Why does Gadling seem so fond of Virgin, OpenSkies and Southwest?

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve been around the blog for more than a few weeks, you may have noticed that we seem to cover some of the newer and edgier carriers a bit more often. Virgin America and Atlantic, Southwest and OpenSkies seem to edge into our network fairly often and it seems like there’s always a Gadling blogger close at hand (usually with a vodka tonic) to report on the hijinks.

Why is this? Are these companies secretly paying for extra exposure? Do Gadling bloggers get free tickets any time they want to jet set across the country supporting their vokda binged lifestyle?

The simple answer is Public Relations. Every day Gadling bloggers are out, scouring the interwebs, newswires and telephone lines finding out new information for you, the reader, and reporting on daily developments. And what we learn and how we report is directly related to how friendly, prolific and open the PR staff is. Contacts and friends that we’ve made at the above carriers keep us in the loop, let us know when things are happening and occasionally send us piles of spam. Unfortunately, that’s about all we get for free.Conversely, most legacy carriers don’t give a rip about what Gadling writes or what we publish – so they’re not interested in talking to lowly bloggers.

From what I can tell, PR warmth is directly related to marketing strategy. Hipper, younger airlines trying to cater to the Gadling demographic (you know who you are) know they have to keep the blogosphere positively spinning. Older, more established carriers who may cater to more of an elder or family demographic, on the other hand, might communicate in more traditional places like, oh, church bulletins.

And its not like we haven’t tried fostering relationships with legacy carriers – most firms just don’t realize the leverage that blogs can provide. So we’ll let them be and continue the subliminal message that we’re sending from Gadling. I’ll have another vodka tonic please. Thanks.

GO JETBLUE!

Novelty Item Causes Evacuation of JetBlue Terminal at JFK

by Josh Lew on

A suspicious devices that caused security personnel to order the evacuation of JetBlue’s terminal at Kennedy Airport turned out to be a pair of replica hand grenades that were meant to be used as paper weights. The novelty items were found in a man’s luggage during a security scan. Few flights were delayed because the evacuation happened during a slow time of day (7:50am ET). The whole thing amounted to little more than a 25-minute hiccup in JetBlue‘s schedule.

Security was extra tight because the UN General Assembly is currently in session. Was their heightened state of alert enough to set the events in motion or should people making the shame-on-you sign at the paperweight man? Most passengers seem to err on the side of caution when it comes to shaving kits, liquids and nail clippers. Therefore, it’s surprising that someone would bring something that so closely resembled at weapon into the airport. Why not opt for FedEx or the good old USPS when moving replicas of explosive devices from one place to another?

Flight attendants threaten passengers with criminal charges more often

by Jamie Rhein on

Being a flight attendant may be a job that is getting harder, like Jeffery posted. After reading this article originally published in the St. Petersburg Times about flight attendant passenger altercations, it reminds me of what it is like in an unruly classroom of adolescent middle-schoolers. Instead of threatening people with a trip to the principal’s office for not staying in their seats, for example, the threat is criminal charges, usually made in a loud voice.

An aviation lawyer in Sarasota, Florida said that flight attendants are using the threat of criminal charges for passengers who are not behaving more often ever since 9/11. I wonder how much the threats are working? The article mentioned several of the altercations we’ve covered on Gadling.

With the news of poor behavior it makes me wonder, if there wasn’t the threat of criminal charges, would people act worse? Or, since threats with middle-schoolers often don’t work well, I wonder if threats by flight attendants like, “If you don’t stop that right now, you’ll be in serious trouble,” make people behave worse?

Travel fight club: Fist fighting on airplane diverts flight. Any others?

by Jamie Rhein on

Last month I wrote a post about Franz Wisner’s book, Honeymoon with my Brother, an account of two brother’s travel around the world that lasted for two years.

In contrast, there’s the story I read yesterday on Wallet Pop that illustrates the opposite of the brotherly love found in Wisner’s book. The two brothers that the Wallet Pop post refers to were duking it out on a JetBlue flight Saturday because one of them smoked in the airplane’s restroom. Now, that’s a reason to clock someone. These two brothers weren’t able to travel together for more than a few hours. Perhaps their book could be Travel Hell with my Brother and highlight all the sib trips that have gone wrong. It might make for great reality TV. Send the pair to various destinations and watch the sparks fly.

The result of the flight that was host to the seemingly endless brawl was a diversion to North Carolina. I’m sure the passengers have not finished telling tales about their trip to Florida. Travel Hell with Two Brothers

I know that flying can create stress between family members so I’m wondering what else led up to this. Or does this family actually live in a B-rate movie or have too many hours of watching Jerry Springer episodes under their belts?

