Predictable airline news: fare hikes and radiation testing but not for passengers
Facing years of complaints about health concerns, the Transportation Security Administration plans to test potential radiation exposure at 100 airports. But it’s not passengers who will be tested or the machines themselves — it’s TSA employees.
"TSA is dedicated to the health and safety of its employees," TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said. "We continuously test our technology to ensure it is safe for both passengers and our officers and post all results to our website."
News of the test leaked out after the TSA issued a request last month to government vendors to provide wearable, personal dosimeters, devices that measure exposure to radiation, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Critics of the TSA support the idea of testing TSA workers, the newspaper says. Critics also want the agency to perform independent studies of the full body scanners because of radiation concerns.
"We still have no idea how much radiation is being imposed on travelers by a properly functioning machine," said James Babb, co-founder of We Won’t Fly. "A malfunctioning machine could be particularly nasty."
Melendez said the scanners have been tested and approved by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the US Army Public Health Command.
TSA Administrator John Pistole also said all studies have shown the scanners are safe.
Predictably into the still new year, US airlines also began their fare hikes, led by Delta Airlines with $20 increases on long routes, said Farecompare.
That move was followed by Southwest, AirTran and Frontier. American and United joined in a day later.
FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney said the hikes were about half as large as system-wide increases usually are.
Last year, airlines pushed through nine increases. That included 13 unsuccessful attempts, so the 22 attempts made for a "banner year for airfare hike activity," Seaney said.
The most affected airport is in Memphis, which has the highest fares in the US.
The average domestic, round-trip fare from Memphis International was $476.22 in second quarter 2011, according to the latest figures from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
By David Wilkening
David
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