Authorities say that security screeners and airport workers helped smuggle 20 tons of cocaine through Puerto Rico during an 18-year operation that ended only last year. Federal officials said Monday that smugglers repeatedly got suitcases full of cocaine through the Transportation Security Administration system at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan. Twelve defendants, including six current and former TSA screeners, were indicted by a grand jury in Puerto Rico. Authorities said an airport bag handler, Javier Ortiz, picked up suitcases containing cocaine from smugglers at the check-in counter and put them through X-ray machines staffed by cooperative TSA workers. After making sure there were no drug-sniffing police dogs around, Ortiz loaded the bags on planes and then called a colleague to signal that it was safe for the smugglers to board the plane, according to Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez, the US attorney for Puerto Rico. The TSA's longtime security director for Puerto Rico, Jose Baquero, said the agency started the investigation as part of its campaign against insider threats. Last week, the Republican staff of the House Homeland Security Committee said in a report that the TSA, airports and airlines were not doing enough to protect against security threats posed by insiders — employees who don't go through the screening that travelers do.<br/>
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Though Boeing paid $12m in late 2015 to settle more than a dozen FAA investigations, details of the problems found by the safety agency were not disclosed at the time. Documents obtained this month by The Seattle Times through a Freedom of Information Act request show the cases revealed a disquieting pattern of falsified paperwork and ignored procedures that created quality issues on the production lines of Boeing and its suppliers. The FAA found that Boeing repeatedly failed to follow protocols designed to guard against production errors that put safety at risk. Some tasks were signed off as completed and checked when they were not. Other work was done without authorization. The result was multiple errors in manufacturing, some of which passed right through the system to airplanes in service. Boeing also failed to take corrective action in a timely way after issues were discovered, the FAA found.<br/>
Airline travel for pets is highly regulated, just as it is for humans. The biggest difference is that the rules for pets are intended to make air travel more comfortable, not less. One recent mandate requires that airports have indoor pet “relief areas.” Yet, at a time when 80% of pet owners refer to their animals as children, there’s still vast room for improvement, both in-flight and on the ground. The Ark at JFK, a new, $65m facility in a 178,000-square-foot warehouse, is one step toward improving the latter experience. It will have a splash pool, overnight kennels, and pre-flight micro-chipping services to track your animals. Eventually, this first-of-its-kind service in the US will feature an in-house pet spa, too. In an important respect, the Ark is streamlining the process of pet travel, rather than revolutionizing it. Its two main services for dogs—shepherding the animals through customs and boarding and caring for them during layovers, when necessary—already exist, just in a less-efficient form. “It can be one of those close calls, where a pet owner can get off a flight, get to the cargo facility, go to customs and border control, and do it all themselves,” said Elizabeth A. Schuette, the managing director of the Ark. (Her husband, John J. Cuticelli Jr., is the project’s developer.) “It’s a big hassle.” The Ark, on the other hand, positions itself as a one-stop shop: “We can clear customs on behalf of the owners, or use a custom broker,” Schuette said. “It’s changing the process and advocating for a better one.” <br/>
Malaysia's airport security has come under scrutiny following last month's arrest of an airport security guard for suspected links to Islamic State (IS). He is believed to be the second airport personnel to be arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police in the past two years, a development counter-terrorism police and experts called a concern. While initial investigations showed he was not planning any terror attack, he had plans to go to Syria to join IS, according to police. The suspect was a security guard at Kuantan airport and had been responsible for Malaysia Airlines aircraft safety. “The suspect’s scope of duties … for the airline’s safety operations was anti-pilferage, anti-sabotage, anti-hijacking,” said Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, deputy commissioner of the Royal Malaysia Police Special Branch's counter-terrorism unit. “He had full access to ... Malaysia Airlines aircraft, including the cockpit, to carry out inspections.” He was also responsible for sealing and locking up aircraft parked overnight at the airport until they took off the next day, said Ayob. The suspect had worked at Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Kuantan airport in Pahang since October 2015, according to police. Prior to that, he had worked for Malaysia Airlines from September 2004 to September 2015 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). <br/>
The Serbian government has opened the bidding process for a 25-year concession to operate Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport. The deadline for the submission of non-binding bids is April 11, with a second round of binding bids due 75 days after a review of the initial bids is complete. A number of companies including Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport and French builder Vinci are expected to bid. Two companies from the United Arab Emirates and three from China are also reported to be interested in the concession. The government expects the successful bid to raise about E400m (US$423.8m), plus an annual fee of E11m. The process is expected to be complete by mid-summer.<br/>