The next time you’re stuck in the terminal—or on the tarmac—with nowhere to go, there’s now officially someone to blame for your delay and disturbance. It’s actually not a person but more of a place, as it’s New York City that’s likely the spot causing all of the trouble.

The New York Times looked into the causes behind a lot of these airport and airplane inconveniences, and they found that the city’s busy air traffic and multiple airports are the places to blame. There’s been different flight plans from the FAA and even less planes overall thanks to the dip in the economy, but that still hasn’t helped the congestion up in the skies above the greater metropolitan area. Apparently the city’s three major airports—along with the airport in Philadelphia—accounted for around 12 percent of all the country’s domestic flights, but those few flights created like half of all delays. ]]> kjb 2012-02-02T09:08:24-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/25/14644/364

Oh TSA. It seems like just yesterday when we were talking about how we don't like to pile on the organization, partly because we say that a lot but mostly because it really was just yesterday. But this week is turning into a rough one for the agency in charge of protecting the nation's airport security, and we'd be remiss as travel bloggers if we didn't cover the latest news.

Plus we let a whole month go by before posting this morning's Halloween sex travel story, and we'd like to make that up to you by posting a second one.]]> Omri 2011-10-25T14:54:45-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/8/18/22359/4390

Sit back and listen to this tale of social media customer service gone right, where frequent flying combined with brand loyalty and humor equaled genuine surprise:

Peter Shankman is as frequent a flyer as you'll ever find; following him on Twitter you'll quickly get a sense of this, plus his preference for Continental Airlines and Newark-Liberty Airport.

Yesterday, as Shankman relates in his blog post, he flew to Miami for a business lunch and dreaded the hunger that would gnaw upon returning to Newark Airport that night. So he tweeted about it: ]]> JetSetCD 2011-08-18T12:06:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/18/13523/5992

Remember that story we did around Easter, when someone dressed up as a giant pink rabbit and attacked a TSA agent with confetti, and then was promptly arrested because that's something you're not allowed to do? This story is kind of like that, except we also get to use condescending lines like "there are certain people who shouldn't be allowed to run with sharp things."

For reasons that are currently being probed by the psychologists conducting his evaluation, Xiang Xun Shao of Manhattan decided that it would be a good idea to put a knife in his pocket, jump over a barrier at EWR, and run onto the tarmac.

From there things proceeded about how you'd expect, and he was very promptly tackled by a Port Authority policeman somewhere around Terminal C. It all happened so fast that the airport didn't even need to delay any flights, which is quite an achievement given that EWR officials once shut down for a day because someone decided to jump into the sterile area and steal a kiss from his girlfriend.]]> Omri 2011-07-18T15:35:04-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/6/15/134915/876

Two things to keep in mind as you read this story. The first is our most recent discussion of racial profiling, where we emphasized that "random screening" doesn't actually exist in the real world. TSA screeners always have the option of profiling. Random screening just lets the agents on the ground choose who to pull aside instead of giving them explicit rules, which gives bad apples the opportunity to abuse their authority: "Why did you tag that African-American gentleman / blonde cheerleader / Cowboys fan for extra screening?" "They were fidgeting."

The second thing is that TSA is on the record saying that EWR screeners are some of the best in the country. ]]> Omri 2011-06-15T15:25:46-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/6/9188/08799

Everyone knows that the New York City area could use another airport—or at least a major revamp of the existing facilities—but the problem is that there’s just no darned space to construct what's required. Well apparently there’s some underutilized property in Brooklyn that could be the area’s third airport—or fourth if you’re cool counting Newark. Floyd Bennett Field was once home to famous aviators like Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes, and now some want it to reopen as a hub for the modern traveler.

The old airfield sits on Jamaica Bay with JFK Airport not too far off in the distance, so it’s in a pretty decent location to help out all those airplane traffic jams. With the new advances in air traffic control technology, the thinking is that this spot could be used without interfering with all the comings and goings at JFK. The only issue is that the airport is hardly ready to go, as runways would need to be lengthened, terminals would need to be built, and Uncle Sam would need to hand it over to someone like the Port Authority. ]]> kjb 2011-04-06T11:09:43-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/23/10920/9520

We’re usually all over new routes, but before jetting across the globe you need something to eat. Lately new airport restaurants seem to be everywhere, so we thought we’d round up a few of the new and coming-soon sort for your culinary pleasure:

· Smashburger at EWR
One of the country’s best burger chains has yet to invade NYC, but it has debuted in one of the city’s airports. Newark Liberty International Airport just got its very own Smashburger, and after sampling their burger masterpieces in the Midwest, we have to say that this is definitely a good thing. It’s kind of like Five Guys—but with a little more fanciness—and should satisfy any greasy cravings you might have at the airport. Find the burgers, and their specialized New Jersey menu, within Terminal C3. ]]> kjb 2011-03-23T10:27:31-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/