On the lighter side of travel…teacher Dave Barclay flew from Toronto, Canada to Cardiff, in Wales to attend a wedding, only to discover that the wedding was scheduled for next July. Barclay, who spent $1015 on his flight, commented that on the bright side, his error has assured him a mention in the speech next year.
The state of New York has begun studying the feasibility of a rail link to Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY. The link will connect the airport to the Metro-North station in Salisbury Mills. The Port Authority, which operates Newark, LaGuardia, and Kennedy airports, is set to take over operation of the airport this fall, which promises to help the airport in increasing service. The Salisbury Mills station is on the Port Jervis line of NJ Transit, despite the fact that that portion of the line is in New York, and trains are operated by Metro-North.
American Airlines will be leaving Stewart Airport, ending its regional service to Chicago O’Hare effective September 5th. American has cited operating costs as the reason for leaving. American was the first carrier to begin service at Stewart in 1990. Jetblue and Airtran have both in the last year begun service from the airport and it was hoped this would lead to more, rather than less service.
American Airlines has extended the confirmed flight change window from three hours before departure to twelve hours. Customers can confirm a seat on an earlier flight for $25.
Two planes came within 100 feet of colliding at Ft. Lauderdale Airport after a United flight to Dulles missed a turn onto a taxiway and entered a runway where a Delta flight inbound from Atlanta was about to land. The air traffic controllers alerted the Delta crew to pull up and make another approach to avoid the aircraft. The incident, classified as a runway incursion, is the fourth since June of last year.
North American Airlines will launch thrice weekly service to Lago, Nigeria from Baltimore/Washington International Airport. The service will operate via JFK Airport in New York using a 767-300ER. The service is timed to make connections with Virgin Nigeria.
Continental Airlines is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its frequent flier program, OnePass, which began in 1987. As part of this, Continental will be offering a series of promotional events.
Palmdale Regional Airport, which just recently received commercial service to San Francisco…will be retiming its flights to enable passengers to make connections to the east coast more efficient.
Qatar Airways will touch down on July 19th in Washington’s Dulles Airport…with nonstop service from Doha.
Midwest Airlines will be launching Midwest Connect regional service between Milwaukee and Charlotte, and between Kansas City and Austin. The service, operated using 50-seat regional jets, will begin September 16th. Additionally, Midwest will add a fourth roundtrip from Milwaukee to Nashville on September 4th, and a fourth nonstop to Las Vegas on October 1st.
A fire broke out on Wednesday at an American Airlines ground control tower under construction as part of the airport reconstruction project. The tower would be to deal with aircraft on the ground around the gates.
Southwest has joined Northwest in accepting Paypal for online ticket purchases.
Airtran began service between Milwaukee and Las Vegas with a single daily roundtrip.
US Airways has lowered fares from Greenville-Spartenburg Airport to 19 popular destinations. US Airways instituted a fare reduction program after its merger with America West.
Horizon Air has cut fares in many markets, attributing the cuts to its new Q400 aircraft. It plans to replace all of its aging 37-seat Q200 aircraft with 76-seat Q400s. The increased fuel efficiency of the Q400 allows them to carry twice as many passengers more cost efficiently. For more details on these fares, check out their press release.