JetBlue Adds Bradley Route

JetBlue Airways will begin non-stop flights between Bradley International and West Palm Beach on Jan. 12, according to Windsor Locks Patch. JetBlue already flies non-stop to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, and will start flights to San Juan on Jan. 5.

Sort Of Official Bradley Wildlife Strike Report

Every once in a while I feel obliged to report on the statistics gathered by the Federal Aviation Administration regarding bird strikes and other unhappy encounters between wildlife and aircraft at Bradley International Airport.

In addition to 60 bird strikes involving a range of species from larks to kestrels, there were three fatal encounters reported between aircraft and mammals in the period from May 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011. These incidents, which presumably took place on the ground, were:

• On June 23, 2010, an American Airlines 737-800 struck and killed a red fox. The 737-800 is among my least favorite aircraft, owing mainly to what I consider an unfavorable lavatory configuration for the coach passenger in the typical two-cabin layout. This incident suggests that the 737-800 is also a menace to the fox community, which does not surprise me.
• On July 19, 2010, a Virginia opossum was dispatched from this mortal sphere in a manner consistent with an encounter with an aircraft of some kind. The aircraft was not identified. I suspect a 737-800 on the grounds that there is nothing to which this bladder-torturing jet would not stoop. Marsupials, take note.
• On Oct. 15, 2010, an American Eagle Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet hit a striped skunk. This raises the question of whether there are unstriped skunks. The answer is not entirely clear. Let’s just say that some skunks are more striped than others. But none is equal to a collision with a commuter jet.

Passenger Traffic Rises At Bradley

Traffic is up 8 percent at Bradley International Airport, according to the Associated Press, from 5.2 million passengers for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010 to 5.6 million for the year that ended June 30, 2010. That’s the first time traffic at Bradley has increased since 2005, when it stood at 7.1 million, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Southwest Airlines remains the airport’s top carrier, followed closely by Delta Air Lines.

Delta Adds Flights From Bradley To Raleigh-Durham

Delta has announced that it will begin twice-daily flights Nov. 1 between Bradley and Raleigh-Durham, The Hartford Courant reports. Starting in October, Delta will start also flying once a week between  Bradley and Las Vegas and three times a day to Reagan National in Washington. Coincidentally, this news arrived just as I was booking my daughter on one of Delta’s last direct flights between Bradley and Los Angeles, which will drop off the schedule Sept. 26. Sadly, there will no longer be any transcontinental flights out of Bradley at all.

Could Passenger Rights Be Good Business?

It turns out that the airlines did not, as they claimed, have valid reasons for treating their customers like hostages.

The Department of Transportation reports that only three domestic flights were stranded for more than three hours on the tarmac last month — compared with 268 in July 2009. Last month was, not at all coincidentally, the first full month of new regulations that impose stiff fines on airlines that violate the three-hour limit.

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Delta Adds Flights From Bradley to Vegas, DC

After announcing that it will end nonstop flights from Bradley International Airport to Los Angeles (again), Delta has announced new nonstop flights to Las Vegas and to Reagan National in Washington, the Wilton Bulletin reports. The Las Vegas route, already served by Southwest, will be flown only on Saturdays. The Washington route, already served daily by US Airways, will be flown  three times a week. Oh, well.

Bradley’s Only Transcontinental Flight: Axed Again

That didn’t take long. Delta’s flight from Bradley International Airport to Los Angeles, the airport’s only nonstop  transcontinental flight, has been removed from the schedule. Again.

The Hartford Business Journal reports that the flights will end Aug. 30. Delta stopped flying that route in September 2008 and had revived it just last month. Delta officials told the Hartford Business Journal that the route might be resurrected on a seasonal basis next summer. Maybe.

It is beyond pathetic that it will be impossible to fly to the West Coast nonstop from Bradley. But then it was kind of sad to be doing it on a 737-800, anyway.

‘Procedures’ Kept Passengers Aboard Sweltering Jet

The Department of Transportation has concluded that “all of the established and appropriate procedures were implemented” by airline and airport staff when 300 passengers were left to swelter in the dark for four hours aboard a Virgin Atlantic jet diverted to Bradley International Airport last month, as The Hartford Courant reports.

The obvious implication is that “all of the established and appropriate procedures” suck, and need to be changed. It’s simply not OK to treat human beings like that, no matter what the rulebook says.

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Bradley Gets Cell Phone Lot

Galaxy Self-Park near Bradley International Airport has opened a free cell phone lot for drivers picking up passengers. If your passenger isn’t waiting when you arrive, you can park in the lot until you get a call.

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JetBlue To Start Hartford Flights In November

JetBlue will begin nonstop flights Nov. 17 between Bradley International Airport and two destinations in Florida: Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

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