Building A Better Airline For New York

Delta Air Lines is “Building A Better Airline For New York.”

While attending school in Michigan from 2008 to 2012, I flew home to New York City on Delta Air Lines quite often. The schedule from Detroit Metro (DTW) to John F. Kennedy (JFK) was quite lite, with only a small handful of flights per day, while most flights went to LaGuardia (LGA). I did everything within my power to avoid flying into LGA. Even if it meant paying slightly more, I did not want anything to do with LGA.

Deltas terminal at LGA was cramped, overcrowded, and lacked any food options of a higher quality than Burger King. LGA was a downright unpleasant experience. Flash forward to 2012 and Delta began their ’œWin New York’ program, involving expanded flight schedules and spending massive amounts of money to revamp the passenger experience.

In the summer of 2012, Delta purchased a majority of US Airways landing slots at LGA, becoming the dominant carrier at the airport and expanding into terminal C. While construction in terminal C is still on-going and not expected to be complete for quite some time, the transformation of terminal D is astounding. I was invited by Delta recently to check out the new improvements.

For the time being, the check in and security areas remain unchanged. Once you move beyond the entry way, however, changes are immediately visible. The first thing passengers will see after moving through security is a brand new food court and shopping area. I am happy to report that Burger King is gone, replaced by Taste of Custom Burgers by Pat La Frieda.

Feel like having a glass of wine and a full service meal? Take a seat at Taste of Prime Tavern. Maybe you just want a cup of coffee, or a bag of chips? It’s all available in the new food court. These restaurants are referred to as a “taste of” because once the check in area is expanded, these restaurants will be expanding as well.

Taste Of Prime Tavern at LGA Terminal D

Taste Of Prime Tavern at LGA Terminal D

Flyers of competing New York airline jetBlue may find this food court familiar, and they should. The company behind the redevelopment of terminal D at LGA is OTG, the same company that operates the food shops at JFK terminal 5. Many design elements of the food court are similar to that at JFK.

Adjacent to the food court are a few small shops, but they aren’t your typical magazine and soda shops. One store features high end products from Brooklyn Industries, a bit different that the usual ’œI <3 NY’ shirts you typically find.

Beyond the food court, terminal D has had every detail upgraded. Expanding on a pilot program at JFK, Delta and OTG has placed iPads everywhere. Nearly every seat and table has an iPad propped up, waiting for passengers to interact.

When first touched, the iPad prompts the passenger to select their flight, so that any status updates about their can be sent to them. After that, highly visual menus appear, inviting the passenger to order up some food, or even purchase some souvenirs before their flight. After paying with the attached credit card reader, orders are delivered to the passenger’s seat in about 10 minutes.

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Keep an eye on your flight status while at the sushi bar

I came across a passenger using an iPad while waiting for her flight, and asked her what she was using it for. She explained that she was actually accessing her bank account, and that she much preferred using the iPads rather than her own phone. Access to the internet is free with the iPads, but wifi for personal devices is not, which may explain why some passengers would chose to use the iPad. Whatever the motivation for use, this amenity seems to be a hit.

iPads everywhere!

iPads everywhere!

The real highlight of the renovated terminal are the restaurant options. Marcelo Surerus, Manager of OTG at Delta’s Terminal D at LGA, showed off the wonderful restaurant options his team has worked to bring passengers.

I was able to taste generous portions of pizza, sushi, seafood, steak and fries, even chocolate and vanilla gelato for dessert. All of the food was seriously tasty and competition for some of the best restaurants in New York City.

Steak and fries at LGA terminal D. So good, I had to ask how it was prepared.

Steak and fries at LGA terminal D. So good, I had to ask how it was prepared.

After Delta took over terminal C from US Airways, they quickly built a connecting bridge to terminal D. Terminal C is not up to the same level as D quite yet; there is still quite a bit of work left to be done. Some restaurants are still under construction; however, the SkyClub is open for business. If you find yourself with enough time before your flight, it is worth the walk over to terminal D for a better food selection.

It is clear that Delta is taking its “Win New York” program seriously. The airline’s LGA terminals have seen a complete overhaul and expansion, while a brand new terminal is being built at JFK. After a short period of time, I no longer avoid LGA- I prefer it. The experience at JFK for Delta is currently far below that of LGA, a change I am sure most people did not see coming. Next time you find yourself at LGA with a few hours before your flight, try the steak- medium rare.

ADDITIONAL DELTA LAGUARDIA PHOTOS:

This story written by… Jason Rabinowitz, Correspondent.

Jason is a New York City native who has grown up in the shadow of JFK International Airport. A true “avgeek”, he enjoys plane spotting and photography, as well taking any opportunity he can get to fly on an aircraft.

@AirlineFyer | FaceBook |

Emirates announces a new tier for the Skywards program. Photo taken at Dubai Airport yesterday by AirlineReporter.com.

Emirates Airline announces a new tier for the Skywards program. Photo taken at Dubai Airport yesterday by AirlineReporter.com.

