Word of warning to travelers: If you want those nice vacation pictures to make it onto a print, you’d be well advised to carry the film on board with you.
New government regulations require the newly created Transportation Security Administration to scan all checked luggage for bombs by the end of the year. Before Sept. 11, only a small percentage of bags per flight got screened.
InVision Technologies Inc., which builds the bomb detection equipment, advises passengers that they shouldn’t put unprocessed film in checked baggage. The high-dose X-ray equipment exposes the film.
Instead, the company says customers should put their unprocessed film in their carry-on luggage, which is scanned by low-dose X-ray equipment. The lower dose won’t harm the film.
Passengers increase: Officials of the Gary-Chicago Airport, located 25 minutes southeast of the Loop on the western edge of Gary, say Pan Am Airways operations are continuing to grow.
The airline flies four times per week to Sanford International Airport in Orlando and three times per week to St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. It is considering adding service to Naples, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to Paul Karas, administrator of the Gary-Chicago Airport.
Despite the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, which caused many airline passengers to reconsider travel plans, Karas said boardings for Pan Am flights were up 20 percent in March compared with the same month a year ago.
Passenger service returned to Gary’s airport and the south suburbs in 1999 when the reborn Pan Am began daily service to airports near Boston and Orlando.
Air Canada raises surcharge: Air Canada announced Thursday that its fuel surcharge will revert to $30 Canadian ($18.82 U.S.) on all round-trip tickets issued beginning April 11.
Air Canada lowered the surcharge to $7.50 Canadian ($4.71 U.S.) in November as fuel prices fell. But in the past week, fuel prices have surged in the face of fierce fighting in the Middle East.
By comparison, U.S. carriers have not reduced their fuel surcharge since implementing it in January 2000. Most domestic carriers impose a surcharge of up to $40 on a round-trip ticket.
Working on a new railroad: Pioneer Railcorp, a Peoria-based short-line railroad company, says it has added another 12 miles of track.
The company said it is running its Keokuk Junction Railroad across tracks formerly owned by the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad between LaHarpe, Ill., and Lomax, Ill. The new tracks Pioneer bought allow Keokuk Junction to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad in Ft. Madison, Iowa.
Keokuk Junction is among 16 freight lines owned by Pioneer. In addition, it owns the Gettysburg Scenic Railway, a short line offering passengers trips through the Gettysburg Civil War battlefield.
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