Terminal Q

Singapore Introduces Two Systems to Ease Passenger Flow

2009-07-23T09:37:07Z

This press release from Singapore's Changi Airport recently came in:

Changi Airport Group unveils new measures to simplify passengers' airport experience

Passengers at Singapore Changi Airport can now enjoy a more hassle-free and user-friendly travel experience as Changi Airport Group launched two new innovative features - the Common Use Self-Service kiosks and the Passenger Reconciliation System (PRS), in partnership with ARINC, a leading transport communications provider. These features simplify the airport experience for passengers and aim to minimise the inconvenience commonly associated with airport check-in processes.

The common use kiosks present a convenient check-in alternative for passengers and better support airlines' operating needs at Changi Airport. Passengers can use these mobile kiosks to check in themselves, saving time and streamlining their travel experience. Five participating airlines have committed to use the common use kiosks to date - Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), Northwest Airlines (NW), Cathay Pacific (CX), Air France (AF) and United Airlines (UA). There are currently 8 common use kiosks in operation at Terminal 1, serving the passengers of KLM, AF and NW. CX and UA will roll out their systems later this year. Changi Airport Group is monitoring the usage of the kiosks and will introduce more if more airlines are keen.

Besides the common use kiosks, Changi Airport Group has implemented another new initiative - the Passenger Reconciliation System (PRS) - to further improve the check-in experience. With this new system, participating airlines can connect their own check-in systems with the PRS to allow real-time automated checks on self-printed boarding passes. With PRS, departing passengers with no check-in baggage can enjoy a seamless journey as they no longer need to queue at the check-in counters to get their self-printed boarding passes verified by counter staff. They can instead proceed straight to the immigration access point where their passes will be verified automatically by security officers using 2D barcode scanners. CX is the first airline to fully leverage the advantages of the PRS.

Review of Best and Worst Airports to Sleep In

2009-07-22T19:30:04Z

Here's a quirky website devoted entirely to sleeping in airports: http://www.sleepinginairports.net

It says it has over 6200 airport reviews and one feature includes a review of the best and worst aiports to sleep in.

Best:
1. Singapore Changi
2. Seoul Incheon
3. Amsterdam Schiphol
4. Oslo Gardermoen
5. Hong Kong

Worst:
1. Paris Charles de Gaulle
2. Moscow Sheremetyevo
3. New York JFK
4. Los Angeles
5. Delhi

FAA reauth and Colgan crash

2009-05-13T18:28:10Z

Twittering FAA Reauthorization hearing now. Twittered day one of the Colgan Air crash yesterday.

Porter readies for move

2009-04-27T19:23:23Z

Canadian startup Porter Airlines is moving into a new terminal at Toronto City Centre Airport in November. The airline is dropping more than C$45 million ($36.9 million) on a 10-gate facility that is expected to handle 1 million passengers annually by 2010. The move comes as Porter plans to add frequencies on domestic service and preps for another US destination, which will likely be Philadelphia, Boston or Washington. The new terminal will include two lounges. Scott Associates Architects is design architect for the terminal, figure3 is providing interior design services and the Maple Reinders Group is the lead terminal contractor. Check out an Interior.pdf rendering.

Bunny strike

2009-04-13T15:57:55Z

A diorama of the US Airways A320 ditching made of marshmallow candy has been named a finalist in The Washington Post's third annual Peeps contest.

"We thought it was the most memorable image from the past year," co-creator Brady Gordon tells the newspaper.

The aircraft landed in New York's Hudson River on 15 January after both engines lost power after striking a flock of Canadian geese.

Don't forget to vote for your favourite candy display.

(Image from The Washington Post)

Live from FAA forecast conference

2009-04-01T13:02:25Z

Twittering FAA forecast panel about aviation trends impacting US airports here

Worst. Airport. Ever.

2009-03-30T21:14:33Z

The Onion has an investigative report on what could be the worst airport in the world.

Twitterati here I come

2009-03-20T16:30:27Z

Terminal Q has joined the twitterati. Go big or go home, I guess.

