Jaunted - Tag: EWR

New York : It's A Sad Day For Frivolous Travel As US Helicopter Abruptly Shuts Down

JetSetCD — 2009-09-28T14:03:50-05:00

US Helicopter, which ran Sikorsky choppers from the Wall Street and Midtown West heliports to JFK and Newark airports, shuttered its service abruptly on Friday. What a bummer for ballers in the NYC-area, and for Jaunted too since we've splurged on the 8-minute flight a few times—one review is here.

The 'copter company, which landed at Delta terminals at the airports and offered seamless transfers to your Delta flights, only began 3 years ago and yet has been plagued with financial problems from the first. Sometimes their desperation for cash would work out for us, since their $99 special would appear every so often and drive us batty with fantasies of flying in friends from the airport as a gift and totally blowing their minds.

The good news is, US Helicopter claims that this stop is only temporary for, as their Vice-President says, "getting our act together." Once they do get their act together, we hope that $159 one-ways that take 8 minutes to get to the airport still include a few specials.

[Photo: US Helicopter]

San Francisco: Pill Popping And Flight Hopping: Airport Pharmacies Proliferate

JetSetCD — 2009-07-13T15:24:17-05:00

It's crunch time for your flight and you're desperate to pick up your prescription or some nasal spray or just some St. John's Wort *wink*, but you know the airport is notorious for having lots of only one thing: a greasy, overpriced food court. Thankfully, this is no longer the case as some airports welcome Harmony Pharmacies, regular pharmacies stocking necessities and more when you don't have the time to hook yourself up with some last-minute NyQuil.

Back in 2007, Newark International was the first United States airport to welcome a functioning pharmancy with on-site nurse practitioner and prescription service, all of which is still located in Terminal C1, near Gate 91.

Then, during last fall when T5 at JFK opened, another Harmony moved in near Gate 7. And now the health has spread to San Francisco Intl Airport and it won't stop there; Dallas/Ft. Worth, Cleveland-Hopkins, and Baltimore-Washington Intl should all have their own Harmony airport pharmacies by the end of next year.

Until then, feel free to fill your ~~Viagra~~ Clarinex prescriptions with the full-time pharmacist or check your blood pressure; SFO's Harmony Pharmacy is located in the "F" hub of Terminal 3.

Related Stories:
· SFO Welcomes Airport Pharmacy [SFO Press Release]
· Harmony Pharmacy [Official Site]
· On the fly and forgot to pack your meds? San Francisco Airport's new on-site pharmacy [Examiner]
· Airport News Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Harmony Pharmacy]

Newark: Belly Up At Newark Airport's Gallagher's

egw — 2009-02-25T11:19:58-05:00

Newsstand snacks are for kids! Before your next long-haul flight, enjoy a meal that will take the entire journey to digest. At least, that's what we think the impetus was for New York steakhouse Gallagher's to open up an outpost in the Continental terminal of Newark-Liberty International Airport.

Stagger to your gate after some prime rib with a side of creamed spinach or attack the "chilled medley of seafood" (serves 4-6, or one college student on his way home from a semester abroad). Opened in 2002, Gallagher's doesn't take any leaps in the decor of its Terminal C outpost -- checkered cloths and black and white photos abound. But that angle might actually be comforting after a culinarily adventurous trip.

"For airport food it was GREAT!" raves (sort of) a Yelp commenter, but a Bonaire message-board wag faults the joint for closing earlier than posted hours. But if you can get there when it's open, sounds like you'll walk away satisfied.

Related Stories:
· Aloha-Mex at EWR: Smashmouth Delish [Jaunted]
· EWR to ORY Means Business [Jaunted]
· Moishe's Steakhouse in Montreal [Jaunted]

[Photo: Conferencing News]

Clarence Center: More Info, More Mysteries For Buffalo Crash

egw — 2009-02-16T09:21:06-05:00

As investigators rush to recover information about Continental Connection Flight 3407, which took the lives of 50 last Thursday night when it crashed outside of Buffalo, the pieces still don't add up. But here's what we learned about the flight from this weekend:

Flight 3407 did not nosedive, but rather crashed flat. This pattern may explain why the plane only landed on one house, killing Douglas Wielinski, a man who lived there (and sending his family to the hospital with minor injuries), but sparing his neighbors.

The plane did, in fact, have major ice build-up. The theory floated early Friday that icing may have hastened 3407's descent is given grounding by the black boxes, which demonstrate that the flight crew both noticed the ice and had the plane de-icer on at the time of the crash.

