Author: Julia Lauria-Blum

In 2005, while recording her oral history, Lillian Yonally recalled the thrilling sensation of lifting up from a runway and into the air. “When you take off, it’s power,” she said, “you push the throttle forward and it pushes right back into the seat, and you go on up. And it’s beautiful up there.” Seated in the den of her family seaside retreat overlooking Pico Beach in Massachusetts, Lillian’s face lit up as she recounted the experience, as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. Over six decades later, her love for flying in…

ABM Aviation Landside and Airside has been busy hosting ABM Cares events. During the month of October, ABM’s JFK and LaGuardia teams for Parking, Taxi, and Shuttle operations hosted a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness. Led by Shamelie Rafick and Migdalia Marrero, a total of $3,000 was raised! During the fundraiser, ABM staff and others from JFK and LaGuardia purchased delicious bake sale offerings and purchased items and raffle tickets for prizes, with 100% of the proceeds going toward the fight against breast cancer. The American Cancer Society and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital were the happy recipients of the ABMCares…

When preparing for the future and considering a career path, the aviation industry offers a wide variety of occupational opportunities and an abundant number of training courses to choose from. Many of these courses are just the right start to provide a student with the skills needed for an entry-level position and a well-paying job. Other programs may advance him or her to a more senior role in the aviation field. From trade schools and colleges to airlines and manufacturers; from the growing need for pilots and Aviation Maintenance Technicians/A & P Mechanics, the sectors that play a major role…

On December 7, the Long Island Air Force Association chapter honored the 80th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and all veterans of World War II with the annual Dropping of the Roses program. The program was started by the late Joseph Hydrusko who was a Navy medic serving at Pearl Harbor during the attack on December 7th, 1941. He was credited with saving countless lives as the Japanese aircraft dropped their bombs on the Navy fleet. In 1970, Hydrusko started a tradition of dropping American Beauty Roses, one for each anniversary year, over the Statue of Liberty while…

Breeze Airways announced that it is adding eight new routes in February 2022 from New York’s Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) and Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), the first market additions since the new carrier’s debut in May of 2021. “Breeze’s business model is to add nice, new nonstop flights on routes where only connecting service is offered by other carriers,” said Breeze CEO David Neeleman in a Monday news release. “We’re excited to introduce Breeze service to South Florida and the New York area, and look forward to adding more routes from both Palm Beach and Islip.” The eight new…

As a host of businesses in southeast Queens were forced to shut down in the spring of 2020 due to the dire economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Principal and Founder of RCGA Architects, Robert Gaskin credits the MWBE (Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises) initiative through New York State’s LaGuardia Redevelopment project for supplying critical support. On Tuesday, November 30, Gaskin attended a Port Authority briefing where Governor Kathy Hochul announced a record-setting $2 billion in contracts have been awarded thus far to Minority-and Women-Owned Business Enterprises program, which is the largest participation by MWBE firms at any public-private partnership…

After seven decades of business, Italy’s flagship carrier, Alitalia, touched down at Fiumicino Airport in Rome for the very last time on October 14, 2021, leaving behind a storied past, marked by years of labor troubles and serial bankruptcies. From 1964 Pope Paul VI became the first Pope to leave Europe since 1809 and the first to travel by airplane, beginning a custom of papal voyages on Alitalia, serving as the Pope’s ‘’official airline.” Often referred to as Shepherd One, the airline’s characteristic red and green tail with its ‘Winged Arrow’ served as a setting for the pope’s arrival around…

In the USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice for best small airports, Long Island MacArthur was selected in the Top Ten for the year 2021. As one of the 10 airports that serve fewer than 10 million passengers per year, Long Island MacArthur met the winning criteria of excelling in its commercial flight offerings, easy access, and air traveler amenities. While mammoth airports in the New York Metro vicinity take center stage on the travel scene due to the immense numbers of passengers who pass through them each day, Long Island MacArthur Airport offers a quieter diversion for harried air…

The story of commercial air travel, in a heavier-than-air, winged aircraft, began on January 1, 1914, when the world’s first scheduled passenger service took to the skies in a single-engine Benoist flying boat piloted by pioneering aviator Tony Jannus for the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. That morning, as a crowd of 3,000 gathered at St. Pete’s municipal pier, a ticket for the inaugural round-trip flight to Tampa was auctioned off, and former mayor Abraham Pheil won the honor with a bid of $400. Prior to lifting off from the St. Petersburg waterfront, Pheil climbed aboard the open cockpit biplane and…

Commercial airlines are in the business of transporting passengers and cargo by air on regularly scheduled routes. In addition to this essential service that keeps people and businesses moving, major commercial airlines sustain charitable giving programs that give back to the communities they serve, both locally and globally. Through a predetermined application process, charitable organizations that receive support are primarily registered as 501(c)3 not-for-profit and include those that champion education, medical research, disaster relief, conservation and environmental concerns, veteran’s organizations, arts and cultural non-profits, the homeless and food insecure…and the list goes on. Most airlines have programs that are organized…