JAX/JIA updates

[JaxJersey-licious]

JetBlue "suspending" the Jax/Newark route
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jetblue-flights-airline-to-cut-27-routes-this-summer/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6i&linkId=158770405&fbclid=IwAR309ssSs3UVyIL7yO7LvcYaCgrpAlDrHkY8xigUCbUC46kXR0_bwDHrbOU

As much as the JAX/EWR suspension inconveniences me its totally understandable. There will probably be a lot of transition problems from the shutdown of Newark's shitty Terminal A. The suspensions should be temporary given the demand even with the additional flight from LaGuardia to JAX.

When they resume JetBlue flights it will hopefully be in the new Terminal One and passengers will no longer deal with the overcrowded conditions, lack of gates, subpar amenities, clusterfuck security backups, and constant flight delays that plagued the old 70's style terminal.

[Charles Hunter]

JetBlue "suspending" the Jax/Newark route
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jetblue-flights-airline-to-cut-27-routes-this-summer/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6i&linkId=158770405&fbclid=IwAR309ssSs3UVyIL7yO7LvcYaCgrpAlDrHkY8xigUCbUC46kXR0_bwDHrbOU

As much as the JAX/EWR suspension inconveniences me its totally understandable. There will probably be a lot of transition problems from the shutdown of Newark's shitty Terminal A. The suspensions should be temporary given the demand even with the additional flight from LaGuardia to JAX.

When they resume JetBlue flights it will hopefully be in the new Terminal One and passengers will no longer deal with the overcrowded conditions, lack of gates, subpar amenities, clusterfuck security backups, and constant flight delays that plagued the old 70's style terminal.

I saw on the news this weekend that all three NYC Metro airports are undergoing major renovation projects.

[Steve]

JetBlue "suspending" the Jax/Newark route
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jetblue-flights-airline-to-cut-27-routes-this-summer/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab6i&linkId=158770405&fbclid=IwAR309ssSs3UVyIL7yO7LvcYaCgrpAlDrHkY8xigUCbUC46kXR0_bwDHrbOU

As much as the JAX/EWR suspension inconveniences me its totally understandable. There will probably be a lot of transition problems from the shutdown of Newark's shitty Terminal A. The suspensions should be temporary given the demand even with the additional flight from LaGuardia to JAX.

When they resume JetBlue flights it will hopefully be in the new Terminal One and passengers will no longer deal with the overcrowded conditions, lack of gates, subpar amenities, clusterfuck security backups, and constant flight delays that plagued the old 70's style terminal.

I saw on the news this weekend that all three NYC Metro airports are undergoing major renovation projects.

Yes:

LGA: Full rebuild of the entire place end to end, on top of the existing airport. Terminal B (everyone but Delta) will be done later this year, Terminal C (Delta) in 2023/2024, though the major work will wrap before summer.

JFK: Demolish and rebuild Terminal 1 (bunch of Internal airlines, include Air France, Korean, Lufthansa, and Japan), which will take up the footprint of current Terminal 1 and 2 (Delta). Delta is consolidating in Terminal 4 (where they already are the largest airline), which will result in some airlines moving from 4 to 1. JetBlue is Building Terminal 6 (on the site of a formerly demolished terminal 6), which is really an addition on their Terminal 5. Terminal 7 will then be demolished, and the existing capacity will be absorbed by the Terminal 6 Expansion and the Terminal 8 (American/British) Expansion

EWR: Rebuild of Terminal A

[JaxJersey-licious]

To get an idea how out of date Terminal A at Newark airport is (and take a step back in time) if you arrive and get off at Terminal A (by taking a flight from any domestic airline not named United) and exit through the underground level that is the drop off and pick up for local and out of state busses and private parking operators.

You will see rows and rows of parking spaces that used to be short term and VIP parking. After the attacks of September 11th the airport closed off that entire section because the parking spaces were directly underneath the terminal and would be highly susceptible to car bomb attacks so it has remained totally abandoned and not repurposed in any way to this day.

In some of the corridors and hallways of this former garage, you can still see some tattered, weather-beaten old advertisements circa 2001. Its like a real creepy time capsule - and it will all be gone by this summer hopefully.

Good riddance!

[Steve]

I still think the old LGA took the cake for most outdated airport!

[Steve]

Breeze launching JAX-HPN (Westchester County, NY):

https://thepointsguy.com/news/breeze-airways-westchester-county-airport/

It's not really convenient if you're going to Manhattan, but if you're visiting people in Westchester or upstate it could be an option.


Another tidbit of note....they're launching HPN-MSY (New Orleans) via JAX. Probably the first time in a while JAX is being used as a scheduled stopover for a flight. I'm guessing they're trying to serve multiple markets with the same plane as the A220's they're using have transcontinental range.

[ProjectMaximus]

Breeze launching JAX-HPN (Westchester County, NY):

https://thepointsguy.com/news/breeze-airways-westchester-county-airport/

It's not really convenient if you're going to Manhattan, but if you're visiting people in Westchester or upstate it could be an option.


Another tidbit of note....they're launching HPN-MSY (New Orleans) via JAX. Probably the first time in a while JAX is being used as a scheduled stopover for a flight. I'm guessing they're trying to serve multiple markets with the same plane as the A220's they're using have transcontinental range.

Wow, very interesting on both fronts. Thanks for the info

[MusicMan]

"I saw on the news this weekend that all three NYC Metro airports are undergoing major renovation projects."

Does this have anything to do with Biden's infrastructure plan?

