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Airport updates: O’Hare, LAX, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Boston

American’s new Flagship Lounges have hot and cold self-service buffets. (Image: American)

In airport news, American Airlines opens a big new lounge at Chicago O’Hare; Los Angeles International travelers can now use an app to speed up re-entry after international trips; Pittsburgh International will get a massive makeover; Minneapolis-St. Paul gets faster TSA screening lanes; and facial-recognition boarding is a hit with JetBlue passengers at Boston.

At Chicago O’Hare, American Airlines has cut the ribbon on its second new Flagship Lounge; the first was opened at New York JFK some months ago. At ORD, the lounge is in Terminal 3, in the crosswalk between Gates H6 and K6. Hours are 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Targeted for AA’s international travelers at its primary gateway airports, the 17,000 square foot O’Hare Flagship Lounge is open to qualifying first and business class passengers, AAdvantage Executive Platinums, Platinums and Platinum Pros; AAdvantage ConciergeKey members; and Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire travelers. American said it expects to open additional Flagship Lounges before year’s end at Los Angeles International and Miami International, and in 2018 at Dallas/Ft. Worth, Philadelphia and London Heathrow. The O’Hare lounge can handle up to 300 passengers. It has showers, “quiet rooms,” a self-service wine bar, create-your-own cocktail service, hot and cold buffets and a chef to prepare customized offerings.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Mobile Passport Control app is now available for travelers going through Customs at Los Angeles International’s Tom Bradley International Terminal as well as Terminals 2, 4 and 7, airport officials announced. Available free at the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, the app lets passengers create a profile and submit passport information and answers to CBP inspection questions via their smartphone or tablet. The app will then send users a receipt and an encrypted bar code to show to CBP agents at the airport. LAX is a little slow in rolling out the CBP Mobile Passport Control app – 22 other airports have already done so.

Rendering of the spacious atrium planned for Pittsburgh’s new landside building. (Image: Pittsburgh International Airport)

Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County Airport Authority has unveiled a major redevelopment plan that calls for construction of a new landside building for Pittsburgh International’s Midfield Terminal and scaling back the terminal’s number of gates from 75 to 51. Besides new security, ticketing and baggage facilities in the $784 million landside building – which would be between the airside C and D concourses – the project also includes an overhauled international arrivals area, 3,000-space parking garage and other improvements. The X-shaped Midfield Terminal was built 25 years ago to serve as a hub facility for US Airways, but since the carrier downsized that operation and then was merged into American, the terminal now handles less than half the traffic that it once did. The terminal was built to accommodate up to 32 million passengers a year, but it currently handles only 8.3 million; the new facility’s capacity would be 18 million. The $1.1 billion plan calls for razing the existing landside building and the people-mover that carriers travelers from that building to the airside concourses. Construction is planned for 2019 to 2023.

Minneapolis-St. Paul is the latest airport to install those new automated security lanes that are said to speed up the TSA screening process by as much as 30 percent. (Although we’ve heard from many frequent travelers who would disagree with that assessment.) MSP now has four of the new lanes at the Terminal 1 south checkpoint, and will expand them to the north checkpoint next year. The lanes allow several travelers to load their belongings into bins simultaneously; the bins are larger than before, and if a bag raises the concerns of the TSA agent manning the x-ray machine, it can be shuttled off on a separate conveyor belt for further examination without slowing down everyone else. Empty bins are sent back to the starting point by a separate conveyor belt, freeing up TSA agents for inspection duties.

Here’s how JetBlue’s facial recognition system works. (Image: JetBlue)

Some months ago, we reported on JetBlue starting to test facial recognition technology for passenger boarding at its Boston Logan hub. Instead of having to show a boarding pass, passport or anything else to the gate agent, passengers simply stand in front of a camera and proceed on board. After four months, SITA — the technology company that provided the new system — said its biometric scanning proved to be quite accurate in the tests, with a success rate of almost 100 percent matching passengers’ facial images to those in government databases to verify identity. The company said a majority of JetBlue passengers on the airline’s Boston to Aruba flights used the camera option to board.

