airports

From inspecting planes to controlling air traffic, the federal government touches every aspect of air travel. Now a lot of that work isn't getting done because of the government shutdown.

Scientists looked for respiratory viruses on surfaces throughout an international airport.

Researchers are looking for alternatives to salt or harmful chemicals, including using concrete that can safely conduct electricity and heat road surfaces to keep them clear of ice and snow.

The Amadeus Altea booking and check-in software reportedly used by some 125 airlines globally experienced a problem, but the Madrid-based firm that makes the system said services have been restored.

The software of major airlines monitor supply and demand, then lower or raise prices accordingly — within seconds. That can lead to some exorbitant prices, NPR's Scott Simon says.

As the heavy rains have let up in Houston, officials are assessing when they can reopen the city's port and airports. Both airports opened with limited service Wednesday. The port will take longer.

The ban originally affected 10 airports and nine airlines, mostly Middle Eastern carriers. Meanwhile, the U.S. has issued additional security requirements affecting some 280 international airports.

If you travel from Boston's Logan Airport to Aruba on JetBlue you can use your face as identification rather than a passport. Similar experiments in facial recognition are underway at other airports.

An annual study gives airlines the highest scores for quality in the 26 years the ratings have been compiled. But the ratings don't fully reflect the experience of the American air traveler.

They don't take off their shoes, they don't take out their laptops and their numbers are growing every day. Some 16,000 people per day are applying for the government's airport pre-screening program.

But the agency projects that its checkpoints will screen 100 million more people in 2016 than it did in 2013 — even as its workforce has been reduced by 12 percent over that same time period.