Today, Emirates Airlines will announce a new elite tier in their Skywards program: Platinum. Just before the announcement, I was able to sit down with Brian LaBelle, Senior Vice President of Emirates Rewards in Dubai to ask some questions and learn more about the airline’s program.

Previously, Emirates had three rewards tiers: Blue: just register, Silver: earned at 25,000 miles and Gold: earned at 50,000 miles. Starting April 1st, 2013, passengers will be able to attain Platinum status flying over 150,000 miles. That is quite the upgrade from 50,000 miles of Gold status, so what will the premium get you? Here are the main benefits:

  • Access for the cardholder and one guest to the Emirates First Class lounge in Dubai and Emirates Lounges across the network
  • Complimentary Emirates Skywards Gold card for each member’s partner, giving them the benefits of Gold status, even when flying on their own.
  • ’˜Last Seat’ Flex reward, enabling Skywards Miles to be utilised on any flight, as long as there is an open seat.
  • Additional 20kg luggage allowance.
  • ‘Guaranteed Business Class‘ revenue seat, meaning you will not be bumped if you use cash or rewards for a business class seat.
  • 75% bonus Skywards Miles

LaBelle explained to AirlineReporter.com that Emirates wants to reward their top fliers and make sure they keep flying on Emirates. He wasn’t able to confirm how many current Gold level members will automatically earn Platinum status on April 1st, but he was able to say that out of the 8.6 million who have signed up for Skywards, about 110,000 are currently Gold members.

Although status will not transfer between most other airlines that Emirates has partnerships with (Alaska Airlines, jetBlue and easyJet), the new status will be shared with Qantas Airlines Frequent Flyer Program. This makes sense since both airlines will be entering a larger alliance starting also on April 1st.

This story written by…David Parker Brown, Editor & Founder.

David started AirlineReporter.com in the summer of 2008, but has had a passion for aviation since he was a kid. Born and raised in the Seattle area (where he is currently based) has surely had an influence and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.

@AirlineReporter | Flickr | YouTube

Spotting at Los Angeles International Airport will reward you with some of the most diverse aircraft/liveries out there. SpeedBirdHD made a re-cap video of some of his favorite aircraft at LAX in 2012. Enjoy (and make sure you have 17:10 free, because it is hard to turn off).

Be sure to check out more airline videos from SpeedBirdHD (but only do that if you have lots of free time).

Boeing fifth 787 test aircraft, ZA005, lifts off from Boeing Field. Image from Boeing.

Boeing fifth 787 test aircraft, ZA005, lifts off from Boeing Field. Image from Boeing.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been grounded around the world since January 16th and many have put in countless hours to try and get the aircraft airborn once again.

Hope was raised when the FAA gave Boeing authorization to fly a 787 Dreamliner from Fortworth, TX back to Paine Field on Feburary 7th. That flight was only a one-time authorization. Today, the FAA had given Boeing authorization to take their fifth test aircraft, ZA005, on a flight over the state of Washington (and looks like a sliver into Oregon).

The aircarft lifted off from Boeing Field (BFI) at 12:32pm local time. ZA005 had no passengers and only 13 Boeing flight pilots and test personnel. After the 2 hour and 19 minute flight, ZA005 landed safetly back at BFI and the crew reported that the, “flight was uneventful.”

Map from FlightAware.com showing ZA005's flight path over Washington State.

Map from FlightAware.com showing ZA005’s flight path over Washington State.

Over the durration of the flight, the crew were closely watching the main and APU batteries, which was in the center of the Dreamliner’s current woes. Boeing stated that the results are a part of an overarching investigation and at this time are not able to share any additional issues.

PHOTO: ZA005 landing back at Boeing Field

Boeing hopes to resume test flights next week to continue finding the issues plaguing their new 787.

ZA005 lifts off from BFI for a test flight. No passengers onboard. Image from Boeing.

ZA005 lifts off from BFI for a test flight. No passengers onboard. Image from Boeing.

On Thursday, All Nippon Airways (ANA) stated that the 787 grounding has affected more than 100,000 of their passengers and resulted in over 1200 cancelled flights.

San Jose Airport (SJC), which saw ANA Boeing 787 service for only a short period, before the fleet was grouned, announced via Twitter that the airline has cancelled service until at least March 30th.

According to the New York Times, Japan Airlines expects the grounding to cost them $7.5million through March and that they plan to seek compinsation from Boeing. Many other airlines have also made similar claims of expecting compisation from Boeing.

Sure, annoyed passengers, lost revenue and additional delays are one thing, but the airline that might be hit the hardest is LOT Polish Airlines where the new 787 Dreamliner means so much for their future. A great article from the Wall Street Journal talks about how the 787 continued issues could spell disaster for LOT.

This story written by…David Parker Brown, Editor & Founder.

David started AirlineReporter.com in the summer of 2008, but has had a passion for aviation since he was a kid. Born and raised in the Seattle area (where he is currently based) has surely had an influence and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.

