Paul Saffo forwards comments from a senior carrier pilot on the airport security morass:
In consideration of the change in flight crew procedural response, armed pilots, air marshalls, and especially the reinforced flight deck door, there is no reason to screen passengers for anything other than explosives, and we do not have the effective means to do that. Screening for nail clippers, scissors, and any other portable implements including guns is meaninglessWe in Madison are generally fortunate that the security lines at MSN are nothing like those at SFO, LAX, CVG, LGA (Friday night!) or other major airports.
Mike Ivey nicely summarizes the current state of Madison Air Service. The Northwest Airlines request for Wisconsin subsidies is humorous - They've received extensive subsidies in Minnesota. Perhaps the Gopher state will subsidize Air Wisconsin and Midwest Air...
Richard Seaman posted some beautiful photos of last week's historic spaceship one flight.
My father and I drove, rather started and stopped numerous times last week, as we attempted to navigate our way around Chicago. We slowed to a stop about 20 miles east of Illinois on I-90, routed around the stalled traffic on a combination of Indiania 912, US 41/12, the Chicago Skyway (also under construction), State Street, Lake Shore Drive, then finally back to 90.... I've never seen it worse than last Thursday. Larry Sandler discusses the gory details of driving around Chicago. Lake Express is an option....
A smart idea:
To encourage drivers to take more frequent breaks, the Texas Department of Transportation wants to set up free wireless Internet access at rest stops and travel information centers.
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I've written a bit about Madison's air service. Marv Balousek writes today about Madison "leaking" passengers to Milwaukee and Chicago. Leaking means passengers driving to other airports in an effort to obain lower fares. Airport Director Brad Livingston cited one example, Orlando:
115,142 people flew to Orlando, Fla., last year from the Dane County Airport's market area, just 59,024 or 51.3 percent flew from the Madison airport. Orlando was the airport's most popular destination.
This is not a big surprise. Visit to travelocity.com and search a number of city pairs from Madison to Orlando, Austin, San Francisco, Boise, Denver and other major markets.
In some cases, fares are attractive from Madison, others they are not. (Madison to Minneapolis is a great example): on June 2, 2004 a typical business roundtrip (fly up at 7:00a.m. and return around 6:00p.m.> Northwest has a nonstop fare of $403 plus taxes and fees. Interestingly, on the same day, Southwest flies from Dallas to Houston (a similar distance) for a roundtrip fare of $197.20 (planning ahead will save money).
There are a couple of reasons for this discrepency: Northwest has no competition on Madison-Minneapolis flights; while Southwest does from Dallas to Houston. There's also a philosophical difference between Northwest's business approach (charge the highest prices possible) and Southwest's (let's grow traffic by charging low, friendly fares).
Finally, the only time major airlines reduce fares and increase frequency is when they are faced with low fare competition.
Southwest is the only game changer for Madison...
Mike Ivey updates us on Madison's Air Service (and the possible entry of Southwest):
Livingston said Southwest Airlines has expressed some interest in coming into this market but said the low-cost carrier hasn't committed to anything. Southwest is one of the few airlines that has remained profitable despite the fallout from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the slow economy and soaring jet fuel prices.Southwest makes a great deal of sense for Madison, both from a cultural and service perspective."They aren't telling us much, only that Madison is one of 350 cities they are looking at," he said.
I've written before about Madison's air travel challenges and opportunities.
I continue to believe that only the arrival of Southwest will truly change Madison's air transportation opportunities. The "Southwest Effect" is just what Madison needs: the average fare decreases and the number of passengers dramatically increases when Southwest enters a market.
I recently phoned Gary Kelly, Southwest's CFO to encourage them to fly to Madison. Southwest gets major points for having a real person answering the phone and playing good music while the call is being routed around the company.
Marv Balousek writes that Northwest may add some non stop flights from Madison (to destinations other than their fortress hubs in Detroit, Minneapolis and Memphis):
Northwest's Jim Cron said the growing popularity of regional jets also could inspire a competitor to begin offering more nonstop flights from Madison. He said leisure destinations like Florida and Las Vegas might be the most successful.I would be very surprised if they did this. The only reason they've added non stop flights in Milwaukee is to kill off Midwest airlines. Like other major airlines, once the competition is gone, we're back to connecting via the fortress hubs.Brad Livingston, Dane County Regional Airport director, said he plans to meet next month with airline scheduling officials, including Northwest, to talk about improving service to Madison. He said the number of Dane County Airport passengers rose 13.6 percent in April over March and is 6 percent higher this year than in 2003.
On the other hand, this is possibly good news. However, the announcement smells like a request for local airline subsidies. I still think the best approach for MSN is to do everything possible to bring Southwest to town.
UPDATE: Northwest doesn't like Wisconsin's tax subsidies for Midwest Airlines and Air Wisconsin (I don't either). Keep in mind that NWA has benefited greatly from Minnesota subsidies.
There's been some media discussion recently about the state of Madison's Air Service, specifically, United Express (regional carrier for United Airlines). Many of United Express's flights are served by Appleton based Air Wisconsin.
I experienced these service issues firsthand this past winter. The random number generator that is United Express service between Chicago and Madison became so bad that I phoned J. Kevin LaWare, Air Wisconsin's Vice President of Operations. Service examples include
Surprisingly, he called me back several weeks later (February, I recall) and mentioned that
ABQ or Albuquerque's Sunport features free wireless internet access (WiFi). This enlightened approach makes it very easy for passengers and visitors to check email, surf the web or use a VPN (Virtual Private Network), things not possible at our local airport (MSN). I find it astonishing that a supposedly tech savvy area has non existant airport connectivity.
UPDATE: Sharyn Wisniewski in County Executive Falk's office left me a voice mail today that the Madison Airport will be accepting bids shortly for a paid WiFi service, to be installed this summer. Better than the current situation, I find Albuquerque's tech friendly approach to be superior (just works, vs digging out a credit card, signing up and going through the login process). The County should rethink this plan (we're not talking about much money - I would imagine that the administration of a 3rd party contract is more expensive than installing 5 DSL lines with wireless access points).
Virginia Postrel writes about the new 0. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, Virginia (Link recorded the waning years of steam locomotives)
The museum is in the former Norfolk and Western train station, which famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy redesigned in 1947. As Modernism's Victoria Pedersen writes: "He completely transformed the 1905 neoclassical station, adding 22-foot ceilings, marble walls, terrazzo floors, a futuristic wall of horizontal windows and a dome. He also designed a concorse leading to the train platform that featured the first passenger escalators in the Roanoke Valley, cutting-edge technology for the period." The new station was the epitome of streamlined modernism. But what that meant in the Virginia of a half century ago is spelled out in the letters above the door in these photos from the Library of Congress collection, the first of which Modernism reprinted
David Brooks pens a too funny look at the proposed Liberal Air and it's counterpart Right Wing Express. The faculty seating arrangements are too funny....
On a more serious note, I recently received an email from County Executive Kathleen Falk regarding non stop air service to and from our local airport. She also attached a note from Brad Livingston, our airport director regarding their current initiatives (non-stop service to and from Atlanta along with potential incentives to increase service).
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Duncan Walker of the BBC writes:
The prospect of a revolution in air travel has been raised by Nasa's successful test of a 5,000mph plane. But are we likely to see similar advances in other forms of transport?