Tag: air travel

How new social media checks would change travel to US

The US is seeking to significantly expand its 

vetting of social media accounts for people who want to enter the country.

In 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term, the US imposed a requirement that visa applicants disclose their social media accounts. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now aims to apply a similar requirement to another group: travellers from countries such as the UK, Japan and Australia whose citizens can enter the US without a visa.

The Trump administration argues that the rule change is necessary to ensure travellers entering the country “do not bear hostile attitudes” to the US and its citizens. Civil-liberties groups warn that the approach marks a sweeping expansion of federal surveillance over routine travel. Here’s what to know.

What exactly is the US proposing?

The US is proposing that foreign visitors from countries whose citizens can travel to the US without a visa, but must still apply online for advance authorisation, provide their social media history from the last five years. 

DHS did not respond to a query about what information applicants from visa-waiver countries would need to supply for the social media screening. (Visa applicants are required to list all social media identifiers they have used in the past five years.)

Applicants would also be required to supply, when “feasible,” a broad set of additional personal information: telephone numbers used in the last five years; e-mail addresses used in the last ten years; IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos; family members’ names, residences, places and dates of birth, and phone numbers used in the last five years; and personal biometrics – fingerprints, DNA samples, iris scans, and facial images. The proposal does not clarify how biometric information would be collected. 

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TSA Announces $45 Fee for Passengers With No REAL ID, Passports, or Other Accepted Documents

Passengers who lack a REAL ID, passport, or another equivalent document will have to pay a $45 fee to travel domestically, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced on Dec. 1.

The agency will start charging air travelers $45 on Feb. 1 if their IDs do not meet the new, stricter federal standards.

Travelers without a REAL ID will have to use the TSA Confirm.ID for 10 days, which will cost $45, according to the agency. It advised people to schedule an appointment at a local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) location to update their IDs as soon as possible before traveling by plane.

“All travelers without an acceptable ID, including those who present a non-REAL ID-compliant state driver’s license or ID, will be referred to the optional TSA Confirm.ID process for identity verification upon TSA check-in and prior to entering the security line,” the TSA stated.

“This process will differ airport to airport, and TSA is working with private industry to proactively offer online payment options prior to arrival at the airport.”

Passengers without REAL ID or another accepted form will face longer wait times at airports, the TSA warned.

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Venezuelan Airspace Falls Silent After Trump Orders Emergency Closure Amid Escalating Crisis

Venezuelan airspace is nearly empty after President Donald Trump called for an emergency air-closure over the country, a move U.S. officials describe as a necessary national-security step following weeks of heightened instability inside Nicolás Maduro’s regime. 

Flight-tracking data throughout the afternoon showed commercial traffic rapidly diverting away from Venezuelan territory, leaving one of South America’s busiest corridors almost entirely empty within hours.

The order immediately triggered condemnation from several foreign governments. 

The Caribbean Parliament issued a formal statement criticizing the United States for “escalatory conduct,” despite offering no acknowledgment of the years of cartel activity, political oppression, and regional destabilization driven by Maduro’s government. 

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Democrat Congressman Gets Caught Staring at Very Naughty Images During Flight – Then Is Savagely Mocked After Offering a Silly Excuse for Why He Did 

A Democratic congressman was caught red-handed looking at inappropriate pictures while on a flight this week, forcing him to do damage control.

On Friday, footage emerged of Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) looking at scantily clad women on his iPad while on a plane. The images were first leaked by the account Dear White Staffers.

The account alleged that the images were pornographic.

“Why did California Congressman Brad Sherman feel it was appropriate to look at porn on his iPad during a flight today?” the account asks. “His district deserves better representation than this!!”

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Noem Awards TSA Staff $10,000 Bonuses for Working During Shutdown

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem handed out $10,000 bonus checks on Nov. 13 to thousands of frontline Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers who stayed on the job during the federal government shutdown.

About 47,000 agents who worked through the 43-day shutdown despite not getting paychecks will be awarded a bonus along with back pay, according to Noem.

“We are going to not only continue their paychecks like they should have received all along, but also they’re going to get a bonus check for stepping up, taking on extra shifts, for showing up each and every day, for serving the American people,” Noem said at a news conference at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

The officers were thanked for taking seriously every day the mission of the Department of Homeland Security, “and that’s keeping the American people safe while they go and commute across the country, and while they do their work and business and take care of their families,” Noem added.

A couple of the officers were singled out for their “exemplary” service and for taking on more hours and shifts during the shutdown.

“They were examples to the rest of the individuals that worked with them, and endured those hardships and continued to shine a light on what is special about America,” Noem said.

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Apple Launches TSA-ready Digital ID for Domestic Travel

Apple has launched Digital ID for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Drawing information from a user’s passport, the new feature is marketed as an “easy, secure, and private” way to verify identity during domestic travel, with additional use cases promised soon. With iPhones holding about 58 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, the update reaches a user base large enough to alter everyday identification practices.

