Category Archives for Airports.
Last week a naked man was found completely covered in mud clinging to the landing gear of a plane at at Manila airport’s terminal 1 by gate 6. He was spotted in the early morning hours by a security guard who noticed the tight grip – and lack of clothes. Airport Police responded and arrested the man.
A woman sitting at a bar at New York JFK’s terminal JetBlue terminal 5 decided to steal a bottle of Belvedere vodka and stick it in her carry on bag when the bartender wasn’t looking. And the bottle heist is on video.
The Trump administration wants to fix air traffic control by throwing an indeterminate amount of money at upgrading aging technology. Their plan takes the approach laid out in the opening to The Hitchhikers’ Guide To The Galaxy.
Denver airport is talking about their next international flight add being Emirates to Dubai and they seem close to subsidizing a new flight from Ethiopian.
Israel carried out a series of airstrikes targeting Sanaa International Airport in Yemen, which is in Houthi-controlled territory. Israel issued a warning to all in the area prior to the attack, announcing that it was coming, in order to minimize any civilian casualties.
Stating today, rideshare pickups – like Uber and Lyft – for New York JFK’s terminal 5 (JetBlue) and terminal 7 (hodgepodge in the old British Airways terminal slated for demolition) are going to be relegated to the JFK Airtran Howard Beach station.
President Trump wants to reduce the number of TSA screeners at airports. That should have every air traveler worried. There are changes at TSA that could reduce staffing levels, but just getting rid of screeners without changing anything else about airport security would mean long waits at airport.
American Airlines has filed suit against the City of Chicago over their plans to take gates away from the airline at O’Hare airport and give more gates to United. American’s position seems reasonably strong, but it’s hardly a slam dunk. American is on solid ground, but a court could buy an alternative start date for the ramp up. And winning the timeline is the linchpin for an injunction.
Another spring, another shutdown. The Bangor, Maine airport is going to close Monday mornings through Wednesday afternoons this spring, and customers that may have booked tickets are out of luck. So are any flights that need to divert – Bangor is a regular diversion point.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – who has supported an unqualified nominee to run the FAA and blocked air traffic control staffing fixes – is taking on the Trump administration’s nominee to run the FAA. Bryan Bedford, the CEO of Republic Airways, has a long and distinguished career in aviation management – but he sought to have the FAA declared structured pilot training equivalent to mindless hours and this is anathema to the big pilot union.
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 »
