Under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Publicly Available Social Media Monitoring and Situational Awareness Initiative, compliant with Section 515 of the Homeland Security Act (6 U.S.C. § 321d(b)(1)), the agency scours social media chatter seeking information related to threats against the United States. In the process of reviewing millions of Twitter comments, public Facebook pages, blogs, Tumblr pages, Youtube channels, tweets posted by Leigh Van Bryan on the 3rd of January were flagged.

Mr. Van Bryan’s tweets that were flagged by the DHS stated “Free this week for a quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America?” followed by a tweet stating “3 weeks today, we’re totally in LA pissing people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin’ Marilyn Monroe up!”

Mr. Van Bryan’s tweets, which were frivolous, laced in slang phrases and referencing the Fox TV Show The Family Guy were taken literally, rather than read in context or analyzed to determine their potential to constitute a legitimate threat to U.S. national security.

Had DHS analysts reviewed the tweets, grasping Mr. Van Bryan’s colloquial usage of the word “destroy,” maybe this situation would have avoided, although the second tweet by Mr. Van Bryan stating he’d be digging up Marilyn Monroe’s grave is really where the DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (US CBP) literal interpretation of the tweeted comments really comes off the rail (and by coming off the rails, I don’t mean that literally, I mean it in the sense that what occurred is absurd).

When Mr. Van Bryan and his travel companion, Emily Bunting, were questioned by US CBP upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport they were questioned extensively about their intent to dig up Marilyn Monroe’s grave. US CBP was so focused on this intent, which is of no threat to national security, that the travelers’ bags were searched for shovels.

Had the DHS of US CBP spent less than 20 seconds researching “we’re totally in LA pissing people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin’ Marilyn Monroe up!” they would have discovered the tweet is not only a quote from The Family Guy, but that Ms. Monroe’s body is entombed in a mausoleum at the Westwood Village Memorial Park, which is off of Wilshire Blvd and the crypt is more than two feet above ground.

Rather than DHS and US CBP agents using logic, reasoning and human analysis or Mr. Van Bryan’s tweets, the agency has proven the dangers of relying on an automated keyword scraping system, trolling social media sites, without human intervention. The DHS’s predilection for using technology that is not analyzed before reaching the front lines wastes the agencies resources and for Mr. Van Bryan and Ms. Bunting, landed two innocent tourists in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection central holding facility, before being deported the next day.

As a final “Welcome To America” parting gift, the two were informed they must now seek visas from the U.S. Embassy before travel to the United States.

National Security is serious business, and the job of Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents is challenging. Somewhere in the challenges security agents face in determining legitimate threats, agents must exercise their own common sense. If a message found while seeking threats through situational awareness keyword searches of social media chatter, agents must seek context before reacting. Should a threat be deemed worthy of further investigation, agents must have the ability to clear a threat after interview and search of detailed parties … because without the interjection of common logic and human intervention in keyword searches for threats, there is bound to be a massive amount of misinterpreted comments that will needlessly be investigated.

Happy Flying!

@flyingwithfish

My father’s passing was not a shock, as I had been down to Manhattan see him in the intensive care unit two weeks ago, and spent three days with him in the intensive care unit this week, but there is still not much comfort in the facts you know in your head when your phone rings.

My father is an unlikely catalyst for world travelers, but somehow he was.  Growing up in Brooklyn, the furthest he had traveled outside of the United States was Canada, while in the Army.  Later in life he took cruises and saw the Caribbean, but he always encouraged his three sons to travel.  He understood the world, and many facets that made the world a global environment without ever having crossed an ocean.

