Airport tips

With every terror attack that grips the world, we all pause to reflect. World travelers and frequent flyers, however, likely react a little differently: People with upcoming adventures abroad tend to follow the news more closely, start researching travel insurance, and keep tabs on safety alerts.

Travelers aren’t the only ones longing for the days of delayed baggage to come to an end.

Airports. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. But their tolerability quotients vary widely; some are more endurable, even congenial, than others.

File this under: Why does the TSA have to even say this out loud?

Give thanks! Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, American and United have launched automated security screening lanes at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Two of American’s 18 lanes have been converted, and United has added three automated lanes of its own.

After 15-plus years in existence, you’d think the TSA was pretty good at its job.

For travelers to, from, or through Los Angeles International Airport, it may seem as though the airport, the world’s seventh busiest, is in a semi-permanent state of modernization and remodeling, with all the construction, traffic, and delays that entails. A pretty picture it ain’t.

Predictably, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory following yesterday’s terrorist attacks in Brussels.

Yesterday’s crash landing of Emirates flight EK521 in Dubai generated a flood of images of panicked travelers, loaded down with their carry-on bags, fleeing the burning B777-300. The headline of Bloomberg’s coverage of the incident said it all: “Crashing, Burning Planes Don’t Stop Passengers From Grabbing Their Luggage.”

Spirit Airlines waived fees.

Airlines for America, the trade group representing the interests of U.S. airlines, is predicting that 15.6 million travelers will fly during the Labor Day weekend (Wednesday, August 31 – Tuesday, September 6). That’s a 4 percent increase over last year’s 15 million Labor Day flyers.

If “summer travel” triggers images of beachside idylls and Disney theme-park thrills, you likely drive rather than fly to your summertime vacation spots. Because summer air travel is a very different picture, indeed.

It’s no secret that it’s been a year of ups and downs—but one silver lining is the affordable travel possibilities it’s opened up for American travelers. Thanks to expanding air routes, a strong U.S. dollar, and tour companies catering to younger, more frugal tourists, the world is now more accessible than ever.

In 2015, flyers filed 15,260 complaints with the Department of Transportation. That was a 34 percent increase over 2014’s 11,365 complaints.

If you flew TWA to or from New York before the airline declared bankruptcy for the third and final time, in 2001, your travel experience was elevated by a walk through one of the world’s most enduring architectural spaces.

Lufthansa pilots are striking for the 14th time since 2014 in their attempt to extract better wages from the carrier.

When airlines announce new service between two cities, it doesn’t just create more flight options. It also drives down airfares. This spring, new routes from major carriers like American, JetBlue, United, and Virgin America will mean big savings on service both in the U.S. and abroad. Here are the 10 routes with the best potential for bargains.

Basic economy fares may be sweeping through the industry, but one airline says it’s staying out.

In a historic agreement signed this week, the United States and Cuba have now resumed commercial air traffic between the two countries for the first time in 50 years, with routes expected to be running by fall 2016. Currently, only chartered flights are allowed to operate between the two countries.

“Chaos at the airport!” You’ve seen those headlines and TV shots the last few days, and you know they’re accurate. You also know that, at least for now, the new immigration rules are under legal challenge, with an uncertain outcome.

The Department of Homeland (DHS) plans to continue its confusing and controversial policy on searching some electronic devices at U.S. airports. In remarks to the Senate Homeland Security Committee, DHS Secretary John Kelly claimed the searches are valuable in the fight against terrorism.