more on YUP!! results of uk ban

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Roger Dannenberg <rbd+ () cs cmu edu>
Date: August 14, 2006 11:56:31 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on YUP!! results of uk ban

For what it's worth, I flew from Glasgow to Philly yesterday  
(Sunday). I had
to pack my laptop in a suitcase -- no one suggested that suitcases  
could be
locked, and I didn't have any locks anyway. All books were banned  
from the
plane including my pocket calendar (which I claimed was part of my  
essential
travel documents to no avail). I then had the choice of checking it as
baggage inside a plastic bag and hoping it didn't get lost or mailing it
back to myself. Another rule said nothing smaller than a shoebox  
could be
checked (I assume because it would get lost), so I chose the mail  
option.
Passengers were given small plastic bags for their belongings, meaning
anything personal, e.g. medication, sanitary napkins, etc., were  
pretty much
on public display. Technically, if you needed any non-prescription drug,
e.g. Lactaid to enable a lactose intolerant person to eat, you'd have  
to go
to a pharmacist at the airport and get permission to take tablets on the
plane, but it seemed like even the security people didn't care about  
such
small items. We had planned to buy books to read on the plane, but our
interpretation was that even these would not be allowed onboard, and I
didn't see anyone else with a book. Also, no cell phones or other
electronics were allowed. I was especially surprised to see a couple of
violins at the airport. I can't imagine checking one without a  
special case,
and I was lucky this was one of the few trips I didn't take my trumpet.

When we arrived in Philadelphia, our bags were held up for over an hour
because the lines to leave the hall were so long. We just stood  
around -- no
luggage, no food, no phone to deal with missed flights, not even an  
aspirin.
There was sort of a cattle herding mentality -- let's see, we don't want
people to get in line over there, so we'll just keep all their  
belongings
locked up over here.

Overall, it took about 3 hours to get onto the plane and about 2.5  
hours to
get to our connecting flight. I called US Airways on Saturday to  
confirm the
flight, hoping to find out what was in store so I could at least pack
accordingly. I also made sure US Airways recorded my hotel room phone  
number
so they could contact me with any information. They gave no  
indication that
things were not going to be back to normal. When we got on the plane,  
the
pilot launched into the standard talk about turning off all cell  
phones and
electronics as if he didn't even know what was going on.





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