Archive for the ‘Airports’ Category

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of my Bay Area travel news round ups. Here are 17 things frequent travelers need to know this month:

>SIGH OF RELIEF. Ah, fall! If the madding crowds of tourists have knocked you around this summer, relief is on the way. Over the next few weeks, packed planes, sold out hotels, lines at the breakfast bar and shrieks and squeals in the hotel pool area should subside. Airlines and hotels are already rolling out the fall deals and discounts, which is a signal to me that they’re a little skittish about declining demand. That means lower prices, more deals and some welcome breathing room for travelers.

>FREE WI-FI AT SFO. San Francisco International has finally joined Oakland and San Jose airports offering FREE Wi-Fi throughout the airport. Log on and look for the “sfo free wifi” network. I’ve not used it yet. If you have, please let us know how it works below in comments.

>IHG HOTELS PAY BAG FEES. Here’s a deal that should be music to the ears of non-elite air travelers forced to pay those dastardly new fees for checked bags. IHG Hotels (which include Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites, Indigo among others) is offering to rebate $50 to travelers who book two or more weekend nights now through Dec 30. Must use Visa card to pay for your stay. Details.

>A NICE PAIRING. Two very popular brands among Bay Area frequent travelers have hooked up their loyalty programs: Southwest Rapid Rewards & Starwood Preferred Guest. Details.

>JETBLUE PASS SOLD OUT. It only took about three days for JetBlue to sell out of its unique one-month all-you-can-fly pass. The pass is a great idea for someone with a lot of time and flexibility on their hands. . .like the retired or unemployed. Not really something that a frequent traveler would be able to use…but still a fun concept! (Not to mention great PR for the airline.)

>DELTA TO DEMOLISH JFK WORLDPORT. I love Delta’s Business Elite service between SFO and JFK. But I hate using Delta’s dilapidated, ex-Pan Am Worldport facility there. Good news: it will soon be demolished and Delta will move international flights to an updated Terminal 4. Not so good news: Delta’s holding on to its mediocre Terminal 2 for domestic flights.

>VIRGIN AMERICA EXPANDS. Earlier this summer, SFO-based Virgin America bought a bunch of new planes. . . Now they’ve got to find more places to fly them. In coming months, Virgin will add flights from SFO to: Orlando, Dallas, Cabo San Lucas, and Cancun. I’m still hoping that they’ll get into Chicago O’Hare one day soon, but I suspect entrenched legacy carriers American and United are successfully blocking that for now. We’ll see.

>NEW NERD BIRD. Southwest jumps into the Bay Area to Austin, TX fray with new Nerd Bird nonstops from San Jose starting Nov 7. (Looks like Southwest is trying to beat Virgin to the punch…it’s recently been hinting about its own SFO-Austin flights.)

>BUY ELITE SEATS. No longer an elite level on American Airlines? Now you can buy many elite privileges per flight with it’s new “Express Seats” plan. Example: Pay $39 extra when you check in for SFO-JFK and you’ll get a coach seat near the front and early boarding. Details. Worth it?

>AMERICAN SLIMMING DOWN AT SFO. American Airlines is eliminating its non-stop flights to Boston later this year, which seems strange given its big investment and pending move into Terminal 2 at SFO. Did you know that it’s putting in a 10,000 square foot Admirals club, complete with a real FIREPLACE? I learned that little tidbit last week while attending the NBTA convention in Houston.

>KEEP AN EYE ON HAWAII FARES. Mahalo very much! Periodically over the last month, SFO-HNL fares to Honolulu have fallen to just $257 round trip on Delta. If you are interested in getting out from under all this fog, set up a fare alert on routes to Hawaii and then jump when you see a fare of less than $300. Here’s evidence of just how low those fares can go.

>MORE AIRPORT PERKS FOR AMEX PLATS. If you fork over $450 per year for your American Express Platinum card, your benefits just got better– cardholders now get access to US Airways airport clubs, as well as those from American, Delta and Continental airlines.

