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Why Aren't You Flying US Helicopter Yet?

September 30, 2008 at 3:15 PM | 1 Comment

New York air taxi service US Helicopter has a couple of deals going right now that have us wondering why anyone would bother to cab it out to JFK or Newark.

First, the Fall Fare Sale is back on, offering $99 fares for airport transfers anytime between now and the end of 2008. You'll need to buy by October 17, when the one-way trip will go back up to the usual $159.

You can get an even better deal if you're holding certain Continental tickets for flights out of EWR. Through October 31, you can tack on a helicopter transfer for $45 if you're buying an H-class fare. (The fare class of tickets is listed when you shop Continental's website.)

Still not convinced you should be skipping an NYC taxi? Check out our review of the service for more details on why you should be taking a helicopter to the airport.

Related Stories:
· Fall Fare Sale [Official Site]
· Continental Offers Bargain Helicopter Rides [WSJ]
· US Helicopter coverage [Jaunted]

New York Port Authority Starting Slot Auction Smackdown

August 4, 2008 at 4:30 PM | 0 Comments

"Just try it, Peters," seems to be the message from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which announced today that it would disallow departures or arrivals that are "issued by auction or similar process," saying such slot sales "would be illegal without Congressional authorization."

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is lining up behind the authority, agreeing with the position that auctions will only cause fares to go up while doing nothing to alleviate the congestion that has choked New York area airports over the past few years.

So what does he propose instead? Schumer thinks upgrading air traffic control equipment and adding staff at control towers will rid the region of delays and cancellations. Maybe he could interest you in a six-figure hiring bonus?

Related Stories:
· Port Authority Will Block US Plan to Auction Airport Slots [NYT]
· Port Authority Acts to Block Flights [Official Site]
· Secretary Mary Peters Wants to Touch That Paper [Jaunted]

[Photo: ATIS547]

Policy Wonk Travel: Secretary Mary Peters Wants to Touch That Paper

July 22, 2008 at 2:15 PM | 0 Comments

While last year's summer of airline hell has yet to repeat itself, the US government is still working on a way to keep it from happening again. And Transportation Secretary Mary Peters thinks that slot auctions are the way to go, something she's been hyping since at least last December.

But the airlines don't want to pay more for landing rights they already have--especially when they're already bleeding cash. And while Secretary Peters makes some decent points in her latest defense of auctions, her case is more than a little thin.

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Unshakable Faith Travel: British Airways Buys L'Avion

July 2, 2008 at 1:35 PM | 0 Comments

L'Avion, the last independent transatlantic all business class carrier, just got bought up by British Airways. The backer of the new premium airline OpenSkies directly competed with L'Avion for Paris to New York passengers--until today.

The deal cost BA €68 million ($108 million), though L'Avion had €33 million in cash in the bank. More importantly than eliminating the competition and getting two 757s, OpenSkies will also get L'Avion's landing slots at ORY.

We have two big questions. First, where will the newly-expanded OpenSkies fly? L'Avion served Newark, while the BA offshoot lands at JFK. A company press release mentions "up to three daily flights between Paris Orly and the New York area." The second question: Will OpenSkies make a dime off this deal?

Related Stories:
· British Airways Buys L'Avion to Expand OpenSkies [Bloomberg UK]
· All Business Class Carriers coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Mohsan]

Senator Sez: NYC's Airports Still a Mess

June 19, 2008 at 1:30 PM | 3 Comments

The Feds are still trying to sort out the mess plaguing New York area airports even though this summer (so far) has nothing on last year's nightmarish streak of delays and cancellations. At issue now are the slot auctions proposed by the Bush administration in May and whether they'll be able to save American aviation from itself.

Surprisingly, the airlines and New York's Port Authority--which controls the airports--are lining up behind Democrats, who say President Bush's market-based scheme won't work. Says Sen. Chuck Schumer:

Instead of focusing on real, tested solutions to solve this problem, like upgrading decades-old technology and hiring an adequate number of controllers to staff New York's towers, the [Department of Transportation] continues to miss the point.

Republicans--and the DOT--insist that auctioning off some takeoff and landing slots is the best way to spur competition while maintaining flight caps. Of course, no one's ever tried that before, so they have no idea if it's actually going to work.

