Delays

Better connections in SFO and PHL

Delays,

Both San Francisco International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport have added connectors that make it easier to get around.

At SFO, there’s a new connector bridge linking United’s Terminal 3 to the international terminal.  That’s great news not only because passengers connecting from domestic to international flights no longer need to exit the domestic terminal and clear security before going to the new gates, but because the international terminal has some great shops and restaurants.

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At PHL, there’s a new D/E Connector, which means travelers can now walk straight through from Terminal A West through Terminal E without having to through security again.  The new connector comes with new artwork and ten new stores and restaurants, including Vino Volo, Borders, InMotion Entertainment, Peet’s Coffee and Teas, Taxco Sterling, Tech Showcase and more.

New tool helps travelers reach new runways at three airports

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Yesterday was “New Runway Day” at three major U.S. airports. Washington Dulles International Airport, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and my hometown Seattle-Tacoma International Airport all cut the ribbon on new runways.

What do these high-ticket investments in airport infrastructure mean for air travelers? Ideally, improved safety, reduced delays, and space for an extra 330,000 take-offs and landings each year.

We’ll see….

(Courtesy: Port of Seattle)

Of course, who cares if more planes can take-off and land unless you can actually get a seat on one of those planes?

So I was pleased to have a chance to stop by the world headquarters of Yapta this week to check out their poker table and learn about their new service that sends travelers e-mail alerts when frequent-flier award seats become available. As someone who recently spent way too many hours trying to figure out how to “spend” a chunk of expiring miles, I totally get the usefulness of this feature.

You can read about Yapta’s free frequent-flier award search service and a few related tools in a recent New York Times article. Or just sign up, snag a seat, and go try out one of those new runways.

(Photo: Daniel Schwen)

Forbes confirms: We’ll all be stuck at the airport

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In her Forbes article titled “America’s Most Time Draining Airports,” Rebecca Ruiz reports on the Forbes analysis of 2007 Bureau of Transportation statistics for 100 of the largest airports. (The full table of delay statistics is here.)

No surprise – Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) tops the list as “the nation’s worst airport for delays.” In defense, airport officials tick off a list of things passengers can do while they’re stuck at O’Hare: get a massage, shop at the Field Museum kiosk, or eat at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant.

That might keep you amused for about an hour.  In the Top 20 list of airports with the worst delays there are few that offer far more entertainment: San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Denver International Airport (DEN) have lots of artwork to see and at Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport (MSP) there’s oodles of great shopping.

sfoart.jpg

(World Civilization,” by Viola Frey, is located in Boarding Area A. Courtesy SFO airport)

Being stuck at the airport: no day at the beach

Delays

The travel news this week has been all about American Airlines, all those canceled flights, and all those travelers left stuck at the airport.

Today – Saturday – was supposed to be better. But then the airline scrapped yet another 200 flights.

That means that a lot of folks will stay stuck at the airport.

American Airlines officials say they’re terribly sorry about this mess. We know travelers are pissed off about this mess.

But what about airports? For an article on MSNBC.com yesterday, I checked in with a few airports to find how they’re dealing with this mess. “We’re doing the best we can to accommodate all these unexpected guests,” one airport official told me, “We know that getting stuck at the airport is no day at the beach.”

Party on?

Delays

Bad news for travelers booked on American Airlines flights today. Yesterday the airline canceled 500 flights to check on the wiring in its fleet of MD-80 aircraft. Today, the airline is canceling another 850 flights.

At Dallas-Fort Worth International airport, that means another 251 flights have been scrapped.

To make matters worse: severe weather is being forecast for the North Texas region later today.

So a lot of folks will probably be spending another night stuck at the airport.