Rick Perry can't remember all of the federal agencies he'd dismantle, and Herman Cain doesn't seem to know anything at all about President Obama's Libya policy.

I can only envy the Republican candidates and their respective brain freezes. As a business-travel columnist and talking-head travel "expert," it's my job never to be stumped by your questions about life on the road. I have no idea of how forgiving Republican primary voters will be—politics is above my pay grade—but I know that my bosses would look askance if I whiffed on some easy business-travel questions.

So without the aid of a moderator prompting us with helpful suggestions or long, awkward silences, here are some of my answers to your recent questions about important business-travel developments. And if my responses don't come up to snuff, vote me out of Seat 2B and send me back to a middle seat in coach.

Q: Did the Transportation Security Administration ever start the "trusted traveler" program it pledged to launch?

A: The PreCheck system launched on October 4 at four airports (Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, and Atlanta) with the cooperation of Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and a select number of their most frequent flyers. As of last week, TSA Administrator John Pistole says about 45,000 flyers have used the service, which permits preselected travelers to use special security lanes and leave their shoes on and their laptops and toiletries kit in their bag.

During Congressional hearings last week, Pistole pledged to expand the program to Las Vegas in December and two more airports (Los Angeles and Minneapolis/St. Paul) early next year. "This is an ongoing process," he said. "The goal is to expand it as broadly as possible while maintaining the highest level of security."

The flyers who have been participated in PreCheck so far have the comparatively lightning-fast and hassle-free screening regimen. But they continue be worried about the TSA's rhetoric, which warns that PreCheck is not an "entitlement" and insists that trusted travelers are "always subject to random, unpredictable screening measures."

One Detroit-based frequent flyer who has used PreCheck notes wryly: "I'm hoping that if I give them my well-rehearsed 'It's OK, I'm with the band' smile from my rock-and-roll days that I won't get additional screening too often on future trips."

Q: Has the Department of Transportation actually fined an airline for violating the new "tarmac hold" rules, or have long tarmac holds actually disappeared?

A: Yes on both counts.

During the first year that the new regulations were in effect (May 2010 to April 2011), there were just 20 instances of a planeload of passengers being held on aircraft against their collective will for three hours or more. That compares to almost 700 occurrences in the previous 12-month period.

And when American Eagle, the commuter-flight division of American Airlines, violated the rules on 15 flights at Chicago's O'Hare on May 29, the DOT acted. In a decision announced on Monday, American Eagle was fined approximately $900,000. That's about $1,500 for each of the 608 passengers affected. It's a fraction of the maximum penalty of $27,500 per traveler that the DOT could have imposed, but it does seem to be the largest fine imposed on an airline for a consumer-protection issue that didn't involve civil-rights violations.