Airlines

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected a constitutional challenge to the government's use of body-imaging scanners at the nation's airports, ruling that the need to detect hidden explosives outweighs the privacy rights of travelers. The judgement noted that passengers may avoid the scans by opting to undergo a pat-down by a screening agent. The ruling was a not a total win for the government. The judges said the TSA had not given the public the required opportunity to comment on the screening program before it was put into effect.

In its recently published Annual Safety Review, EASA confirms that 2010 is "the first year that no fatal accident in commercial air transport operations occurred in the history of aviation in Europe both for helicopter and aeroplane operations". In global terms, the accident rate in aviation has been declining steadily ever since the 1950s. 

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has put passenger travel companies on notice to change misleading debit and credit card surcharging practices or face enforcement action under consumer protection laws.

Publishing its findings on these surcharges, following a super-complaint from U.K. Consumer Rights Association Which?, the OFT also calls for the law to be updated to stop consumers being surcharged when buying goods and services with any debit card.

Airlines are increasing their opposition to the consumer protection rules the Department of Transportation announced in April, with two carriers (Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air) filing separate suits in a U.S. Appeals Court in Washington, D.C.