Oh my god. Well if it wasn't obvious before, it is now: airline/airport flashmobs are the new black.
Latest on the travel flashmob trend is Delta, who just barely released a 5-minute dance, incorporating flight crew and operations peeps from ATL, JFK, DTW and TOC (Technical Operations Center).
It starts off corny, but stay with it. It gets...cornier, but omg do we want to hug everyone involved. See the full video:]]>
There’s already plenty of awesome options for eats when you travel to—or through—Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but now even more new restaurants on due to arrive. It’s all part of the latest and greatest addition to the airport, as ATL’s new international terminal is scheduled to debut later this year.
Airport officials haven’t specified where—or when—each new establishment will do its thing, but many of these will hold grand openings later this year, between the new terminal and other vacancies across the airport. In total the city council handed out like $3 billion in concession contracts; that should keep travelers satisfied and satiated for like the next ten years or so. ]]>
Everyone has an opinion on Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, but lovers and haters can probably agree that the place’s newest terminal should be good for travelers.
The airport already has like 20 terminals—there’s actually six concourses off the main terminal—but they’re planning to add on one more after Terminal E. We’re still several months away, but the billion dollar project should be finished up by next spring. Flying through, we’ve noticed that things on the outside look pretty close to being done, so once the inside is loaded up with a Starbucks or two it should be ready to go. ]]>
TSA has been a veritable mad scientist's laboratory of experiments lately, all aimed—depending on how cynical you are—either at improving security, getting the public to stop whining about intrusive security measures, or some combination of the two (hint: it's some combination of the two).
They're going out of their way not to pat down babies, they're launching Israeli-style security screenings, they're rolling out gingerbread man scanners, and now they're launching a new program to speed frequent fliers through security. Ambitious!
The new program, dubbed PreCheck, is in its pilot phase at ATL, MIA, DFW, and DTW. Selected frequent fliers who shared their information with TSA before they arrived at the airport are being offered—in exchange—a line that allows them get through screening much more quickly. It's kind of "basic trade-off," as the Associated Press writeup so eloquently puts it. ]]>
Does it make us bad people that we sort of don't care about this? A passenger broke down because TSA agents poked into her large hair. We don't think it's a case of racial profiling—even the ostensible victim seems to be complaining about the intrusive patdown itself, not its motivation—and after that we just kind of can't get worked up. Plus Jaunted writers have gone through similar searches, and left the screening area decidedly untraumatized.
This is the same position we take when babies' strollers set off bomb detectors or grandmothers' diapers are arranged suspiciously. What do you expect the TSA to do?]]>
As the world’s busiest airport, ATL can be pretty stressful. And, on one of the tightest connections we’ve ever had, a couple of weeks ago, we were feeling that stress ourselves.
That was until we walked out onto concourse E and saw this small exhibit about Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s life, containing photographs and items including King’s radio, the robe he wore when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize and the suit he wore to meet Lyndon Johnson.
Sadly, because of our tight connection, we didn’t get to spend enough time looking at it, but from the airport’s website, it appears that it’s a long-term loan from the King Center, and part of ATL’s Airport Art Program. Other exhibits include an astronomy gallery and a 30ft dinosaur in the main terminal atrium. Because there’s nothing like getting your adrenalin pumping with thoughts of Jurassic Park before catching a flight, right?
Beat that, Amsterdam.
[Photo: Jaunted] ]]>
To celebrate the arrival of Avión Tequila at Delta SkyClub airport lounges, Delta and Avión have been hosting happy hour shindigs from 5pm to 7pm on Thursdays. We just happened to be in the neighborhood last week, and we’re already looking forward to another layover filled with agave spirits.
While killing some time in Atlanta we made our way to the SkyClub in the center of Concourse A near the Chili’s—after stopping at Chick-fil-A obviously. We got there a little early and warmed up with a glass of Sweetwater Pale Ale and waited for 5pm to arrive. ]]>