Category Archives for Airports.
Normally when you enter a jet bridge you’re taken to your aircraft. And then on the other end of the journey the jet bridge takes you into the terminal. At Minneapolis – St. Paul airport gate G13, in what seems like some sort of infinite regress, the jet bridge will simply take you to… another jet bridge.
The MSP airport shared time lapse video of crew “marrying” two jet bridges.
One of the unique features of Washington Dulles airport is that, despite building an expensive train system, they still use “mobile lounges” to ferry passengers across the airport from their D concourse and to bring passengers from some international flights directly to customs and immigration. These people movers were built in the 1960s.
A woman driving a vehicle in front of New York JFK’s terminal 5, home to JetBlue, wasn’t following traffic instructions. The security officer directing traffic was having none of that, and beat the hood of her car. The driver, though, wasn’t going to take that lightly. She got out of the vehicle, went to her trunk, and pulled out… a bat. The two proceeded to tussle, and a second person in a bright security vest came over to assist. But it was a bystander who intervened to shut things down, grabbing the bat and helping to subdue the driver.
And all I can think is, well, just another day at New York JFK?
Prior to the pandemic, American Airlines was growing its Charlotte hub to 700 flights. They got new gates and were doubling down on their Southeastern hub, with its low costs and access to Sun destinations. Charlotte was still second to Dallas – Fort Worth, where they were growing to 900 flights.
American’s future in Charlotte may be about to get even bigger, since the airport has started work on a new 10,000 foot, $1.6 billion runway west of the terminal.
Austin’s airport has been one of the fastest growing in the country for several years. Their main terminal needs to grow to accommodate this – at peak times passengers are packed in so tight it’s barely possible to move. Gates are in constant use with no real room for more flights, either.
One way the city-controlled airport planned to manage growth was with a separate ‘South Terminal’ for low cost carriers. They leased space to a private company for 40 years, which built the terminal, and has been housing Allegiant and Frontier. The terminal is just six years old, but the airport changed its mind.
It’s not easy to catch a rideshare in many parts of flyover country. One man in the part of Southern Illinois that’s known as “Little Egypt” found himself without a ride to the airport so he stole a backhoe for the 10 mile drive to the airport.
On May 19, a United Airlines flight was forced to abort landing in order to avoid a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 on the runway. Then an Alaska Airlines jet aborted its landing, too.
Air traffic control called out the Southwest pilot – “you shouldn’t be on the runway.”
No matter how young, children still need their own approved Global Entry application in order to use Global Entry machines and lanes when going through U.S. immigration. But they don’t need it for airport security. And the TSA has increased the age from 13 to 18 for when that changes.
United Airlines is the major tenant, operating out of temporary facilities that were build in… 1983. The idea was that new, permanent facilities would replace the C and D concourses, but never did.
Four years ago American Airlines and Dallas – Fort Worth airport came to agreement on terminal improvements that included piecemealing a new terminal F and refreshing terminal C. At the time this was estimated to cost $3 to $3.5 billion.
Capital construction was part of master lease negotiations. The old lease expired in 2020, but was extended due to the pandemic. With American representing over 85% of passenger traffic, they have the lion’s share of say. And together with their joint venture partners they’re able to exercise de facto control. So it was American on hand with the CEO of the airport when they announced a new master lease today, that finally included plans for the new terminal and existing terminal refresh.
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 »
