Category: April 2014

Main News April 15

More personnel promised for Miami

Miami International is to benefit from more passport control agents to handle its long immigration lines: the announcement comes from the US Customs and Border Protection department.

The actual number has not been disclosed yet but the additional staffing has been promised by the end of September 2015. In all, some 2,000 additional agents will be deployed across 44 ports in 18 states.

Miami is one of four Florida ports that will benefit from the staffing boost, according to Greg Chin, an airport spokesman. The others are Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, Orlando International and Port Canaveral.

Staff happy with five year contract

Alaska Airlines’ 2,500 clerical, office and passenger service employees, who are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, have ratified a new five-year contract. The contract was approved by 62% of those who voted.

“Ratification of this contract demonstrates the great strength and commitment our COPS employees have for our customers and our company. It further shows our frontline employees’ dedication to maintaining Alaska’s position as an industry leader in customer service,” commented Jeff Butler, Vice President of Airport Operations and Customer Service.

The contract includes pay increases and job security provisions, amongst other improvements.

New shared-use lounge opens

Airport Lounge Development, the leading US independent shared-use lounge developer, announced earlier this month that it had opened the first and only shared-use airport lounge at Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport, called The Club at PHX. This marks group’s sixth club, which goes to reinforce its position as the largest portfolio of independently-operated, shared-use lounges within the US.

DAL cedes cleaning contract to Air Serv

Delta has played down talk of any direct redundancies resulting from the change of cleaning contract at Minneapolis-St Paul airport. In mid-April the carrier’s subsidiary, DAL Global Services, said that its existing contract would be taken over by Atlanta-based Air Serv, which already provides wheelchair, cart driving and skycap services at the Twin Cities airport for Delta. The change will apparently affect 400 or so full-time workers: about 100 are expected to remain with DGS but work elsewhere in the country, while a further 200 will move over to Air Serv in the Twin Cities. The remainder, about 100, had at the time of writing not expressed an interest in future employment with either DAL or Air Serv.

Main News April 1

Seattle on a charge

The Port of Seattle, along with Alaska Airlines and Western Washington Clean Cities, has unveiled a new project aimed at providing nearly 600 electric charging stations throughout the airport for ground support equipment: items will include baggage tugs, bag ramps and pushback vehicles.

By converting the GSE from fossil fuel to electric, those behind the project calculate that each year savings of around US$2.8m in airline fuel costs as well as 10,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions will be achievable: this equates to the removal of 1,900 cars from the road.
The port has installed bright yellow charging corrals with smart, fast-charging plug-ins for vehicles which will be able to receive a full charge in fewer than four hours. The smart technology determines which vehicle needs the most charge and meters out the power. The initial phase will provide 296 charging locations throughout concourse C, D and the north satellite. The second phase will cover the rest of the terminal at concourse A, B and the south satellite, for a total of 576 charging locations by September.
“This project provides the infrastructure for airlines to convert their vehicles from diesel to electric in Sea-Tac’s effort to become the first major airport in the US to provide charging stations at all gates,” commented Courtney Gregoire, Co-President, Port of Seattle Commission. “As many as 650 vehicles could eventually be covered by electric technology and make a huge difference in the airport’s carbon footprint.”
Alaska Airlines has taken the lead in this green opportunity, and has 204 electric vehicles (146 with Alaska, 58 with Horizon) in operation on the ground at Sea-Tac. The environmental benefits are substantial, since Alaska’s conversion to electric vehicles is the equivalent of taking 360 passenger vehicles off the road for a year, or a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of around 1,000 tons a year.
“Switching from fossil fuels to electric-powered equipment not only benefits the environment by reducing carbon emissions and fuel use, but the transition is expected to save Alaska Air Group about US$300,000 a year in fuel costs,” commented Jeff Butler, Alaska Airlines’ Vice President of the Airport Operations and Customer Service segment. “These sustainability efforts help us keep our costs down in order to provide better value for our customers.”
Federal grants have provided the bulk of the US$31m project. The US Department of Energy provided US$5m through a grant with the Western Washington Clean Cities Coalition and US$3.5m came from a Federal Aviation Administration grant. Part of the grant money is being used to help airlines fund the purchase of new electric vehicles. Encouragingly, additional airlines are scheduled to join the program later this year.

Alaska aiming for the easiest experience

April will see Alaska Airlines launch its online self-bag-tagging options.
Self-tagging online gets underway on April 21 for passengers traveling non-stop between Seattle and San Diego, Anchorage or Juneau, whilst there are plans to expand the option for customers traveling from other airports later this summer. This launch follows the completion of a successful pilot program, which was offered to customers traveling between Seattle and Hawaii in 2013.
“Our goal is to be the easiest airline to fly. That’s why we’re introducing additional self-tagging capability so customers who prefer self-service options have the ability to print bag tags at home during the check-in process,” explains Curtis Kopf, Alaska Airlines’ Vice President of Customer Innovation. “Tagging your bags at home can save some time at the airport. If printing your bag tags at home isn’t your preference, our friendly airport staff will gladly help check your bags to your final destination.”
In consequence, travelers flying to or from any of the four debut cities will receive a pre-trip e-mail with a link to request a free reusable bag tag holder by mail. Tag holders will also be available for collection at each of the four airports. Passengers who elect to self-tag will enjoy a designated Self-Tag Express lane when they arrive at the airport.

Luggage theft: arrests made at Los Angeles

Following a period of sustained police surveillance at Los Angeles airport, in March officers swooped on the homes of a number of baggage handlers suspected of pilfering bags at the airport over a period of months.

According to reports 14 handlers, all working for Menzies, were detained whilst a further six were arrested. Police have revealed that further workers may also be implicated in this scheme, which allegedly has involved the theft of thousands of valuable items from passenger bags as they made their way through the sorting systems at the airport. Acting on the spike in passenger complaints at Terminal 4 and Tom Bradley, the UK-headquartered handling company was identified. For its part Menzies has been working with the LAX and the Los Angeles police departments in an effort to resolve the situation.