If you lock your checked baggage you can have your locks broken open by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the USA unless you have the right locks.
The main thing to note is to use TSA approved locks if you ever Air travel in the USA if you wish to lock your bags. TSA has master keys for them.
See links below at http://www.tsa.gov/public/
http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=183&content=09000519800ac530
http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1634.xml
Elaine
The main thing to note is to use TSA approved locks if you ever Air travel in the USA if you wish to lock your bags. TSA has master keys for them.
See links below at http://www.tsa.gov/public/
http://www.tsa.gov/public/display?theme=183&content=09000519800ac530
http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1634.xml
Elaine
Wonderful! For those of you leaving from a Canadian airport:
Security slowdown hobbles air traffic
At Pierre Trudeau. Two-hour lineups for domestic flights
RENE BRUEMMER
The Gazette
June 15, 2004
If you're thinking of flying to Toronto, Ottawa or New York in the coming days, you might want to take the car instead.
It could be a lot faster.
Work slowdowns by security personnel hobbled airline traffic out of Montreal Sunday night and yesterday.
Two-hour lineups for domestic flights on Sunday snaked and switchbacked for more than half a kilometre through the terminal before spilling outdoors.
"Some passengers rented a car to get to Toronto when they saw the line," said one airline employee, who spoke on condition that her name not be used. "They figured it would be quicker.
"It was unbelievable."
Yesterday morning saw similar slowdowns, and by 10 p.m. about a half-dozen flights were delayed.
If the pressure tactics continue as the busy summer season arrives, "it's going to be hell."
International passengers without the luxury of a four-wheeled backup plan were even less fortunate Sunday.
"If you were going to Frankfurt to catch your connecting flight to the Mideast, you were not going to make it," the employee said, adding that more than 45 flights were delayed that night.
Personnel responsible for pre-boarding searches of passengers and baggage chose Grand Prix weekend - the busiest days of the year at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport - to start their protest.
Security checkpoints are manned by 300 employees of Kolossal Security, who have been without a collective agreement since September 2002.
The workers, who earn an average of $13.88 an hour, are asking for higher wages.
Metallos union representative Martin Courville denied the employees were engaging in slowdown tactics, blaming increased traffic from the Grand Prix for the delays.
Wearing jeans was the only form of protest used, Courville said.
Airline employees disputed that claim, however, saying absenteeism was rife and the regular pace of 100 people an hour moving through the checkpoints slowed to 60 Sunday night.
Security personnel were asking people wearing flip-flops to remove their footwear for closer inspection, employees reported.
Normally, only thick-soled shoes come under scrutiny.
Airlines bearing the brunt of passenger wrath demanded the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority rectify the situation with its subcontractors yesterday.
"We're taking this issue very seriously and we're monitoring it closely with Kolossal," a spokesperson for the security authority, Renee Fairweather, said. "And we continue to maintain the same level of security that has always existed."
Fairweather and airlines working out of Trudeau airport advised passengers yesterday to arrive 90 minutes prior to normal check-in times.
Considering many airlines suggest international travellers check in two to three hours before their flight, passengers are being asked to show up as much as 41/2 hours before takeoff.
Union spokesperson Courville voiced little optimism the Kolossal labour conflict would be resolved soon.
"I think employees will be wearing jeans for a while longer at least," he said.
Rbruemmer@thegazette.Canwest.Com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2004
Security slowdown hobbles air traffic
At Pierre Trudeau. Two-hour lineups for domestic flights
RENE BRUEMMER
The Gazette
June 15, 2004
If you're thinking of flying to Toronto, Ottawa or New York in the coming days, you might want to take the car instead.
It could be a lot faster.
Work slowdowns by security personnel hobbled airline traffic out of Montreal Sunday night and yesterday.
Two-hour lineups for domestic flights on Sunday snaked and switchbacked for more than half a kilometre through the terminal before spilling outdoors.
"Some passengers rented a car to get to Toronto when they saw the line," said one airline employee, who spoke on condition that her name not be used. "They figured it would be quicker.
"It was unbelievable."
Yesterday morning saw similar slowdowns, and by 10 p.m. about a half-dozen flights were delayed.
If the pressure tactics continue as the busy summer season arrives, "it's going to be hell."
International passengers without the luxury of a four-wheeled backup plan were even less fortunate Sunday.
"If you were going to Frankfurt to catch your connecting flight to the Mideast, you were not going to make it," the employee said, adding that more than 45 flights were delayed that night.
Personnel responsible for pre-boarding searches of passengers and baggage chose Grand Prix weekend - the busiest days of the year at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport - to start their protest.
Security checkpoints are manned by 300 employees of Kolossal Security, who have been without a collective agreement since September 2002.
The workers, who earn an average of $13.88 an hour, are asking for higher wages.
Metallos union representative Martin Courville denied the employees were engaging in slowdown tactics, blaming increased traffic from the Grand Prix for the delays.
Wearing jeans was the only form of protest used, Courville said.
Airline employees disputed that claim, however, saying absenteeism was rife and the regular pace of 100 people an hour moving through the checkpoints slowed to 60 Sunday night.
Security personnel were asking people wearing flip-flops to remove their footwear for closer inspection, employees reported.
Normally, only thick-soled shoes come under scrutiny.
Airlines bearing the brunt of passenger wrath demanded the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority rectify the situation with its subcontractors yesterday.
"We're taking this issue very seriously and we're monitoring it closely with Kolossal," a spokesperson for the security authority, Renee Fairweather, said. "And we continue to maintain the same level of security that has always existed."
Fairweather and airlines working out of Trudeau airport advised passengers yesterday to arrive 90 minutes prior to normal check-in times.
Considering many airlines suggest international travellers check in two to three hours before their flight, passengers are being asked to show up as much as 41/2 hours before takeoff.
Union spokesperson Courville voiced little optimism the Kolossal labour conflict would be resolved soon.
"I think employees will be wearing jeans for a while longer at least," he said.
Rbruemmer@thegazette.Canwest.Com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2004
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