Lounging in Chicago

2009-03-16T20:49:25Z

American Airlines finished renovating its lounge at Chicago O'Hare International airport.

The Admirals Club has seating for 504 passengers in a space larger than 32,000 square feet.

Elements include 39 work stations (this sounds practical but awful at the same time), a cyber cafe and a children's room.

The most refreshing part for road warriors must be the spa-like shower facilities with eight private showers, complete with towels, shampoo, body gels and blow-dryers. Shower caps and razors are avaialble upon request, the carrier says in a statement.

Photo from American Airlines. Go here for more pics.

Advice to the new kid on the block

2009-02-26T19:30:25Z

Leading the US DOT doesn't sound like a walk in the park.

So, I asked the United States' longest serving transport secretary what advice he would give to newbie Ray LaHood.

"Keep [your] nose above the water line," Norman Mineta says. "The transportation industry is a great sector of our economy but it's got problems everywhere. Don't get overwhelmed."

The only Democrat to hold a cabinet position in the George W. Bush administration, Mineta was confirmed as DOT secretary in January 2001.

He was one of six cabinet members to be reappointed for President Bush's second term, but Mineta resigned in July 2006.

The former congressman has a history of aviation policy on his resume. He chaired both the House public works and transportation committee and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board of review during his 21-year career in Congress.

After retiring from Congress in 1995, Mineta chaired the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, which issued a report in 1997 predicting gridlock at US airports.

Photo from Carlos Osorio/AP file

Striking the wrong plane

2009-02-06T14:59:05Z

Florida Representative Scott Plakon and Senator Carey Baker are drafting
legislation.pdf to grant airports immunity from state and local liabilities to deter wildlife following the Hudson River landing of a US Airways Airbus A320 caused by a bird strike last month.

"You don't want to put your employees in legal jeopardy for trying to keep airline passengers safe. It's just not right," Plakon tells me.

The issue is somewhat personal for the Central Florida politician (pictured).

Last summer his wife was on an aircraft that experienced a bird strike while departing Newburg, New York's Stewart International airport, Plakon says.

Susie wasn't sure if the wheels were off the ground when it happened, but the strike caused enough damage that passengers had had to switch aircraft, he explains.

"It's interesting working on something that affects you personally," he says.

Both Plakon and Baker say they are confident The Airline Safety and Wildlife Protection Act will pass this year.

(The photo of Scott and Susie Plakon is from Plakon's election Web site).

Cow emissions not cool

2009-01-30T16:15:26Z

The environmental debate has been one of very deep concepts and very long, nay sesquipedalian, words.

So, it was quite pleasing to hear the issue brought down to monosyllables, and by none other than Allan McArtor, the former FAA administrator who is now chairman of Airbus Americas.

McArtor explained why airlines are such an easy target for the authorities during the American Bar Association's
air and space law forum in Washington the other day.

Farm animals and their methane emissions may pollute more than airlines, McArtor says, but the big difference is "cow farts don't leave contrails!"

(The author of this post is a veteran aerospace reporter who declined to be identified).

FAA administrator, not just for techies

2009-01-29T18:04:26Z

While the FAA awaits a new administrator, I spoke with Nancy LoBue about what kind of person should fill the role.

LoBue, FAA's deputy assistant administrator for aviation policy, planning and environment, has worked for the federal government since 1984, so she's seen plenty administration changes.

Her two cents:

1.Whoever lands the job should be a good manager. The position requires more than just a technical background, LoBue told me between sessions of the American Bar Association's air and space law forum yesterday. The person will work with everyone from transportation secretary Ray LaHood to the Office of Budget and Management (OMB). The administrator needs to be a strong executive who is able to work through issues in a practical manner, she adds.

2. The incoming administrator must have the trust of LaHood.

LaBue says she is hopeful the new administrator will be able to work with LaHood to build bipartisan support for FAA and DOT goals.

(Nancy LoBue's photo is from the FAA)

New look of Love

2009-01-23T18:17:01Z

Dallas Love Field will get a new, million-dollar look.