The only time I remember people physically fighting when I’ve traveled, and I’ve traveled a lot, was a pushing, shouting and shoving match in a Greyhound bus line at Port Authority. The fight was between two unrelated people–also males. I attributed it partly to summer heat that makes people a bit crazy in New York. The other passengers in line stopped the fight by intervening and talking sense into the lunkheads who forgot that all they needed to know should have been learned in kindergarten.

Any great fights when you’ve traveled? Not yours, someone elses? The photo shows that a lack of sisterly love could apply.

The Gadling tour of JetBlue’s new Terminal 5 at JFK

by Jeremy Kressmann on

As Grant reported earlier this month, JetBlue is in the final stages of construction for its brand new home at Terminal 5 of New York’s JFK airport. This morning Gadling had the chance to take a sneak peak of the new facilities in advance of the building’s official opening on October 1st.

Although there’s still much to be accomplished in the next 6 weeks, the building is already shaping up as a winner. JetBlue has built a showpiece home for its growing brand – a building that in many ways looks poised to usher travelers into a new era of domestic air travel. It was equally refreshing to find a totally new (dare I say revolutionary?) approach to the airport culinary and concession experience – one that is sure to please the palates of picky New Yorkers and fellow travelers from across the U.S.

With a project this ambitious, JetBlue has also built themselves very high expectations for their new terminal’s success both in the press and with their passengers. But as we saw with the opening of London Heathrow’s new British Airways terminal earlier this year, there are inevitably some kinks that need to be worked out. Here’s hoping everything goes smoothly for JetBlue at launch.

So what exactly did we find during our visit? Follow the link below to get the full overview, and make sure to check out our gallery too for the full Terminal 5 experience.

%Gallery-30298%Departure Hall
As I entered into the main departure hall from the AirTrain, I was immediately struck by the room’s massive size and scale. Combining the latest in cutting edge design, the interior is large, airy and brightly lit with huge windows allowing in plenty of natural light. There was certainly no shortage of check-in kiosks, which are strategically placed in large groups throughout the hall. Though it hasn’t completely disappeared, there’s much less emphasis on check-in desks, clearly an attempt by JetBlue towards a more streamlined, online check-in process.

Also impressive was the attention given to the usually agonizing TSA-screening. Instead of one or two open lanes crammed up against a wall, Terminal 5 is equipped with 20 some-odd security checkpoints – a nod to the central role this process now plays in our post-9/11 lives. Will all these 20-something lanes be open when you head to the airport? That remains to be seen – but the fact the infrastructure is in place is a good sign.

Terminal Atrium and Concessions
After passing through security, travelers are greeted with a huge open atrium. The showpiece is clearly the huge circular string of flat-screen monitors, which hovers like some futuristic alien mothership above the large open space below. The monitors just had JetBlue branding on them today, but I imagine they will be used to potentially display flight info and perhaps some interactive art installations in the months and years ahead.

The edges of the atrium are also home to what is sure to be one of the more talked-about features of the new Terminal 5 – its restaurants and stores. If you’ve ever eaten a flavorless $10 sandwich at the airport before, you’re going to be in for a shock. JetBlue has what looks to be some great restaurants planned, including a hybrid sushi/noodle bar, a Spanish tapas bar (Tapas?! At the airport!?!) and even an old-school French bistro.

Even better, there looks to be a nice assortment of shops, including one of only three outlets of Japanese retailer Muji in the United States. While nice places to eat and shop might not be a dealbreaker when you choose an airline, it certainly goes a long way towards “re-humanizing” the domestic air travel experience.

The actual gate areas were nice – each has its own fully-digital flat-screen display to provide information and destination weather. Very nice, but nothing revolutionary. The terminal is largely decorated in neutral colors with a blue-ish carpeting reminding of JetBlue’s color scheme. I also particularly liked the panoramic views from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, which afford sweeping views of the take-off and landing of other planes at JFK.

Baggage Claim and Wrap-Up
Before wrapping up my Terminal 5 visit, I payed a quick visit to the baggage claim below. The massive carousels are set far apart from each other to avoid overcrowding. It’s hard to review a baggage claim area until you actually use it though – the jury is still out on this one until we see if everyone is getting their luggage back come October!

And with that I ended my tour of Terminal 5. As I passed by designer Eero Saarinen’s retro-futuristic TWA Flight Center on my way out, I couldn’t help but wonder. Saarinen envisioned air travel as the future of the country’s transportation hopes and designed his building to match that dream. But Saarinen probably never anticipated the spectre of 9/11 and its impact on an already battered airline industry, cutting costs and tossing traveler amenities. JetBlue’s Terminal 5 seems very much an attempt to return to aviation’s glory days, and one can only hope that they succeed.