Americans, it was only a one hour and fifteen minute flight – and I was in coach. There were only two flight attendants on board, and they had no trouble serving lunch and getting everything picked up before we landed.
Compare that to my one hour flight from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls on Northwest/Delta. When we took off, the two flight attendants announced that – due to the short duration of the flight – we would not have any beverage service in the “main cabin.”
Cheapskates.
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