>SF-BASED PARTNERSHIP. Virgin America Elevate members can now earn one point per dollar spent at participating Joie de Vivre Hotels. To qualify, you must also be enrolled in Joie de Vivre’s loyalty program, Joy of Life Club. In addition to your Elevate points, you’ll also earn Joy of Life Club points for each stay through Dec 31, 2010.

>iPHONE TO THE RESCUE. There’s a very helpful new iPhone application from the TSA that allows users to check airport security wait times and flight delays in real time.

>FREAKISH FEES? The smart folks over at TripAdvisor have fashioned a very helpful “fees estimator” to its search engine– allowing users to enter the number of bags they plan to check as well as their frequent flyer program affiliation and status. Then the site calculates the TOTAL fee you’d pay and presents it for comparison on a matrix. Nice! See www.tripadvisor.com/flights and try it yourself.

>EASIER SEAT SEARCHES. I’m a big fan of Seatguru.com when trying to pick the perfect seat for a long international or transcon flight. In the past it was tough because there are so many different airplane configurations flying around out there. Seatguru’s solved that by letting you enter your actual airline flight NUMBER first, which means you’ll always see the exact layout of your plane. (I just used it to check out the nice business class seat I’ll have on my South African Airways flight to Cape Town next week. Stay tuned for more on that trip.)

>WATCH THOSE VALUABLES. A 47-year-old Air France flight attendant is facing 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to stealing from business class passengers sleeping on long haul flights. She said that she targeted passengers who would fall asleep after a big meal with lots of alcohol.

This week LAN Airlines inaugurated their fourth US gateway at San Francisco International Airport with LAN Peru’s nonstop service to Lima, Peru. LAN Peru will offer four flights per week to Lima on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with continuing service to Sao Paulo, Brazil and additional connections available to over 50 destinations in South America.

LAN will offer the ONLY nonstops between SFO and South America, which means no more stopovers in LAX, DFW or MIA on your way down or back. Nice!

San Francisco will join the existing US gateways of New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

LAN Peru will service the new route on Boeing 767-300s with long-haul reach and a capacity for 221 passengers. These aircraft offer a Premium Business Class cabin that includes full flat, 180 degree reclining seats with a completely horizontal sleeping option that only a select group of airlines in the world offer, in addition to a renovated Economy class. Both cabins feature a state of the art on demand entertainment system with personal high definition screens for every seat.

Flights arrive SFO at 7 a.m. and depart SFO at 1:30 p.m.  Business class passengers will pay a premium for that non-stop flight….LAN fares over the next few months are in the $5000 range while one-stop roundtrip flights on other airlines are more like $2300. Coach fares are in the $1200-$1500 round trip range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh1LlEhRzD4

Terminal 2 at SFO, the future home of Virgin America and American Airlines is expected to open next spring.

Earlier this month, airport authorities took The BAT on a behind-the-scenes hardhat tour to check on construction progress.

Take a look at the three-minute video to see it for yourself!

A few interesting things frequent travelers should know about T2:

>The terminal will be shared 50/50 by San Francisco-based Virgin America and American Airlines.

>Each airline will operate seven gates.

>American Airlines will occupy the left, or north side of the terminal. Virgin will occupy the right or south side.

>American will operate a brand new 10,000 square-foot Admirals Club. There are no plans for a Virgin America club, but airport officials say, “The entire terminal is going to feel like a club.” But if you really need a club, you can buy a day pass to the Admirals Club for $50.

>Tentative opening is April 2011.

>There will be eight security screening lanes.

>The terminal will offer free Wi-Fi throughout. (The entire airport will transition from paid to free Wi-Fi this September.)

>There will be 12 restaurants and nine retail stores in T2 including a Marketplace area that should resemble the Ferry Building on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. Most restaurants will specialize in organic, local and “Slow Food” menu items. (See below for map of concessions.)

