Tag: air travel

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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Toronto airport requests approval of ‘digital IDs’ for domestic airport travel

Canadian airport officials asked the federal government to implement a digital ID for domestic travelers as an option in the name of “modernization.”

Currently, domestic travelers are only required to use physical identification for air travel, including a driver’s license, passport, or government-issued ID card.

However, Toronto’s Pearson International Airport recently recommended that Canada’s Secure Air Travel Regulations be amended to allow for “digital ID to be recognized.”

“To modernize and support enhanced passenger experience, we ask that the government endorse system-wide border and screening modernization including immediate regulatory changes,” Pearson representatives told Canada’s House of Commons finance committee in a recent submission.

Airport managers wrote that “Canada should proactively embrace both emerging and proven technologies that have the potential to enhance the passenger experience and improve operational efficiency and promote productivity across the sector.” 

“Key initiatives should include accelerating the adoption of a common digital ID for both domestic and international travel.”

The Canadian Airports Council also told Parliament that a national digital ID program should start with airport travelers, including the introduction of “biometrics.”

The Council asked to “enable digital ID and biometrics in air travel” to allow it to “enable more efficient use of space, reduce pressure on infrastructure and enhance security.”

“At present, Canada is behind our international peers in ensuring travel process security screening, Customs and border procedures and boarding are modern, efficient, simple and biometrically based,” it wrote.

Only non-Canadians are currently mandated to undergo biometric screening as well as fingerprint scans when they enter Canada.

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To date, Parliamentary committees have shot down requests for a domestic national identification system.

Some nations, such as the United Kingdom, have recently said they will mandate digital ID using the pretext of illegal immigration as the catalyst.

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Man Who Planned to Shoot up Atlanta’s Airport Is Arrested in a Terminal Following a Tip, Police Say

Police arrested a man at Atlanta’s bustling airport on Monday after getting a tip from his family that he was planning to shoot up the place, and found an assault rifle and ammunition in his truck outside, the city’s police chief said.

Billy Joe Cagle, of Cartersville, Georgia, had described his plan to shoot up the world’s busiest airport on a social media livestream, Chief Darin Schierbaum said during a news conference.

“The Cartersville Police Department was alerted by the family of Mr. Cagle that he was streaming on social media that he was headed to the Atlanta airport, in their words, to ‘shoot it up,’ and the family stated that he was in possession of an assault rifle,” Schierbaum said, describing Cagle as a “convicted felon.”

Cagle, 49, arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a Chevrolet pickup truck that was parked right outside the doors to the airport terminal. When police went to the vehicle, they found an AR-15 with 27 rounds of ammunition, Schierbaum said.

“We’re here today briefing you on a success and not a tragedy because a family saw something and said something,” the chief said.

Cartersville police Capt. Greg Sparacio, whose department received the initial tip from family members, said Cagle “had the intention to inflict harm to as many people as he could.”

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US proposal to ban Chinese flights over Russian airspace could increase travel costs

China’s biggest state-owned air carriers have hit back at a U.S. proposal to bar them from flying over Russia when traveling to or from the U.S.

The U.S. side has stated that such flights give Chinese airlines an unfair cost advantage over American carriers, which are unable to cross through Russian airspace. Moscow closed Russian airspace to U.S. air carriers and most European airlines in 2022 in response to Western sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern are among six Chinese airlines that have filed complaints over the proposed order last week to prohibit such flights by Chinese carriers.

China Eastern said in its filing this week to the U.S. Department of Transportation that the proposed ban would “harm the public interest” and “inconvenience travelers” from both China and the U.S. The additional flight time would result in higher costs and elevated air fares, which would increase the burden on all travelers, it said.

China Southern warned that a Russian airspace ban would adversely affect thousands of travelers. Air China said it estimates at least 4,400 passengers would be affected if the ban takes effect during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

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Plane forced to land after wacko wearing ‘15 masks’ screams that gay people were giving him cancer

A New Jersey-bound plane was forced to divert after an unruly passenger wearing over a dozen facemasks began ranting that gay people were giving him cancer.

The Sun Country Airlines plane left Minneapolis for Newark Friday morning, but cut its trip short and landed in Chicago after the wacko’s ravings escalated into screams of “the plane is going down.”

Fellow passenger Seth Evans was sitting across the aisle from the nut, and told the Minnesota Star Tribune that chaos started the moment the plane took off when he started raving about being “gang chased” by gay people.

The man also screamed he was being “radiated” and “cooked” by gays, and that they were giving him cancer, the witness said.

Perhaps to stave off the supposed onslaught, the crackpot was wearing “no less than 15 masks” over his mouth, Evans told the Tribune.

At one point, the man even announced “Trump is here.”

But screaming deluded conspiracies wasn’t all the man was good for — between each outburst he buckled down and played a round of Candy Crush, before standing up and mouthing off again at top volume.

The game was over, however, when his declarations were made about the plane crashing.

Once on the ground at O’Hare International Airport, the man was handcuffed and hauled off by Chicago police.

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Massive Drone Attack SHUTS DOWN Major Airport

Copenhagen Airport, Scandinavia’s largest aviation hub, suspended all outgoing flights and diverted incoming traffic after multiple large drones appeared near the facility at 8:46 p.m. on September 22.

The unprecedented shutdown lasted nearly four hours, with operations resuming only at 12:30 a.m. the following day.

Norwegian authorities arrested two foreign nationals for similar drone activity near Oslo Airport’s military installations within 24 minutes of the Copenhagen incident, suggesting coordinated timing that should alarm every American concerned about infrastructure security.

Danish police Chief Superintendent Jens Jespersen characterized the unknown operator as a “capable actor” whose technical proficiency far exceeded typical drone hobbyists.

The sophisticated nature of the operation, involving multiple large drones operating simultaneously near restricted airspace, demonstrates the kind of advanced planning and execution that intelligence agencies associate with state-sponsored activities.

This level of capability represents exactly the type of hybrid warfare tactics that threaten Western democracies and critical infrastructure nationwide.

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