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About me
Graduate of Syracuse University and current grad student at Dowling College working towards an MBA in Aviation Management. Talent Team at JetBlue Airways, New York State EMT-B, contributing writer for Sprout Social, freelance website developer, technology geek and writer.
Though it goes without saying, any opinions reflected here or anywhere else on the web represent mine and mine only.- About
NYC’s aviation industry is soaring. Just last week, Jetblue opened their new headquarters in Long Island City—and now, Delta is making news with a major service expansion at LaGuardia Airport. When the work is completed, LaGuardia will see 100 more Delta arrivals and departures per day. The Mayor stopped by to celebrate Delta’s progress.
New York City is already the aviation capital of the country. The region’s three big airports host more flights and carry more passengers than any other aviation hub in the US. Last year, over 105 million passengers came and went through our airports—generating $65 billion in economic activity and supporting 68,000 employees.
Delta’s decision to invest even more in New York will pay off for the city for years to come. New York’s status as an air travel hub already helped us attract a record 50.5 million visitors in 2011, and it will help us reach our new goal of 55 million by 2015.
Watch the video at nyc.gov.
Always looking for more “airplane as art” shots. I kept staring at this one by Mark Jensen.
Full version here.
Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) makes a beautiful landing at Kennedy Space Center. Bravo to all of the men and women who’ve helped make the shuttle program shine over the last 30 years. It was truly an inspiration to me as well as countless others. To infinity, and beyond!
Space shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) touches down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), completing its 13-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program, early Thursday morning, July 21, 2011, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Overall, Atlantis spent 307 days in space and traveled nearly 126 million miles during its 33 flights. Atlantis, the fourth orbiter built, launched on its first mission on Oct. 3, 1985.
Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Full version here.
Mating turtles shut down runway at JFK - CNN.com
You’ve got to listen to the ATC recording of the air traffic controllers managing departing traffic and the turtles that kept popping up everywhere.
Love is in the air at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. More than 150 turtles crossed over an active runway and disrupted air traffic on Wednesday so that they could continue their mating season. The diamondback terrapins were trying to get to an ideal location to lay their eggs. That’s a sandy area that happens to be across Runway 4, according to Carol Bannerman of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The turtles were primarily female, and the fertilization of their eggs occurs in the water, she said. JFK is surrounded by a bay and wetland areas.
The first turtle was spotted at 6:45 a.m. and a short time afterward, Port Authority staff was dispatched and the U.S. Department of Agriculture assisted, according to Port Authority spokesman Ron Marsico. “This happens every year,” Marsico said. “I guess some years there is more turtle activity.” After a turtle was spotted, it was picked up and moved to a better destination to continue nesting, Bannerman said. People began tweeting about the turtles soon after the news broke.
Within 8 hours, @JFKTurtles had almost 3,000 followers on Twitter, even from airline accounts like Jet Blue who had this to say: “Oh @JFKTurtles, we could never stay mad at you … Glad you made it to your honey moon spot safe.” It is unclear how many flights were delayed by the breeding turtles, but the FAA should know by the end of the day, according to FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac. This runway is used infrequently during the summer because of weather conditions, Salac said. This is not the first time turtles have invaded the runways at JFK. Seventy-eight turtles emerged one day in 2009, according to Marsico.
Was United's Computer Outage That Big of a Deal? Nope.
According to the AP, the power outages lead “to widespread cancellations Friday night,” creating, “thousands of stranded travelers.” Hmm really? Well Friday night saw 15 flights cancelled and then today there have been an additional 16. United operates over 3000 flights per day and 15 out of 3000 would not really be my definition of “widespread.” Yes, many folks were delayed and still inconvenienced but the world was still spinning. I think when thunderstorms rolled through Chicago recently more flights were cancelled than this.
An awesome infographic taking a look at how airlines are starting to use social media.
Another nice one by Sergio Maraschin. This one of an @AmericanAir Mad Dog and an @SouthwestAir 737 racing to the 28s at SFO. Used with permission.
Full version here.
Awesome composite of 31 nighttime exposures of an hour worth of departures at San Francisco International Airport. Photo by Terence Chang. Used with permission.
Full version here.
