Sometimes (most of the time) TSA agents make a point of being studiously straight-laced. That's more or less how we prefer our airport security officials, and we still reference this very matter-of-fact story from last year. Somebody was ejected from San Diego International Airport for refusing to choose between a full-body scan or a patdown. There's a job to be done; TSA agents intend to do that job; and they get sad and grumpy when you don't let them.

It's also worth noting that when TSA officials decide to show off their freestyle improv skills, things tend to go awry. Last October, a TSA agent searching journalist Jill Filipovic's checked baggage found a vibrator and left Filipovic a note encouraging her to "get her freak on." An angst-filled blogosphere firestorm immediately erupted and the agent was duly punished. We personally weren't really offended because we suspected that the note might be a failed attempt at being sassy.

Now a TSA agent has left another destined-to-go-viral note in another piece of checked luggage. We anticipate that, in contrast to the incident with Filipovic, the Internet will respond with something less than outrage.]]> Omri 2011-12-16T15:00:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/10/82215/701

For football fans—and those who enjoy a juicy steak—one of the best airport restaurants is now on the drawing board. Former NFL great John Elway—quarterback of the Denver Broncos—has a couple steakhouses in the greater Denver area. Apparently the restaurants—known as Elway’s—are pretty popular and very tasty, so the plan is now to expand Elway's to the airport.

There’s still a lot of paperwork to be completed and plans to be finalized, but it sounds like Denver International Airport is getting ready for plenty of steak and excited for the opening late next year. The plan is to build the restaurant in and around the existing United Airlines gates within Concourse B.

Of course we were thinking about how the steakhouse is going to handle the lack of metal knives after security, but they’re not too concerned. One member of the restaurant group commented on the tenderness of a steak from Elway’s remarking that cutting one of their steaks doesn’t require a knife. However, if you need one, they do have plans to source some pretty descent plastic knives.

[Photo: RLEVANS] ]]> kjb 2011-11-10T09:34:46-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/9/7/214924/3937

United and Continental have slowly but surely been aligning their services over the last few months, and they’ve been doing so through goodie giveaways, updated apps, and of course plenty of new signage. We were checking out the changes at Chicago-O’Hare at the beginning of the summer, but now as the season is winding down the changes have begun elsewhere.

Upgrades and updates have arrived in San Francisco, as they got their new signs and stanchions in the middle of July. You still should check-in with United for their flights and with Continental for their flights, but the new branding has certainly arrived. ]]> kjb 2011-09-08T09:12:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/22/224250/889

Dear airports: it's about time you started exploring the possibilities of alternative energy, like solar energy via solar panel farms, for instance. The Indianapolis Star reports that, like Fresno-Yosemite Airport and Denver International Airport, the Indianapolis Airport is outfitting itself with the latest in solar power in a bid to generate "10 megawatts of electricity an hour -- enough to power up to 6,000 homes." There's just one problem here; the airports aren't using the energy to power themselves, but selling it to the grid in a bid to make cold, hard cash. it's estimated to pull in some $190 million just at Indianapolis over the next 30 years. That better become one bangin' airport with all that moolah.

It's actually a pretty genius idea—that the fancy airport Sbarro's from which you're ordering was partially funded by the sun—and empty lots of land or unused runways are now being given a somewhat altruistic purpose. Homes get energy, airport gets money, and fossil fuels are eliminated from the equation. Rah! Rah! Sis-boom-bah.

[Photo: CFBsr]]]> JetSetCD 2011-02-23T08:41:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/12/7/23820/6928

For those flying through Denver this holiday season, there’s more to be excited about than just the airport’s freaky art installations. American Airlines and British Airways—since they’re like best friends—have partnered up to create the first joint Admirals Club lounge. It just opened last week, so if you hurry you might even be able to take a whiff of that new airline lounge smell—and take advantage of seating surfaces without beer and red wine stains.

Don’t look forward to anything spectacular here as it still is just a US domestic airline lounge, but we’re all in favor of anything that takes us away from the Sbarros and screaming babies of the main terminal. Expect about 5,000 square feet of hanging out space with touches of Colorado-inspired architecture and design. There’s seating for around 125 guests, and a quiet area where you can escape the ringing and buzzing of electronic devices. There are also computers available for use, food for purchase, and plenty of TVs to watch. And as with pretty much all airline clubs you can expect free booze as well. ]]> kjb 2010-12-08T08:41:45-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/10/31/22556/786

The quickest way to go from the airport to jail is...by claiming that you put a bomb on a plane. Heck, any mention of a bomb onboard a plane can get you pulled to the airport jail faster than you can say "body cavity search," so then why did a Utah traveler decide that claiming there was a bomb in his checked luggage was the easiest way to stop the plane he was too late to catch? Mystifying.

The man, who was late to the gate to board his plane at Denver International Airport for a short Skywest flight to Salt Lake City, "grew angry and made the comment about a bomb in his luggage already on the plane." This is according to Denver Post, who explain what delightful formal charges and jail time now await this business traveler: ]]> JetSetCD 2010-11-01T11:34:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/10/18/155258/59

Why, isn’t this the prettiest little airport you ever did see? We’ve heard lots of good things about Denver International Airport being up there in the stylish airport ranks, but we’d assumed its fashionista status was confined to its outside appearance of the snowy peaks on top of the building.

Not so! There was, as we found out last week, art everywhere, from the peak-shaped tiles on the floor to the train-off-the-rails-type installation at the shuttle station. ]]> juliab 2010-10-18T15:52:58-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/