Growing up next to JFK International Airport,  the global gateway to the United States, my brothers and I always had airplanes overhead, which encouraged our desire to travel, and this was encouraged by our Dad. My father, without seeing the world first hand, sent two of his sons to visit the Soviet Union, a son to study in Australia, let a son pick up head off to London for a few months … all while we were still in high school.  Since then, my Dad’s kids have collectively set foot on every continent, and found ourselves curious about the world we live in, and very comfortable to just pick up and go anywhere, encountering situations that would make my father laugh even though he could never experience them.   One experience sticks out in my mind, involving my brother and I meeting up at Hong Kong International Airport, I was arriving and my brother was departing. I stood in the lower level immigrations arrival area, before passport control, as my brother stood in the upper level departures area and we shouted back and forth, chatting normally. A seemingly normal conversation thousands of miles from home, because somewhere along the way we were encouraged to go out and be part of the world.

My Dad was not an airplane person, but while he never openly encouraged my love of planes, he sure did a lot to assist my airplane fascination.  Saturday mornings in my house meant one thing as a kid, a trip to the flea market. My Dad was a consummate flee market expert, going every Saturday to the flee market near our house, always followed by a trip to McDonalds for breakfast afterwards if I was with him. After breakfast, the drive home frequently went the long way, driving home up Rockaway Blvd, which runs parallel to the north side perimeter of JFK International Airport.   Every now and again the drive home included a spin through the terminals at the airport.

Every summer was spent at the Atlantic Beach, where it overlaps with The Rockaways, right under the approach and departure waypoints for JFK Airport’s Runways 13R/31L and 13L/31R.  As a kid going to the beach meant watching the Concorde more than once a day, often arriving then departing, as well as planes from all over the world. At the beach my Dad would often take walks down the jetty, and would ask me what airlines were overhead. While my Dad often didn’t know the answer, he knew I usually did, or if I didn’t I’d be determined to find out.

My Dad and I rarely agreed on many things, and almost never saw eye to eye, which is probably not uncommon, but he pushed my brothers and I to find out who we were, and know why we were who we were.  My Dad pushed us to think of others rather than ourselves. My Dad pushed us to think beyond common conventional thinking … although he’d deny it vehemently.

This morning, as I sat in the dark before my kids were awake, absorbing the news I glanced over at a National Geographic Magazine sitting on the floor, that had been knocked off the night stand, and thought of something I heard many times from my Father when I’d ask questions about the world, he’d look at me and say “Go get a National Geographic.” Funny … I always have gone and read National Geographic.

As I ponder the difficult task of telling my kids that Grandpa is no longer with us, and reconcile everything that I think everyone probably reconciles while dealing with a situation such as this I leave you with this.    As a kid my Dad used to tell me to sit behind the wing, because if you could see the wing attached to the plane outside the window you knew everything was OK.   To this day I always try and find a window seat right behind the wing when possible.

Happy Flying Dad!

@flyingwithfish

As far as airline engagement with social media is concerned, JetBlue is generally considered to be towards the top of the list. They were an early adopter and have built out a sizable official team to handle the @JetBlue account. Somewhat more interesting, however, is the participation in Twitter of so many senior executives of the company, right up to the CEO. And following the tweets of @DavidJBarger you never know what you’ll see.

The content of the tweets ranges widely, from his die-hard Detroit sports fan comments to notes about work travel (lots of trips to Orlando for new hire orientation) to bits about supporting non-profits that the airline partners with. The past few days, however, have seen a much different tone. Following a tweet from the main company account about following along as the boss visits various airports:

Apparently that unleashed a flood of new route/destination requests to the CEO. That, or he just decided to finally respond to all the queries outstanding. Either way, the past few days have seen many tweets on route planning, including some interesting insight on what destinations might be coming and which probably will not.

In the northeast there were discussions on Providence, RI:

Long Island’s Islip got a mention:

And Massachusetts’ Worcester actually got some action, including confirmation of an upcoming visit from the company. Hard to believe that Worcester is a serious option right now, but they’re taking a look at least.

