Airport Policy and Security Newsletter

Reason's Airport Policy and Security Newsletter regularly examines and analyzes the latest airport news and developments. From passenger screening to registered traveler to airport privatization, Reason's Robert Poole analyzes the latest trends and breaking news. If you would like to receive the newsletter via email, please send an email with your contact information to Robert Poole, Reason's director of transportation studies.

Reason's airport security research and commentary is available here.

Issue 34 - April 2008
Topics include: Midway privatization: six first-class teams; slot auctions for LaGuardia; second-generation checkpoints; next steps on runway incursions; and other news.
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Issue 33 - March 2008
Topics include: should airlines pay different rates at congested hubs?; time for an international Registered Traveler program; U.K. airport parking innovations; screening subsidized flights at tiny airports?; alternative bag checking; and other news.
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Issue 32 - March 2008
Topics include: expanding airports via technology; Midway privatization a "go"; Registered Traveler keeps expanding; hypocrisy on airport grants; going beyond weight-based landing charges; more outsourced airport screening; and other news.
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Issue 31 - January 2008
Topics include: DOT returns to congestion pricing; low-cost carrier terminals; advances in checkpoint technology; randomized security patrols; conflicting findings on airport privatization; and other news.
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Issue 30 - December 2007
Topics include: Reason's New York airport congestion pricing study; slot auctions versus runway pricing; IATA's WSG the wrong answer to airport delays; questionable anti-MANPADS program; and other news.
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Issue 29 - October 2007
Topics include: Midway privatization deal seems imminent; new questions about TSA screeners' performance; progress and setbacks for Registered Traveler; airport vs. airlines in New Zealand; America's first "common-use" airport; and other news.
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Issue 28 - September 2007
Topics include: fixing New York's airport delays; progress on passenger checkpoints; what went wrong at BAA?; screening cargo on airliners; terrorist dry runs; and other news.
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Issue 27 - July 2007
Topics include: landing fees at general aviation airports; the expanding Registered Traveler program; countering shoulder-launched missiles; airport privatization poison pill; and other news.
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Issue 26 - May 2007
Topics include: the government ID card loophole; airlines vs. LAX, round 1; capacity expansion via airport privatization; market pricing for LaGuardia—and others?; partially privatizing airport screening; and other news.
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Issue 25 - April 2007
Topics include: proposed airport funding changes: sensible or not?; TSA's "regulation vs. service provision" conflict; LAX vs. airlines, again; clerics vs. airport security; whither U.S. airport privatization?; and other news.
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Issue 24 - March 2007
Topics include: airport worker screening; landing fees for private planes at air-carrier airports; backscatter X-rays: privacy vs. security; AMBER Alerts at checkpoints; and other news.
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Issue 23 - January 2007
Topics include: newsletter changes; data-mining and risk-based screening; LaGuardia and O'Hare slots; the return of U.S. airport privatization; Registered Traveler keeps growing; and other news.
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Issue 22 - December 2006
Topics include: Registered Traveler finally going national; TSA conflict of interest; a potential airport opt-out in Key West; the boarding pass loophole; upgrading carry-on screening; and other news.
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Issue 21 - September 2006
Topics include: what to do about liquid explosives; alternatives to checked baggage; fine-tuning air cargo security; and Registered Traveler—almost, almost there.
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Issue 20 - August 2006
Topics include: dealing with the missile threat to airliners; "bad object" follies continue; checkpoint explosives screening; and registered traveler progress.
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Issue 19 - May 2006
Topics include: cargo container screening; explosives vs. knives in passenger screening; devolving screening functions; and registered traveler progress.
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Issue 18 - March 2006
Topics include: backsliding on Registered Traveler; getting serious about risk-based policy; protecting airport perimeters; fixing baggage screening; and notes & quotes.
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Issue 17 - January 2006
Topics include: new Reason study calling for rethinking TSA's role; registered traveler ramp up; muddled thinking on carry-on revisions; a new tool for protecting airport perimeters; and other news.
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Issue 16 - September 2005
Topics include: resiliency vs. target-hardening in disaster preparedness; dumping rinky-dink screening; secondary cockpit doors on United; fixing up the opt-out program; and other news.
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Issue 15 - July 2005
Topics include: transit security vs. aviation security; progress with the Registered Traveler program; protecting airports, not aircraft; devolving screening to airports; and other news.
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Issue 14 - June 2005
Topics include: the beginning of Orlando's private "Known Traveler" program, airport screening opt-out risks, the costs and limits of missile defense, risk-based threat screening, and other news.
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Issue 13 - March 2005
Topics include: homeland security priorities, the future of airport screening, paying for aviation security, expanding the registered traveler program, the arrival of better EDS technology, and other news.
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Issue 12 - December 2004
Topics include: departing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge’s legacy, the Screening Partnership Program, increasingly intrusive airport screenings, new approaches to the Registered Traveller Program, and other news.
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Issue 11 - September 2004
Topics include: security flaws identified in the 9/11 Commission report, compensated secondary screening, alternative baggage handling, Congressman Mica's critique of TSA, congressional innumeracy, and other news.
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Issue 10 - July 2004
Topics include: access control and perimeter security, explosive detection screening, screening opt-out guidelines, concerns about TSA screeners, and other news.
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Issue 9 - May 2004
Topics include: devolution, disaster response, and other security news.
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Issue 8 - March 2004
Topics include: developments in airline security, airport baggage screening, and how not to respond to the Madrid bombing.
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Issue 7 - January 2004
Topics include: air hassles, risk-based cargo screening, and missile defense.
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Issue 6 - October 2003
Topics include: cockpit doors, a private-sector trusted traveler proposal, and rethinking defense against terrorism.
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Issue 5 - September 2003
Topics include: the registered traveler pilot program, cargo plane doors, and baggage theft.
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Issue 4 - July 2003
Topics include: the closing the belly-cargo loophole, inadequate explosive detection systems, and the LAX master plan.
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Issue 3 - May 2003
Topics include: new report calling for trusted traveler system and offering alternative to CAPPS II.
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Issue 2 - March 2003
Topics include: airport passenger screening, rethinking checked-baggage screening, and baggage processing.
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Issue 1 - September 2002
Topics include: baggage screening.
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