Airports sound like they're going to be a fun place to be in the coming days, thanks to the double-whammy of fewer planes and a 2.8% nationwide increase in air travel, according to AAA. AAA New York's Robert Sinclair Jr. said, "It's said that consumer spending is what helps get an economy out of the doldrums. I think one of the first things that people do when the economy turns around is take a trip." Here's why your hours at the airport will ruin the rest of your vacation. more ›

Are you the kind of person who chooses their airline based on the logo? Are you swayed into spending your money by synergistic puns? Do you really frakking love the Jets? Then climb aboard, because JetBlue has got something special just for you: the company unveiled a special new paint scheme for one of their Airbus A320 aircraft, to commemorate their being the official sponsor of the Jets team. And get this: its their first plane to not have any blue featured in it whatsoever! more ›

As promised, pilots competing in this weekend's Red Bull Air Race has been getting their practice flights in since Wednesday. The event has pilots racing 10-20 feet above the Hudson River between the Central Railroad/ Statue Cruises Ferry Terminal and Ellis Island adjacent to Liberty State Park, Jersey City. The event's organizers also note that they have "coordinated with precise alignment and cooperation with local authorities on both sides of the Hudson river" as well as the FAA and other agencies "to ensure a safe and exciting race event for spectators, residents and our highly-skilled pilots." Battery Park TV caught video of some of the practice runs: more ›

Senator Chuck Schumer held one of his famous Sunday press conferences yesterday, presumably before spending the rest of the day chilling with Jay-Z and Beyonce at the summer's last Pool Party. The presser was held three days after the National Transportation Safety Board recommended major changes to air traffic over the Hudson River—changes which Schumer says fall short. The senator told reporters that the current regulations are "a mess. There are countless handoffs, gaps and holes in the regulatory authority, and that only leads to trouble." Trouble like the fatal mid-air collision between a single-engine plane and a tour helicopter earlier this month. Schumer is demanding (once again) that the FAA monitor all flights below 1,000 feet (pilots currently use a "see and avoid" strategy), the creation of a pilot training program for commercial sightseeing operations, and fully staffed control towers at Teterboro Airport and at other area airports. Radical, right? The TSB report admitted that the absence of a supervisor from the Teterboro tower at the time of the crash enabled a controller to make a "nonbusiness" cell phone call, which infamously involved joking about barbecuing a dead cat—actually making the genre of dead pet jokes even more inappropriate than ever. more ›

Don't want to risk sleeping in JFK to wait for your flight? Screw the man, pilot your own damn flight. Last Sunday evening a "wingnut pilot" flew into JFK airport, where he briefly landed in the cargo area of a Brazilian airline and took off again before he could be arrested. One pilot waiting to get off the ground reported to a controller "Looks like some guy on a parachute -- pretty stupid." Steve Abraham of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association agreed, saying "If you're a paraglider or using a home-built airplane, you're pretty stupid flying near there." Gizmodo even got some audio of the pilot (sounding uncomfortably nonchalant) who first spotted him. NYPD helicopters were dispatched but could not find the contraption's pilot, but warned pilots to be on the look out for a "kite." Motorized paragliding (or "paramotoring") is a form of paragliding where the pilot wears a motor on his or her back, and requires no license or specific training. Maybe he was just trying to chase away the Jackrabbits. more ›

These photos of low flying planes over downtown (one looks to be over the New Museum on Bowery) were taken last Friday. Have you noticed any others lately? The blogger who took these notes that while it's likely the planes flight paths were re-routed due to high winds, "the sight of planes above the skyline is usually a recipe for unease." more ›

This is equal parts terrifying and beautiful, a map depicting 24 hours of the nation's flight patterns (two million planes pass through New York's airspace each year). This Google map shows roughly 205,000 aircraft the FAA tracked on August 12th, 2008—with darker colors indicating a higher altitude and lighter lines showing takeoffs and landings. more ›

Yesterday evening the British Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, dazzled onlookers as they put on a 25-minute show over New York. Many in New Jersey and New York saw the nine-pilot team as they arrived and departed as well. For those who missed it, luckily some photographers were at the right place at the right time. more ›

The world-renowned British Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, will fly over our skies later today. The 25-minute show will begin at 6:30 p.m. over the New York Harbor, and the spectacle is best viewed from the shores of South Beach on Staten Island. At 6:55 the nine-pilot team will make their way towards the Statue of Liberty for a flyby (which will occur at 6:58), so if you can't make it to Staten Island, there's still a chance of catching a glimpse. From the press release:

The Red Arrows Statue of Liberty flyby at 6:58 pm will be at a northeast direction, coming up New York harbor, past Brooklyn/Staten Island, the Statue of Liberty, and further up the Hudson River. The Red Arrows will then turn around and retrace their steps, flying back to the Atlantic Ocean the same way they came in.