>The renovated space will be bathed in natural light and include sky or cloud themed public art displays. Officials hope the terminal will be LEED certified.

>Total cost to renovate Terminal 2 is about $400 million.

Take a look at the three-minute video to see it for yourself!

Remember the CLEAR registered traveler program? Those who shelled out $179 per year got a special bio-metric membership card, which provided access to exclusive, shorter security lines at 21 airports across the country.

While CLEAR won the hearts and wallets of its customers, it struggled with debt and demand and abruptly shut down last June.

In recent months, a new company called Alclear announced an agreement to purchase the assets of the old company (Verified Identity Pass) and crank the operation back up.

Alclear’s first move was to update the www.flyclear.com web site, which had been dormant. The revived site encourages previous, new, or just curious travelers to fill out a form and vote on which airports where they’d like to see the service. (The site updated again on June 25 with more new info.)

CLEAR says that it will be in both Denver and Orlando later this fall. Prior to shut down, CLEAR was at all three Bay Area airports, OAK, SFO and SJC. But don’t get your hopes up for a quick return. The new company has to sign all new airport agreements, a process which could take quite a while. The site says, “We are in discussions with multiple airports to re-introduce CLEAR,” but does not mention any airports by name. Company president Ken Cornick told The BAT that all three Bay Area airports are targeted to get the service back, but he could not offer any more specifics.

(This post appeared first in The BAT blog for Bay Area frequent travelers. Sign up for The BAT today!)

The site’s FAQs also state that the new company will honor previous members’ remaining membership terms as of June 2009. (For example, those who had three months left in their term will get three months free membership.)It also says that old card will still work…so don’t throw them away!

In what appears to a bungled first step, this week Alclear sent out a confusing and unwieldy email (two full pages, 1200 words) to former members. The gist of the tome was to ask those former members who DO NOT want back in to send the new company a letter (via snail mail) asking to “opt-out” of the new program and have their data destroyed. (Here’s the full email.) Cornick told The BAT he was regretful, but said that this communication procedure was mandated by courts and privacy lawyers and they had to maintain a hands off approach.

Anyway… I was a former member of CLEAR and must admit that the service paid for itself, but not because it actually saved me all that much time. As an elite level member of several frequent flyer programs, I already had access to shorter, faster security lines.

What CLEAR did was remove the uncertainty from the airport screening process– here at Bay Area airports as well as in other airports that don’t have special elite lines, or those that have unpredictable wait times. To me, as a frequent business traveler, that kind of peace of mind was worth $179.

So, frequent travelers, what do you think? Would you sign up again or for the first time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzRKw567GVo

Remember last Christmas when the “underwear bomber” almost brought down a Delta jumbo-jet over Detroit?

That prompted the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to grab a big pile of federal stimulus money for about 500 more full body scanners– you know, the ones that produce images like the one you see below.

There are currently 97 of the so-called “advanced imaging units” in use at airports across the country, but TSA says that number will soar to around 500 by the end of this year– with nearly 1000 in place by the end of 2011. That means frequent travelers should expect to encounter more of them, and soon.

Here’s what you need to know:

>WHERE ARE THEY? Just last week The BAT was invited down to San Jose Mineta International to check out the four new “backscatter” scanners that are currently being deployed at that airport’s Terminal A. (Four more units should be operational in SJC’s brand new Terminal B when it opens on June 30.) At San Francisco International, you’ll find full body scanners in the international terminal only. Oakland International expects installation of scanners to begin in July (Terminal 1) and August (Terminal 2).

>WHAT ARE THEY? There are two types of full body scanners: “Backscatter” scanners, which are in use at San Jose Airport, and older “millimeter wave” scanners which are in use at the international concourse at SFO. (See video for a look at the new generation units.)

>WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE? The newer backscatter machines look like two big blue boxes with a small open alley down the middle. (Millimeter wave units are rounder looking with the passenger surrounded by Plexiglas for the scan.)

>HOW DO I GET SCANNED? You walk into the scanners, turn sideways, place feet in square boxes marked on the rubber floor, hold hands up and wait for the TSA agent to tell you to exit. The whole process takes about five seconds. (See video for a real-life walk through.)

>WHAT IS DIFFERENT? As usual, you must remove shoes and belts and place them with carry-on luggage in bins. But when getting a full body scan, you must also remove your wallet or any other non-metallic objects from pockets.  (Wallet removal is not necessary with the standard magnetometers.)

>WHAT ABOUT RADIATION? The TSA says that the radiation emitted by these machines is equivalent to what you are exposed to during about two minutes aboard at aircraft at altitude, and far less than what the government permits for cell phones.

>WHAT DO SCANNERS SCAN? Body scanners only expose what’s between your skin and the clothes you are wearing. They are NOT like x-rays, which penetrate your skin and show internal organs and bone. (This is a plus for travelers with artificial joints or other metallic implants who’ve been slowed down and forced to submit to pat downs at traditional magnetometers.)

>WHO SEES MY PRIVATES? The TSA agent directing you into the full body scanner never sees your image.  This officer is wearing an earpiece and is in radio contact with another TSA officer viewing your image in a remote area. Once your image has been checked, this officer then tells the attending officer to allow you to pass, or to subject you to secondary screening if he/she sees any anomalies.  (See video for a behind the scenes look at the remote viewing room.)

>WHAT HAPPENS TO THE IMAGES? The TSA emphasizes that these images cannot be stored, saved or transmitted. In addition, they do no allow officers to bring cameras, cell phones or PDA’s in rooms where images are viewed. (Except for ours, of course, but that was just for the media…)

>WHAT ABOUT ADULT DIAPERS OR SANITARY PADS? Citing confidentiality, the TSA officer at San Jose Airport would not tell me how or if the machines can tell the difference between a sanitary pad and contraband placed in the crotch area.

>WHO IS PAYING FOR ALL THIS? You are. The units cost about $150,000 a pop, which means that the TSA spent nearly $75 million on this latest round of full body scanners. (Check out how the stock of OSI Systems, parent of scanner manufacturer Rapiscan, has soared since Christmas when this order was placed)

So, what do you think, folks? Is this an invasion of your privacy, or a necessary evil for safety’s sake?

SWISS International Air Lines’ new San Francisco-themed Airbus A340 touched down at SFO today nonstop from Zurich, Switzerland. And The BAT was there to see it and join in the festivities that included officials from the Swiss consulate, media and a lot of plane spotters taking photos of the colorful new bird.

For business travelers, this is very good news. First, business class is brand new with lie-flat seats and advanced in-flight entertainment options. Second, SWISS is a Star Alliance partner, which means United Mileage Plus members can earn and burn miles on these flights.

Speaking of business travelers, it’s because of them that SWISS is here in the first place. Remember last year when SF-based Genentech was acquired by Roche? Roche is based in Zurich, and the company played a big part the SWISS decision to come here, according to Marcel Biedermann, SWISS’ managing director of sales and marketing. (Everyone chuckled when I asked  if this should be called the “Roche Coach.”) He also told me that Google, which has a large facility in Zurich, lobbied heavily for the new nonstops.

A quick look at summer fares on SWISS between SFO and ZRH shows: $1600-$1800 coach, $6000 for business class, and $12,500 for first class.

The new six-times-weekly nonstops depart SFO at 7:25 p.m. and arrive in Zurich the following day at 3:40 p.m. From Zurich, the flight departs at 1:15 p.m. and arrives SFO at 4:30 p.m. on the same day.

Here’s a fascinating time-lapse video that shows of the application of the “flower-power” San Francisco themed scheme to the exterior of the A340.

