El Al vs. the TSA
Maybe it was the report of Jessica Simpson putting her dog through an x-ray machine at LAX. Or the Wired story about the idiotic airline-by-airline management of the no-fly list in America. Or maybe it was the story about dogs being trained to sniff out DVDs instead of, say, explosives, at London’s Stansted Airport. (Ok, that’s UK security, but still…) In any case, Israel’s national airline, El Al, has been quietly screening its own luggage at US airports (LAX, JFK, MIA, and ORD) with the consent of the TSA. In fact, they’ve replaced the TSA’s software on scanning equipment, because it wasn’t “sensitive” enough, and assigned their own screeners to the job (though TSA staff remain on-site to supervise). The issue came to light when El Al sought to expand the process to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Wilma vs. the Reverse Pyramid (sounds like a wrestling matchup)
Airlines regularly tinker with their boarding procedures, in an effort to move people onboard faster and reduce the time between flights. Passengers are more commonly called by seating area or zone, rather than row number. Wired breaks down the competing models — the classic “back to front,” AirTran’s “rotating zones,” United’s “Wilma,” USAirways’ “Reverse Pyramid,” and Southwest’s zoned free-for-all (more generously termed “self-organizing”). Click on the “See How it Works” image/link in the article for a graphical demonstration. The reverse pyramid especially seems to make a lot of sense. (Note: While the demo shows first class boarding first, it ignores elite members’ early boarding privilege, for what it’s worth.) Suggestion for the crack programmers at SeatGuru): It might be nice to know which boarding zone a seat is in before you select it…

Wine vs. … well, vs. nothing. Just wine.
As mentioned here, wine bars are expanding in U.S. airports. USA Today reports that Sacramento Airport has approved the opening of a wine bar, which will feature local/regional wines. As a fan of the wines of Amador County, I give this a big thumbs up. The bar will be run by Taste, Inc., the folks behind Washington-Dulles’ Vino Volo.

Airbus vs. the Greyhound bus
25 years after frequent flyer programs were launched, Greyhound’s new frequent rider program “Road Rewards” hits the street. Questions remain: Will they seek membership in OneWorld, SkyTeam, or Star Alliance? Do they just use Mapquest to figure out your points? (via USA Today)

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