Airport dining in style – in an air traffic control tower

by Scott Carmichael on

Amsterdam Airport has always been home to some very decent restaurants, and today, they welcomed the newest establishment to their lineup. The WINGS food & drinks restaurant is located at the east side of the airport, home to the old Schiphol location (which closed in the 60’s).

What sets this restaurant apart from any other airport eatery, is that it is built inside an old air traffic control tower. The tower was built in 1952, when Schiphol handled just 325 passengers a day.

In 1998, the tower was scheduled to be demolished, but thanks to donations from various Dutch companies, a moving team picked the tower up, and moved it 30 meters from its original location, saving it from the wrecking ball. At 661,000 lbs, not an easy thing to do.

With the tower at its new location, construction crews transformed it from its original task into a restaurant and meeting center. The tower features four floors of meeting rooms, all overlooking the airport runways.

Unfortunately, WINGS is not easy to reach from the main airport building, but a bus service operates between the main terminal buildings and “Schiphol Oost”. WINGS is open on weekdays, and offers a full menu with everything from typical Dutch food to various international dishes and sandwiches.

Increased passenger ticket fee may help pay for airport expansions

by Scott Carmichael on

Ever paid attention to the breakdown of the fees tacked on to your ticket? In addition to the $2.50 9/11 security fee, and a government tax of about $4, you also pay a passenger facility charge (PFC) of $4.50.

This PFC is how the government pays for all the horribly outdated airports in the country. That is right – proceeds from selling $9 airport sandwiches are not enough to maintain and expand airport facilities. And neither is the current PFC – which is why a proposal has been made to raise the PFC from $4.50 to $7.

I’m guessing the government saw how the airlines were raking in the cash from luggage fees, and decided they wanted a piece of the action.

The increase should bring in billions of additional Dollars – an airport like Chicago O’Hare sees 70 million passengers a year, multiply that by $7, and you have a nice chunk of change. Then again, with an upcoming $5.5 Billion expansion plan scheduled for O’Hare, they need all the help they can get.

Thankfully, this $2.50 increase is actually very modest – international airports charge far, far more for the luxury of landing at their airport. Amsterdam charges a $90 “noise isolation charge and passenger service charge”, Glasgow airport charges $145 for the UK PSC. But the real winner here is London Heathrow, with a $155 PSC.

When you fly to these airports in a premium cabin, the fees can be as high as $300. So really, $2.50 seems like a pretty good deal if you ask me (these charges are all averages – some flights can be lower, some higher).

The proposal has been approved by the house, and is currently pending before the U.S. Senate, but chances are, it will become reality very soon.%Gallery-28218%

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United rolls out Travel Options promo with giveaways at three US airports

by Katie Hammel on

Travelers at the Denver, Washington Dulles and San Francisco Airports got a special surprise today. United Airlines opened its Travel Options by United Spin the Wheel booths at the three hubs, offering flyers the chance to win some pretty cool prizes.

Those who spin the wheel receive freebies for use on future flights, like an upgrade to Economy Plus, Premier Line access at the security checkpoint and at the boarding gate, or a Red Carpet Club pass. After a closer look at the wheel, it seems like spinners have the best odds of landing on “Economy Plus”, which, depending on the flight, can cost anywhere from $9 to over $100. Those who aren’t so lucky don’t walk away empty-handed though. Other prizes include water bottles, puzzle books, or decks of cards.

If you missed the booths today, you’ll still get your chance to spin the prize wheel. The booths will be at the Denver, Washington Dulles and San Francisco airports until October 5th, when they’ll be moved to a few yet-to-be-announced airports around the country. The booths made their debut earlier this summer at the Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles International Airports.

Woman tries to shoot down plane for being too noisy

by Scott Carmichael on

Every now and then you come across a story that can be filed under “you can’t make this stuff up”. Such is the story of 69 year old Judy Davis from Fulton, MO.

Apparently, ultralight planes had been doing practice runs all afternoon, and some of them had been flying pretty close to her house. Normally, when someone encounters aviation noise annoyance, they contact the airport, their local authorities, or the FAA.

Sadly, Mrs. Davis decided to skip all of that, and took matters into her own hands. With a gun in her pocket, she walked into the terminal building, announced that she was going to shoot down a plane, then waltzed right onto the runway and did just that.

Even though it wasn’t clear whether she actually hit the ground, or a plane, a pilot coming in for a landing aborted his attempt while authorities “intercepted her”.

The most surprising part of the story, is that the local police let her go on a $4,500 bond, once again proving that airport security is one big puppet show. While you and I were being searched for bottles of water, a 69 year old lady could walk right onto the runway of a municipal airport and shoot at landing aircraft.

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More power for the government to search your laptop at the border

by Scott Carmichael on

For years, border protection agents have been permitted to inspect and/or seize your laptop, smartphone or other data storage device.

Under new legislation introduced today, those rules grant even more power, while trying to give the appearance of increased privacy for the owner of the data.

Previously, it didn’t really matter what you had on your computer – anything was allowed to be inspected. This obviously meant that legal documents, medical records and even classified business documents could be inspected, without you being allowed to do anything about it.

With these new rules, border agents can search all the “business documents” they want, but need to contact their own counsel when they encounter legal or other sensitive files.

One other new addition to the rules is that agents are now allowed to inspect the contents of your computer when you arrive and when you leave the country.

What this means to the common traveler? Well, unless you are carrying child porn or anything else illegal, you have nothing to worry about.
If you are carrying business documents that under no circumstances can be leaked, don’t keep them on your laptop – encrypt them and send them by email or any other secure online service.

The rules for inspecting business documents state that the inspector can view the files, but that he needs to keep them a secret, you be the judge of whether you can trust them enough with your information.

If you are an attorney with documents you can’t permit getting out in the open, be prepared for a battle, especially if you are stopped at the border and are suspected of being a criminal or terrorist.

Encrypting your files is one way to keep them away from prying eyes, just don’t expect to walk away with your laptop without showing the inspector the contents of the encrypted file. If you refuse to cooperate, they’ll just keep your laptop and send it off to specialists who may be able to break whatever encryption you are using.

The Department of Homeland Security has released three documents outlining the new rules, and they are a really interesting read (if you like reading boring legalese that is).

CBP Border Search of Electronic Devices Containing Information (PDF, 10 pages)
ICE Border Searches of Electronic Media (PDF, 10 pages)
Privacy Impact Assessment: Border Searches of Electronic Information (PDF, 51 pages)