Imagine what it would be like if you could land at SFO, then jump on a high speed ferry to the Embarcadero, or over to Oakland, or up to Wine Country?

Maybe one day…but for now, Asia’s got us beat when it comes to the world’s best airports.

Hong Kong is one of three “Five-Star” airports in the world according to SkyTrax, a well-respected international organization that ranks both airlines and airports based on surveys of thousands of frequent international business travelers from around the world.

For 2010, the only three airports to get “five star” status are Singapore-Changi, Seoul Incheon and Hong Kong Kong International. (Full report here)

However, note that our hometown airport SFO placed second in North America after Vancouver. SFO’s also the ONLY U.S. airport to place in the top 25 worldwide.

On a recent business trip to Asia, I flew through Seoul’s Incheon Airport on Korean Air and was VERY impressed. I made a two-minute video about that journey which included coverage of Incheon Airport. (See video below)

Have you ever flown through one of these “Five Star” airports? What did you think? How do they compare to SFO or other U.S. airports? Please leave your comments below.

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By now you’ve probably heard about the Virgin America flight from Los Angeles to New York-Kennedy that had to divert to another airport during a freak storm last Saturday evening.

In case you’ve not heard about it, here’s a digest: Virgin flight 404 departed LAX on time at 7:30 a.m., flew to the NYC area where it was scheduled to land at 3:30 p.m. But with a storm raging and JFK closed, the flight circled and was eventually ordered to land at Stewart Airport at about 5:30 p.m. to wait it out. The storm lasted longer than expected so bus transportation was arranged and passengers eventually made it to JFK by about 1 a.m.

Then, for the next few days, headlines blared about the HORROR! The NIGHTMARE! The STRANDING! The CRYING BABIES! The FORCED RATIONING! Another “FLIGHT FROM HELL!”

Oh, please. Gimme a break. And let’s all give Virgin America a big break here, too.  Here’s why:

Bad weather happens!

I’m getting the impression that many mainstream media writers and producers are not frequent travelers. They may not realize, like most grizzled veterans of the skies do, that bad weather and delays are part of the deal. Sure, they can slow you down and magnify your emotions. But they are not unexpected.

Blogger on board!

Did you know that there were eight other marooned planes at Stewart and hundreds of other planes parked and waiting at odd airports up and down the east coast on Saturday night?  JetBlue alone diverted six of its jets to Stewart Airport.

It just so happened that David Martin, the CEO of a social media web site that solicits visitors to “Show what you’re doing” was seated in first class with a web cam and Wi-Fi access. He’s since posted the 30+ media interviews he’s done about the incident, and publicly thanks CNN “for the one million people whack.”

I don’t blame the guy for taking this opportunity to boost hits on his site. Instead, I think the media outlets that took his story hook, line and sinker (and then sensationalized it) need to do a little soul searching.

I contacted Chris Elliott, the reader advocate at National Geographic Traveler magazine about this ordeal and he opined, “The way this story has played itself out in the mainstream media, you’d think Virgin America was solely responsible for the delay. You’d also think the airline wanted to imprison its passengers on a plane. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

TV Star on board!

There’s nothing like a little star power to jazz up a travel story and it just so happened that Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba was seated next to Martin in first class.

Virgin staff did the best they could!

They allowed passengers two opportunities to get off the plane at Stewart if they wanted to. Twenty out of 126 did get off, and took cabs home. The others elected to stay on board.

They kept lavatories clean and operable. Live TV and Wi-Fi were available throughout the ordeal. They divvied up what food they had on board. Five cases of water were delivered to the aircraft.

They called police and had a passenger escorted off the plane when she became belligerent demanding cigarettes, vodka and medication.

It’s reported (although not captured in the aforementioned videos) that flight crew and passengers got a little snappy with each other. Um, hello? Human beings stuck in a tense and uncertain situation tend to get snappy and disagreeable. Babies cry. People get hungry and grumpy.  Uncomfortable, yes. Unusual? No.

