Logan Airport

Doc Searls was at Logan yesterday at 4:30 a.m., waiting for a United flight to Los Angeles, when the TSA started its new crackdown. He filed a report from the terminal:

... I'm writing this now while standing in line, waiting for the checkpoints to open. Been here awhile. The line is getting longer and the checkpoints still aren't open (now almost 5am). My flight to LAX is at 6:45am and I'm near the front of the line; so I'm one of the lucky ones. I can see that, for most folks flying in the U.S. (and maybe elsewhere), it's going to be a long day today.

Wow, Heathrow is closed.

Okay, now I'm at the gate, very lucky to be early. On the TV news they're saying that lines are getting longer and longer. It's surreal to be among the relative few beyond the checkpoint. The place seems empty. I'm sure a lot of people are giving up and going back to their homes and hotels. ...

And if you're the least bit eccentric, for God's sake, take Greyhound. Also note: Ban on liquids hits Vermont where it lives - maple syrup.

Massport advisory.

Local bloggers react to the day's news:

John Keith takes a Silver Line bus to the airport, says he won't be making that mistake again:

... You pick it up, under South Station (inexplicably, the bus stops twice, underground, once to pick up airport passengers, then, again, 15 feet forward ... to pick up World Trade Center passengers (WTF???).

Then, you go about 1000 feet, and drop off passengers, then wait at a traffic light (WTF???), then drop off more passengers (if there are any), then wait at a traffic light (WTF???), then make a circle, above ground, then wait at another traffic light (no, seriously, WTF???), all the while, you can see South Station, off in the distance. You're probably only about 600 feet from it, the whole time ...

Spatch whimpers:

... And on the Worst Commuting Day Ever in Boston, what with an overturned truck on one road, a water main break closing off another road, collapsed tunnel ceilings closing off airport access and detouring everybody onto the Tobin Bridge, a Red Sox home game, concert on the Esplanade, the God Damn Village People playing a free show at City Hall Plaza and a piss-poor excuse for public transit what can't handle normal service to begin with, let alone travel crises, guess who has to get to the airport tonight?

Some people like taking photos of planes for hobbies. Rcolonna discusses the difficulties of planespotting near Logan in the post-9/11 era.

Andreas offers up the proof that Logan sucks: Results from an airport-satisfaction survey that finds it "worse than average."

Life May be Sweet in the Fenway, but first Evan had to fight his way through Logan, prompting him to warn: Never fly into Logan on a Sunday night.

On Boston Crazy Driving, Tim discovers he's not the only one to loop around Logan waiting for an incoming flight rather than parking, wonders why the lady in the minivan is going 25 in the HOV lane in the tunnel and concludes that the Big Dig has improved traffic:

... Everyone was supremely impressed, not in me, but in the fact that it seems like maybe the Big Dig might have been worth it after all. Or, as my sister-in-law wryly pointed out, our traffic is getting better because everyone is leaving.

I cannot get enough photos of people posing next to one of the giant Dunkin' Donuts cups at Logan.

Video of somebody licking the coffee pouring into one of those cups.

Steve Garfield finally figures out why he sometimes winds up at Terminal A when he's trying to get to Terminal B: The roads and signs are terminally confusing.

In a recent Blog Log column, I pointed to John Daley's complaint about the cost of WiFi at Logan Airport. Geoff Kronik of Brookline wrote the following in response:

Mr. Gaffin--my apologies for the length of this message, but I may be able to add to the loganwifi mention I in noted your Globe column recently. I am a frequent business traveler who has been frustrated and enraged by the sorry state of wifi at Logan, have researched it, and have unsuccessfully tried to do something about it.

Massport can huff all it wants about "public safety," but John just won't buy the argument that that's why it costs so much to use WiFi at Logan Airport:

... Charging eight bucks for 24 hours of internet access might make sense in a coffee shop environment (although I still think it's like charging for using the bathroom) but in an airport it's more like Massport charges eight bucks an hour. No wonder they want to avoid competition.

Tim tries to fly out of Logan this morning, only to find his flight is canceled. They put him on another, earlier, flight, but it gets canceled, too - so they then put him on his original, suddenly uncanceled flight. Will he make it out of town, or will he have to change his name to Charley?

The Witch City Sox Girl will defend Boston against all attacks. But she reports her Hublove was sorely tested the other day in Central Parking at Logan Airport, starting with a broken elevator:

... I looked at the sign next to the elevator and it clearly said "Pedestrian Walkway, Level 3." So, I decided to take the stairs. I got to Level 3, and started walking in the opposite direction, toward where I thought the walkway might be. That's when I encountered a scary looking white tunnel, like a covered wagon had mated with that thing at the end of E.T. There were men on ladders in front of it, but I decided not to ask them for assistance. I walked through the tunnel and took a left, following a sign that said "To All Terminals." This lead me to another elevator with buttons that didn't work. I fled this area and went back down to Level 3 (listening to Vincent Price laughing in my head). I swear, I went to all the corners of the level and saw no way into the airport. ...

J writes:

She is gone now, technology brought us together and technology gave us 12 extra hours together. Radar was down at Logan last night so she got to stay till this morning. We got one more meal together, one more game of scrabble one more kiss goodnight. And still it is not enough. ...

Eric found himself faced with some extra time - like the whole night. Fortunately, he has friends in Chicago:

... regretting the already painful fact that i was travelling with the heaviest carry-on bag in the history of modern flight, i trudged my way across the 27.3 miles that separate the united terminal from the american terminal to wait for the unsuspecting mrs. gentry at gate H13. ...

JT was on a Boston-bound plane:

They told us it was the fog. The pilot was cool about it though, you could tell the delays were driving him crazy too.

The newly re-done Terminal A sucks, at least when it comes to travelers with laptops, David writes:

... It cost tons of money and it shows. Yet travelers still have to hunt out the rare power outlets. Didn't Logan ask a single traveler what we want in a terminal? We would not have said overpriced, single-sourced wifi and no power outlets. Jeez! ...

John isn't buying Massport's contention that it had to shut down free Wi-Fi competitors to its paid service at Logan for public-safety reasons:

... Critical public safety communications? This is about homeland security? Please. They must think we're idiots.

Continental Airlines is fighting for their right to offer free WiFi (info below) at Boston's Logan Airport.

To support free WiFi at Logan Airport and to prevent a chilling precedent in FCC policy, please submit a public comment to the FCC. This PDF has instructions for submitting comments, both by e-mail and snail mail.

[via Pat McCormick]

Article at Cnet:

Boston's Logan International Airport is attempting to pull the plug on Continental Airlines' free Wi-Fi node, which competes with the airport's $7.95-a-day pay service.