
Airline travel, especially during the holiday season, is often
frustrating for passengers; and that's before anyone boards their
flight. The process of going through airport security, while absolutely
necessary, is perhaps one of the most detested parts of airline travel
for most passengers. Those traveling with children have even more
difficulty passing through security while dealing with small children,
which is why the Transportation Security Administration has modified
rules for airline passengers age 12 and younger.
The
TSA implemented a new regulation that children 12 years of age and
younger no longer need to remove their shoes to go through security
checkpoints. In addition, the number of children this age that receive a
pat down is now being reduced, though not completely eliminated.
Also,
in the latest travel news, the TSA has approved the use of new privacy
protection software that will eliminate the image of actual passengers
as they pass through Advanced Imaging Technology at security.
Passenger's actual images are being replaced with generic outlines of a
person.
During the holiday season, airport officials ask that all
airline passengers avoid bringing wrapped packages or gifts in their
carry-on luggage. They have recommended that wrapped packages should be
placed in checked luggage or shipped ahead of time to the passenger's
destination.
Holiday travel is difficult enough when you have only
to worry about yourself in the process; add a child - or several
children - to that, and the experience of airline travel goes from
difficult to nearly impossible. Airports are not known for providing
child-friendly accommodations, which is why Cheapflights has introduced
the Kids' Airport Diversion Guide for family-friendly holiday travel.
The guide, which is the latest in airline travel news for families,
provides parents with information regarding interesting exhibits, play
areas and other entertaining distractions. The guide provides detailed
descriptions of museum exhibits in airports, play areas and child
friendly eateries that will keep kids entertained at airports around the
country while they wait for their flight. Parents will appreciate the
guide's help with expelling some of their kids' pent-up energy prior to
boarding their flight.

Additionally, in the latest airline travel news,
Spirit Airlines recently announced the airline is raising online
booking fees for passengers that opt to purchase airline tickets online.
The $8.99 online booking fee Spirit charged passengers each way for
tickets has now doubled in price to $16.99 per passenger for each
one-way flight. At the same time, international online booking fees
dropped from $18.99 one-way to $16.99 one-way, to create an across the
board flat fee for online booking.
In other airline news, Jet Blue
will provide direct service between Puerto Rico and St. Maarten,
beginning November 17, 2011, and Virgin Atlantic will begin return
service to Vancouver, Canada, in the summer of 2012.
Also making
the news, are airline-related statistics based on a recent Skyscanner
study, showing that the new ABC primetime television series "Pan Am" has
airline passengers yearning for the days of glamorous airline travel.
Of the 2,500 airline passengers surveyed, 41% stated they missed the
days when passengers could visit the captain in the cockpit. An
additional 4% of passengers believe pilots should be wearing hats.
Surprisingly, nearly 13% of passengers wish that airlines provided a
smoking section for them to indulge in their nicotine habits. While Pan
Am shows that air travel certainly has changed drastically in the past
several decades, planes still provide their primary function, which is
getting passengers to their intended destinations, only in less time
than ever before.