Pilots provided personal updates.

From the online videos I’ve seen of the incident, I’m very impressed that the captain made the effort to exit the cockpit and stand at the front of the plane in full view of all the passengers to offer updates and announcements.

I have endured similar incidents throughout my career as a frequent traveler, and I’ve never seen a captain do that.  They typically stay in the cockpit with the door shut. Kudos to the pilots.

Passengers made it to JFK. For free!

In the end, the flight was scrubbed, passengers deplaned at about 10:30 p.m., buses where called in and everyone made it to JFK by about 1 a.m. A little worse for wear, but they got there. Even better, they got there for free. Virgin gave a full refund to everyone on board, plus a $100 certificate to use on a future flight. (Here’s a link to Virgin’s apology to passengers and its official report of the incident to the Dept. of Transportation.)

So I obviously think the whole ordeal was overblown.  What do you think about the whole affair?

RELATED: Virgin America announced today that it will add new nonstops from SFO to both Toronto and Orlando on August 19, but will shutter its nonstops between SFO and the “OC” (John Wayne Airport in Orange county) in May.

I was perusing my email and came across this doozy from Delta offering $69 fares between SFO and OAK.  It came in the form of the weekly web-only fare alerts it sends me. At just $69 each way between OAK and SFO, Delta’s fare beats cab fare. (You know what they say about things that seem to good to be true…See below for the full story)

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Ahhh yes, there must be a glitch in the system, because when I went to take advantage of this special web-only fare, it told me what I already knew. There are no Delta flights between SFO and OAK.

But it’s sure fun to ponder the idea…We contacted Delta and they said it was simply an honest mistake.

(scroll down two view my two-minute video tour of the new terminals)

The sleek new look of Mineta-San Jose’s new airport terminal reminds me of my iPod. Or a space ship. Or a museum. In any case, it’s cutting edge design is now a much more befitting symbol of the Silicon Valley than the version 1.0, which sort of reminded me of my 60’s-era elementary school. (Take my two-minute video tour of SJC)

[The BAT is now on SFgate! Check it out here.]

Last month, the Silicon Valley Business Travel Association invited me to their monthly meeting, which was hosted by airport officials. The SVBTA is a 240+ person organization that represents the interests of corporate travel buyers in the South Bay region—to the tune of just over $1 billion per year. (see svbta.org)

San Jose airport authorities brought in SVBTA members for a look-see because they are eager to get support from the business community necessary to attract more flights and more airlines to its fancy new digs. Why? Because the new digs cost a whopping $1.3 billion, and that mortgage will be repaid in large part by the fees airlines pay to fly in and out of SJC. (The airport is self-sustaining and does not rely on local tax funds.)

Despite its location in largest city in the Bay Area and adjacency to some of the world’s largest tech companies that spend billions of dollars each year on travel, San Jose airport handles less than 20% of all commercial flights in the region.

(Take my two-minute video tour of SJC)

The tech bubble burst and recession have had a severe impact on the airport. For example, the number of daily flights at SJC has fallen from 232 in 2001 to just 125 in 2010—that’s a 42 percent decline. The number of destinations served nonstop has declined from 39 to 28 in the same period. International flights to Tokyo and Paris were scrubbed long ago. Passenger numbers have declined nearly 40 percent.

Airport authorities blame a lot of this decline on what they call the “Virgin Effect.” They say that when Virgin America cranked up operations at San Francisco International in 2007, airlines quickly “herded” around the new entrant, concentrating their Bay Area flying at SFO and slashing prices to protect their market share. That means SFO added 83 new flights since 2007 while OAK and SJC have experienced losses in flights and passenger numbers.

However, there are some notable new flights at SJC: Alaska starts flights to Maui and Kona in March; Horizon just added new flights to Mammoth Mountain and will add flights to Spokane next month. In May, JetBlue adds nonstops to Boston.

