Have you noticed any changes in United Airlines? We did...

We hadn't traveled on United since mid 2012, and were surprised to find several new changes since the UA-CO merger when we traveled to Florida this last week.  The combined companies' united front seems to be shifting their image nicely, well, for the most part. But change is inevitable, and for the most part, usually good. Here are some of the changes we noticed...

First, although we didn't have it on any of our flights, the inflight magazine states that Wifi is being added to 300 planes this year, with goals to have it on 500 planes by 2014 - for more on that, see united.com/wifi. This is no small feat, since many airports don't even have it, including the hub we transferred through: IAH/Houston Int'l, as well as the two smaller regional airports of HDN/Hayden-Steamboat and RSW/Ft Myers Beach. Personally, we're not quite sure why Wifi isn't a standard free service yet for all companies' customers like it is at many hotels (including the one we stayed at in FMB). Heck, if Starbucks can do it across the country so should you. Hats off to United for working towards that.

Next, United's mobile app has greatly improved.  In addition to online check in, mobile boarding passes and general information regarding your reservation, the app has been linked up with the favorite Points Inside app to show interior maps of airports, searchable by name. It also shows live up-to-date information on flight delays, arrivals, and even time updates on where your plane is coming from. This proves handy for the seasoned traveler, keeping them more informed than the gate agents even (a notable downside actually). Our flight from IAH to RSW was delayed due to the incoming equipment (plane), and the gate agent couldn't tell us why. With a few clicks, we knew that the equipment was coming in from San Diego and had left 20 minutes late. We deduced that due to the tailwind we'd caught on the way to IAH, the SAN flight would do the same, and sure enough, we left IAH on time.

Also updated is the inflight magazine map which now includes a paw print to mark the location of SARAs (Service Animal Relief Areas), now it just needs to be added to the mobile app - those using SARAs are usually blind, and can't read the inflight magazines, nor (we're assuming) do the gate agents.  Hopefully voice-activated mapping for the blind is coming soon.

Early boarding announcements and protocol keeps changing for the better as well - and United has adopted the "We will now be boarding people with special needs and disabilities" along with the honored men and women in uniform.

We'll be in Chicago in May for our annual disability advisory board meeting, and we'll update you more on that then!

For now, way to go United.

Changes to Airline Security on the way... not just for PWD

One good part about being on the Continental Airlines Customers with Disabilities Advisory Board is that we get some advance warning from other companies outside of Continental such as the work mentioned in my previous post about POCs and Advanced Aeromedical.

This meeting we got a significant update on the upcoming changes to TSA Security Check Points at all US airports, rolling out later this year. Because of the recent switch in security from metallic threats to plastic ones, TSA and related security agencies are working on two advanced imaging technology that will begin to phase out the current walk-through metal detectors. These changes began as early as 2007, but due to the fact that the imaging created was quite graphic, changes had to be made to make sure privacy was ensured. These changes are finally going to be visible in the travel experience this year.

TSA uses two types of imaging technology, millimeter wave (radio frequency) and backscatter. Currently, there are 43 imaging technology units in use at 20 airports. There are 40 millimeter wave units in use at 19 airports and three backscatter units in use at one airport.

This month, March 2010, TSA began deploying 150 backscatter imaging technology units, which were purchased with American Recovery and Reinvestment Art (ARRA) funds. TSA plans to deploy a total of approximately 450 imaging technology units in 2010.

While this seems like an "electronic strip search," there are a lot of privacy mechanisms in place, TSA ensures. The images are viewed by someone in a completely different area so they do not know which person they are scanning, the imaging blurs the face and body parts of the passenger, images are deleted immediately after approval so they can not be stored, printed, saved, or sent, and no cameras or cell phones are allowed in the scanning areas.

The radio frequencies and backscatter technologies are also very safe medically; the radio frequency is 1000 times less than a cell phone, and the backscatter imaging is similarly less than an xray, even though the scanner will shoot about 10-12 images per passenger for various angles to check for plastic explosive devices.

While this new technology is great for people with metal implants that previously set off the older metal detectors, it will slow down security for people with service animals, wheelchairs and external medical devices as they will all now have to be screened. But this will also change. Where previously individuals in wheelchairs were scanned with the "wand and felt" technique, the agent will hold a small unit the size of a briefcase and will be checking people's hands at random, also for plastic.

Additionally TSA will be working more on training for handling passengers with traumatic brain injury, autism, diabetis, and other hidden disabilities and how these new technologies may affect this group.

For a complete report on this TSA technology visit http://www.tsa.gov/approach/tech/imaging_technology.shtm