New Haven, Connecticut also got a mention, but probably not the news the locals were hoping to hear:

Nashville used to be a station served by JetBlue and their Embraer aircraft still see maintenance done there on a regular basis, but no commercial service. That doesn’t seem like it is going to change any time soon:

And down in Florida there are some interesting indicators on which markets have potential and which don’t. Nothing particularly surprising, but still some interesting insights:

On the international front, it looks like the company is holding to its current plan of avoiding long-haul service on their own, choosing partners instead. Hopefully more of those partnerships will develop along the lines of the recent
Hawaiian Airlines deal making them actual partnerships, not just interline connections for customers.

Doesn’t mean that all international expansion is off the table though:

None of this is insider information, to be sure. Little of it is even surprising. Still, it is great to see the boss getting involved and taking such an interest in customer inquiries. Well, I suppose it is great unless you run the Corporate Communications group:

Oopsie.

There are lots of books with advice on raising children but I have found precious few on flying with a child.  I suspect that there are many reasons for this but one of them is likely that people generally do not want to travel with young children (or any children) due to cost and the PITA factor of flying in general. However, I am a frequent business traveler and, most importantly, I love to fly (yeah, I am weird) and I love to take my son with me.  I acknowledge that I am privileged enough to have this opportunity.  If you are like me and want to expose your child to flying at a young age, these posts are probably for you. I had to learn all of this through guesswork and piecing together random websites and in person advice so I figure I should consolidate and share what I have learned.  Here are some tips:

1)  If you can afford it, always buy your child a seat even when they are in the infant child seat bucket.  Trust me, even with a sleeping infant, if you hit turbulence there is no way that you can hold onto them.  My first trip with my son, age 3 months, we decided not to buy him a seat.  On the way back from Chicago we hit relatively moderate turbulence but even in that situation I could barely hold him so I bent over him (assumed the crash position) and my husband leaned over me.  It was crazy and one of the scariest 10 minutes of my life.

2) Make your child drink when the altitude changes!-  The most common reason that children scream on planes is because of the air pressure in their ears.  They cannot pop their ears like we can and they are super sensitive to pressure changes.  Give them a bottle up and down, unless they are asleep, and whenever the plane has to adjust altitude if they are awake. Even if they just suck a little it will pop their eardrums.  Maybe I was lucky but I followed this and had almost no problems with my son crying on planes even though he had a lot of ear infections.

3) Make sure your car seat is FAA certified.  This is essential.  If it is not, you cannot use it.  If it is, make sure the label is clearly visible for the flight attendants and I recommend printing out evidence of this from the company website.  Personally, I recommend Britax as they are extremely safe and almost all of them are FAA certified (note that this is solely based on my experience. I have no connection to this company).

4) When going through airport security in the United States you can travel with breast milk (already pumped I mean) and you should unless you are comfortable nursing on a plane.  However, you have to declare it to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners before it goes through the x-ray machine.  Just tell the x-ray attendant and trust me, if it is breast milk you are traveling with they will generally move you right along  Occasionally they will want to test the liquids but all this requires is waving a piece of paper over it to test for fumes.  I personally believe that there is zero risk to this and I raised my son almost completely organic for his first 3 years.

5) If you have status on an airline, only fly that airline.  This is especially true if you have status on United Airlines (I do) which allows you to sit in economy plus. You will appreciate the extra leg-room.  Do not be afraid to upgrade to first class either, ignore the looks, you earned your status and you should enjoy it as should your family.

I should note that this was all written as I flew across the country on United 503 from Boston Logan International Airport to San Francisco International Airport with a very cranky child behind me.  While I do not mind the screaming, I feel for his parents and if I can help anyone else not have this issue I consider it a job well done.

Wind to thy wings my fellow mommy flyers….

Gulf Air has struggled to become profitable, and despite the CEO’s pledge to not “request funding from the government to support the airline’s operating losses to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year,” back in May 2010. The airline requested and accepted US$1,000,000,000 in financial aid from the Bahraini government in October 2010 to keep the airline flying.   Now as the airline continues to fend off formidable competitors in the region, the airline struggles to remain operationally sustainable.

