American Airlines to Charge $50 for Standby

American Airlines will begin charging $50 to standby for flights at the airport. That means if you show up at the airport and want or need to take a flight other than your originally ticketed one, you now must fork up $50 for that convenience. The fee applies to tickets purchased starting February 22, 2010, but is waived for American elite members, those flying in premium class, fully-refundable and military fares. American is calling the fee is necessary to improve flight operations.

SFO Airport Workers Vote To Authorize Strike

About 500 airline service workers unanimously voted Thursday to authorize a strike at San Francisco Airport. According to union leaders, they are negotiating for better wages and health care. The workers, whose jobs include service skycaps, baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, security personnel and airplane cabin cleaners, want improved training, higher wages and access to family health care, according to a spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union. No word when the workers might, if at all, proceed with a strike.

Airline Cutbacks Arriving Soon At Oakland

Many airlines, forced to shrink capacity, are thinning routes or even dropping them entirely from their route map. Oakland Airport has been hit particularly with the downturn in the industry. The following is a recap of announced cutbacks for the next few months at Oakland International:

• American Airlines will cease Oakland operations on September 2nd. The airline has daily non-stops to its Dallas hub.
• Continental Airlines will also end operations the next day, September 3rd. It operates flights to its Houston hub.
• United Airlines, which operates daily flights to Los Angeles will end on November 2nd.
• Southwest will drop its daily non-stop to Tucson, effective November 3rd.
• Taca Airlines, operating a daily flight to San Salvador will end on September 1st.
• ExpressJet will end flights to Salt Lake City on September 1st.

TSA's Badges Are A Sore Spot For Cops

(USA Today)
Screeners at the nation's airport checkpoints are going to start wearing police-style badges - but real officers aren't too happy about it.

Some sworn officers fear airline passengers will mistake screeners for law-enforcement officials with arrest powers.The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is starting to equip its 48,000 screeners with 3-inch-by-2-inch, silver-colored, copper and zinc badges that will be worn on new royal-blue police-style shirts. Read More

Oakland To Loose Continental Airlines

In a notice to employees Thursday, Continental Airlines announced they will eliminate flights to 15 cities, including Oakland International. The airline has 3 daily flights from Oakland to its Houston hub. Flights will be discontinued in September.

Oakland has been hammered recently after carriers ATA, Aloha and Skybus ceased operations leaving several Oakland passengers stranded. American Airlines previously announced it too will end Oakland operations later this fall, they also had 3 daily flights to their Dallas hub.

No surprise that airline traffic is down 20% off last years numbers at OAK, making it one of the hardest hit airports in the country. Officials at the airport are planning on cutting jobs, and shelving plans for a third terminal.

Affected Continental passengers holding confirmed reservations can receive a full refund, accommodated on another airline, or fly from San Francisco or San Jose.

Discarded Toiletries From Airports May Be Donated

Despite established TSA rules limiting the amount of liquids that can be brought through security, each day thousands of pounds of toothpaste, shampoo and other liquid products are discarded at airport security.

According to a KOVR-13 (Sacramento) news report, a successful trial in Fresno and Bakersfield is prompting one state lawmaker to consider mandating discarded items be donated to charity, rather than simply thrown away.

Read more here. Video is located to the right of the article.

What is the 'Clear' Registered Traveler Program?

(Thanks for the question Kathy)
For about $100 a year, you can "fly through airport security" as the Clear company tagline asserts, once you've signed up in the Clear Registered Traveler program.

The application process includes providing biographic information, fingerprints, a current photograph and images of your irises to the federal government. There is a $100 annual fee for the membership if approved, and a $28 TSA background check fee.

Once approved in the program, the "Clear" card (pictured to the left) allows you to get through security faster, often in just a few minutes, using dedicated "Clear" lanes. A thumbprint or retina scan are performed, and matched to the data you provided during the application process.

Once you receive the 'Clear' you then proceed to a metal detector and x-ray machine. The program is currently available at 13 airports throughout the United States, including San Francisco, San Jose and coming soon to Oakland.

Reviews have been mixed. Some travelers claim the Clear program and expedited line saved them from missing flights. Imagine bypassing lengthy lines, particularly during peak travel periods! Others claim $100 isn't worth the fee since the same security checkpoint procedures are in place, namely the x-ray and metal detector screening. Further, as more airports adopt the Clear program, it may become too popular, thereby diluting the original intended benefit of short lines.

For more information on the Clear program, click here

Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond and Platinum members may be entitled to one-year of free membership. For details, click here.