Soon you'll be able to skip security lines if you're flying out of O'Hare. more ›

312 Dining Diva tipped us off to this one. Paul Kahan, of Blackbird, managed to get through airport security with a LOT of knives. He tweeted: "Flew outa ohare today. Forgot I had four huge chefs knives in carry on bag. Got patted down for wallet. Knives went through." Thank goodness for the TSA keeping our skies so safe. Maybe if he'd been carrying a 4-ounce bottle of olive oil, they would've gotten him. more ›

They've already landed at O'Hare, now they're coming for Midway. While details like "when" and "how many" still aren't known, what is known is that Midway will be one of 28 airports getting a new round of scanners. There are currently 23 scanners installed at O'Hare. more ›

A pair of incidents on board airplanes bound from Amsterdam to Detroit - one serious, the other not - over the weekend have caused a new round of terror fears and, as a result, a new set of guidelines for those boarding plans during one of the busiest travel times of the year. By now, everyone has heard of the Christmas Day incident when a Nigerian man on board Northwest Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit tried to set off an "incendiary device" only to be stopped by other passengers. Another incident yesterday proved to be a false alarm when a Nigerian man on the same flight - Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit - became ill and spent an hour in the plane's bathroom, causing the flight crew to issue an alert. Authorities say there was no threat and that the man was legitimately sick. more ›

It's about to be one of - if not the - busiest travel weeks of the year, so it must also be time for a news station to ring the alarm on holes in security at our local airports. This time Fox 32 found they were able to fly out several employees to destinations around the country without any of them having to show a government-issued photo ID. Instead, they were able to get through by showing the name on their boarding pass matched that of the name on a credit card. Of course, there's nothing technically illegal about such a maneuver. As Fox itself explains: more ›

The TSA is rolling out a new security-line system at Midway. Starting today, passengers will sort themselves into three different lanes to go through the security check, based on their experience and efficiency as travelers (and packers). People who know the ropes, like business travelers, will go in the expert lane; people who are inexperienced travelers or who have kids with them go in the novice lane; and anyone who's not sure or is somewhere in between goes in the casual lane. more ›

The CTA will be spending $227 million in federal funds on improving itself and fixing slow zones. Doors open on the left at "finally." In other CTA news, the Yellow Line is going to start running on weekends. [S-T, Trib] more ›

Word to the wise: try to keep from talking to yourself, sweating excessively or hyperventilating the next time you pass through security at O'Hare. [] In light of this fall's news that TSA screeners had missed about 60 % of hidden bomb materials that were sneaked through security by tiger teams at O'Hare, the TSA is upgrading its strategy and employing new "psychological tactics." Sounds creepy, right? Really, it just means that screeners are now on the lookout for strange behavior. more ›