Each of the options under review by the Bahraini Parliament and Shura Council brings significant financial ramifications.  Reducing the size of Gulf Air’s operations could cost the company an estimated US$1.6-billion in costs associated with laying off redundant staff and terminating international contracts and partnership agreements   Should the Bahraini government seek to sell off Gulf Air, assuming there is a buyer, and establish a new national flag carrier, the financial burden is decreased to an estimated US$1.2-billion.

For now Gulf Air will continue to operate as usual, but the future of Gulf Air appears to be up in the air … just as the airline tenders its bid to begin operating a domestic route network within the borders of Saudi Arabia.

Happy Flying!

@flyingwithfish

Now, as Saudi Arabia determines its future airline needs and Saudi Arabian Airlines continues to expand its fleet, and work internally towards joining Sky Team, the landscape for the airline industry and the national flag carrier changes once again … the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation has announced it is opening up a competition for a license to establish a new national flag carrier airline.

The new national flag carrier competition is for an airline to operate both domestic and international flights.   This competition directly impacts Saudi Arabian Airlines, which flies domestic and international routes, and NAS Air, which flies domestic and regional routes.

It is unclear whether or not bidding is open to domestic or international competition, but this new announcement is clearly a shot across the bow of Saudi Arabian Airlines on the cusp of the airline achieving governmental independence.

Can two national flag carriers survive in Saudi Arabia?   Will the new airline receive similar subsidies to Saudi Arabian Airlines? Will the new airline be constrained by price caps and the political will of the Shura Council?  At this time no one seems to know … but watching to see what happens should be interesting.

Happy Flying!

@flyingwithfish

Sen. Rand’s story is that he was detained by the TSA in a small cubicle. The TSA’s story is that Sen. Rand was held until escorted from ‘sterile’ side of security by law enforcement.

The TSA’s policy on pat downs to resolve alarms is well known, as is the policy of the agency that all persons who refuse a pat down will be escorted from the security area by law enforcement.

Why did the TSA walk through metal detector alarm on Senator Rand’s knee? We may never know, he may have had something in his pocket and it appeared to be his knee by the way his leg was angled. The metal detector may have been set to alarm as a random security test by the agency and he was the lucky traveler to walk through at that time.

While Sen. Rand, son of Republican Presidential Hopeful and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), chose to take a stand at Nashville International Airport, challenging a TSA TSO, Supervisors and law enforcement, which makes for an excellent media sound bite, he seems to have forgotten the position he is in to effect a change on the Transportation Security Administration and its policy and procedure.

Sen. Rand sits on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. While the Department of Homeland Security plays political Twister navigating its way between the 108 House and Senate committees and subcommittees with jurisdiction over the agency, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee wields significant power over the agency, and can impact significant political press on the TSA.

As a United States Senator, Sen. Rand need not stand in the security checkpoint of a major airport arguing with front line security officers that do not have the ability to change policy and procedure, he has the ability to take his seat on Capitol Hill and use the political power of the United States Senate to make his opinions heard.

Conversely, has the TSA TSO allowed Sen. Paul to forgo the TSA mandated pat down, he is just as likely to have begun tweeting that the TSA is ineffective and that TSOs ignored security procedure in allowing him to pass without a pat down.

If Sen. Paul truly wants to effect a change in the TSA, its policy, its procedure, he could start with these three things

1) Author a bill that requires the TSA to answer to a unified committee and be accountable

2) Place into the aforementioned bill a requirement that the TSA Administrator appear before the committee

3) Require that the TSA be transparent in the legal standing of its initiatives, policy and procedure

Every day common travelers can be upset with the TSA, and decide if they want to take a stand at a TSA checkpoint knowing it will not change the agency. Journalists can investigate the TSA and bloggers can write about the TSA daily. Lobbyist can try and sway opinions on the TSA … but a sitting United States Senator, especially one who sits on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, who should know that he cannot circumvent the TSA on site, is not an every day common traveler … they are a traveler who can make a difference.

