Category Archives for Airports.
Major airports usually have several days’ worth of fuel on site. That’s going to be tested in Orlando, and possibly some other Florida airports, over the next several days. In fact, Orlando International Airport has been projected to run out of fuel Sunday evening and that’s going to interrupt airline schedules.
Several women I’ve known have consistently been pulled aside for ‘extra screening’. Remember when Denver TSA colluded with each other so same-sex screeners could fondle passengers they thought were attractive?
Baltimore/Washington International airport is named for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. But that’s not the interesting part of its name.
It was once known as Friendship International airport and its airport code was a logical BAL for Baltimore. Before Washington Dulles opened jets that were too large for National airport went to Baltimore.
Baltimore Washington International Airport plans to drop the company running its concessions – restaurants and shops – in favor of a brand new company headed by a former state governor’s Chief of Staff, who will turn the actual work over to HMSHost. And the bidding process sure looks like it was rigged.
The Maryland Aviation Administration has selected New Market Development Joint Venture, LLC to replace Fraport which has managed concessions at BWI for 18 years. The company, owned by a former chief of staff to former Gov. Parris Glendening, has only existed for one year.
9/11 hijackers used boxcutters. TSA was created to stop future 9/11s. They search wheelchair-bound grandmothers, steal from passengers, and light billions of dollars on fire each year – all while admitting in court that they see zero active threats to defend against.
But when passengers actually bring boxcutters to the checkpoint? Yeah, they got through and a Frontier Airlines flight had to divert after one was being used by an unruly passenger.
There are 1,430 slot machines in the Las Vegas airport. Those slot machines have generated $1 billion in revenue.
Not only don’t we have flying cars, we don’t really have full self-driving ones either. Eventually my daughter’s children will ask me, “Grandpa, is it true you used to drive cars yourself? How did you manage to avoid getting in accidents all the time?” The truth is we didn’t!
It feels like the babiest step imaginable in this process, but driverless ‘remote control’ cars are now being tested at the Pittsburgh airport.
Airport concessions companies suck. Most of the restaurants you think you’re eating at aren’t actually run by the people you think they are. The brands are licensed by airport concessions companies like OTG, Delaware North, and HMSHost. When a brand wants to do something that’s actually good they even advise against it.
Yet St. Louis is about to demand another decade of mediocrity in a long-term no-bid deal with major political donors.
Employees at Philadelphia’s airport refer to the place as Filthadelphia. Birds are known to roam freely there.
It’s still surprising to just see a raccoon pop up at an OTG retail shop and help themselves to a snack while passengers are buying food at the self-checkout. Yet that’s just what happened last week.
Austin airport is experiencing record passenger growth, and the terminal needs to grow along with it. So the city’s solution is to use eminent domain to acquire property they already own, by cancelling a lease that they themselves signed. It’s a strange use of the government takings power, which underscores that the city never keeps its word and anyone investing $12 million dollars in a city project does so at their own risk.
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 »