The plane may have been on auto-pilot, violating airline regulations. It's the policy of Colgan Air, which operated Flight 3407, that pilots manually operate the plane in cases of "severe" icing, which may not have been present that night. Still, it's chilling to think that anything might have kept the captain and crew from righting the plane in case conditions in the air suddenly changed.

[Photo of Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Flight 3407's final destination: darkwater]

Newark: Heineken Taps Into Newark Intl Airport

JetSetCD — 2009-01-23T14:43:56-05:00

When you think of an airport bar, what usually comes to mind is some bland space halfway down a terminal, whose sole focus is to overcharge you as much as possible while getting you as drunk as possible before your flight. Thankfully Newark International Airport is helping to change this image with the introduction of their new Heineken Lounge, boasting Amsterdam's best-known beer and an interior worthy of the jet set.

If you thought good design, comfortable furniture and a view out onto the tarmac were features strictly reserved for first class lounges, the Heineken Bar will happily prove you wrong with its white leather couches, semi-private conversation nooks and ambient lighting. We suppose that just much as the bar gives you an impression of the Heineken brand, it also serves as a kind of unofficial Netherlands outpost before you even step onto your Amsterdam flight.

Of course they'll have a fully stocked bar in addition to Heines, but we're really loving that this place gives us another option for airport workspace. Out ticket to starting a flight off right is if we can get a beer, a clean tabletop and a comfy chair; we'll be starting a tab here soon enough.

Related Stories:
· Heineken Lounge by UXUS [Dezeen]
· Airport WiFi: Fuggheddaboutit at Newark Airport [Jaunted]
· Newark Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: UXUS Design]

Newark: More Near Misses At Newark

egw — 2009-01-19T09:14:17-05:00

Months after we wrote about a near miss on the runway at Newark Liberty International Airport, they're still happening. Reader Jay Decker writes in with a spine-tingling tale the day before US Airways Flight 1549's near miss:

My wife, son, and I were on Continental flight 855 from West Palm Beach into EWR. We were running late, about an hour, and were supposed to land at about 4:10pm Jan. 14.
We were just touching down, the rear wheels were kissing the ground, when the pilot powered up and nosed up and we struggled our way back into the air. I guess this is commonly referred to as a "touch and go." The pilot apologized, even as the in cockpit alarm was still beeping, and said that Newark had a "space" issue and we would be landing shortly. I turned to my wife and translated: "There was something on our runway."
Needless to say, we were all happy when we finally landed some time later.

Senior Editor Juliana's mom experienced something similar on the same route in November, except, she noted, the pilot did not apologize. Hey Newark, it's 2009: Time to turn over a new leaf and figure out what's causing all these near misses! Controlling errant flocks of birds may be outside of ATC's reach, but adjusting traffic patterns isn't.

Got a near miss story at Newark or elsewhere? Tip us off!

Related Stories:
· Near Misses at EWR Keep on Keepin' On [Jaunted]
· Flight 1549 Coverage [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi: Fuggheddaboudit at Newark Airport [Jaunted]

[Photo: skoobie99]

Winter Storms in the U.S. Leave Snarled Flights and Snarling Passengers

Victor Ozols — 2008-12-20T14:12:37-05:00

Snow, sleet, and rain in the Midwestern and northeastern United States grounded hundreds of flights this weekend, majorly screwing up travel plans for thousands of people and giving news outlets a timely opportunity to run their annual holiday travel chaos stories. Airports in Detroit, Chicago, and even Las Vegas had rampant delays and cancellations, while Milwaukee's General Mitchell airport shut down entirely to focus on snow removal. Things were pretty grim in the New York area as well, with more than 500 flights canceled at LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark airports. Since New York is such a major airline hub, its delays and cancellations caused ripples throughout the entire country, making more people than usual shake their fists in anger at the Big Apple.

We're actually kind of surprised so many flights were cut, because it didn't seem like we got that much snow. It came down pretty steadily yesterday, but ultimately left only a couple of inches on the ground and coat of ice on the plastic crocodile (pictured) that Louie, our landlord, keeps in the garden. Sub-freezing temperatures must have compounded the problems, because what's on the streets now isn't going to be melting on its own any time soon. If you're flying this weekend, Google your flight number to see if you'll be making it to Grandma's house before Monday, and pack a good book just in case.

[Photo: Victor Ozols]

Related Stories
· Storms Snarl Flight Schedules in Midwest, Northeast [USA Today]
· Retreat! Retreat! NYC Snowed In [Jaunted]