TODAY's Natalie Morales explains how a tipsy tourist fell asleep on an airport luggage belt during a layover in Rome, which carried him to an X-ray machine that captured him clutching his beer.
Let's face it, sometimes travel can be exhausting, but perhaps taking a nap on the airport luggage carousel is not such a good idea.
More on TODAY Travel
Flight delays and cancellations are growing across the East Coast's busiest airports Friday, after showers and thunderstorms continue to pound the Northeast part of the country.
Already airports in New York City and Philadelphia are experiencing the worst of the slowdown: 154 flights canceled at LaGuardia, 72 in Philadelphia and 54 at JFK.
Inbound flights to Newark are delayed an average of about three hours, according to FlightAware.com, and 35 flights have been canceled.
Flights headed to JFK are delayed at their origin by about two-and-a-half hours, flights to nearby LaGuardia have two-hour delays, and arriving flights at Philadelphia International are delayed about 50 minutes, according to FlightAware.
Travel from the nation's capital is no better: Dulles International reported departure delays up to an hour-and-a-half, while Reagan National departures are delayed an average of 50 minutes. So far, 31 flights have been canceled at Reagan National.
Detroit, Atlanta and Chicago are also seeing cancellations.
Isolated thunderstorms are expected to continue in New York City most of Friday, before forecasters say a potentially severe storm is expected to hit the area, NBC 4 New York reported. The severe weather could bring damaging winds, blinding downpours and intense cloud-to-ground lightning.
Forecasters say the wet weather is expect to continue into Saturday.
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Virgin Australia is taking a second look at its policy of not allowing male passengers to sit next to kids flying alone after a traveler complained the airline made him feel like a pedophile.
“Because I am a man I am presumed to be a predator,” the passenger, identified by Australian media as 33-year-old firefighter Johnny McGirr, wrote in a blog post this week.
“The incident left me angry, embarrassed and acutely aware of how society has become fearful of everyone.”
After McGirr’s account generated angry comments calling Virgin Australia’s rule sexist, the airline on Friday announced the policy is now under review.
“We understand the concerns raised around our policy for children travelling alone, a long standing policy initially based on customer feedback,” the carrier said in a statement. “Our intention is certainly not to discriminate in any way.”
The incident happened this spring on a flight from Sydney to Brisbane.
When McGirr boarded the plane, he noticed that he would be sitting in a row of three seats next to two boys, about 10 years old, he wrote. McGirr was supposed to have the window seat, but since one of the boys was already in it, he took the aisle seat.
A flight attendant then approached him before takeoff and said he would have to move. When he asked why, she said, “Well, because you are male, you can’t be seated next to two unaccompanied minors,” according to McGirr’s account.
Since there were no empty seats, the flight attendant asked a female passenger to swap seats with him.
“As I collected my things from the seat pocket I could see people looking at me and wondering why I was being moved. I was red from embarrassment,” McGirr wrote.
“The irony of the situation is that I am a(n) emergency service worker and if the children were in trouble I would be given the responsibility of protecting them.”
Do you agree with Virgin Australia's policy?
After the flight, McGirr e-mailed the airline to complain and said Virgin Australia quoted him this company policy in response: “Unaccompanied children will have spare seats allocated next to them when they are flying. In the case of a full plane then a female will be sat next to the children.”
Virgin Australia did not respond to a request for comment, but debate over the policy is raging on its Facebook page.
“Discrimination is discrimination, a pedophile is a pedophile, male or female. To make this policy fair and just, designating an entire section just to children flying un-accompanied would be a more justified one, rather than blatantly insulting me by assuming that because I am male,” wrote Facebook user Shaun Bryson.
Others expressed support for the airline’s rule, noting they would be more comfortable with a woman sitting next to their child.
“I reckon this guy should get over it. When I have kids, if they must travel alone id [sic] like to know they are safe,” wrote Facebook user Jessica Parrish. “Safety is more important than hurting someone's feelings!!”
How do U.S. airlines deal with kids flying alone?
US Airways does not have a formal policy on who can or cannot sit next to unaccompanied minors, but the carrier defers to the expertise of its gate agents and crew members in such situations, spokeswoman Liz Landau told NBC News.
“We also intentionally do not announce the boarding of unaccompanied minors so as not to draw unwanted attention to children traveling alone,” she said.
Other major U.S. airlines, including American Airlines, United and Delta, did not immediately respond to inquiries about whether their policies include any restrictions on who may sit next to children flying alone.
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TODAY's Natalie Morales explains how a tipsy tourist fell asleep on an airport luggage belt during a layover in Rome, which carried him to an X-ray machine that captured him clutching his beer.
Let's face it, sometimes travel can be exhausting, but perhaps taking a nap on the airport luggage carousel is not such a good idea.
More on TODAY Travel
A congresswoman from New York wants the Transportation Security Administration to give sweatshirts, belts and other unclaimed clothing left behind at airport checkpoints to homeless veterans.
Representative Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., believes the abandoned clothes and accessories should go to help some of 75, 000 veterans the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates are homeless on any given night.
To address her concerns, Hochul introduced the Clothe a Homeless Hero Act last week.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter seeking support for the legislation, Hochul said it “directs TSA to make every reasonable effort to transfer unclaimed clothing to local veterans’ organizations or other local charitable organizations for distribution to homeless veterans and their dependents.” She said nothing in the bill would prevent either airports or the TSA from donating these items to charities of their choosing and notes that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that, if passed, the legislation would have no net budgetary impact.
Hochul’s proposal comes on the heels of a House Homeland Security Committee proposal that would give the loose change travelers leave behind at airport checkpoints to the USO. That money is currently used by TSA for operating expenses and, according to the agency, totaled $376,480.39 in fiscal year 2010 and more than $399,000 in 2009.
In March, the committee passed an amendment to the proposal that encourages TSA to partner with the VA and local charities.
In a statement to NBC News, TSA said it already "works with each state on how best to use voluntarily abandoned property" at airports. For example, items left behind at Los Angeles International Airport are donated to the California State Surplus, TSA said.
The Homeland Security Committee proposal on loose change is awaiting House action.
Find more by Harriet Baskas on StuckatTheAirport.com and follow her on Twitter.
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