Airports

Category Archives for Airports.

The Stupidity Continues But This Time They’re Proud Of It

by Gary Leff on June 24, 2022

Jun 24 2022

TSA is promoting their prowess at seizing liquids at security checkpoints. Great catch! They’ve rounded up liquids and gels over 3 ounces and placed them in one spot together to be photographed.

But where is the hazmat team? If these items were dangerous you wouldn’t think they’d be kept near he security checkpoint and passengers, let alone held together. There would be dangerous materials protocols. Except even the TSA doesn’t believe these liquids are dangerous. They’re seizing liquids because the rules say to do so, not because it keeps anyone safe.

Seven Year Airline Drama At Dallas Love Field Settles With Government Subsidies For Delta

by Gary Leff on June 23, 2022

Jun 23 2022

After a number of gate leases Southwest Airlines had 18 of the airport’s 20 gates. Alaska Airlines had 2. And Delta found themselves without a gate in the game of musical airport chairs.

However the Department of Transportation said that the City of Dallas had to continue to accommodate Delta at Love Field even though it had no gates to do so, couldn’t legally build more, and Southwest had a valid lease for the gate Delta was using. Everyone wound up in court.

The FAA threated to issue a determination that the City of Dallas was in noncompliance with its Federal grant obligations in the operation of Dallas Love Field, making them ineligible for FAA grant funds.

Everyone wound up in Court.

The Surprising Ways People Are Using Austin As A Connecting City

by Gary Leff on June 14, 2022

Jun 14 2022

While American Airlines has grown tremendously in Austin – quadrupling destinations and doubling flights – Southwest remains the largest carrier in the market by a wide margin. In fact it carries an even larger share of Austin traffic than it did three years ago, before the pandemic.

United and Delta have shrunk a bit. So has JetBlue. Allegiant has gown, while Spirit and Frontier have shrunk. Few would have guessed that of Delta, which still calls Austin a focus city.

Aeroflot Forced To Forfeit London Heathrow Slots Permanently

by Gary Leff on May 26, 2022

May 26 2022

One week ago the British government announced sanctions against three Russian airlines: Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and Rossiya Airlines. This kept them from selling or leasing takeoff and landing slots at U.K. airports. Russian airlines already couldn’t enter U.K. airspace.

We now know what this means in practice for their London Heathrow slots: Russian airlines don’t just lose the ability to profit from their slots, they actually lose the slots.

The Airports With The Least Affordable Airfare In The United States

by Gary Leff on May 25, 2022

May 25 2022

The most expensive airfares in the country are at Washington Dulles airport, followed by San Francisco, Detroit, Portland and New York JFK. That’s according to Department of Transportation data for 2021. They tend to be either expensive airports with limited competition (New York JFK is slot-controlled) or dominated by a single airline without as much ultra low cost competition as those on the other end of the list.

Austin Airport Plans To Use Eminent Domain To Seize Their Own Property

by Gary Leff on May 23, 2022

May 23 2022

This is a little bit insane. In 2015 Austin entered into a 30 year lease so that a private company could build a second airport terminal. The ‘South Terminal’ also has two 5 year extension options built into the lease. But the city wants to use eminent domain to terminate the lease, because it now prefers to expand the main terminal.

They’ve offered to compensate the builders less than $2 million for a project that cost as much as $20 million, while the city teaches every business it would be dumb to enter into a lease on city property because no deal with Austin is guaranteed.

New York Airports Promise Lower Priced Beer, Refunds For Overcharged Passengers

by Gary Leff on May 15, 2022

May 15 2022

Last summer a customer on Twitter revealed that airport concessions operator OTG charging $28 plus tax and tip for beer at Newark airport. This clearly violated their lease to abide by ‘street pricing’ rules.

OTG, famous for making you order everything via an iPad, quickly claimed the pricing was a mistake, corrected it, but still argued that it really wasn’t such a bad deal after all because it was a big pour ($28 beer was better value than they’re being given credit for). Several members of Congress sprung into action.

I Can’t Get This Song Out Of My Head, And To Me It’s All About Airports

by Gary Leff on May 10, 2022

May 10 2022

There are certain sounds, sights, and flavors that evoke travel. It wasn’t originally intended this way, but George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue means United Airlines. For years Portico’s ‘white ginger’ smell meant Hyatt Regency, though I suppose Westin’s ‘white tea’ smell is more well-known. The flavor of Tortas Frontera sandwiches is the sine qua non of Chicago O’Hare airport for me.

But maybe there’s a new competitor, because there’s a sound which bellows down the hallways at terminals in Los Angeles, Chicago O’Hare, Las Vegas and Austin that I just cannot get out of my head.

When You Fly American Airlines To New York JFK, Many Of You Can Get A Free Meal

by Gary Leff on May 7, 2022

May 07 2022

Bobby Van’s is one of the better airport restaurants in the Priority Pass program. While you’re supposed to have a same day boarding pass to enter, that still lets you eat there both on arrival in New York and on departure as well.

In my experience they don’t actually check boarding passes, just swipe your card. If I were an American Airlines crewmember based in New York I’d definitely get a credit card that offers unlimited Priority Pass visits (not from American Express, which doesn’t cover restaurant visits).

Now That Mask Rules Are Over, Can We Stop Taking Off Shoes Too?

by Gary Leff on April 20, 2022

Apr 20 2022

Now that U.S. mask requirements on planes have generally been lifted, some people are starting to realize that not all restrictions are permanent and that at a minimum we should be doing cost-benefit analysis … and that much of the security theater we engage in wouldn’t pass critical scrutiny.