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Airport news: LAX, Alaska lounge deal, O’Hare, Phoenix, Vancouver, Pittsburgh

The CLEAR trusted traveler program has opened at LAX. (Image: CLEAR)

In airport news, CLEAR comes to Los Angeles International and United opens a new check-in area there for Global Services members; Alaska Airlines and Qantas introduce airport lounge reciprocity; American Airlines passengers will have an easier time connecting to international flights at Chicago O’Hare; a new carry-on scanner being tested at Phoenix could be a game-changer for security threats; Vancouver will get a new SkyTeam lounge; and a pay-per-use lounge opens at Pittsburgh International.

CLEAR, the biometric-based trusted traveler program that gives members fast access to security checkpoints, has opened at Los Angeles International. The company said it has opened CLEAR lanes in Terminals 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 at LAX (not the TBIT), and it is coming soon to T1 and T5. LAX is the 22nd airport to join the CLEAR network. CLEAR – which is partly owned by Delta Air Lines – uses fingerprint and iris scans to verify members’ identities. Persons who sign up to join CLEAR at the airport will get a one-month free trial, the company said. An annual membership costs $179, with discounts available to SkyMiles elites.

United’s new LAX check-in area for Global Services members. (Image: United)

Also at Los Angeles International, United Airlines has just cut the ribbon on a new Global Reception area a premium check-in facility for the airline’s elite Global Services members. From the Global Reception area, members can go to the front of the line for security screening. The new facility is decorated with vintage airline photos. It’s the fourth newly designed Global Reception area for United; others are at Houston Bush Intercontinental, Chicago O’Hare and San Francisco, with one coming soon at Newark Liberty International.

More airport comforts are now available to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan elites (MVP Golds, MVP 75Ks) and Alaska Lounge members: Effective immediately, they have access to 13 Qantas international business class lounges around the world as well as two dozen Qantas Clubs in Australia when they fly on Qantas. At the same time, Qantas Club members and Qantas loyalty plan members who have attained Gold status or higher now have access to Alaska’s airport lounges at LAX, Portland, Seattle and Anchorage when they fly Alaska on a connection to or from an international Qantas flight.

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Passengers at O’Hare can now get post-security transfers from American’s T3 to T5. (Image: Chicago Dept. of Aviation)

Before June 19, American Airlines passengers connecting from a domestic arrival at Chicago O’Hare’s Terminal 3 to an international departure out of Terminal 5 had to go through a security re-screening at the latter terminal. But now they don’t, thanks to a new Terminal Transfer Bus service introduced by the Chicago Department of Aviation. The bus takes travelers from the secure side of T3 (near Gates G17 and K20) to the post-security side of T5 (at the M Concourse). The buses run from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

A new security checkpoint scanner now being tested at Phoenix Sky Harbor could alleviate the Department of Homeland Security’s fears of sophisticated explosive devices in laptops, and could also speed up passenger processing by ending the requirements to take liquids and laptops out of carry-ons. TSA is working with American Airlines to try out a computed tomography (CT) scanner at one checkpoint lane in Terminal 4, giving the security agent a 3-D image of a bag’s contents. TSA currently uses CT scanners to examine checked bags for explosive materials; the one being tested at the security checkpoint is smaller, but should be equally effective, TSA said. A similar test is expected to start at Boston Logan later this month.

Delta’s SkyTeam global alliance has selected Vancouver International as the location for its seventh branded airport lounge and its first in North America. The new SkyTeam lounge is expected to open sometime later this year, the alliance said. It will be available to first class, business class and Elite Plus customers flying on any of the nine SkyTeam carriers that serve Vancouver (Delta, Air France, Aeromexico, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, KLM, Korean and Xiamen). Existing SkyTeam lounges are in Beijing, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London Heathrow and Sydney.

The new Club lounge at Pittsburgh is in Concourse C. (Image: Airport Lounge Development)

Travelers at Pittsburgh International have a new lounge option. Airport Lounge Development Inc. has opened a lounge called The Club, the 17th in its growing network of pay-per-use airport facilities. The Pittsburgh Club is in Concourse C between Gates C54-C56, and is also accessible from Concourses A, B and D. The current Club location is temporary; a permanent Club will open this fall across from Gate C52. The temporary lounge can accommodate 35 persons. It has a food-and-drink zone, a work zone with electrical outlets and a workstation, and a relaxation zone. A day pass costs $40, but the Club is also open to members of Priority Pass, Lounge Key, Lounge Club and Diners Club as well as AAA Discount Reward members.

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