Delta to start Electronic Boarding Passes at New York’s LaGuardia Airport

Earlier I had blogged about the use of PDAs/Cellphones as boarding passes. Delta Air Lines is starting to use this technology starting Tuesday June 17th 2008 at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Passengers can now pull up the boarding pass with the bar code image on their mobile phones (web-enabled) and scan it at the security checkpoint and boarding gates.

Earlier, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines had launched the program at some of their airports.

Smart phones seem to keep finding new uses! Go Iphone, Blackberry, Palm, etc.
From Atlanta Journal Constitution –

“Atlanta-based Delta, like
Continental and Northwest, is working under a Transportation Security
Administration pilot program. The TSA will use handheld scanners to
read the electronic bar codes, which are similar to those on the back
of Georgia driver’s licenses. The electronic boarding pass will not be
available for Delta Shuttle passengers.”

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Jet Fuel: Greener Future Ahead?

Lufthansa, Europe’s second largest airline. has announced plans to mix biofuels with conventional jet kerosene as part of their environmental strategy.

Main points from their announcement –

• Lufthansa intends to use as much as 10% biofuel (made from non-food sources, not algae) by 2020.
• They also aim to cut carbon dioxide emissions per km flown by 25% by 2020

With the current market, by 2020 with a possible $1000+ per gallon, I am not sure if any commercial airline will survive. How about a nuclear power as currently used in space flights?

Current Initiatives on Alternative Fuels –

• Virgin Atlantic successfully flew a Boeing 747-400 (without passengers) from London to Amsterdam with 1 of the 4 fuel tanks filled with biofuel made of babassu pil and coconut oil. The test was done in partnership with – Boeing, General Electric and Imperium Renewables. (more read here)
• Airbus with Rolls-Royce staged a joint test on Feb 1st 2008 of a gas-to-liquid fuel on a Airbus A380.

Seems like a Boeing-GE (US) vs Airbus-Rolls Royce (EU) race with the whole world to benefit :).

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Scandals hit Detroit Metropolitan Airport

Executive Salaries –
Scandals seem to have hit Detroit Metro Airport, especially with regards to pay and perks to the executives of the Airport Authority. As per the Detroit Free Press, the airport authority has 46 employees who make more than $100k.

From Detroit Free Press:
“And while other public officials in Michigan gave up free vehicles to
save money, the number of airport executives with car perks also has
grown — by 13. The travel budget, meanwhile, is up eightfold.”

New Terminal –
From another article at Detroit Free Press:
“The latest issue is an internal investigation of the construction of the
new, $431-million North Terminal, the Free Press has learned. The probe
also is focusing on whether so-called disadvantaged business
enterprises — typically minority- or female-owned companies — are
acting as fronts for other businesses to win contracts.”

Personally, I am not sure how the executive salaries affect the city or airport. More important would be to look at the balance sheets of the airport and figure out if the overhead costs are justified or not.

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