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Good news for pets and their people traveling to or through Philadelphia International Airport (PHL): there are now seven Pet Port “relief areas” at the airport.

According to a PHL release, each fenced Pet Port is between 250 and 600 square feet and is landscaped with a 4-inch deep mulch surface, a bench, a fake fire hydrant, and a dispenser filled with biodegradable pet waste bags.

Pet relief areas are not only a great amenity for pets passing through the airport, the relief areas make it easier for drug and bomb-sniffing security canines to quickly do their ‘business’ and then get back to business. (In addition to PHL, you’ll find lovely pet relief areas at airports in Phoenix, Austin, and in many other pet-friendly cities.)

The Pet Port areas at PHL are located on the Departures Road between Terminals A-West and A-East; between Terminal B/C ticketing and the Airport Communications Center; and adjacent to Terminal E and Terminal F. On the Arrivals side, the Pet Ports are next to baggage claim areas in Terminals A-East, Terminal B, and Terminal.

Photo courtesy Philadelphia International Airport

Categories: Pets
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Each weekend during cruise season (November – April), the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) fills with hundreds of travelers who have nowhere else to go.

During a cruise, it’s all about “Sit back, relax, take a swim, have a drink.” But when the cruise is over, passengers are rushed ashore early in the morning so the ship can be readied for the next wave of guests, who begin boarding mid-afternoon.

That leaves thousands of passengers with lots of time between getting off the ship and getting on a plane home. And while some people use that time to go to the beach or tour the city, most just head straight to the airport and hang around.

In most parts of FLL, travelers aren’t allowed to pass through security until shortly before their flights. So it’s no wonder that the airport’s tropically-themed Corona Beach Bar, pre-security in the baggage claim area of Terminal 1, has gotten so popular.

There are umbrella-topped tables, palm trees just outside the window and, during cruise season, live music. Off-season it seems to draw plenty of locals and frequent travelers: according to an airport spokesperson, the bartenders know the regulars by name.

Categories: Bars
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The folks at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) have been busy beautifying their Web site with spiffy new tools for travelers.

Highly useful: The interactive maps (check out the panoramic tour of -an empty -Terminal D) and the updated at-a-glance list of services (note that there’s free power and free wired Internet at Gates A20 and B35).

Most enjoyable: The lovely close-ups views of the medallions and other artwork in the airport’s multi-million dollar public art program.

(Christopher Janney’s “Circling” courtesy DFW Airport)

Categories: Art
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The Tonight Show is on way past my bedtime, so I’m really glad that Terry Maxon at the Airline Biz blog makes a point of posting the jokes and jabs Jay Leno makes about airports and air travel.

All those extra charges and service cutbacks the airlines are announcing are making it way too easy on the Tonight Show writers. From Leno’s monologue last night (June 17, 2008):

“If you’ve been to the airport at all the last couple of weeks, you know the airlines are now charging people to check your bag. One bag, you have to check it now, and they charge you $15 to check a bag, 15 bucks, and 30 bucks if you ever want to see that bag again.”

There’s more….

Categories: Baggage, Carry-ons, Fees
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Like many other airlines grappling with record high fuel prices, Air Canada has announced flight and staffing cutbacks for the fall and winter.

According to an airline press release, “This will result in a decrease in staff levels of up to 2,000 positions across all levels of the organization.”

I hope one talented Air Canada flight attendant gets to keep his job. On a totally-packed Air Canada flight recently, I listened in awe as this flight attendant calmly reasoned with a very tense passenger who would not allow anyone to touch his carry-on bag in an effort to make room for other bags in the overhead bin. The passenger refused to move the bag himself and would not allow the flight attendant to do it.

After about ten minutes the still calm attendant “won” and quickly found a way to fit three other bags in the bin. He received a round of applause. And as he walked away I heard him tell another flight attendant that, given a few more minutes, he probably could have found “a much better place to shove that man’s carry-on bag.”

Categories: Carry-ons
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