We, here in the United States, elect our Congressional Representatives and Senators to govern for us, make a change for us, and execute our political will. We do not elect our Congressional Representatives and Senators to make hollow sound bites that increase their public image but do nothing to make a change.

So Senator Paul, I suggest you start by reading these two articles, then get to your business on The Hill:

How The TSA Legally Circumvents The Fourth Amendment

The Legality Of The TSA’s ‘Enhanced Pat Down’ Authority

Happy Flying!

@flyingwithfish

Afriqiyah Airways appears to be ahead of Libyan Airlines in planning its international routes with the announcement that it should resume service from Tripoli to London’s Gatwick International Airport on the 1st of May 2012.

As the Libyan National Transitional Council seeks to restore Libya’s economy, international ties the need for an international airline is significant, and Afriqiyah Airways had played a unique role as an African airline. Afriqiyah Airways was created with the concept that the Northern Africa based airline would unite Africa’s business centers and link them to major European and Asian business centers.  The concept behind Afriqiyah Airways historically generated little origin-and-destination (O&D) traffic and its passenger, cargo and revenue were largely generated from connecting traffic.

A newly reshaped Libya is likely an ideal environment for the merger of Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines, given their fleet commonality; significant orders for new aircraft still on the books with Airbus and renewed interest from the European markets.

With Libya sitting on the largest oil fields in Africa, it is likely both Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines will see significant growth, and expansion over the next year, with high yield traffic … which is good news for Airbus, Bombardier and ground service providers.

Along with Libya’s national airlines getting back to the skies, British Airways and Qatar Airways will return to Tripoli. Qatar Airways will resume service on the 2nd of February and British Airways on the 1st of May.

Below is a graphic of Afriqiyah Airways’ route map prior to its suspension of service during the Libyan Uprising.

Happy Flying!

@flyingwithfish

All airline travelers know to label their checked bag, some rely entirely on an airline’s checked bag tag, the majority of travelers attach a luggage tag, some place a business card in the bag’s card slot … and these are good ways to identify your luggage … but … none of these ways help baggage handlers seeking a lost bag quickly identify and retrieve your bag.

Stand at a baggage carousel and count the number of black ballistic nylon bags you see on the conveyor belt, check and see how many bags have a red ribbon tied to the handle. Once you have watched the baggage go round and round think about the challenge a baggage handler at a major airline hub has when trying to identify and retrieve a lost bag described as a “22-inch black ballistic nylon roll-aboard.”

While no one wants to check there bags, there are times checked a bag is a must, makes sense or is just easier, and while statistically the number of lost bags compared to the number of bags that arrive at their destination as scheduled is minimal, lost bags occur.

So, how can you help yourself get your bag back quickly?  Make your bag stand out in a permanent manner, ensure your description of your lost bag is clear and unmistakable.

For me, all of my bags have my name written on every side in bright yellow paint marker, along with the drawing of a cartoon fish swimming (no, I don’t recommend you draw a cartoon of a swimming fish on your bags).  On three sides of the bag, along with my name (and fish), is my phone number and email address.   Placing my name on all sides, in a bright color, that is provides excellent contrast against a black bag, allows someone looking for my bag to immediately spot it, regardless of where or how the bag is stacked.

Labeling a bag clearly on one side is not effective. Bags stacked in a baggage room, on a cart, or cargo bin can be placed in any direction and blocked on any side. Take a look at a baggage cart from your aircraft window as a plane is being loaded, you can see bags go in every direction and are often facedown so their don’t roll on their wheels.

While all my bags are marked in flamingo pink tape, along with my name and contact info being clearly visible, I don’t rely on the pink tape to be an identification marker, other than using it as one more potential marking to catch someone’s eye while looking for my lost bag.

Some bags are fashionable, some are utility … when it comes to lost bags, even those with the most fashionable bags often wish they had opted for utility.

Below are two photos of my Mountainsmith Boarding Pass roll-aboard bag, which occasionally finds itself under the plane.

Happy Flying!

@flyingwithfish