Author: Metropolitan Airport News
Metropolitan Airport News
Produced by a team of aviation professionals and enthusiasts, our mission is to inform and update the more than 68,000 employees who work on the metropolitan New York airport properties, as well as the many others that provide goods and services in the surrounding communities.
It looked like any roller bag that was left behind at the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint. Someone was probably in a rush, was preoccupied and left the piece of luggage at the checkpoint and headed for their gate. But this was no ordinary roller bag. It belonged to the mother of the bride-to-be. Inside were two dresses neatly packed—the dress belonging to the mother and her daughter’s wedding dress. But now the dresses were in Newark, N.J., and the wedding party was in Columbus, Ohio, for a wedding the following day. Christopher Cepeda went online to help his soon-to-be-married sister,…
Boeing and Enter Air announced the Polish airline is expanding its commitment to the 737 family with a new order for two 737-8 airplanes plus options for two more jets. An all-Boeing operator and Poland’s biggest charter carrier, Enter Air began operations in 2010 with a single 737 airplane. Today, the airline’s fleet includes 22 Next-Generation 737s and two 737 MAX airplanes. When the new purchase agreement is fully exercised, Enter Air’s 737 MAX fleet will rise to 10 aircraft. “Despite the current crisis, it is important to think about the future. To that end, we have agreed to order…
In an ongoing effort to enhance safety measures at its facilities and ensure that airport workers have convenient access to testing, a new XpresCheck COVID-19 testing facility has opened at Terminal B at Newark Liberty International Airport. In its initial phase, testing is available to EWR terminal employees, airline employees, and airport workers through an expanded contract with XpresSpa, the parent company of XpresCheck. The new facility is screening up to 350 airport employees per day. Following the initial launch period, testing at EWR’s XpresCheck site will be made available to passengers. “The Port Authority has taken proactive measures to provide…
Next fall it will be twenty years since they came into work at their airports expecting a normal day and found themselves in the middle of a national attack, one in which their industry was used at the means. It was their response, the extraordinary way ordinary aviation workers – both airport and airline employees – rose up to the challenges that day and to the loss and pain of the aftermath of 9/11 that made them heroes. A book that tells the stories of those aviation workers, “Reclaiming the Sky: 9/11 and the Untold Story of the Men and…
Air travelers left nearly $1 million behind at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport checkpoints in fiscal year 2019, as reported in the annual “Unclaimed Money at Airports” report submitted to Congress, with airports in the New York City region high on the list of airports that saw the most money left behind. TSA plans to use the unclaimed money towards providing critical aviation security programs. During FY 2018, TSA collected $926,030.44 in unclaimed money, including $18,899.09 in foreign currency. It marked a decrease in the amount of unclaimed money collected in FY18 when $960,105.49 was left behind. The top five airports…
Airports have joined with concessionaire, parking and car rental trade groups in a combined effort to secure financial relief because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Airports Council International (ACI) North America and the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) have lent their support to industry calls for government relief for struggling airport concessionaires. The two associations, along with others that manage duty free, F&B, car parking, car rental and other commercial contracts, have penned an open letter to US Congress leaders calling for US$3.5 billion in federal assistance. The letter, dated August 7, 2020, was signed by ACI-North America and AAAE, alongside…
United Airlines on August 12th, announced plans to add up to 28 daily nonstop flights this winter connecting customers in Boston, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New York/LaGuardia, Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio to four popular Florida destinations. The flights are slated to begin on November 6.” The new nonstop flights reflect United’s continuing strategy to aggressively, and opportunistically manage the impact of COVID-19 by increasing service to destinations where customers most want to fly. The airline will incrementally add in these flights starting November 6 with new roundtrip service from Boston, Cleveland and New York/LaGuardia to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando…
Effective Aug. 19, 2020, and following the most recent recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), face coverings with exhausts valves or vents will no longer be allowed for travel with American Airlines. The CDC notes that face coverings with one-way valves or vents allow exhaled air to be expelled through holes in the material. These can allow exhaled respiratory droplets to reach others and potentially spread the coronavirus (COVID-19). The new policy is effective as of August 19th, and face coverings must be worn correctly, covering nose and mouth and only removed for eating and…
Delta Air Lines is partnering with CVS Health to accelerate employee COVID-19 testing with a rapid-response option for flight crews, a move that will build confidence about traveling with Delta among our people and customers alike. The CVS Health Return Ready SM testing will be overseen by a CVS Health clinician at Delta hub crew lounges and takes fewer than 15 minutes to diagnose whether the active COVID-19 virus is detected. “Just like there’s no single method to reducing the transmission of the virus, there’s no one solution to testing our global workforce that is always on the move,” said Joanne Smith, Delta’s…
Later this year, airport operators will be required to assess and report runway conditions using a new methodology developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Here is a look at what compliance might mean for hubs, as well as some of the challenges around implementation. As of November, all airport operators will be required to monitor their runways more closely using a new standardized methodology. Developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the package, known as the global reporting format (GRF), is aimed at harmonizing the assessment and reporting of runway conditions. Along with controlled flight into terrain (an accident…