http://outfront.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/27/the-number-americas-best-airport/?sr=sharebar_facebook
While a nice story isn't this a bit dated?
Quote from: Wacca Pilatka on March 20, 2014, 10:45:34 PM
http://outfront.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/27/the-number-americas-best-airport/?sr=sharebar_facebook
Only if you don't fly in past 10:30 on a Sunday night.
Delta from Atlanta, US Airways from Charlotte, Jet Blue from NYC, American from Dallas all come in at roughly the same time and there doesn't seem to be enough ramp staff at that hour. Of the last 5 times I came in, 4 times the luggage was dropped on the wrong turnstile.
But I will always take JIA over Chicago-Midway or Miami. Miami reeks, especially if you have to go through INS and Customs. Midway takes forever for the dogs to sniff the luggage before it comes out for pickup.
Wow some love for the Duval. I have always felt JIA was one of the best or best not being to bias here. I'm sure many of you on here have travelled quite a bit also, so I sure you have your own experiences. San Diego is another airport that I have been to and really appreciated. JIA is certainly one of the easiest to get in and out of quickly. Nice find, thanks for sharing.
I've only been to about 2 dozen airports in North America, but JIA is one of my favorites. Of course, it's home, so there's always that elation of having arrived home. But, no... I enjoy it even when I'm departing, so maybe that bias is minimal. :-\
love our airport. Getting in and out of it is a breeze.
Best airport for convenience. Food and entertainment options: not good.
^ entertainment? I think the music in the atrium space is pretty cool...not many airports that offer that
Quote from: fsquid on March 21, 2014, 02:11:31 AM
love our airport. Getting in and out of it is a breeze.
As long as you dont have to wait for luggage...
Is it good because it is small and only has two terminals? It is nice and open with lots of natural light, and is fairly easy to get in and out of a plane on..
To me Charlotte has a really nice airport but it is much bigger with about 500 Starbucks conveniently located. Also not a good airpport to land at for a connecting flight less than 30 minutes from when you land. Learned that the hard way.
^I like Charlotte's dining options. Jax's is great as well. Very open with natural light and a great collection of art work. However, what I like best about Jax's is it's size. Spend some time trying to get through security at the last minute in Orlando and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
^ agreed....Charlotte's food court between Concourse B and C is the best I've seen at an airport....and they also have music!
Quote from: thelakelander on March 21, 2014, 10:11:04 AM
^I like Charlotte's dining options. Jax's is great as well. Very open with natural light and a great collection of art work. However, what I like best about Jax's is it's size. Spend some time trying to get through security at the last minute in Orlando and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
The times I've flown through Charlotte left me unimpressed with the dining options and the airport in general. The newer concourses might be nicer, but the ones I made connections in were dumpy and run down.
I'm not sure about the older ones. For the last few years, whenever I've had to fly into Charlotte's airport, it's been to the newer concourses.
Quote from: tufsu1 on March 21, 2014, 09:12:17 AM
^ entertainment? I think the music in the atrium space is pretty cool...not many airports that offer that
Music in atrium....ok i guess?
ICN, AMS, Changi...those are what I'm referring to. I know JAX doesn't have the px for that though.
Quote from: thelakelander on March 21, 2014, 11:34:42 AM
I'm not sure about the older ones. For the last few years, whenever I've had to fly into Charlotte's airport, it's been to the newer concourses.
they don't really have any old concourses....and the smell of Cinnabon wafting through the atrium area is unbeatable
Love the rocking chairs in Jax main concourse. Nice touch.
Every time I've ever had out of towners fly into or out of JIA, they've mentioned how much they love our airport. We probably take it for granted, but it is a clean, relatively stress free place to get in and out of.
JIA is a great airport. Easy, clean, new looking, not super busy, etc. Can't beat it.
JIA is pretty nice and easy to get through, but it has its limitations.
Nonstop flights are limited and international flights non-existent. I know United has very limited staff. The gate agent works the check-in counter outside security and then walks to the gate to get everyone boarded. This leaves one spot unstaffed so if you need something resolved at the ticket counter you have to wait for the previous flight to leave and the agent to walk back over.
However, arriving 30 minutes prior to departure is hard to beat.
