Results tagged “airtravel”

On Friday, a Sun County flight to Minnesota from JFK Airport—usually a 2 1/2 hour journey—was stuck on the tarmac for six hours before take off—and now Senator Chuck Schumer and NY State Assemblyman Michael Gianaris want the U.S. government to pass the passenger bill of rights. Reports say that the flight was supposed to take off at 11 a.m., but boarding only started at noon and it didn't take off until 6 p.m.: "Sun County chief executive Stan Gadek said in a statement the airline regretted the delay and would issue refunds. Adding to the frustration, passengers said the flight crew brought out the food cart after three hours, but passengers had to pay for the items." One passenger said, "I was sitting in the 17th row, and all the food was gone." Earlier this month, a Continental Express flight sat on a Rochester, Minnesota tarmac for almost six hours—and overnight (it "smelled like diapers. It had no food and a full toilet")—prompting a Department of Transportation investigation.

      

Earlier this morning around 5:30 a.m., the main terminal at LaGuardia Airport was evacuated because of a bomb threat. Apparently a man claimed he had a bomb—he was taken into custody and his bag search—but the device was deemed harmless. However the terminal's C concourse will remained closed for hours, because it's a crime scene. Updated below: A 32-year-old New Yorker was arrested.

A new report from the business-oriented group Partnership For NYC says that local air traffic congestion cost our economy $2.6 billion last year. Delays that stem from the one-third of nationwide flights that go through New York end up having an impact in causing a delay in three-quarters of the nation's flights. Kathryn Wylde, the head of Partnership, thinks that it's time to modernize air-traffic control and routes that planes use nationwide—a move that would cost an estimated $22 billion. Doing so would allow planes to take full advantage of satellite-based air navigation and no longer only use long and straight arrival paths. She thinks that now is the perfect time with the downturn in the economy giving a breather to the heavy stress on air traffic "for all the wrong reasons," much like the lightening of congestion after 9/11. Wylde feels that the billions costing New York represent a much bigger cause for alarm saying, "Not having the air traffic control system is costing us $1.6, $1.7 billion a year. Put those numbers together (with other cities' costs) and $22 billion is going to look like chump change."

Though the AAA is reporting a decline in Christmas travel this year, a reader who braved a very crowded LaGuardia Airport this morning for his flight to Chicago tells us, "The captain of my plane compared the weather in Chicago and the delays in the air traffic today" to usually busier Thanksgiving holiday travel time. And at one point, all flights to O'Hare were put on hold. There was a small, but cute silver lining, however—he tells us: "They did have a van full of Santas on the runway to wave to departing airplanes."

The U.S. Department of Transportation limiting flights at LaGuardia Airport to 71 per hour, down from 75 per hour, would help ease plane delays. (FYI, the Wall Street Journal notes, "The number of hourly flights at the New York area's Kennedy and Newark airports is also capped, but at higher levels.") DOT Secretary Mary Peters said LGA is the "worst of the worst" airports since it's dead-last in rankings of large U.S. airports' on-time arrivals, with only 61% of flights arriving on-time. Recently, the U.S. DOT's effort to auction flight slots at LGA, Kennedy and Newark was blocked by federal court; DOT counsel D.J. Gribbin, who noted one carrier at LGA was interested in limiting flights (the airport's four carriers must all agree), said, "Gridlock in D.C. should not result in gridlock over the skies of New York. We can still take the first step toward restoring reliable air service to LaGuardia."

The Dallas Morning News reports that Southwest Airlines confirmed it is buying ATA Airlines for ATA's operating slots at LaGuardia Airport. A Southwest spokeswoman said, "The intent is not to operate ATA Airlines. The intent is to allow Southwest Airlines to acquire the LaGuardia slots." NBC New York directs us to Southwest's Leader Planner Bill Owen's blog post, "This isn’t just big news, it’s huge. GINORMOUS! I think h-e-double-hockey-sticks just froze over…and I am certain a number of my friends in this industry have yet to pick their jaws up off of the floor!" Owen then explains why LGA is so coveted--"it’s the closest major airport to Manhattan. What Love Field is to Dallas, Hobby Airport is to Houston, and Midway Airport is to Chicago, LaGuardia Airport is to New York City." Southwest does not fly to LGA or JFK or Newark--just MacArthur (so far).