By the time all the debate is over, though, the congestion problem may be a non-issue. With fuel prices going up and carriers lurching closer to bankruptcy, there may soon be plenty of room for the few airlines still in business!

Related Stories:
· Debate Over Auctioning of Airport Landing Slots [NYT]
· Airlines Moving to the Grown-up Table [Politico]
· New York Area Airports coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: triplexpresso]

Will Slot Auctions Save New York's Airports?

May 19, 2008 at 3:30 PM | 0 Comments

At the end of last week, the Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters proposed that Newark International and JFK auction off landing slots to increase competition at both airports. As long as takeoffs and landings are capped, the feds are worried that ticket prices could go up while the quality of service at New York's airports goes down.

To keep that from happening, the DOT wants to take a small portion of landing slots from all the airlines and sell 'em. The idea is that the auction will open up the market to new competitors and keep things fair--except for the whole "We took your landing slots" part of the plan, of course.

But will this slot selling--which has never been attempted at a major airport--actually spark competition? Industry watcher Brett Snyder doesn't think so:

In the end we'll probably see airlines like Continental bid high for Newark slots so they can keep the ones they have now and possibly even gain some more. The low cost carriers? Well, there's a reason they're low cost. They probably won't be able to afford the price of entry.

Related Stories:
· DOT Issues Recommendations for Reducing Delays [BNet]
· US Plans Steps to Ease Congestion at Airports [NYT]
· New York Area Airports coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: triplexpresso]

Jaunted Tested: Massage Bars at the Airport

May 1, 2008 at 4:30 PM | 5 Comments

Whenever we gots time to kill in an airport, we like to troll up and down the gates checking out the retail offerings. Part of this stems from a necessity like "We need to buy a pack of gum" or "We want a bottle of water before take-off" or "We really need a big bag of trashy tabloid magazines to keep us occupied on the flight."

More often than we like, this airport-trolling stems from sheer boredom. And because we're airport geeks and travel a lot, we're always keeping mental tabs on which airports have what and where.

One of the things that always perks us up is a mini-spa, a place that offers quickie massages or mani/pedis or even facials and haircuts. Yet hitting up the mini-spa is not always practical because who has the time?

But yesterday, we had three whole hours to kill in the American terminal at Newark Liberty International and guess what we did? We tested the Massage Bar near Gates 30-39.

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Near Misses at EWR Keep on Keepin' on

April 29, 2008 at 2:30 PM | 0 Comments

Near misses between planes on the runway at Newark Liberty International Airport are nothing new. The airport has consistently ranked high on the FAA's list of dangerous US airports for runway accidents but is EWR even trying to remedy the situation?

Described as runway incursions, these scary incidents happens when "an aircraft, vehicle, person or object on the ground" endangers an aircraft on take off or landing.

Last Friday night, our friend was on a Jet Blue plane from Florida and according to her, all was swell on the flight. Even the landing seemed to be OK until suddenly, the plane slammed on the brakes just missing a Jamaican Air plane.

The Jet Blue plane came to a complete stop and passengers were all freaked out. The crew asked if everyone was OK but according to our spy in the sky, the pilot never apologized. And no, her "more legroom" seat did not make the experience any less frightening. Yikes.

Got a runway incursion experience of your own? Share it with the group.

Related Stories:
· Newark Liberty International coverage [Jaunted]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of EWR: Google Maps]

Airport WiFi: Fuggheddaboudit at Newark Airport

December 27, 2007 at 4:50 PM | 0 Comments

Contribute your airport wireless report by leaving it in comments, uploading your airport photo to Jaunted Flickr Photo Pool, or via email, and we will add it to our U.S. Airport Wireless map.

Usually in our stories on Airport WiFi we like to dish out which airports are letting travelers surf the web for free and without hassle. But this isn't one of those happy stories.

Yesterday, we were waiting in the Continental terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport when we realized we had to go online immediately and file a story. We selected "concourse" from our WiFi network options and were taken straight to a page from Boingo Wireless. We were given two options: One was to sign up for a yearly account and the second option was 24 hours for $7.95.

Since we were on a tight schedule--the plane was boarding, our deadline inching closer--we opted for the $7.95 and spent about 10 minutes total online. Grrr.