Quote from: Lunican on March 21, 2014, 01:21:42 PM
JIA is pretty nice and easy to get through, but it has its limitations.
Nonstop flights are limited and international flights non-existent. I know United has very limited staff. The gate agent works the check-in counter outside security and then walks to the gate to get everyone boarded. This leaves one spot unstaffed so if you need something resolved at the ticket counter you have to wait for the previous flight to leave and the agent to walk back over.
However, arriving 30 minutes prior to departure is hard to beat.
Nonstop flights are limited, yes...but some of us don't mind, especially if you rely on segments verses miles to hit different levels of airline loyalty/status.
Basically, almost any destination in the world is 1 stop away (ATL/MIA/JFK/CLT/LGA/ORD/DFW/DTW/ETC). I'm cool with that.
Quote from: Lunican on March 21, 2014, 01:21:42 PM
JIA is pretty nice and easy to get through, but it has its limitations.
Nonstop flights are limited and international flights non-existent.
what, you don't consider Silver Airways puddle jumper to the Bahamas as international?
Quote from: tufsu1 on March 21, 2014, 02:44:28 PM
Quote from: Lunican on March 21, 2014, 01:21:42 PM
JIA is pretty nice and easy to get through, but it has its limitations.
Nonstop flights are limited and international flights non-existent.
what, you don't consider Silver Airways puddle jumper to the Bahamas as international?
And Jetblue is cutting the Puerto Rico flight to a seasonal route. No more winters (which is when I would have gone)
The JIA airport is certainly clean, small, efficient, and attractive. However, I have waited in that security line longer than I've waited in lines at Hartsfield and JFK (which is typically the longest line of all the airports I routinely fly in and out of), and for architectural appeal, it's hard to beat Raleigh's newer terminal (also a super efficient airport).
From a user friendly standpoint, yes, JIA ranks up there. However, 90% of the time I fly it's for work and I just want a direct flight (with options for times) to and from my destination, and that is not something you get from JIA. Friends and family from Jax have to connect to visit me (and my airport is one of the largest in country) and often the planes that fly in and out of JIA are regional jets.
Bottom line is that the airport itself from an experiential standpoint might garner praise from "Airport Magazine" (or some industry publication), but its tiny size is probably a huge business hindrance for the city as a whole. Something to be said for direct flights on newer, larger planes with business class and multiple routes run a day (not to mention the whole international connection thing).
I would love Jax to remain "small" feeling, clean, and efficient. But I would love for it to become the size of FTL, Tampa, Midway, Pittsburgh, etc. Nashville's, Oakland's, Hartford's, Indy's, or Raleigh's size at bare minimum. More flight options is always better than fewer.
I was going to mention Raleigh's new terminal. One of the nicest I've seen. Atlanta's international terminal is also nice.
I just flew to Raleigh a year ago and was also blown away by their airport. Also, one of the best art museums in NC.
It's a gorgeous airport, but among its peers in the FAA Medium Hub class, JIA is one of the biggest losers with respect to passenger declines since 2007. Looking over this list, the Medium Hubs that suffered tended tended to be places like Cincinnati that are being dehubbed by the so-called legacy carriers. The second group that suffered are secondary airports. Then there are the odd ducks like JAX and ABQ. With a growing population, one would expect JAX traffic to increase, no?
