Large Parking Firm Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

There was some big news in the parking business yesterday, as Parking Company of America Airports, LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Like many other businesses across all industries, the company was negatively affected by deep economic recession that we are currently experiencing, and saw a decrease in revenue.

But this is why Chapter 11 exists - so companies that have faced financial issues can restructure and start fresh. The company plans to obtain $5 million in financing in order to continue operating as normal. Meanwhile, parent-company Macquarie Infrastructure will sell off the firm to Bainbridge ZKS-Corinthian Holdings, LLC, which will eliminate a fair amount of Parking Company of America Airports' debt.

Parking Company of America Airports operates 31 parking locations at 20 airports, including New York (both JFK and LaGuardia), Atlanta, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Their website, which allows one to reserve parking online, can be found here.

Vancouver Prepares for the Olympics

Well, the Winter Olympic Games are coming up, and I'm pretty excited to be watching some curling. (No, really!) A huge event like this requires a massive amount of planning, and it's no different for Vancouver's airport (CYVR/YVR), which will be giving many athletes and cheering fans their first impression of the city, and naturally, airport management wants it to be a good one! So that means dealing with an increase of passengers. In fact, on March 1, the day after the Games end, YVR is expecting 39,000 passengers, which is nearly 40% more than the airports busiest travel day ever. So the airport has been preparing for years, seeking the advice of previous host cities to learn how to effectively manage the additional traffic.

In a recent MSNBC column, Harriet Baskas outlines some of the challenges that the airport will face, and how it is planning to respond to them.  For example, athletes carry about 3-5 more bags than the average traveler, and they are often larger than usual. Baskas notes that the airport "purchased extra-large trolleys to help move luggage through the airport" to deal with this issue. In addition, having so many passengers will certainly mean there are more travelers seeking assistance. And of course, since the Games are a global event, there will be many international passengers. So, the airport is beefing up staffing levels at customer service desks, and will also be using a new translation service to help aid international travelers.

If you happen to be traveling through Vancouver during the Olympics, the airport has set up a website with some travel tips, such as trying a new rapid transit line that connects the airport directly to downtown Vancouver.

Meanwhile, the Rick Mercer Report on CBC looked into the airport's preparations for the games and shares an informative and humorous backstage tour.

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Dulles Opens New AeroTrain

Yesterday, Washington Dulles Airport launched the brand new underground AeroTrain to transport passengers to and from the concourses and main terminal. If you've flown to, from, or through Dulles before, you might be hoping that the mobile lounges (which have been around since the beginning in 1962) are becoming obsolete, but unfortunately, that's not the case. (If you've never ridden on one, you can see a video of the experience here.)

The new AeroTrain only serves terminals A, B, and C.  The D concourse, which is used by United for its hub operation, will not have train service. The international arrivals terminal will not have the service, either. As a result, over 20 of the mobile lounges will be staying around.

The station for the C gates is actually intended for a future concourse - so travelers will have to walk about 500 feet to get to the concourse after getting off the train. So, it will still be awhile before the AeroTrain reaches its full potential. There's no official word on when the new concourse would be constructed, and the Washington Post reports that "airport officials are beginning talks with United Airlines, the dominant carrier at Dulles, and other airlines that lease space there about funding the project."

But, overall, the train does sound much more convenient than the mobile lounges, and it will be running very frequently, with a train arriving every two minutes during peak travel times. This is a definite improvement, though airplane geeks like myself will miss the airport views that the lounges offered.

You can find more details about the new AeroTrain here.

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Airports Seeking Additional Revenue Raise Parking Rates

In a recent column, USA Today's Roger Yu writes that "parking rates are rising at airports across the USA." Airports that have raised their rates include Chicago (both Midway and O'Hare), San Diego, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Dallas/Fort Worth, Boston, Detroit, and Pittsburgh.

Why would airports do this?

Well, first of all, parking is already an important source of revenue for airports. For example, more than 25% of the revenue of my home airport, Providence (PVD), comes from parking fees. But more importantly, airports have been facing declines in revenues from airlines. If an airline cuts flights and/or uses smaller aircraft on routes, airports lose out on revenue from landing fees, and airports must seek ways to increase revenue.

One option, of course, is to try to raise fees for airlines, but the carriers don't like that as higher fees negatively affects the profitability of their routes. And if an airline cuts service due to a fee increase, the process is kind of self-defeating. So it can be easier for airports to get their revenues from the traveling public, from sources like concessions, and, of course, parking.

So, with rates rising, it's always wise to do some comparison shopping. For example, their could be some off-airport parking options that offer convenient airport access with lower rates than airport-operated parking options.

Canada Eases Carry-On Restrictions

The attempted attack on Northwest Airlines flight 253 spurred some very quick changes in terms of security. Fortunately, some of the most punitive changes, such as not being able to get up during the final hour of flight and the disabling of some infight entertainment systems (to turn off the moving map), went away very quickly.

But one rule that remained for a bit longer came from Transport Canada. For a few weeks after the foiled terror attack, passengers flying from Canada to the United States were only allowed to bring a personal item onboard, such as a purse or laptop bag. No carry-on luggage was allowed. Fortunately, last week that rule was changed - passengers are now allowed one carry-on item. More details on the rules can be found here.

This terror event has changed some airline policies, mainly for international flights inbound to the United States. So its best to check with the airline to see if it has any special rules in place. Passengers on these flights might see enhanced security measures as well.

Some Great Promotions for Denver Fliers

If you're a Denver traveler, you've been lucky for the past few years - tough competition between Frontier, Southwest, and United has brought fares down as the three airlines duke it out. So, not surprisingly, when Southwest launched a new promotion targeted for Denver fliers, Frontier and United matched very quickly.

Southwest is offering a free roundtrip ticket after the purchase of a Business Select ticket, which is the airline's fully-refundable fare with perks such as a free alcoholic beverage, early boarding, and access to a faster security line. Frontier is offering 25,000 bonus miles (which is enough for some free tickets) for the purchase of its Classic Plus fare, which is similar to Business Select but offers some perk unique to Frontier such as free DirecTV service, and access to Frontier's new STRETCH seating that offers a few extra inches of legroom. Like Southwest's Business Select, Classic Plus is Frontier's most expensive nonrefundable fare.

United's is a bit more confusing. While Southwest and Frontier have attractive product names that they are promoting, United is showing off...fare classes Y,B,M,E,U,H,Q! These are the coach fares that aren't heavily discounted. For every purchase in those categories, United is offering a free roundtrip and is offering upgrades for the first purchase as well.

While all of these promotions are focusing on Denver (Southwest's only Colorado destination), the promotions from Frontier and United are available for any of those airlines' Colorado cities.

Find all the details here:

Frontier
Southwest
United

Mesa’s Bankrupt – Do You Need to Worry?

If you follow airline news, you might have heard that Mesa Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Do you need to worry about that? The short answer is no.

One cannot book tickets on Mesa directly - it serves as a regional carrier for Delta, United, and US Airways. Because one can only book flights through the mainline carriers, those airlines will take care of any changes for you. Plus, Mesa is continuing operations as normal for the time being.

Mesa also owns the carrier go!, which operates inter-island Hawaii service, and has just entered into a partnership with Mokulele Airlines. go! is not part of the bankruptcy filing, so those passengers need not worry, either.