PHL Hopes That Bonds Get Approved

Roger Yu of USA Today reports in his weekly "Airport Check-In" column that Philadelphia Airport is hoping that the city council will approve the issuance of $535 million worth of bonds to pay for airport renovations.

A big chunk of that cash will be dedicated to improving Terminal F, used for US Airways Express flights. The terminal will be expanded and add new waiting areas along with new retail space.

Terminal F is really important for Philadelphia as there are actually more US Airways Express flights flying out of the airport than US Airways mainline flights. A good portion of the Express flying done by Embraer E-Jets is handled out of Terminals B and C, since they're more like mainline aircraft, but for the 50-seaters F gets the job done. In fact, I'd argue it's one of the nicest regional terminals out there.

Other projects include a runway resurfacing, and improved signage.

Read more here.

If You’re Flying Spirit – Check Your Flight Status!

Just a quick warning for those who are flying Spirit over the next few days. The company and its pilots have been going through labor negotiations...and they have not be going particularly well. In fact the cooling off period is about to end, allowing the pilots to go on strike.

While the strike has yet to start, Spirit has already been canceling some flights, so make sure to check your flight status often. The airline does say it has some contingency plans in place, but really hasn't be sharing a whole lot of details.

Unfortunately labor issues are stressful for passengers because we just don't know how things will end up. So keep on checking Spirit's website if you have a flight booked with them.

Travelers Share Thoughts on Body Scanners

Scott McCartney's weekly "The Middle Seat" column in The Wall Street Journal is always informative, but I specifically enjoyed this week's as it reviewed traveler feedback over the body scanning machines, that have been around for about six months now, as there was a big push to deploy the technology after the attempted Christmas Day bombing. So far, there are about 80 machines at 27 airports. There is a goal to have 450 rolled out by years' end.

So far the TSA has received 600 comments on the machines. Even if we assume those are all complaints, that's only 0.015% of passengers who have used them. For all the media attention the scanners received, not really a whole lot.

Read more here.

The Best Airports for Social Media

I've written here about social media plenty of times before, and just wanted to touch on the subject again ever since AirGate Solutions just published their list of top airports on Twitter. Not surprisingly, some of the big airports have the most followers - like London Heathrow. Though surprisingly some small airports like Akron-Canton made the list as well.

But AirGate took things a step further and wanted to measure total customer engagement, and divided Twitter followers by total passengers - and that's where things got interesting. London fell right off the list. Akron-Canton moved up a few spots. But interestingly the winner was...wait for it...Melbourne, Florida! The airport only has limited service, with nonstops to Atlanta and Charlotte from Delta and US Airways, respectively. So with 899 followers and low passenger numbers, they get the best engagement.

Interesting stuff. See all the results here.

North Dakota Sees Growth

North Dakotan airports have seen strong growth this year - boardings in April were up 14% year-over-year, according to the Associated Press. Apparently a booming oil industry has helped out a great deal. The numbers for the rest of the year should continue to look good, as airlines have been expanding service in the state. Later this week United will begin nonstop flying from Minot to its hub in Denver. Delta will also boost flying to Salt Lake City from Minot, Fargo, and Bismarck later this week.

Atlanta Hiking Some Parking Fees

Some quick news for your Friday - Atlanta is hiking some parking fees. Hourly rates are going up by $1. In the garages, your daily rate will increase by $2 to $16, and will also increase by $2 to $12/day. Not a huge increase but still annoying for sure.

But hey - Atlanta has a $1.4 billion international terminal to fund! But this is a balancing act for airports - getting revenue from two primary sources - customers and airports. If you raise parking fees too high passengers might be annoyed, and, depending on the airport location, might use another airport instead. But if costs are too high for airlines they can cut service. And in Atlanta's case, Delta has huge bargaining power.

New Airport Owners Aim to Help Worcester

Man, who remembers when Worcester, Massachusetts had frequent scheduled air service? It was only a few years ago! Back before 9/11, the airport was on the route maps of four different airlines, but was eventually cut when US Airways left the building in 2003.

The airport has maintained some service, but it's very limited. Allegiant flew to Orlando a few times a week and then dropped it, and now charter operator Direct Air has a few flights a week to Myrtle Beach, Punta Gorda, and Orlando. That's great for local leisure travelers, but when it comes to business travelers, it just doesn't cut it - a flight to a major hub would be necessary. So what's the issue? For one, there are a bunch of well-served airports nearby. Boston, Providence, Manchester, and Hartford are all about 50 miles away.

Hopefully, the fact that the airport will soon be under new ownership will help out.  It's currently owned by the city, and is being purchased by the Port Authority. But even the rhetoric about the airport isn't too exciting - like how the New England population is growing and there won't be any new airports built there, most likely. That's not exactly encouraging, but it's something. The airport will probably need to get some incentives together to start generating service, and charging low fees for the airlines is very important.

Air New Zealand Unveils Easier Check-In at Auckland

Over the years, Air New Zealand has done a  heck of a lot to try to reduce the amount of time wasted in line for check-in. For awhile they've been running a really slick operation for their domestic flights. The airline even says you can arrive as early as 15 minutes before your flight and still make it! (You can watch Cranky Flier putting that to the test here.)

Well the carrier is now expanding this program to some international - the busy trans-tasman route to Australia. Depending on how well this pilot goes, we can see some big time savings. Right now, passengers flying to Australia need to arrive 90 minutes before their flight. The airline says that if this new system works well, they might be able to halve that number.

Check out some pictures below - thanks to Air New Zealand for sending them.