@AirlineReporter | Flickr | YouTube

Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L1011. Photo by Bob Garrard.

Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L1011. Photo by Bob Garrard.

This post was written by Vinay Bhaskara with BangaloreAviation.com for AirlineReporter.com:

Eastern Air Lines was a pioneering carrier in the history of American commercial aviation. Its many historic achievements include launching the concept of a shuttle service between New York, Boston, and DC, as well as launching the Airbus A300 in the US market. However, thanks to gross mis-management by airline industry super-villain Frank Lorenzo, Eastern Air Lines sadly shut down on January 19th, 1991, making 1990 its last full year of operations.

In honor of the anniversary of Eastern’s passing, I’d like to share some interesting statistics from Eastern’s last full year of operations in 1990.

Part of a January 1991 Time table for Eastern Air Lines. The airline wouldn't make it past the month. Image from Chris Sloan / Airchive.com.

Part of a January 1991 Time table for Eastern Air Lines. The airline wouldn’t make it past the month. Image from Chris Sloan / Airchive.com.

Over the course of 1990, Eastern Airlines carried 22.09 million passengers on 279,793 scheduled flights, or an average of 60,536 passengers per day on 767 daily flights. On average, each flight carried around 79 passengers. Eastern offered a total of 38.25 million available seats. Thus Eastern’s system wide seat load factor was 57.8%. When compared to today’s bone-crunching reality of close to 90% load factors this may seem like a better option, but remember Eastern was losing tons of money at those loads. System wide, Eastern served 94 destinations, including 27 international ones (as well as San Juan and Ponce in Puerto Rico).

During 1990, Eastern operated 5 aircraft types including the Boeing 757-200, the McDonnell-Douglas DC 9-30, the McDonnell-Douglas DC 9-50, the Airbus A300 B4, the Boeing 727-200, the Douglas DC 10-30, and the Lockheed L1011-1 Tristar. The DC 10-30s were solely operated on the Miami-Rio de Janeiro flights, while the Lockheed L1011s were operated throughout the system on high volume flights between the Northeast, Miami, Atlanta, California, and San Juan, as well as between Miami and Bogota, Lima, and Guayaquil in South America. The 757-200s operated around 89 flights per day, while the DC 9 fleet operated more than half of the total number of flights with around 390 per day. The A300s operated around 38 flights per day, while the 727s operated close to 230 flights per day.

note: all figures approximate and are from the Dept of Transportation.

By far the largest operational base was Atlanta, which had 104,927 departures scheduled, around 288 daily departures. While this may seem small today given Delta’s 1000-plus flights per day hub in Atlanta, at the time, it was one of the largest airline hubs in the whole world.

For the year, Eastern carried 16.50 million passengers through its Atlanta hub, representing 74.7% of their total passenger base. Capacity-wise, Atlanta represented around 72.3% of Eastern’s total available seats, and Atlanta’s seat load factor was slightly higher than that of the overall network at 59.7%. From Atlanta, Eastern served 68 destinations, 4 of them international (plus San Juan, Puerto Rico). Perhaps the weirdest destination that they served was Gainesville, Florida with Douglas DC 9-30s and DC 9-50s, which today lacks mainline service. Below is a route map of Eastern Airlines’ service from the Atlanta hub:

Eastern Air Lines Atlanta hub map. Graphic from Great Circle Mapper.

Eastern Air Lines Atlanta hub map. Graphic from Great Circle Mapper.

Eastern also had a large Latin American gateway in Miami. After it shut down (along with Pan Am ’“ the other big Miami operator), both American Airlines and United (to a limited degree) moved in to fill the void in Miami and serve the strong ethnic demand between Miami and Latin America/the Caribbean.

By 1990, Eastern Air Lines once robust hub in Miami had shrunk to serve as primarily an origin and destination (O&D) base for service to Latin America. They operated just 40 daily departures and served only 11 domestic destinations: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York La Guardia, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Palm Beach, San Francisco, and Tampa (as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico and Toronto, Canada). But it was still a powerhouse gateway to Latin America, serving 23 destinations. The route map for the Miami Latin American gateway is shown below:

Eastern Air Lines Miami-Latin gateway. Image from CircleMapper.com.

Eastern Air Lines Miami-Latin gateway. Image from Great Circle Mapper.

Over the course of its long history, Eastern also had hubs in Charlotte, New York JFK, Kansas City, New York La Guardia, and San Juan, as well as large focus operations in Chicago, Orlando, and Tampa. But by 1990, these had all been reduced to mere ’œspokes’ in Eastern’s network.

An airline that had been the world’s largest in the mid 90s had shrunk to a shell of its former glory. But despite the financial troubles driven by a decade of mismanagement, Eastern’s network was actually very well designed. Much of its network out of Atlanta was later replicated by low cost carrier AirTran Airways in the shadow of the Delta behemoth. And its vacated routes out of Miami formed the basis for American’s new Latin American gateway that today is perhaps its strongest hub.