New airport set to open in Florida Panhandle

by Leigh Caldwell on

Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport is set to open in Panama City, Fla., in May, and travelers can already book flights to the new facility.

The big coup for the new airport is a deal with Southwest Airlines, which did not previously fly any routes to the Florida Panhandle. Southwest will offer nonstop flights between Panama City and Nashville, Orlando, Houston and Baltimore beginning May 23.

Delta, which already serves Panama City’s existing airport from Atlanta and Memphis, will move to the new and improved one.

But is there a need for a new airport with a 10,000-foot runway in a town of 37,000?

That’s the question the New York Times asked, and the newspaper got all kinds of answers.

The airport’s main backer, the St. Joe Company, is a major real estate developer in Florida that owns hundreds of thousands of acres of undeveloped land in — guess where? — the area that will be served by the new airport. Company officials say the airport is one step in a plan to build the area into a major international destination.

Environmentalists say the building of the new airport on wetlands was damaging to the environment. And a former Delta executive says building the new airport was unnecessary, when the old airport could have been enlarged.

The biggest challenge to the new airport in Panama City right now is the economy. Will the airport survive until Florida travel rebounds?
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Philadelphia airport’s $45 million makeover unveils today

by Melanie Nayer on

Philadelphia airport’s Terminal E got a little makeover and it’s debuting the new look today.

The $45 million expansion in Philly Phili includes seven new gates for aircraft, a 500-seat passenger waiting area, a mini food court with new restaurant chains, and a 350-foot curved-glass wall. Coming soon, a new baggage-claim building with nine carousels and new ticket counters. Behind the scenes, a new automated bag sorting system with high-technology explosives-detection machines will be put to the test, with the hopes of using the machines full time in the fall.

Terminal E is home to Southwest Airlines, which operates 54 nonstops a day from Philly Phili. The purpose of the renovation is to make traveling between terminals easier for travelers. A 204,000-square-foot “connector” building opened in December 2008 that allowed travelers to go between Terminals D and E, and stop to shop at the airport mall along the way.

Who’s paying for this renovation? The mult-million tab comes paid for by airport revenue bonds funded by the airlines, federal grants, and you – the passenger facility charges you pay when you purchase airline tickets goes to these type of improvements.

[via Philadephia Inquirer]

Southwest Airlines decides actor Kevin Smith is “too fat” to fly with them – kicks him off plane

by Scott Carmichael on

Oh Southwest Airlines… You make yourself look good by staying away from those pesky baggage charges, then you go and make yourself look ridiculous by kicking a famous actor off your plane because the captain decided he was “a safety risk” for being too fat to fly.

Bad, bad move.

The actor in question is Kevin Smith (you may know him as Silent Bob). He admits that he’s a bit of a fatty, but he also told his Twitter followers that he had no problems putting both armrests down. So, once the Southwest PR team wakes up tomorrow morning, I’d love to hear their side of the story, and how they decide who is entitled to fly on their planes, and what their definition of “safety risk” is. Seriously, I can’t wait for the PR spin on this one.

See, Kevin Smith has 1.6 million followers on Twitter, who all get to read just how unfairly he was treated, and how the airline tried to make everything better with a $100 voucher.

Of course, this is not the first time the airline has managed to get in the news with stupid decisions by its staff – last time they made the news, an overweight passenger was barred from flying, and missed the funeral of his uncle.

UPDATE: Southwest airlines issued a public apology this afternoon, along with their side of the story. Sadly, their page won’t load right correctly now, so we have posted their response here for you to read.

As you can see, there is indeed another side to the story. That said – Mr. Smith confirmed that he could sit with the armrests down and without the use of a seatbelt extender, so despite their statement, there still remains the issue that someone at their airline decided he was too large.

Air France goes prix fixe, not buffet

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Starting in April, Air France is going to make you pay for what you consume. If you consume only one seat, that’s all you’ll have to buy. But, if you require more than one seat, expect to whip out your plastic. For some reason, airline spokesman Nicolas Petteau calls it “a question of security,” but I don’t think so. To me, it seems more like a question of getting what you pay for … and asking you to pay for everything you get.

The new policy includes refunded additional fares for obese passengers taking up two seats on a plane that isn’t full. Air France estimates that these refunds will be granted in 90 percent of big-passenger cases. Nonetheless, the airline cites economic factors as behind the decision (aside from the bizarro comment about security), which is not only believable but appropriate.

Air France, which denied the policy in the French media, ran into some trouble over this issue three years ago. A passenger weighing 353 pounds successfully sued the airline, which had to pay him $11,423 in damages and the cost of the second seat from New Delhi to Paris. (Let’s just hope he had an empty seat next to him.)

Other airlines have similar policies, including Southwest and JetBlue — and I applaud them. Forget about everything except the simple fact that the ticket you buy entitles you to one seat on the flight. If one seat does not meet your needs, buy two seats. After all, if I go to a restaurant and buy one entrée and remain hungry, I have to buy a second one.

Former airline employee allegedly robs bank — dressed in his airline uniform

by Scott Carmichael on

Why is it that we never hear stories of smart bank robbers? For some reason, when someone decides to rob a bank, it is usually someone as dumb as a bag of rocks. Take for example 24 year old Deoquisto Dennis.

According to the FBI, this Chicago resident walked into a TCF bank branch on South Cicero Avenue in Burbank, handed the teller a note demanding cash, and threatened to harm if his demands were not met.

Now, most bank robbers use face masks, and dark clothes — they understand that leaving any clues about their identity may screw up their plans of instant wealth. Sadly, Mr. Dennis could not find a suitable bank robbers outfit, so he allegedly put on the uniform he used to wear when he worked for Southwest Airlines.

Imagine a bank robber walking in with a Southwest Airlines sweatshirt and a fluorescent ramp workers vest — can you think of a more useless outfit? Of course, with the whole thing caught on tape, all the cops had to do was take the footage to Midway airport, interview a couple of employees and within hours they had a name.

Dennis has now been charged, and was released under bond with a home confinement, awaiting his next court date. In addition to his TCF Bank heist, he is also a suspect in four other Chicago area bank robberies around the same time.

A description of one of his robberies, along with more photos can be found on the Chicago Bandit tracker site. His “wardrobe mistake” may now end up costing him 20 years of his life.%Gallery-76818%

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