Digital IDs sit at the center of a broader global system built through what officials refer to as “public-private partnerships.” These alliances shape policies, set technical standards, and define the rules of planet-wide “digital governance.”

Within that structure, Apple’s new update fits seamlessly. While offered to the public as a convenience feature, it will move society closer to a model in which identity, access, and compliance operate through a single device that people already carry without much thought.

Rollout

The company made its announcement on Wednesday:

Apple today announced the launch of Digital ID, a new way for users to create an ID in Apple Wallet using information from their U.S. passport, and present it with the security and privacy of iPhone or Apple Watch. At launch, Digital ID acceptance will roll out first in beta at TSA checkpoints at more than 250 airports in the U.S. for in-person identity verification during domestic travel, with additional Digital ID acceptance use cases to come in the future.

Apple stresses that Digital ID “is not a replacement for a physical passport” and will not work for international travel (at least not yet). The company also frames the feature as a help for people who lack a REAL ID-compliant document. That pitch reads two ways at once. It gives travelers a practical workaround, but also nudges the public toward a digital identity system that aligns with federal priorities.

Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, described the rollout as a natural step. “We’re excited to expand the ways users can store and present their identity,” she said. She noted that users “love having their ID right on their devices,” adding that the new feature brings that option to “even more users across the country.”

The message is simple. Your phone can now be your identification. And it can now place you inside a much larger shift in how identity works.

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FAA Updates Controller Manual to Reflect New UAP Reporting Policy

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has formally replaced the term “Unidentified Flying Object” (UFO) with “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” (UAP) in its core air traffic control manual, marking a notable procedural update that aligns with recent federal terminology and U.S. code. The change was highlighted by Americans for Safe Aerospace (ASA) and its founder, former Navy pilot Ryan Graves, who praised the revision as a step toward transparency and improved aviation safety reporting.

The update was issued under FAA Notice N 7110.800, effective October 26, 2025, and applies to all Air Traffic Organization (ATO) personnel. The notice modifies two key sections of FAA Order JO 7110.65, the governing document for air traffic control procedures. Specifically, it updates paragraph 1-2-6, “Abbreviations,” and paragraph 9-8-1, “General,” to remove the word UFO and introduce UAP in its place.

(Editor’s Note: As of publication, the FAA’s online version of Order JO 7110.65 does not yet reflect the revisions outlined in Notice N 7110.800. The updated language appears only in the notice itself, pending formal incorporation into the manual.)

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Covid injections pose risk of pilots having in-flight seizures even years after having taken a shot

A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Kevin Stillwagon posted an update on pilot incapacitation.  The Federal Aviation Administration does not maintain records of who took covid injections and when, he said.

But it gets worse, he said.  “The FAA stopped entering data into the incapacitation data registry very early in the year 2021 and completely cancelled the program in 2022.”

“Trying to identify risks is even more critical now, because starting in December of 2020, airline pilots were forced to get injected with a product that causes subclinical myocarditis and has been tied to cerebrovascular events, including seizures, even several years after the injections.”

He concluded by issuing a call for pilots and other airline crew members to voluntarily have medical tests done to assess their risk of, for example. an in-flight seizure or cardiac event.

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DHS Expands Nationwide Airport Biometric Tracking

The Department of Homeland Security has introduced a new rule that will greatly expand biometric tracking at US borders, establishing a system to photograph and identify every non-citizen who enters or leaves the country.

Although the regulation applies to non-citizens, the cameras do not distinguish citizens from non-citizens in real time.

CBP says US citizens may opt out by presenting their passports manually, and that photos of citizens are deleted within twelve hours once nationality is confirmed. However, that’s after the fact.

Starting December 26, Customs and Border Protection will have authority to take photographs of “all aliens” not only at airports and land crossings but at “any other point of departure” the agency designates.

We obtained a copy of the rule for you here.

DHS describes the change as “operational modernization.”

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Ground stop at Phoenix airport as unpaid air traffic controllers abandon towers… while Thanksgiving threat looms

The government shutdown continues to wreak havoc on the nation’s airports as it heads toward a second month of many employees going unpaid. 

Both Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and San Diego Airport reported ground delays Friday due to lack of staff. 

Americans are likely to face even more flight interruptions after Congress failed to provide last-minute relief for air-traffic controllers and other federal aviation workers whose paychecks will stall due to the government shutdown.

While Donald Trump‘s administration moved funds to delay impact on some areas – such as pay for the troops – lawmakers warn that next week aviation workers will not receive their paychecks.

Around 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA officers are facing work without pay, leading to surging absences and sick says. Since the shutdown began on October 1, staff absences have contributed to 53 percent of all flight delays compared to the usual 5 percent.

On some days almost 6,000 flights have been hit by delays, with several major airports forced to impose ground stops due to the shortages.

On Friday, more than 4,000 flights were delayed across the country. At Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, there were average delays of 34 minutes due to staffing shortages, while at Newark ‘compacted demand’ was causing a 55-minute average delay. 

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