[jaxlongtimer]

Interesting article on how the FAA's Jacksonville Control Center is #1 in the nation in traffic growth and how that is actually limiting airline flights into Florida.  Good news is the FAA is hiring here to add more controllers to help better the issue but more is needed, apparently.  Increase private jet traffic and Elon's rocket launches are adding to the problems (I recently had a relative fly here from Detroit and the plane was delayed by hours due to Florida airspace being closed for a Space X rocket launch,)

Florida Flights Face Worst Delays in Years Thanks to Private Jets and Space Launches

(Bloomberg) -- For much of the pandemic, many U.S. travelers experienced delay-free flights as air traffic plummeted. With leisure travel roaring back, the skies are jamming up, nowhere more so than in Florida.

Thanks to private jet flights, space launches and severe weather, the Sunshine State is seeing its worst gridlock in years. Airline officials and federal regulators met this week in Florida to address the problem.

The increased delays are testing an aviation system that has faced Covid-19-related upheavals for both airline employees and federal air-traffic controllers for more than two years. Carriers including JetBlue Airways Corp., Spirit Airlines Inc. and Frontier Airlines, hungry to grow after years of red ink, are having to reduce Florida flights this summer despite growing demand.

The air-traffic system is essentially out of practice responding to peaks in demand, said John Hansman, an aerospace professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who has researched delays and the air-traffic system.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if, as traffic levels come up and also as we move into the convective season in other parts of the country, that you might see a similar increase in delays” in other regions, Hansman said.

The disruptions in Florida have left thousands of passengers scrambling for alternate flights or paying for extra hotel stays and meals. JetBlue canceled flights at the both the start and conclusion of a trip to Florida for Beth Powell of West Virginia, who was traveling from Washington, D.C., to Fort Myers, with her husband and two children, she said in an interview.

“We got it on both ends,” Powell said.

Even with some airlines expecting to temper Florida growth plans, aviation groups told the Federal Aviation Administration during two days of “productive” meetings Tuesday and Wednesday that “demand will continue to increase past 2019 levels,” the FAA said in an emailed statement.

Data from the FAA’s Jacksonville Center, which oversees flights that cross over the northern half of Florida, show that the area has seen more traffic growth this year than any such facility in the country.

Total flights handled by all of the FAA’s 22 air-traffic centers in the U.S. were down 7% in the first three months this year compared to the same period in 2019. By contrast, Jacksonville Center recorded a 5% increase.

The facility reported 8,935 delays that lasted more than 543,000 minutes -- the cumulative equivalent of more than a year -- in March alone. That’s the third-highest number of delays at any FAA Center since 2017 and the most since the start of the pandemic, according to FAA data. Delays have been elevated in the region since October.

Charter operations and private flights are driving the bulk of the flight increase. At Palm Beach International Airport, private and charter flights in March jumped 65% to 12,239, compared to 7,412 in 2019.

Private jet traffic picked up during the pandemic as consumers avoided packed commercial jets, said Peter Maestrales, chief executive officer of charter broker Airstream Jets.

“Palm Beach was typically a pretty quiet airport,” Maestrales said. “Now it’s unbelievable the departure delays, and just the amount of aircraft parked on the tarmac out there.”

Controllers have also had to contend with thunderstorms, nearby military flights and rocket launches. The FAA must close hundreds of miles during a launch from Cape Canaveral, where Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched ten of its Falcon 9 missiles. There have been 17 launches in total from the complex this year so far, on pace for the most in decades.

“The combination of these factors leaves little margin for the system to absorb flight delays,” the FAA said in an emailed statement.

The agency will develop a “playbook” similar to what it uses in the more congested New York skies to help airlines plan for delays and it will encourage the use of alternate flight routes as a way to limit disruptions.

The FAA also said it will boost the authorized staffing levels at Jacksonville Center. It currently has a relatively low level of fully certified controllers, but is within guidelines, according to FAA data. It can take years to train new controllers.

The agency also asked airlines and other aviation groups to provide more advance warning of expected traffic growth, it said.

“It’s simply that their traffic control is an unsustainable thing,” Frontier Chief Executive Officer Barry Biffle said on an April 28 conference call. “We’re really excited that the FAA is stepping in knee deep on this.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/florida-flights-face-worst-delays-134026976.html

[Steve]

"I saw on the news this weekend that all three NYC Metro airports are undergoing major renovation projects."

Does this have anything to do with Biden's infrastructure plan?

Zero. All three were in work in some way prior to Biden (and in some cases Trump) taking office.

[SirJax]

That FAA southeastern ATC is is actually located over in Hilliard.

[Charles Hunter]

That FAA southeastern ATC is is actually located over in Hilliard.

True. But the FAA identifies it as the "Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center" with an address in Hilliard, Florida.

[Steve]

^Literally, I don't think ANY of the ATC Centers are actually in the cities they're named for except Miami:

Jacksonville is in Hilliard
Atlanta is in Hampton
DC is in Leesburg, VA
NYC is out on Long Island next to the Islip airport
Boston is in Nashua, NH

[Steve]

JetBlue's JAX-LAX hit the can:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/jetblue-route-cuts-nyc-florida/

To me it was an odd route to begin with. JetBlue isn't hugely competitive as an LAX hub, and I felt like they were a ways away from being competitive there.

[Snaketoz]

JetBlue's JAX-LAX hit the can:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/jetblue-route-cuts-nyc-florida/

To me it was an odd route to begin with. JetBlue isn't hugely competitive as an LAX hub, and I felt like they were a ways away from being competitive there.

I think the Newark flight was also axed.