Primary tenant Southwest Airlines is financing a $519 million construction project in which the three-concourse facility will be demolished and replaced with a singular, T-shaped concourse by 2013.

"Love Field is showing its age," Southwest vice president of properties Bob Montgomery says of concourses built in the 1950s. "The terminal facilities there are older than I am. They needed to be substantially upgraded. The cost to paint and patch wasn't significantly different than new construction."

The new building will feature more open gate areas, upscale retail and more food and beverage offerings, he says. Concessions will almost triple in size.

The forthcoming facility will also incorporate environmentally friendly components as Montgomery says the airport will pursue certification from the US Green Building Council's standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

Demolition of the north concourse will begin in the summer. Tear-down dates have not been set for the east and west concourses, says Dan Weber, director of aviation for the city of Dallas. Construction of the new concourse is unlikely until 2010, he adds.

Use of the new concourses is expected to begin in 2011 and all operations will be consolidated in the new facility in 2013, he says.

I hope they move the world map mosaic to the new building, even if it is outdated.

Montgomery says they are assessing what historical aspects of the existing facility will be kept in the replacement. There is a great deal of interest in the Texas Ranger statue in the lobby, he says.

(Initial schematics for the new Love Field are courtesy of Southwest Airlines)

Mothballing new terminals in Mexico

2009-01-14T16:16:20Z

(Megan has asked her colleague Brendan, who covers Latin America for Flight, to write this blog on the Mexican airport scene.)

Mexico's ailing air transport market is starting to catch up with airports as several expansion projects south of the border are put on hold.

Los Cabos, a popular destination in Baja California for holidaying Americans, has decided to delay for at least one year the opening of a new terminal which would have doubled the airport's capacity. Los Cabos airport, which is operated by Mexican airport group GAP and handled three million passengers last year, was slated to open a fourth terminal this quarter. It is now slated to open in the first quarter of 2010.

Over in Monterrey, airport group OMA has delayed the opening of a third terminal which would have expanded capacity from seven to nine million passengers annually. The new terminal, which was slated to open this quarter, is now slated to open in the second half of this year.
]]> Meanwhile in Guadalajara, the airports' small regional terminal will be temporarily shut at the end of this month. The airport operator, GAP, decided the regional terminal was no longer needed after ALMA, a Guadalajara-based low-cost regional airline which launched operations in 2006, shut down in November. GAP opened the terminal in 2007 to accommodate fast expansion at ALMA. The terminal's only other tenant, Aeromexico Connect, will now move back to the main terminal.

Why should an airport operator pay to staff, heat and light a building that is really not needed? Clearly it is more efficient to move all airlines into one building if falling traffic means they can all be accommodated in one terminal, rather than pay to keep two buildings open.

Mothballing new terminals and shutting a terminal which opened less than two years ago sounds painful but are smart decisions in difficult times. GAP and OMA explained to me that keeping open or opening a building that is not needed is simply a waste of resources.

One has to wonder what other Mexican airports will be next in deciding to shut terminals that
aren't really needed, and whether some airports in the US can also learn from their Mexican counterparts. For example, why does Austin continue to keep open its south terminal when it only has one tenant with flights only two days per week?

Austin opened the south terminal last year for Monterrey-based low-cost carrier VivaAerobus, which at the time was planning to serve Austin every day with flights to several Mexican destinations. But VivaAerobus has cut frequencies to the point it is now only operating into Austin on Thursdays and Sundays. Clearly having an entire terminal open just two days a week is not the most efficient use of resources.

While US airports have been reeling from capacity cuts that were implemented in September and October, traffic has been down at almost every Mexican airport since July. Not only have the airports been affected by capacity cuts by both Mexican and US carriers and the economic downturn, no fewer than four Mexican airlines ceased operations in the second half of last year.

The freefall in Mexico follows two years of torrid growth driven by the launch of six low-cost carriers. Airport operators expect the decline to continue through at least the first half of this year, so expect more cost saving initiatives to be unveiled in the coming months.