It’s been eight months since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 forced the nation’s airlines to remove stainless steel utensils from their cabins.
The Transportation Security Administration, which issued the mandate, was striving to make air travel safer for passengers–and the cabin crew. Along with restrictions on the airlines, passengers, too, had to give up some items they previously could carry aboard.
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Now the agency is loosening up, again allowing passengers to carry fingernail clippers and fingernail files aboard. But don’t look for the airlines to seek to put the stainless steel cutlery back.
“Knives are still prohibited,” said a spokesman for American Airlines.
As a result, American and other carriers, when they do serve food, will continue giving passengers plastic cutlery.
“It’s a clear, high-quality plastic,” said the American spokesman.
The entire list of permitted and prohibited items can be found at the TSA Web site, www.tsa.dot.gov.
Hotels cutting prices: Two of the country’s largest hotel chains said Thursday that they are changing their pricing plans in a move that will allow customers to pay the same room rate as the rate offered by discounters.
Currently, hotel rooms are sold at varying rates through a number of outlets, including companies’ own Web sites, individual hotel sites and independent travel sites.
The move by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., operator of Sheraton and Westin hotels, and Six Continents PLC, whose hotels include Holiday Inn and Inter-Continental, is an attempt to simplify pricing and drive more traffic to their Web sites, the companies said.
Starwood’s system will take effect on June 1; Six Continents already is making the discounted room rates available.
“In the past, Starwood’s Web sites have not always had rates that consumers could trust,” said Robert F. Cotter, Starwood’s chief operating officer.
“Travelers could, on occasion, find lower rates available through other channels. Starwood’s `Best Rate Guarantee’ will ensure rate integrity on Starwood’s branded Web sites and provide our guests assurances that the rates they find on our Web sites are the best published rates available anywhere,” he said.
Reagan airport change: Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport finally may be set to resume full operations.
The airport, which has been allowed to gradually increase the number of commercial jet operations over the past four months, has been closed to corporate and other general aviation aircraft.
The airport’s proximity to the Pentagon–one flight path routes planes directly over the Pentagon–and federal landmarks across the Potomac River has been a security concern since the hijackers crashed in New York and Washington.
On Wednesday, however, federal officials said they are preparing to lift the last prohibition by the end of the month.
“We’re hopeful that operations can resume soon,” said Jack Olcott, president of the National Business Aviation Association, which has been pushing Federal Aviation Administration officials to lift the flight ban.
Just as commercial flights to Reagan National require extra scrutiny, so will corporate and general aviation flights. Extra security provisions being contemplated include requiring background checks of the pilots and advance clearance of passenger manifests.