As we ascended, I thought again of the building's history - how the original intent of the 17-story high spire was as a dirigible anchor and passenger gate.

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When a traveller enters an airport with one of these smart cards, sensors read the passenger's card and automatically send a gate number and electronic boarding pass to the passenger's smartphone.

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At the gate, agents can offer passenger the opportunity to check bags and, in return, offer earlier boarding.

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In September, Argenbright employees left a metal detector unattended, allowing at least one passenger to walk to a US Airways gate without screening.

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And then you can issue a silent alarm where in a few seconds or minutes somebody will show up to the gate and question that particular passenger.

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He also makes a hand-printed sign with the passenger's name and then drives to the gate of the inbound flight, parking at the bottom of the jet-bridge stairs.

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Word of Baldwin's clash with the crew spread worldwide within minutes of his being escorted from the New York-bound flight at a Los Angeles International Airport gate, because of Twitter postings by Baldwin and a passenger.

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One of passenger Eileen Gwinn's biggest complaints about her 36-hour ordeal is that the airline crew and gate agents provided incomplete information, if they provided any at all.

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