South Florida airports feeling the pinch of Recession

Fewer passengers means less revenue for South Florida airports,and plans are underway to cut staff levels and services although airport officials say that fliers will not notice.

Fort Lauderdale Airport will cut the costs of airport shuttles, cleaning services and security contracts, all without affecting passenger comfort or safety,

The number of passengers is expected to drop by around 1 million and revenues are likely to descend $16 million this year compared with 2008.

Palm Beach Airport expects passenger traffic to slide 10 percent and revenue to decline by about $2 million, Economic pressures at Miami International Airport are even prompting officials to consider installing slot machines in the terminal where passengers could gamble while waiting for their flights as a way to generate additional revenue.

South Florida airports have only experienced a few years when passenger traffic numbers have decreased. The airports benefit from their leisure destination and thriving cruise ports. The recession however, has weakened peoples appetite for travelling and forced local airports to face a new reality.

Airport spokesman Greg Meyer confirmed that passengers will not notice a change in customer service at the airports and although airport officials have adjusted shuttle schedules from the parking lots to the terminals, passengers will still wait no longer than 20 minutes.

As a result of the cut backs, airport operating expenses will drop about $1 million from last year, to $123 million.

Daytona Beach Airport Increases Flights

Daytona Beach Airport is expected to be much busier this weekend. The increase in aircraft activity will be mainly due to the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.

However, even after this weekend the number of flights available at the airport will be higher although not the number of seats said airport spokesman Stephen Cooke

The flights will increase from seven in June to nine in July where Delta Air Lines and US Airways will have several flights arriving just for the race

New service from Orlando Sanford to Worcester Massachusetts

With effect from 22nd November Orlando Sanford International Airport and Direct Air will offer nonstop service to Worcester, Massachusetts Regional Airport using a 149-seat Airbus A320 aircraft leased from Virgin America. The aircraft have 8 First-Class and 141 Coach-Class all-leather seats offering plasma television, touch service screens, computer connectivity, satellite radio and telephone.

Services will operate on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays with flights leaving Worcester at 10:35 and arriving at Orlando Sanford at 13:05 Return flights will depart Orlando Sanford at 14:00 and arrive in Worcester at 16:17

Reservations can be made online at DirectAirUS.com, or by calling 1-877-432-DIRECT (3473).

Orlando Airport announces new route to London Ontario

Orlando International Airport has announced that Canadian low-fare carrier WestJet will add London Ontario to its list of destinations from the airport starting next February.

The flights to London, Ontario, will operate on Tuesdays and will be the only non-stop service in the market. The carrier will use a Boeing 737/700 aircraft with a seating capacity of 136 people which means a potential of 14,000 passengers per year

The flights will leave Orlando at 12:05 and arrive at 14:44. The return service will leave London at 15:30 and arrive in Orlando at 18:03

New body scan machines at Miami Airport

The latest in airport security has just been unveiled at Miami International Airport with two concourses security checkpoints now equipped with high-tech digital body scanners. The machines use digital wave technology to create three-dimensional scans of a passenger’s body through their clothing and other obstructions.

The scan shows threatening objects that might not be picked up by the metal detector like ceramic knives or explosive materials. Specially trained Transportation Security Administration agents run the checkpoints and select which passengers to direct to the scanner with those who refuse a physical pat search now put through the scanner.

The scan takes about two minutes per passenger and images shown on a screen for examination are not printed or stored. Passenger’s faces are blurred in the images and the agents examining them work in a room separated from the machine, so the person going through the scanner never sees the operator and vice versa.

TSA officials plan to have 600 body-scanning machines at airports across the country by the end of the year. Miami International Airport will eventually have six.

Midwest Airlines to cut flights to Florida from Milwaukee

Midwest Airlines has announced a major cut to its flight schedule halving the number of departures from Milwaukee down to 90 a day from 188.

Several cities will lose flights from Midwest Airlines and its sister Midwest Express including the Florida airports of Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers. The company says they cannot justify long flights to leisure destinations and Tampa will be the only Florida city retaining year-round service from Midwest.

DayJet offering on-demand jet service from Anderson Regional Airport

DayJet is similar to a charter service with members paying $250 per person per year. They tell the company where and at what time to pick them up where and are charged for the seats they need. Members also are pre-screened by the Transportation Security Administration so they don’t have to go through the normal airport security procedures.

DayJet’s service connects Anderson County to 14 other communities across Alabama, Georgia and Florida including Boca Raton, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Orlando, Pensacola, Miami, Naples, Sarasota, St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Tallahassee.