News and notes from around the interweb:

• The air marshal program in the US is a pretty pathetic joke. It’s a pretty expensive joke for our Northern neighbors as well. Air Canada tallies the cost to the airline at $100 million.

• The Fairmont Visa is getting new benefits.

• Scott Mayerowitz finds that year-over-year average taxi times are up almost a minute. And of course they’re worse at some airports than others.

  According to an Associated Press analysis, airplanes spent 23 minutes and 32 seconds, on average, taxiing between gates and runways during the first nine months of the year. That’s the longest it has been since the Bureau of Transportation Statistics started tracking taxi times in 1995 and a 50-second increase over last year’s average.

  This isn’t just bad for customers, it’s bad for airlines because it limits the ability of airlines to get the most out of each aircraft. It means higher labor costs per flight. And it makes shorter trips less competitive by air compared to driving or other modes of transportation.

• The Qantas frequent flyer program is going to offer health insurance and members who take them up on it can earn miles based on the number of steps the members takes each day to stay active.

• Why Running a Good Airport Restaurant Is So Difficult (HT: Benedict L.) And Here’s Why Airport Restaurants Are So Bad.

• An 8 year old boy thinks he has the solution to prevent flights like MH370 from disappearing. (HT: Paul H.)
  

• The US is expected to start denying passports to citizens with over $50,000 in delinquent taxes where a notice of levy or lien has been filed. (HT: Paul H.)