Category Archives for Airports.
The American Airlines terminal 8 at New York JFK was evacuated around 7 a.m. this morning after an escalator caught fire in concourse C causing smoke to fill the terminal. Nearly 1,000 people were moved and departing flights were halted, though about 75 minutes later normal operations resumed. Four people were hospitalized out of nine with minor injuries, with none apparently life-threatening.
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chair of Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation – the committee that oversees DOT and that drafted the FAA Reauthorization Act language which created these slots – didn’t just write the law that created new slots at Washington’s National airport.
She didn’t just draft language that virtually assigns those slots to specific airlines. In case her point wasn’t clear enough, she’s written to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in the regulatory docket, explaining who she believes should get the new slots that permit flights greater than 1,250 miles from National airport.
After a crazy lobbying process, Delta Air Lines achieved a partial success is getting the federal government to approve new ‘beyond perimeter’ slots at Washington’s National Airport.
Now there’s jockeying over which airlines will get the slots, and Delta is pushing to keep one out of the hands of American Airlines.
When someone comes into town do you pick them up at the airport? It’s a lot easier, especially with electronic requests for a ride and just entering an address into a phone app (and no need for local currency, even), to just have them Uber or Lyft. In some parts of the world it’s Grab or Didi.
But picking up someone from the airport is an act of love. It takes effort and planning. It’s twice as much driving, and it involves waiting. It’s precisely because it is harder and more costly that it works as a signal of how much you care.
A federal judge has issued a ruling permitting Westchester County airport to limit flights out of private terminals by carriers that sell seats to the public.
Westchester County wishes it didn’t have an airport. However they can’t shut it down. They’ve taken federal grant money, so federal rules apply. Nonetheless they make it as tough to operate there as possible.
Ultimately, the allure of luxury brands at airports, driven by strategic placement and targeted marketing, ensures that even the most discerning travelers find themselves tempted to splurge while waiting for their flights – all to benefit the terminal’s residual claimants.
You can drink while ‘walking around’ or, I suppose, while rocking in a rocking chair. And you’re then more likely to bring that booze on board and serve yourself.
The best proposals here are for new routes – from Alaska (San Diego), American (San Antonio), and Spirit (San Jose). Breeze says if they were eligible they’d fly somewhere like Boise, Reno, or Albuquerque which are at least places that lack service today. But because Congress got involved micro-managing this based on lobbying on the one hand, and their own political interest on the other, it’s not clear who the FAA can even legally consider for the slots.
When the government considers you for Global Entry there are really two separate things they are evaluating. The program makes you a ‘trusted traveler’ and that comes with expedited airport security (less scrutiny, you don’t take off shoes or take out liquids, and don’t have to go through body scanners) and expedited immigration and customs. They want to know that you aren’t a security risk, and also that you’re not likely to violate customs rules.
That can lead to some odd things in your history keeping you out of the program, or getting you kicked out of the program.
A pipe leak in the Miami airport caused fluorescent green fluid to pour out the ceiling around 9 a.m. Eastern on Thursday morning. Cleanup took about 90 minutes and the airport assures that the contents weren’t ‘dangerous’.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
