Go Ahead, Make that Call in the Sky

Go ahead, turn it on, make a call. Despite the years of being told we had to turn off our cellphones, now there's an airline that says go ahead, it's ok.

Emirates Airlines allowed passengers to make calls on a flight to Casablanca recently.

And Jet Blue may be adding in flight text messaging. They aren't willing to go all the way to allowing calls, but the company feels that silent texting might be a safe compromise.

With Jet Blue's big misteps during the 2007 snow storm, the company is eager to gain back the love they used to know so well from passengers. Loosening up the phone rules and eventually setting up the plane with WiFi might be a great way to do this.

Do We Really Need an Air Marshall on Every Flight?

You might remember back just after 9/11, there was serious talk about adding air marshalls to all US flights, to catch the bad guys before they could do any harm on board.

There was indeed at time that air marshalls rode on many flights...but according to CNN today, of the 28,000 commercial airline flights on an average day, fewer than one percent have marshalls on board. One pilot was quoted as saying he hadn't seen a marshall on one of his flights in six months, as he criss-crossed the US on for a commercial carrier.

"Greg Alter, assistant special agent in charge of the federal air marshal program, denied CNN an on-camera interview with Dana Brown, director of the Federal Air Marshal Service.
"Since the Federal Air Marshal Service post-September 11, 2001, expansion, the volume of risk-based deployments has consistently remained at, near or exceeded target levels," Alter wrote in an e-mail to CNN. He added, "Today, many thousands of dedicated and highly trained Federal Air Marshal Service [sic] work diligently around the globe to make air travel safer than it's ever been."

But Alter did not specify what those target levels are, and those inside the marshals service say there are nowhere near "thousands" of air marshals working the skies.
Air marshals told CNN that while the TSA tells the public it cannot divulge numbers because they are classified, the agency tells its own agents that at least 5 percent of all flights are covered.

But marshals across the country -- all of whom spoke with CNN on the condition they not be identified for fear of losing their jobs -- said the 5 percent figure quoted to them by their TSA bosses is not possible. One marshal said that while security is certainly one reason the numbers are kept secret, he believes the agency simply doesn't want taxpayers to know the truth."

SFO Parking Machine Dings You Twice

Here is a snip from a Q&A traffic column called "Roadshow" in the Silicon Valley. This makes me never want to park in the regular on-airport lot at SF again, and why, since there are so many other options for off airport using airportparkingreservations.com for lower cost and no risks.

Q FasTrak can be used to pay parking charges at San Francisco's long-term airport parking. Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any controls to avoid duplicate charges if the parking has already been paid by credit card. I paid my parking fee at a self-serve kiosk in the parking structure, using a credit card. When I exited, the machine asked for the ticket, which I put in the machine, after which the gate lifted. I then heard my FasTrak beep. I went back to the attendant and he confirmed that there is a problem where FasTrak will ding you for parking, without first checking if the ticket is already paid. Parking folks tell me I am not the only one getting double charged.

David MacMillan
Emerald Hills
A SFO, we have problems. Airport officials say there have been sporadic cases of duplicate charges and they are trying to resolve a software problem. If this happens to others, call the airport at (650) 821-4051.

More Ways to Get to a Place You Can't Afford

Well, even though the dollar has never been at a lower point versus the Euro, think of the bright side. At least now there are many more ways to get over to Europe because of the Open Skies treaty that opened up both Europe's and the US's airports to more carriers.

Today's Wall St. Journal described some of the new airports from which you can depart and get to Europe. Delta now has a nonstop from Denver to London, it's on sale for just $285 each way. Delta will throw in 7500 bonus miles.

American has joined the fray of airlines who are increasingly using the renovated and expanded Heathrow in London instead of Gatwick. The biggest airline in the US is closing up Gatwick operations and moving its flights from Dallas and Raleigh NC to Heathrow. That is the biggest change, at one time few airlines could land at Heathrow but now, with the treaty passage, this has all changed and this is where more and more flights will land in England.

Some Travelers Are Just Not Wanted Any More

There are some travelers that nobody wants to host any more. That includes college students on Spring Break. MSNBC had a story today about the success the city of Fort Lauderdale has had in banishing these rowdy kids from their city.

"No U.S. community has worked harder than Fort Lauderdale to shun spring breakers. The South Florida city — where the annual beach exodus was born in 1935, boosted by the 1960 film “Where the Boys Are” and bumped to new heights by MTV — suddenly choked off the chugathon 22 years ago. Now, Fort Lauderdale even teaches other resort towns how to get out of that boozy money pool.

“We’ve had a countywide facelift and a countywide lobotomy,” said Nicki Grossman, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We congratulate ourselves. At the time, though, there was this collective holding of breath before we really knew we were on the path to graduating from spring break.”

The crackdown began in 1985 after 380,000 students swarmed into Fort Lauderdale, crammed into $19-a-night motels, gorged themselves on free Budweiser and shimmied in wet T-shirts. MTV’s cameras captured — and fueled — much of the mayhem. Never mind that the kids also spent $110 million. City fathers decided it had to end: The security costs, traffic and noise caused a massive community hangover.

“It was too big, too raunchy and too hard to recover from,” Grossman said. “When the kids left that year, nobody wanted to step into those rooms.”