(Take my two-minute video tour of SJC)

Airport Primer:

If you find your way to San Jose for a flight in the near future, here’s what you need to know:

>All that’s left of the old structure is the current Terminal C, which will be demolished by this summer. Currently, if you fly into Terminal C (Alaska/Horizon, Delta, Frontier, US Airways), your bags will actually arrive at Terminal B due to construction. (This will change in June 2010 when all airlines move to A or B.)

>Terminal A (16 gates), originally opened in 1990 but has gotten a complete makeover, with a brand new ticketing area, concessions, and a big, bright new security screening area which opened last November. Terminal A handles American, Continental, JetBlue, Hawaiian, Mexicana and United flights.

>The bright new Terminal B Concourse (see video) partially opened last summer with six gates for Southwest Airlines flights. However, until Concourse B is complete this summer, Southwest passengers must enter security at Terminal A and take a rather long walk to their gates. (Take my two-minute video tour of SJC)

>Eventually, an entirely new south Concourse will rise from the site of the current Concourse C, but that depends on when  airport traffic levels recover enough to justify the expansion.

>A new consolidated car rental center and parking deck (the building with the exterior skin featuring giant hands, which can be seen for miles) should open in June.

For more information on airport changes, maps, and services, go to www.flysanjose.com.

(Take my two-minute video tour of SJC)

[The BAT is now on SFgate! Check it out here.]

follow this link to the 1.5 min video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRHRzSzaBU4

[The BAT is now on SFgate! Check it out here.]

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The headline on my recent post about this week’s storm-related delays at Bay Area airports prompted a question.

Why does San Francisco International seem to suffer so many more weather-related delays than airports in Oakland or San Jose?

There are two main reasons:

1>Parallel Runways

SFO is designed to handle up to 60 aircraft arrivals per hour in good weather. That’s because the airport operates two sets of parallel runways—one set for takeoffs, the other for landings. These parallel runways intersect at their midpoint forming a giant “X.”

The problem is that planes are only allowed to land side-by-side on these parallel runways during clear weather. When inclement weather strikes, the FAA forbids parallel landings. So all planes must land in single file, which cuts the airport’s arrivals capacity in half– from 60 down to 30 or 38 per hour, depending on the severity of conditions.

And when planes arrive late, they most likely end up departing late, compounding the frustration level at the airport, and leading to poor on-time performance numbers.

2>Volume

When bad weather strikes and the arrival rate at SFO is restricted to just 30-38 per hour, problems arise when the number of arrivals exceeds that ceiling.

Before 9 a.m., arrival volume at SFO remains below 30 per hour. But after 9 a.m., just over 30 aircraft are scheduled to land. The arrivals rate peaks between 12 noon and 2 pm when over 40 aircraft per hour are scheduled to land at SFO.

So that means that if a storm blows through SFO mid-day, you can expect major delays, which will ease later in the afternoon when arrival volume falls below 30 per hour.

The main reason that airports in Oakland and San Jose don’t face such on-time performance issues is that their volume is low…they rarely exceed their capacity for arrivals in good or bad weather.

A barrage of winter storms coming in off the Pacific Ocean is affecting on-time performance at SFO this morning. With several storms expected for the rest of the week, similar delays are expected. Prepare by checking on airport updates below, bring along a good book, a laptop with wi-fi and your patience.

SFO: At 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, arrival and departure delays at SFO vary from a few minutes to about two hours with the greatest impact on short haul flights (those less than two hours in duration), says SFO’s Mike McCarron.

SFO Updates here

SJC: Mineta San Jose International Airport spokesman David Vossbrink reports no delays for arrivals or departures. He said that SJC has actually had to accommodate a couple of flights diverted from SFO over the last 24 hours.

SJC updates here

OAK: The duty manager at Oakland International reports that nearly all flights are taking off and landing on time on Tuesday morning with no significant arrival or departure delays.