JetBlue has announced it will now charge $7 for a pillow and blanket on its flights--and the customers gets to keep them. While the few recent JetBlue passengers we spoke to didn't recall pillows or blankets being offered on their flights, JetBlue asserts it's an environment-conscious and health-conscious move, instead of recycling old pillows and blankies. The soften the blow, JetBlue is also offering a $5 coupon at Bed Bath & Beyond so you can buy more stuff. Otherwise, bring a sweatshirt. And to recap: US Airways started charging $2 for soda, while Delta doubled the 2nd checked bag fee to $50 (the first bag is free)

After two incidents where planes nearly hit each other at JFK Airport, the FAA is offering ways to increase runway safety. One is to use a system of warning lights (sort of like traffic lights) that will change color to let pilots know when runways can cross--the near hits at JFK occurred on its perpendicular runways--and will be installed at JFK and LaGuardia. The FAA is also offering a $100K salary incentive for veterans air traffic controllers to work at NYC-area airports.

Air traffic controllers say two planes were within 100 feet of colliding at JFK Airport this past weekend.

At this year's CitySol event, which took place over the weekend, Baltimore resident Dan Deacon (pictured) was set to perform after making a last-minute announcement following another New York show last week. BrooklynVegan notes that Deacon was a no-show, however, "thanks to some airline screwup that sent his equipment to Cincinnati." See, in order to play the solar-powered show, Deacon had to first unleash no small amount of greenhouse gas. After playing McCarren Pool last Thursday, Deacon flew to Atlanta Friday, only to have to turn around and fly back to New York for Saturday's show.

American Airlines is cutting five American and 37 American Eagle flights from LaGuardia airport starting in September, as part of the airline's attempt to control costs in the wake of rising fuel prices. American will also be cutting dozens of American and American Eagle flights at its hubs in Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth. Among the cutbacks is the termination of American Eagle operations in Albany, prompting Governor David Paterson to ask the airline to "take into account more than profit when they evaluate routes. For many, these airlines are a critical lifeline to family and business obligations."

Yesterday, American Airlines started charging customers $15 for the first checked bag, a controversial but necessary move given rising oil prices (American, like many other airline carriers, also charges $25 for the second checked bag). Though full fare, gold/platinum frequent fliers, first and business class customers, are exempt from the fee, American expects 25% of its customers to be affected by the charge. And those fliers were not happy.

Senator Charles Schumer, longtime critic of area airports, seized upon a study that shows delayed flights mean $4.9 billion is lost in the local economy.

A business consultant is accused of "falsely claiming there was a bomb in her suitcase" after she was unable to get onto her JetBlue flight at JFK Airport last week.

American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights today, causing more chaos for its would-be passengers. NY1 reported lines looked less messy today, suggesting people called ahead. But yesterday, it was a terrible mess. From NY1:

"It's a little irritating that they are offering coffee to everybody, in exchange I'm missing a whole day of meetings in Texas," said one traveler. "I don't think I would [fly American again].

Continue reading "Third Day of Canceled American Airlines Flights"

American Airlines canceled 500 flights in order to inspect its MD-80 planes. Two weeks ago, American had canceled hundreds of flights for inspections for this issue, but on Monday, the FAA found issues, which American says are "related to detailed, technical compliance issues and not safety-of-flight issues."

Just the kind of thing needed for everyone to continue questioning in the current air traffic control situation at area airports. Two planes almost collided on Sunday at JFK Airport. Senator Charles Schumer said that an air traffic controller said, "That was the closest I have ever seen two airplanes get together." According to the NY Times (also, see image at right), a "37-seat commuter jet" almost collided with a "Boeing 747 cargo jet on...

Realizing that air traffic congestion is terrible and will be even worse next week during Thanksgiving holiday, President Bush announced that the FAA is working on new ideas, plus military airspace will be opened up for five days to civilian planes. If using military airspace (the "Thanksgiving Express Lane") works well this time around, it may reopened for the Christmas holidays. The other measures the President announced were: FAA will focus on preventing delays...