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.
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…
After two months of small but steady passenger increases, U.S. airlines are bracing for what could be a further drop in demand as coronavirus cases surge in popular leisure travel destinations, including Florida and Arizona. United Airlines is already scaling back August flights that the carrier had added just a week earlier. United now plans to fly about 35 percent of the schedule it flew in August last year. On July 1, the carrier unveiled plans to fly 40 percent of last year’s schedule. The International Air Transport Association on Juy 24th released the results of a survey that showed…
Face coverings are required in all Port Authority facilities to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the traveling public. To support this important public health effort, agency staff distributed masks to passengers at the Midtown Bus Terminal, the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, and in key PATH stations on several days in recent weeks. Altogether, employees have distributed close to 170,000 cloth masks to passengers during four rush-hour surges. The vast majority of passengers accepting masks were already wearing masks of their own, indicative of the greater than 90% compliance that has been observed throughout the Port Authority’s mass…
Happy 231st birthday to the U.S. Customs Service! Over two centuries ago, a newly independent America established 59 customs collections districts in the 11 states that ratified the new Constitution – creating the U.S. Customs Service. The first U.S. Congress created the Service as a way to offset Revolutionary War debt and to fund America in its infancy. By 1800, Customs was responsible for 88% of U.S. federal revenue. Two hundred and thirty-one years later, as the second largest revenue collector for the U.S. government today, U.S. Customs and Border Protection keeps this legacy alive as we continue to protect U.S. consumers…
As the length of time we experience the pandemic grows, the more we learn. Plastic trays at airport security have more respiratory viruses than public toilets, according to recently published research. The study, called Deposition of respiratory virus pathogens on frequently touched surfaces at airports, was based on 90 surface samples and four air samples collected at Helsinki-Vantaa airport over the course of three weeks in 2016. Samples were collected weekly at three different times of day from various points along the passenger journey, from handrails on escalators and lift buttons to trolley handles and toys in the children’s play area. Of…