Total Passengers
Market Code 2007 2013 Chg % Chg
Cincinnati CVG 14,863,624 5,273,892 (9,589,732) -64.5%
Memphis MEM 10,790,799 4,652,700 (6,138,099) -56.9%
Ontario ONT 7,022,082 3,907,437 (3,114,645) -44.4%
Oakland OAK 14,488,398 9,666,913 (4,821,485) -33.3%
Burbank BUR 5,897,188 3,938,572 (1,958,616) -33.2%
Albuquerque ABQ 7,197,691 5,345,993 (1,851,698) -25.7%
Cleveland CLE 10,783,686 8,430,083 (2,353,603) -21.8%
Jacksonville JAX 6,455,061 5,112,093 (1,342,968) -20.8%
Sacramento SMF 10,845,241 8,592,572 (2,252,669) -20.8%
San Jose SJC 10,587,993 8,421,946 (2,166,047) -20.5%
Pittsburgh PIT 9,166,600 7,442,606 (1,723,994) -18.8%
West Palm Beach PBI 6,695,067 5,445,003 (1,250,064) -18.7%
Kansas City MCI 12,151,330 9,962,306 (2,189,024) -18.0%
San Juan SJU 8,438,317 7,189,220 (1,249,097) -14.8%
Hartford BDL 6,098,359 5,196,341 (902,018) -14.8%
Indianapolis IND 7,973,772 6,904,230 (1,069,542) -13.4%
St. Louis STL 14,748,622 12,824,879 (1,923,743) -13.0%
Milwaukee MKE 7,406,266 6,443,832 (962,434) -13.0%
Orange County SNA 9,945,419 8,724,917 (1,220,502) -12.3%
Raleigh/Durham RDU 9,763,676 8,703,611 (1,060,065) -10.9%
Columbus CMH 6,765,328 6,051,909 (713,419) -10.5%
Kahului OGG 6,209,672 5,583,128 (626,544) -10.1%
Omaha OMA 4,296,789 3,917,933 (378,856) -8.8%
Fort Myers RSW 7,667,172 7,129,503 (537,669) -7.0%
Anchorage ANC 4,617,630 4,444,930 (172,700) -3.7%
San Antonio SAT 7,948,313 7,728,722 (219,591) -2.8%
Dallas Love Field DAL 8,806,193 8,606,817 (199,376) -2.3%
Buffalo BUF 5,192,956 5,083,016 (109,940) -2.1%
Nashville BNA 10,313,033 10,395,913 82,880 0.8%
Portland PDX 14,096,028 14,302,273 206,245 1.5%
Austin AUS 8,759,871 9,971,413 1,211,542 13.8%
Houston Hobby HOU 9,587,942 11,417,357 1,829,415 19.1%
New Orleans MSY 7,565,198 9,193,804 1,628,606 21.5%
Total Medium Hubs 293,145,316 246,005,864 (47,139,452) -16.1%
I hear a lot of our residents who like in St. Johns Co and south just go to Orlando. When I had my show at JIA, the director told me the airport is loosing a ton to Orlando International.
Quote from: johnny_simpatico on March 22, 2014, 04:47:36 PM
Then there are the odd ducks like JAX and ABQ. With a growing population, one would expect JAX traffic to increase, no
There's sure alot of other 'odd ducks' (besides just Jax and Albuquerque) with all of those mid tier cities with growing populations, that have declined airline passengers; That list had more in that category than anything else. Only 5 airports had increased ridership. Seems like it's an overall economic situation more than anything with all of these declines.
Quote from: jcjohnpaint on March 22, 2014, 06:05:04 PM
I hear a lot of our residents who like in St. Johns Co and south just go to Orlando. When I had my show at JIA, the director told me the airport is loosing a ton to Orlando International.
I'm one of those that fly out of Tampa and Orlando moreso than Jacksonville.
But don't you only spend about two days per week in Jax and the remainder in central Florida? If so, that would make sense.
^I commute back and forth....and my parents stay down there but I live in Jax. But, yes, I normally take the opportunity to visit my family (immediately before or after) when flying, which is why I use those airports more.
Even when I have no business in Central Florida I still sometimes use MCO when traveling to J'ville or to other places when I lived in J'ville. It's sometimes cheaper even with the transportation cost between the cities. Heck, I even used FLL once, partially because I was planning to visit Miami during one of my trips home, and it would have been twice as expensive to go back and fly out of JAX at the time.
If I was in a situation like Lake having ties to Central Florida, I probably would use those airports down there, otherwise there isn't any way in the world that I'll drive way down there, then have to drive back after the trip. Way too inconvenient IMO, even if the ticket costed a little bit less.
Dan Hicken went to Orlando Intl for the Gator basketball game in Memphis (I heard over 1010XL). There were delays there, and he got outta there late. That's another issue of those larger airports, the delay chances go up. IMO a Central FL drive down there and delays are very counter-intuitive compared to one stop in ATL.
All depends on where you are going, at this moment I could fly JAX to Seattle, a bit cheaper then MCO to Seattle. Going the other way flying down to Medellin and JAX falls off the radar at around $700 while FLL, TPA, MCO and MIA are all much less, in fact I can go out of Miami on Avianca (a classic full service carrier) for about ½ of that.