Training Across Europe at 200 mph

We interrupt this flight related blog time to present an alternative...the train! In today's Wall St. Journal, Darren Everson writes about the giant resurgence in high speed rail. It's catching on, said the story, because of air travel delays and the attraction of watching DVDs on a train going 200 miles an hour. And with legroom of 33" versus the 30" or less you'll get in a Ryanair jet, it's a comfy and sensible alternative.

"Spain, which is at the forefront of the rail boom, got high speed service connecting Madrid and Barcelona last month. The journey was slashed by two hours, now it takes just two hours to hop between cities. They've also cut down the time on the London-Brussels route by 20 minutes, and plan more than 5,300 miles of new high speed tracks in the years ahead.

Even if you decide to travel through Europe by rail, you will still have to park your car at the local airport. So next time, be smart, reserve your parking with Airport Parking Reservations!

Next Time You Travel, Bring Along the Dog

Doggie resorts are starting to appear at some of the USA's largest airports.

A growing number of airports are seeing 24-hour pet hotels being built inside or near their compounds, saving travelers the headache of scrambling to drop off their dogs or cats at neighborhood kennels.

Travelers can find pet hotels near the airports at Jacksonville, New Orleans and Portland, Ore. Pet hotel operators have plans to open facilities or are in discussions with Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Houston Hobby and Minneapolis.

"Given that more people have pets, it's just a natural progression of services that airports should offer," says Saq Nadeem, founder of Paradise 4 Paws, which will open next month near Chicago O'Hare.

Airports are also looking to boost their non-aviation revenue. And pets are a big market: Americans spend $3 billion a year boarding and grooming their pets, says the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association.

No Room at JFK or LGA? Try Stewart!

Stewart Airport, an abandoned Air Force base 60 miles up the Hudson River from Manhattan, is being transformed into a fourth airport for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New York's airport operator. These second tier airports are becoming a big trend in air travel according to the Wall St Journal today.

"Unable to build additional runways at La Guardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports, the Port Authority paid $78.5 million to buy a 93-year lease on Stewart and pledged to invest $500 million more to turn it into a bustling hub. The state of New York just completed construction of a new access road and is working on making interstate highways connect more easily to the airport. And the Port Authority has already built a 400-spot parking lot.

The plan starts with making Stewart a discounter destination for New York, much as London developed Stansted Airport and Luton Airport as bases for discounters so they didn't clog Gatwick and Heathrow. Already, Skybus Airlines Inc., a bare-bones operation based in Columbus, Ohio, flies to Columbus and Greensboro, N.C., from Stewart. AirTran Airways Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp., along with regional partners of Delta Air Lines Inc., Northwest Airlines Corp. and US Airways Group Inc., fly to Stewart. And Port Authority officials recently went to Europe to entice discount operators there to use Stewart for trans-Atlantic flights.

"We have to get people to change habits and one way to do that is with price," said Diannae Ehler, the Port Authority's general manager at Stewart.

Easing congestion in the New York area would improve air-traffic flow nationwide. New York was responsible for a majority of all delayed flights last year —- delays that cascade through the nation's air-travel system and create havoc for millions of travelers. So extreme were the problems last year that the federal government is imposing new restrictions on the number of flights at Kennedy and Newark (restrictions already exist at La Guardia).

Inspecting the Employees at Logan Airport

Logan International Airport is among three U.S. sites selected for 90-day pilot programs to gauge the feasibility of 100 percent security screenings for airport employees.

Under the perimeter screening program at Logan, Transportation Security Administration workers will assist Massachusetts State Police as they continue to screen employees and vehicles that have access to secure airfield areas via Logan’s north and south gates. Other checkpoints may be added as part of the pilot, which is expected to begin in May, according to TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis.

“The point was to add a deterrent to any nefarious activities that could be conducted between the public and the secure areas and to augment the (employee security) badging program already in place,” Davis said.

Logan also will participate in a second pilot program using biometric access readers to authenticate the identities of employees entering “sterile” airport areas.

Massport and TSA officials will hammer out details in the next 30 days.

The TSA must report to Congress by Sept. 1 on the effectiveness and cost of different employee screening options.

Atlanta Hartsfield Has Big Plans for 2011

The World's busiest airport is getting billions in improvements over the next few years. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported last week on the progress.

"You'll get there from a different interstate, and you won't have to recheck your baggage.

Those are two big changes globe-trotting travelers can expect to see by November 2011 when Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport opens its new 12-gate international terminal, a soaring glass wing of a building that will cost more than a billion dollars.

The Atlanta City Council's Transportation Committee on Wednesday approved about $1.2 billion for construction of the long-anticipated terminal, which has been discussed since the late 1990s. Roadways, underground trains and other costs will push the cost to about $1.6 billion —- twice the original estimate a decade ago.

"This will give us the ability to reach to every corner of the globe," airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said.

Fliers will approach the Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. International Terminal —- named for Atlanta's late mayor —- from I-75. And because there is curbside pickup, arriving international travelers will not have to recheck their bags as they now do.

The new terminal will have its own gates and parking deck, and will be accessed via I-75. It will be connected to the main terminal through an underground train that connects the new facility and Concourse E, whose 28 gates will be used for international and domestic flights.

Dan Molloy, the airport's assistant general manager, said international traffic at Hartsfield-Jackson will increase from about 9 million passengers a year to 13 million by 2015.

"Atlanta is emerging as a major international destination," Molloy said.

The new terminal coincides with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines' push to vastly increase its profitable international business. Delta begins nonstop service to Shanghai, China, next month, a move that will open major Asian markets to the region.