Scientist sets off security scare, not his first, at Miami airport
A TSA officer after finding a suspicious vial carried by a scientist, then used a computer to find that the man had been suspected of transporting bubonic plague years ago. TSA ordered the airport and nearby hotels evacuated but later found nothing dangerous.
A scientist detained at Miami International Airport on Thursday night because of a suspicious item in his luggage had once been charged with illegally transporting bubonic plague, a senior law enforcement official said.
Officials shut down most of the airport overnight, roused hotel guests from their beds and detained Thomas Butler, 70, until Friday morning, when he was released without charges, the official said.Tests on the canister found nothing dangerous, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. Nicholas Kimball, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, said the item resembled a pipe bomb.
UPS 747 cargo plane crashes near Dubai airport
A laden UPS cargo plane went down in Dubai after takeoff. This was the first crash in UPS history.
The bodies of two pilots were recovered from burned wreckage, the United Arab Emirates state news agency reported Friday afternoon. UPS confirmed there were no survivors Friday evening.
The desert crash at about noon Louisville time, 8 p.m. in Dubai resonated in Louisville, home to UPS’ main global air hub and its pilot union. About one third of UPS’ roughly 2,800 pilots reside in the Louisville area.
“This is a terrible tragedy and all of us at UPS extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims,” Scott Davis, UPS chairman and CEO said in a prepared statement. “We are doing our best to learn exactly what happened.”
Hotel revenue from phone calls, in-room movies drying up
As cell phones take over, hotel income from phone calls is dropping. Movies are taking a hit as well as Americans travel with computers, iphones and ipads that provide plenty of entertainment.
“Occupancy is starting to inch up,” said Jeff Higley, a spokesman for Smith Travel Research. Still, he said analysts believe that room rates won’t return to pre-recession levels for at least two or three years because managers are reluctant to charge too much. “Rates have really taken a beating.”
At the same time, revenue from phone calls and in-room entertainment has been drying up.
Annual revenue collected by U.S. hotels from phone calls dropped to an average of $178 per room in 2009 from $1,252 in 1999, a decline of 86%, according to Colliers PKF Hospitality Research. Meanwhile, income from in-room movies and games dropped to $126 per room from $171, a decline of 26%, according to the research firm.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