If your well traveled there is one thing I've seen in JAX that I would say needs immediate improvement, especially with a German bank landing here. LANGUAGE! We need to follow the example of our bigger brothers and get multi-lingual signage up everywhere. Houston Intercontinental does a stellar job of this. Nothing worse then landing in Paramaribo and not be able to find your bags, food, transportation or the resident lavatory. REALLY JIA - PLASTIC IS CHEAP!
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SOUTHWEST GEORGIA REGIONAL AIRPORT - ALBANY
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SOUTHWEST GEORGIA REGIONAL AIRPORT - ALBANY
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SOUTHWEST GEORGIA REGIONAL AIRPORT - ALBANY
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BRUNSWICK GOLDEN ISLES AIRPORT
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BRUNSWICK GOLDEN ISLES AIRPORT
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DOUGLAS GEORGIA AIRPORT
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VALDOSTA AIRPORT
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VALDOSTA AIRPORT
We've got some pretty stiff competition from small and regional airports to our north and St. Augustine is about to kick in to our south with Frontier offering non-stops to the northeast, likely followed by several other links. The Northeast Florida Regional Airport is arguably better located $$ then JIA and as they establish themselves and build the new terminal JIA could be in for an unintentional butt kicking.
This comment on the CNN article hit home with me. I don't share their thoughts on the skyway extention and I have my doubts on the 'turning the corner' part. I thought JAX was at that place in the early 2000's, only to be disappointed. As the economy slowly recovers, I think now is the 'do or die time' for JAX to reach its potential to be a 'boom town' in the way Austin, Nashville, Raleigh, etc. are.
Emphasis in mine, not the poster on the CNN article.
QuoteDJSB, While Jacksonville's downtown has a long way to go to reach its potential, it is hardly the most boring in the U.S. That statement makes me wonder if you have really traveled to many other major U.S. cities?? I am a flight attendant with a major airline and I have traveled extensively in every major city in the U.S. (not to mention the world). Believe me, I've seen much, much worse. Jacksonville has a gorgeous natural cityscape that cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando, Raleigh,etc. can only dream about but will never have . True, these cities have relatively vibrant urban centers versus Jax. I too have wondered what Jacksonville is waiting on. Why does our development seem to move at a glacial pace when many other cities seem to encourage urban, mixed- use development?
With assets like the St. John's river, the Riverwalk and urban bridges that are truly beautiful (especially at night), our downtown should be much farther along than it is presently. However, I really believe that we are "turning the corner" and major residential, retail and office projects are in the near future. We just need fewer feasibility studies, focus groups and downtown development boards and just one business or individual (perhaps a certain Pakastani–born billionaire), that dares to make a major commitment to downtown (IMAX, aquarium, centrally located convention center, major retailer/restaurant with regional draw.....you get the idea). Once that happens, the floodgates will bust open. Now if we can just expand the Skyway down Bay street to the stadium, arena and......I guess that is for another post!!
Airports are one of the most under-rated yet important tools in economic development. It has been a huge part of Charlotte reaching the level that it has. Atlanta got to be the 'capital' of the Southeast primarily because of the airport. It has certainly played a part in Raleigh's rise to the top of the second tier of cities.
Just as JAX must keep it's seaport competitive, so to it must do the same with JIA.
Just a technical glitch there vicupstate my friend. We all know that in Jacksonville one cannot die and go to hell without passing through Atlanta first, but Atlanta achieved 'capital' status on the backs of its railroads. Something both Atlanta and Jacksonville have forgotten while Tampa-Orlando-Miami seem to be keen to promote.
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ATLANTA UNION STATION
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ATLANTA TERMINAL STATION
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/RAILROAD%20Depots%20and%20Stations/ScreenShot2014-03-30at124155PM_zpsb20f6fea.png)
TERMINAL STATION
Meanwhile in Jacksonville!
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Quote from: BridgeTroll on March 21, 2014, 09:42:34 AM
Quote from: fsquid on March 21, 2014, 02:11:31 AM
love our airport. Getting in and out of it is a breeze.
As long as you dont have to wait for luggage...
I've never had an issue.