A 5 year old and his family were on their way home from a magical Disney World vacation. Levi Zilka’s uncle got him the Buzz Lightyear flip grip toy (pictured above). Of course he was happy and wanted to go play with his cook new toy. However, TSA had different plans. they confiscated it claiming that it looked like a weapon.
Levi’s father, David Zilka, said his son was very upset by what happened. “Once he realized what was happening, that they weren’t giving his toy back, he immediately starts bawling, just tears streaming down his face and crying,” said Zilka.
It is said that TSA agents told the family that they could check the toy but they only brought carry on luggage. Their current policy does state that “realistic replicas of firearms” must be checked.
“TSA officers are charged with protecting passengers and making final judgments on which items are permitted on aircraft. In our review of this situation, the officer’s decision complied with approved procedures. We recently reinforced that training on the procedures with every front line TSA officer. TSA officers have the discretion to deny passage of an item if they cannot definitively rule out that the item could be used as a weapon, or perceived to be a weapon, including replica weapons.”
Chip & Company
Frontier adds new routes
Frontier Airlines continues to expand its national footprint, announcing eight new routes connecting cities it already serves.
The routes announced by the carrier on Tuesday add new options for Frontier customers traveling to Florida or Denver, Frontier’s biggest hub. Some of the new routes restore service Frontier dropped in previous years amid a changing route-development strategy and a merger with now-defunct Midwest Airlines.
As for the latest news, Frontier’s Denver hub will get two new nonstop routes. Frontier will add daily service to both Charlotte and Philadelphia in March. The routes will put Frontier into head-to-head competition with American Airlines, which operates large hubs in both cities.
Frontier also announced it would re-time its existing Denver-Miami service on Jan. 5. Frontier says that will “allow Miami customers to connect to cities throughout the West via Denver.” Miami also is one of American’s busiest hubs.
In Florida, Frontier will adds three new routes from Orlando, two from Fort Myers and one from Tampa. Once the new flights begin, Frontier will be up to 15 seasonal or year-round destinations from its Orlando focus city. Frontier notes that’s more than twice the number of routes it offered from Orlando as compared to the same period last year.
From the Gulf Coast city of Fort Myers in southwest Florida, Frontier is adding two new seasonal routes – to Detroit and Indianapolis – as well as restoring seasonal routes to Milwaukee and St. Louis. And in Tampa, Frontier is adding one daily round-trip flight to St. Louis.
With the expanded Florida service, Frontier says it has “increased the number of seats it offers from Florida by nearly 55%” year over year.
It’s the second notable expansion for Frontier during the past two months. In late July, Frontier announced eight other new routes in a move that expanded its presence in Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Orlando.
The details of the eight new routes announced Tuesday are:
Denver-Charlotte: Daily service begins on March 17 on Airbus A319 aircraft
Denver-Philadelphia: Daily service begins March 16 on Airbus A320 aircraft
Orlando-Houston: Daily service begin Dec. 19 on Airbus A321 aircraft
Orlando-Kansas City: Daily service begins Jan. 5 on Airbus A319 aircraft
Orlando-Milwaukee: Daily service begins Jan. 5 on Airbus A319 aircraft
Fort Myers-Detroit (seasonal): Daily begins Jan. 5 on Airbus A319 aircraft
Fort Myers-Indianapolis (seasonal): Daily service begins Jan. 5 on Airbus A319 aircraft
Tampa-St. Louis (seasonal): Daily service begins Dec. 19 on Airbus A320 aircraft
USA Today
Delta Air Lines makes Orlando – Sao Paulo go daily
SAO PAULO – Delta has filed for regulatory approval to increase its new nonstop service between Orlando and Sao Paulo from four times per week to daily. Delta will begin service in the market four times per week beginning Dec. 19, and expects to start serving the cities on a daily basis Feb. 20.
In June Delta announced that it would have four U.S. gateways to Sao Paulo, giving customers the option of flying through New York, Orlando, Atlanta and Detroit. In addition, the Sao Paulo-Orlando flight will offer convenient connections to nine major U.S. destinations, including Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York (LGA and JFK) and Raleigh.
Further, Delta’s alliance with Brazilian airline GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes extends the reach of the Orlando-Sao Paulo service to 32 Brazilian destinations and provides seamless connections at Guarulhos International Airport.
“It is exciting to have the opportunity to have a daily direct flight connecting Sao Paulo to Orlando and to offer customers the reach of GOL’s network with over 700 weekly codeshare flights to Brazil’s interior,” said Nicolas Ferri, Delta’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Delta’s continued expansion of routes important to Latin American customers demonstrates our commitment to the region and keeps us in line with our promise to be the best U.S. airline in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
The new service will be operated using a Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 35 flat-bed seats with direct aisle access in Delta One cabin, 32 seats in Delta Comfort+ and 143 seats in the Main Cabin.
Delta Air Lines