Slashdot Mirror
United Airlines Claims TSA Banned Comic Books In Checked Luggage For Comic-Con, TSA Denies It (boardingarea.com)
schwit1 shares a report: San Diego Comic-Con has become so much more than just a comic book convention. But comic books remain the heart and soul of Comic-Con. In addition to attendees being there to buy comic books, vendors flock to Comic-Con to sell their comic books as well. That's why participants in Comic-Con were shocked to find a notice waiting for them at the San Diego airport after Comic-Con: "COMIC-CON ATTENDEES: REMOVE ALL BOOKS FROM CHECKED BAGS." On Twitter, United Airlines confirmed the ban: "The restriction on checking comic books applies to all airlines operating out of San Diego this weekend and is set by the TSA. ^MD" Consumerist reached out to TSA and were told by a spokeswoman that the warnings about not allowing comic books -- or any kind of book -- in checked bags were simply not true. There is "no restriction on anything related to putting comics or any type of books" in baggage, and TSA never put out any guidance to that effect, she said. "In fact, they are allowed in both checked and carry-on baggage," the spokeswoman told Consumerist, adding that there were no delays in the processing of checked bags out of San Diego yesterday.
Books are heavy.
On the one hand, we have United Airlines. On the other hand we have the TSA.
Let's just assume they are both somehow lying, incompetent, or both.
On the one hand is a lazy, incompetent and mendacious corporation and on the other hand is a lazy, incompetent and mendacious government agency. Whom should I trust?
My dad worked for them for 35 years starting just before the transition to jets, and I can assure you there is nothing I've seen so far, they cannot mess up with stupid mismanagement and/or lack of caring. They've even managed to mess up aircraft maintenance a time or two and crash a couple of planes as a result... But that's how big organizations always are. Inept, inefficient and dangerous if not well managed.
I will say this though, for an airline, they are one of the better managed carriers for it's size, at least they where before the bankruptcy. After that, who knows? Seems of late the management is sorely lacking in any vision for customer service in their quest for keeping their narrow profit margins. But that's a problem for the whole industry, now that price is more important to the consumer than service or safety. All I can say is this little experiment will NOT end well and people will die to pay for this cost cutting eventually. Aviation history, as short as it is, makes that clear.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
It appears that United Airlines posted a statement retracting the ban before the Slashdot article was posted.
From United Airlines spokesperson earlier this afternoon:
“While TSA is recommending that customers keep their comic books in their carry-on bags, there are no restrictions on packing them in checked luggage,” reads the statement. “We misunderstood TSA’s instructions and regret any inconvenience this may have caused our customers.”
At 4:55 PM:
https://consumerist.com/2017/0...
At 5:15 PM:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/...
6. All of those nonrefundable tickets would be required to be transferable. In the event that you got sick before the flight, or your grandma died, or you pulled jury duty, you could sell or give your ticket away to someone who could use it. Allow the carrier to charge a fee of $25 or so to validate and register the transfer of ownership, which would also be the fee and procedure for fixing a misspelled name on a ticket.
Airlines would immediately claim the return of Stalin, but they they would benefit a lot from such a rule, even though it would reduce the number of seats they could sell twice. No more lines of people wheedling for refunds because every case is special, no more screwing around with doctor notes and death certificates. And because passengers would no longer look forward to flying as though were root canal surgery, it would motivate people to travel more. Being able to pick up cheap tickets to Vegas on eBay would even revive the idea of spontaneous getaways that don't just mean jumping into the car.
As if millions of comic-book nerds suddenly cried out in terror and then said "Screw this, I'll drive!"
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.