Stay out of the green and into the black if you know what you're doing when you go pack

I'd been meaning to write something about the US preflight screening 'lanes' that are being piloted at some airports - you're invited to join a black, orange or green lane depending on your experience and confidence at having your hand baggage x-rayed, the size of your group and so on. The black lane is for those of us who have our shoes off and laptops out as soon as we've been given our boarding pass - and it's as much about not having less-experienced travellers intimidated by business people getting impatient as they move through more slowly.

As it happens, I've just posted a comment to the TSA blog which sums up my experience, so I'll just recycle, if I may:

Just got back from the US, where I traveled through Salt Lake and Denver, and am a big fan of the new system - the thing that really surprised me was that people were surprisingly self-aware in choosing lanes; prior to the trip I'd assumed that the black lane would attract people who were over-confident about their familiarity with the system, but that wasn't really the case. Indeed, I'd suggest that there are people who could take the black route who aren't - that passengers tend to underestimate rather than overestimate their experience.

Overall, a very positive experience. Thank you!

Small security breach at John Lennon

Some bloke allegedly broke through the vehicle entrance and ran towards the planes. Fair enough, could happen anywhere. What's alarming, though, is the different stories coming from the airline and the airport:

The airport say the man was stopped at the top of the stairs but Thomsonfly say he got on board where he was discovered by cabin crew.

Even more interestingly, apparently, a man running through the airport and getting on a plane (or not) is, apparently, not a breach of security according to Liverpool airport:

Robin Tudor, spokesman for Liverpool Airport, said: "The man forced his way through a security barrier by the main access gate on the airport apron.

"Security guards saw this happen, gave chase immediately and the man was apprehended.

"We don't regard this as a security breach. There was no lapse in security - the man broke a barrier to gain access.

"As a matter of course we have informed the Department of Transport about the incident and they have not instructed us to alter procedures."

So a barrier that doesn't keep people out isn't breached if it is, erm, broken and someone passes through it. It's funny that, in an age where taking a half-bottle of shampoo on a plane is considered dangerous, John Lennon is so laid back about people running onto airside.

One queue does it all?

Amongst the promises being made by Gordon Brown in the Commons this lunctime was a unified customs and passport check - what does that actually mean? That the same official will search through your dirty panties as checks your photo, or just that the people who do the two jobs will be from the same agency? And does that mean the Immigration Department will have to merge with the Customs & Revenue, or will Customs be split off from the tax people again? It's not entirely clear.

But we're sure everything will be carefully thought through before any sweeping changes are made. We're sure of that. Absolutely certain.

UPDATE:

Border and immigration and customs and UK visa staff will all be turned into one uniformed border police, Mr Brown says, adding a bit of flesh on to the bone of his proposals: "one single uniformed presence" at ports and borders.

That can be implemented "very quickly", he goes on.

But if they're wearing the same uniform, but employed by different departments, how will that actually work?

John Lennon sees sense

Talking of John Lennon Airport, it's good to see they had a second thought about plans to charge people two pounds just to get into the airport. They appear to have replaced the scheme with a 'fasttrack' system, which allows you to pay two quid to woosh down a special security screening aisle instead of waiting at the back of the usual long queue.

Of course, in order to make money from this service, it could be argued that John Lennon has a vested interest in making the official, 'free' line move as slowly as possible. And all you're really doing is shifting the side of the barrier you'll be hanging about on.

It's an interesting approach to funding the extra costs of security, though, and one we'd imagine other airports will be watching carefully.

Curious times in the airline industry

The Chief Executive at Heathrow has quit, just a few days after telling the Guardian the airport was 'bursting at the seams'. The departure seems a little, shall we say, rushed.

Meanwhile, British Airways' chairman has criticised the current 'one piece of handluggage' rule, which was introduced last year in response to the need to make John Reid seem decisive:

"We recognise that security is the top issue for passengers, given the current threat from terrorist activity. But to be effective, security has to be credible. Current UK security requirements are no longer credible," he told shareholders at the company's annual meeting.

Mr Broughton said the one bag rule was not applied elsewhere in Europe or in the US, undermining its security credentials. But it irritated passengers and stretched Heathrow's creaking baggage handling capability, causing conveyor belt breakdowns, which in turn meant baggage being delayed. The rule "makes London an unattractive place, particularly for transit passengers. It needs to be changed as soon as possible."

Visa waiver scheme to be replaced by 48-hours notice?

The European business community is expressing more than a little disquiet at plans to force travellers to the US give a 48 hour period of notice before flying to the US. A pain for holidaymakers; almost impossible for last-minute business trips.

Do you get extra airmiles if your flight is diverted?

It looks like a platinum-plated passenger was responsible for the redirection of an LA-London flight to New York earlier today.

Michael Chertoff, director of Homeland Security, was somewhat upbeat about the idea that anyone can whisk past security by clambering onboard an employees-only bus and find themselves on the plane without further ado:

"The good news here is that you have somebody who's alert on the crew and they take appropriate steps at that point to deal with what might be a potentially dangerous situation," Chertoff said. "That's exactly what we are asking people to do: If you see something, say something."

The bad news, of course, is that everyone is spending hours and hours queueing, removing their shoes, having their kidneys x-rayed in a parody of security while there's a bloody great side-door swinging open. It is wonderful that the crew picked up on the anomaly - but if this had been someone intent on doing bad, it would probably have been too late by the time the plane had landed in New York, wouldn't it?

Also: we know they could hardly have said "We're landing because there's a desperado on board" over the intercom, but...

Anthony Loynes, one of the 188 passengers aboard the flight, told CNN the pilot told passengers the plane was stopping at JFK because the plane did not have enough fuel to make it to London.

That's the way to keep the passengers calm: "we somehow managed to set out with just enough fuel to plunge into the Atlantic..."