Taking off Travel blog

Airlines Oppose Philadelphia Airport Extension

From time to time I do a travel news roundup. This week, it’s an airport edition, including some news on airport parking. First up is the news that US Airways has opposed the planned expansion of Philadelphia International Airport, which will include a runway running alongside the Delaware. According to the airline the expansion will not address the key issues of delay reduction and traffic congestion, nor will it attract the international nonstop air service desired by many of those in the business and hospitality industry.

The airlines (other opponents of the scheme include Southwest Airlines, Delta and UPS) and the city differ widely in their estimates of the value and the cost of the scheme. The city says it will cost $6.4bn and bring up to 100,000 jobs; the airlines put the tab at closer to $10.5bn and say the jobs figures have no base in reality. Another key issue is the timing of the construction of the new runway. The city wants to push ahead with it, while the airlines would like to tie their financial commitment to benchmarks including economic improvement or resolving airspace issues.

The two sides remain at loggerheads. Read the full story here and check out our Philadelphia airport parking rates.

New JetBlue Routes and Watertown Expansion

In other news, JetBlue has started a nonstop daily service to San Juan, Puerto Rico from Bradley International Airport, MA. An additional service to West Palm Beach will also start this week. Meanwhile, the expansion of Watertown International Airport’s terminal is nearly complete, with a new passenger waiting area, upgraded baggage claim and plans to install an on-site car rental franchise.

SmartPark Gets iPhone App

Finally, if you’re planning to park at our SmartPark JFK airport parking location, your job is even easier with the facility’s airport parking reservation iPhone app. You can even get parking rewards with the app, so download it today.

What are your 2012 business travel plans looking like? If we’re to believe a recent study commissioned by Deloitte it looks like many business travelers are expecting to take at least the same number of trips next year, if not more. The breakdown is largely age divided with only 16% of travelers over 45 planning to take more business trips next year while 27% of those aged up to 44 think they will travel more. Looking back at the figures for last year it seems that a lot of those surveyed anticipated that this year they would take the same number of trips or more than 2010 also 19% expected to travel less either because of the recession because they had changed jobs.

The survey also revealed some interesting trends in accommodation preferences among the respondents. In the 18 to 29 age group 46% of respondents expressed a clear preference for their favorite brand of hotel even if the location was not quite suitable while that figure fell to 37% for those above 30. Related to that, 49% of those in the over 30 age group felt that levels of service and hotel facilities varied widely among hotels in the same group. Only 39 % of those under 31 felt that way.

There was also interesting data on how business travelers use hotels, with 67% saying that they spent time working in their rooms. However, many of the younger business people spent time in executive lounges and lobbies for work. The younger respondents showed a preference for using automated check-ins but this was only a favored option for 19% of those over 45.

How have business travelers reacted to hotel price increases? By expecting better services and better amenities. This was the view of 61% of respondents. In addition 77% said that they wanted free Internet access as a priority. Like other travelers business travelers are concerned about flight and security delays at airports and these are even bigger issues for them than staff and amenities at hotels. Read the full story here.

(Image: Maurice Koop)

Just for a bit of fun, I’ve collected some photos of different forms of transport, as they were back in the old days and as they are now. Enjoy!

Happy Monday and welcome to another travel news roundup. Here are some of the travel stories that caught my eye recently.

More Spending, Fewer Jobs

First, a story in Travel Weekly highlights the results of a report by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. It shows that despite an increase in travel spending in 2010, indicating a recovering travel market, employment in the tourism industry fell by 1.4%, equivalent to 112,000 jobs. That’s after a significant 7.8% decline the previous year. In contrast, visitor number were up to a record 60 million, with spending up 12% over the previous year at $134.4 billion. Read the full story here.

Higher Fees for the Holidays

Air travelers are no strangers to rising travel costs and it looks like the trend will continue during the holidays. If you want more legroom or more comfortable seats, you could soon be paying more, says a report in the Seattle Times. American, Delta and others are providing these perks but charging more to those who want to book them. Delta’s new Economy Comfort seats, due t be added to the whole fleet by next summer, will cost between $19 and $99 extra. JetBlue offers more space for $10 (short haul) and American charges an extra $4 for window and aisle seats near the front. More details here.

American Modernizes Despite Bankruptcy Filing

Read more »

Frank Lahm and Orville Wright qualifying in the US Army's first aircraft July 27, 1909

I was interested to read recently two differing views on air travel. The first, by Ed Jones on Fredericksburg.com, shared his list of pet peeves about air travel. As well as the rush to board the plane when the flight is called (irrespective of whether your row is the one being boarded or not), and the lack of legroom on board, Ed’s top air travel annoyance is what he calls “smart phone addiction”. It seems that some people are genetically incapable of turning off their phones even to the point where they bump into things because they’re so focused on the tiny screens. And as Ed points out a successful landing is now marked by people rushing to get their phones on.

In contrast to this piece was another article by Leon Neyfakh in the Boston Globe. His view was that air travel might be about to see an improvement because of some of the new technical wizardry that is available. Of course he hasn’t got rose coloured glasses on. He says:

Flying is cheaper, more popular, and generally much less comfortable. These days, when we line up at the checkpoint with the rest of the crowd, we expect to surrender our dignity along with our shoes.

However, there is some hope with technological advances that can reduce waiting times and improve the flow of passengers through airports. These include using face recognition technology, RFID tags for luggage tracking, improvements to boarding and of course the next generation air-traffic control system.

Do these prospective improvements get you excited about how travel will change? Leon Neyfakh isn’t jumping for joy yet. He warns that the future might not be as exciting when it actually arrives.

(Image by Nobunaga24 at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)