Boingo is overcharging people to use the Internet in other places, too:

With over 100,000 hot spots worldwide, Boingo is available everywhere your travels take you, including 400 airports, top hotels like Marriott and Hilton or even around town at places like Barnes & Noble or The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

What's more annoying is that we actually have access to the Continental President's Club where the wireless is free. It's just that it was at the far end of the terminal, and we wouldn't have had time to haul bags over there, file the story and board on time. Double grrr.

Related Stories:
· Our Guide to Free Airport WiFi [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi coverage [Jaunted]

TSA Finally Gets Some Kudos!

December 26, 2007 at 12:00 PM | 1 Comment

Newark Airport's security screeners are some of the best in the country, says the TSA. And it's not just because they do a good job catching pies in your carry-on. The EWR agents are tops at reuniting passengers with stuff left at checkpoints, including at least one $30,000 Rolex.

The TSA has four people dedicated specifically to lost property at the airport, and they've created a database to help track watches, rings, computers and even cash. The system only gets about 15 percent of stuff back into the right hands, but that's because most things don't come with ID--and because passengers don't call about lost items, figuring they'll never see them again. TSA top men are so impressed with the system they've decided to implement it nationwide.

You know the screeners are doing a good job when passengers praise them, like the real estate broker who lost that five-figure watch:

Those people were the most honest and most efficient people I can ever describe.

We beat up on the TSA pretty regularly--and they usually deserve it--but for once we're happy to say the feds are doing *something* right.

Related Stories:
· Newark Airport Screeners Create System to Track Lost Items [AP, via Newsday]
· TSA Unintentionally Hilarious Yet Again [Jaunted]
· TSA coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Daquella manera]

DOT Will Regulate Flights at JFK

December 19, 2007 at 1:53 PM | 0 Comments

At a highly anticipated press conference today, Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that flights in and out of JFK would be capped at 83 per hour for at least the next two years, starting in March 2008. As it stands now, about 100 flights per hour are scheduled at peak times. Currently available takeoff and landing slots will not be auctioned off to the highest bidder, as some airlines feared.

At least not yet. Secretary Peters says any new slots created through technology or airport improvements will be auctioned to the highest bidder if and when they become available. While President Bush would say that the plan allows market forces to control JFK, requiring a massive upfront investment in the form of takeoff and landing fees effectively locks out upstart innovators with limited capital.

JetBlue has already issued a statement on the caps, with CEO David Barger saying:

We applaud the DOT and FAA's actions to address congestion and enhance capacity at JFK. These capacity enhancements coupled with the regrettable, but necessary, temporary hourly caps on operations will greatly improve JetBlue's operational reliability.

Negotiations about flight caps at Newark are still underway; LaGuardia already has a limit on takeoffs and landings.

Related Stories:
· Kennedy Airport Flights Will Be Reduced [Newsday]
· Feds Close to Action on JFK Mess [Jaunted]
· Reactions: The DOT's Plan for JFK [Jaunted]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of JFK: Carl Puentes Photography]

US Airport Hell: Is It Really That Bad?

November 6, 2007 at 12:35 PM | 1 Comment

A two-part post about airport congestion. The UK half of the story.

So yesterday, we had a bit of a sky-is-falling attitude after reading a big story about the horrific state of New York-area airports. But as it turns out, things are actually getting better for flyers--as long as they skip LGA, JFK and EWR. According to a new USA Today report, dozens of airports outside New York have actually had fewer delays this year than last.

Hard to believe, right? Here's how it's possible:

In New York, there are too many scheduled flights and hemmed-in airports that can't expand. But at other major airports, new runways, incremental improvements in air-traffic procedures and airlines' moves to improve efficiency have begun to make a measurable difference for travelers.

For example, Atlanta's opened a new runway that's responsible for a 40% drop in delays. Boston Logan had similar success with a new landing strip. Competition has also freed up airspace: As carriers have cut flights to San Francisco, St. Louis and Washington Dulles, delays have dissipated.

This isn't to say all is well; the industry still has a lot of work to do. But as the carriers and regulators work out what's to be done for our broken system, it's important to realize that some parts don't yet need fixing.

Related Stories:
· For Many, Airport Wait Times Get Shorter [USA Today]
· New York's An Awful Place to Fly [Jaunted]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo, ironically, of YYZ: News46]