Vacationers will quickly expertise a seamless journey between Atlantic Metropolis (ACY) or Lehigh Valley (ABE) airports and Philadelphia Worldwide Airport (PHL) due to American Airways‘ Landline bus service.
This floor service has been granted safety clearance from TSA, making journey extra handy and stress-free for all passengers.
Picture: Courtesy of Landline / American Airways
Final summer season, the airline collaborated with floor transportation firm Landline to introduce bus “flights” that join its Philadelphia hub to a few smaller regional airports—Atlantic Metropolis, Lehigh Valley (often known as Allentown-Bethlehem), and Lancaster (LNS).
Passengers can park their vehicles, test into their flights, and test their baggage at their native airport earlier than being shuttled to PHL in a luxurious motor coach.
American Airways launched the service after a pilot scarcity pressured it to floor round 100 regional jets and amid rising prices and mounting environmental worries which have made short-haul connections much less viable for airways.
Whereas they don’t have the glamour of air journey, coaches could be pushed by workers with much less coaching than pilots, might help airways cut back carbon emissions to fulfill their environmental targets, and are time-competitive with flights on routes beneath 200 miles.
Nonetheless, till now, Landline passengers have wanted to clear safety upon arrival on the Philadelphia airport. Whereas their connections are assured—they usually’d be rebooked if visitors or safety delays maintain them from their subsequent flight—the extra safety hurdle has added time and uncertainty to the journey.
A Landline bus working AA6355 departing from a gate airside on the Atlantic Metropolis airport this morning. The bus arrived at @PHLAirport gate F8, the place passengers might join on to different American flights without having to clear safety. https://t.co/bew3Sea6SX https://t.co/Ifb9HD8pJE
— Edward Russell / threads.web/@mrerussell (@ByERussell) July 12, 2023
Upon launching the Landline connections, American Airways expressed its hope that it will quickly have the ability to conduct these coach journeys inside safety, or “airside,” in airport parlance.
A 12 months on, it’s lastly gained approval from the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) for airside, security-cleared bus journeys from Atlantic Metropolis and Lehigh Valley airports.
Which means vacationers can arrive at their native airport, clear safety there, get on the bus, and be delivered airside in Philadelphia, skirting the longer safety traces on the busier airport.
“We’re excited to supply clients a extra handy expertise to clear safety at their native airport and arrive airside at our Philadelphia hub with a seamless connection to our international community,” Gary Tomasulo, Vice President of Company Safety at American Airways, stated.
“This program streamlines the passenger expertise and allows vacationers to seamlessly journey out of a big worldwide airport conveniently by going by means of our safety screening course of from a smaller worldwide airport,” added Gerardo Spero, TSA’s Federal Safety Director for Philadelphia Worldwide Airport.
Picture: Courtesy of Blake Guidry / Unsplash
American Airways and Landline needed to reveal they may maintain TSA-screened passengers sterile throughout their bus journeys to supply the service. “We have now put in quite a few safety necessities for the bus operators and all airline personnel to make sure sturdy safety protocols are adopted always,” defined Spero.
In accordance with Landline CEO David Sunde, this contains sealing all doorways and home windows on the coach (whereas nonetheless making certain passengers can exit in an emergency) and monitoring the bus’s journey from one airport to the opposite utilizing GPS.
Connections from Lancaster Airport gained’t be carried out behind the safety barrier, displaying the scrutiny TSA has utilized to the bus journeys.
In the meantime, the Philadelphia space is certainly one of many locations some regional flights are happening on the motorway.
Picture: Courtesy of Landline
Landline has additionally partnered with United Airways to supply connections between Denver and Fort Collins/Loveland Airport (FNL) and the Breckenridge ski resort and with Solar Nation Airways to ship passengers from regional airports in Minnesota and North Dakota to Minneapolis–Saint Paul Worldwide Airport (MSP). Nonetheless, none of those journeys have been awarded TSA clearance, and passengers have to be screened upon arrival on the foremost airport.