OAK updates here

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Frequent international travelers must rely on “pictograms” to find bathrooms in countries where they may not speak the local language. I know I have. But what I did NOT know is how these images can vary so widely. Artist  Gregor Turk has actually studied this phenomenon, collected a sampling, and made it into a unique public art display at Jacksonville (FL) International Airport. VERY interesting!

Turk notes that even the most standard pictograms vary in their width, cut of the arms, broadness of the shoulders, and distance or connectivity of the head to the body. At facilities that employ a greater sense of design, highly stylized pictograms reflect a much greater range in variations of body types, shapes, proportions, and activities. When the images of the respective figures are shown collectively, their typological differences become apparent, even amusing. The pictograms used as a source for this installation come from Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Syria, and the United States.

If you come across unusual pictograms, he’d appreciate it if you’d take photos and email them to him: info@gregorturk.com More info at www.gregorturk.com

MORE AIRPORT ART…HERE AT SFO. Harriet Baskas has a terrific blog that focuses on airports around the world. She’s got a great new post about the Pinball Machine display now appearing at United’s Terminal 3 Walkway at SFO. Check it out here.

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Since the attempted bombing of Delta/Northwest flight 253 over Detroit on Christmas Day, airport security has been turned on its head (once again).

While we expect changes, here are SIX things you need to know right now:

1>Most increased security is on inbound-to-U.S. flights. As far as we can tell, the only changes you may notice for domestic U.S. flying are more frequent pat-downs at airport security and the possibility of a random screening of your carry-on bags at the gate. (If you were traveling post 9/11 you may remember this procedure where a handful of passengers, usually those near the front of the boarding line, were chosen “randomly” to have the contents of their carry-ons displayed to everyone boarding the plane…)

2> Canadian authorities have lifted the onerous complete ban on carry-on luggage (except personal items like a purse or laptop) for flights departing Canada for the U.S. Updates here.  British Airways tells The BAT that travelers inbound to the U.S. from the U.K. are restricted to a SINGLE carry on that must conform to normal size standards. (one bag only…which means you need to put your purse or briefcase INSIDE your carry on suitcase)

3>When returning from another country to the U.S., you will go through TWO security checks: First, when checking in for your flight at the airline counter, you will face possible frisking, baggage inspection and questioning BY THE AIRLINE. Second, local authorities at airport security checkpoints will screen you as you make your way to the departure gate.There is also the possibility of random checks at the departure gate.

A remarkably quiet United Terminal at SFO. Sunday, Jan 10 at 5 pm

4>REMEMBER: We are entering the SLOWEST travel period of the year, so don’t expect ongoing huge delays or long lines. Despite media reports, you should not expect chaos at the airport. As a matter of fact, you could probably roll a bowling ball through airport concourses this month and not hit anyone! Just how dead is it at SFO? Check out this photo taken at United’s security checkpoint on SUNDAY Jan 10 at 5 pm. It’s super dead!

5>Expect to see more frequent use of the full-body scanners at the 19 U.S. airports where they are in operation. More international airports are said to be fast- tracking installation of these devices. (Full body scanners are in use at SFO’s International Terminal only. If you are flying United and a full body scan scares you, just go through security at United’s domestic terminal 3, and then take the new “connector walkway” to the international gates.) Silver lining? Check out the 6-month stock price chart below that shows the jump of OSI Systems, which owns Rapiscan, the manufacturer of such devices.

6>Restrictions on on-board activities (such as getting out of your seat or using electronics during the last hour of the flight) that were mandated last week are now left up to cabin crew—and from what we’ve heard, are essentially no longer in effect.

Bottom line: Terrorist incidents, like airplane crashes, happen. No matter how hard we try to prevent them, they are going to happen. No airplane is 100% safe. No airport is 100% secure. We should do our best to be vigilant, but not make long term decisions based on reactive fear.

NEW!! See The BAT on SFgate