The Morning Briefing: Airport security, scanners



1.) Fake boarding passes can fool airport security checks. More than 11 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, it remains possible to use fake boarding passes to get through airport security checks, according to new evidence from security researchers and official documents.

2.) Airport security agency warns service could suffer following funding cuts. The federal agency for front line airport security warns reduced funding and increasing passengers may result in a drop in service.

3.) Minimum wage boosted turnover of airport security staff. Turnover of security guards at Chek Lap Kok shot up to 30 per cent last year, but pay rises have since reduced the problem, a company boss says.

4.) Airport screeners ratify first-ever union contract with TSA. The nation’s 44,000 newly unionized airport screeners have ratified their first-ever collective bargaining agreement, giving them more say in what they wear on the job, the shifts they work and the time off they take, whether they can change from part-time to full-time work or back, their union has announced.

5.) Airport security scanners a no-no for diabetes devices. Airport security scanners may be damaging diabetes devices despite multiple safeguards put in place by manufacturers, clinicians and airport administration, U.S. experts warn.

Bonus: Airport uses music by Tina Turner to scare birds.

---smartplanet.com