Airline safety improved in 2009, International Air Transport Association (IATA) data show. Despite several serious crashes, the accident rate for Western-built jet aircraft was the second lowest in aviation history.

Measured in hull losses per million flights the accident rate was 0.71, which is equal to 1 accident for every 1.4 million flights. Only in 2006 the accident rate was lower (0.65).

When the doors of the plane close you invariably hear the purser plugging the airline’s frequent flyer program: “Members earn miles and enjoy many benefits including free tickets.”

Why try airlines to lure you into their frequent flyer programs? They hope you will fly them again at relatively high fares by making you think you will enjoy benefits.

However, frequent flyer programs are designed to make money for the airlines, not for passengers.

“Understanding the economic aspects of terrorism can help to prevent or to mitigate terrorism”, writes Michael D. Intriligator in the January 2010 issue of Economic Inquiry.

A professor emeritus of the University of California at Los Angeles and a former president of the Western Economic Association International, Intriligator presents important conclusions:

- The Bush administration made the classic mistake of generals fighting the last war as opposed to the current war by concentrating too much on airports and airplanes and by creating an ineffectual bureaucracy in US Department of Homeland (DHS).

I flew Swiss and was working on my laptop during flight. However, a flight attendant told me that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations prohibit the use of a wireless mouse onboard.

This information was neither included in the safety card nor in the safety video. Moreover, it was the first time ever that a flight attendant told me I cannot use a wireless mouse. Thus, I wonder whether she was right. Can you tell?
Lars Feltmann

In the movie 'Up in the Air' George Clooney plays the high-flying character Ryan Bingham, a frequent flyer who earned no less than 10 million miles.

Some real people come close to that, like Tom Stuker, who flies about 700,000 miles per year for work as an automobile sales consultant. Meanwhile, he has collected almost 9 million miles on United Airlines.

ABC News writes that “airport lines are a thing of the past for Tom Stuker. So are middle seats, waiting on hold when calling

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the former Soviet Republic of Estonia immediately regained its independence. The Estonian government founded the national carrier Estonian Air as early as on December 1, 1991. In 1996, it privatized 66% of the shares. Currently, SAS owns 49% of the shares.

Estonia and SAS are discussing the future of Estonian Air. Last year SAS proposed the Estonian government to buy out its 49% holding in Estonian Air.

Did you already suspect that the military does not make any cost-benefit analyses for its operations? You are right; they do not. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed this officially to Airline Passenger Guru.

We signaled in a recent article that US crews are terrified after the Christmas Day event in a Detroit-bound plane. They already consider it threatening if a passenger fills out a comment card.

The severely obese passenger on the picture blocks the aisle in an American Airlines plane. Obviously, he is unable to sit in a single seat without encroaching on an adjacent seat.

The picture was shot when the plane was still on the ground. Flight attendants gave him two extra seats before the flight took off.

This picture inspired Airline Passenger Guru to survey most members of the three airline alliances (Star Alliance, Oneworld, and Skyteam plus 6 low-cost US airlines.

In the survey we asked what the policy is with regard to big passengers.

Airlines consider it a sensitive issue. They use soft language and most respondents say they deal with big passengers on a case-by-case basis.

 Big passengers seem best off at AirTran Airways. “We leave it to our crew members to accommodate passengers. We will move big

The panic in the USA has given rise to erratic and in some respects draconic security measures.

A funny Canadian video shows that even more draconic security measures could be possible.

Presumably, panicking US officials may not be amused by the video. Hopefully, however, it will not inspire them to implement this kind of measures.

I have read your article about TSA recognized baggage locks. Can you tell me how safe these locks are?

I can imagine that someone will have copied the master key and thus can put unwanted items in my bag.

My question is whether these TSA recognized baggage locks are reliable or is it simply wiser to leave my bag unlocked?

Carolien Klijn

Airline Passenger Guru’s answer:

US security officers are so scared that they close down airport terminals for reasons like a goodbye kiss.

A man returning from Haiti walked through a wrong door at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 16, 2010. His mistake led nervous security officials to evacuate a terminal delaying dozens of flights and hundreds of travelers.

After a man slipped into a secure area to kiss a woman goodbye, Newark Liberty International Airport shut a terminal for hours on January 7, 2010. Watch the video of the kiss delaying thousands of passengers.

Draconian security measures including very intrusive pat-downs and body scans do not calm down US flight crews. They seem scared stiff after a passenger aboard a Northwest Airlines flight set off firecrackers on December 25, 2009, causing commotion and some minor injuries.

Below are two examples of panicking US flight crews. On January 6, 2010, a passenger aboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Portland to Hawaii feels uncomfortable because he cannot stow his bag under his bulkhead seat. He fills out a comment card with language that a flight attendant interpret as threatening. The pilot reports the incident. Two US F-15 fighter jets are launched to escort the plane back to Portland.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has canceled the subpoenas it served on two bloggers. The agency even apologized for the strong-arm tactics TSA-agents used.

Travel writer Steven Frischling told this to Threat Level. A second blogger who was served a subpoena, Christopher Elliott, was also told it was canceled.

TSA had served the subpoenas because the bloggers had published a new security directive TSA had issued on December 25, 2009.

In the night of December 29, 2009, two special Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents knock on Steve Frischling’s door.

They interrogate Frischling and serve him a subpoena, demanding that he reveals who leaked a security directive that he had published on his travel blog. Also, the special agents force him to hand over his lap top computer.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fueled the panic among airline personnel and travelers by issuing a new security directive on December 25, 2009 containing Soviet type measures.

During the last hour of flight passengers had to remain in their seats, had no access to carry-on baggage, and could not have any blanket or other items on their lap.