Aviation Daily on Airports

The Towers And Tarmacs Radio Show - Port Authority's Bill DeCota

This week I have a different twist on the radio show.  Instead of doing a Podcast, we're doing a video.  I interview Bill DeCota, aviation director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.  We chat about the new JetBlue Terminal 5 at JFK Airport almost a week after it opened. Click here to watch my 5:46-minute interview.  Enjoy!

And rememeber - our permanent home is at www.aviationweek.com/tarmacs

Alfred Kahn Weighs In On Effects Of Deregulation

This week's issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology, commemorating 30 years of airline deregulation, includes my interview with the man considered to be he father, Dr. Alfred Kahn.  At 91, he is still a keen observer of the industry he helped change -- drastically -- back in 1978. 

I spoke with him at the Airports Council International world assembly held in Boston last month, where he was the keynote speaker.  You can click here (subscribers only) to read my interview with him in Aviation Week.  You can click here (subscribers only) to read my colleague Adrian Schofield's story on some calls for reregulation as the airline industry continues to struggle with roller coaster fuel prices and the global economic crisis.

You can also click here  to listen to a 5:24-minute Podcast of my interview with Kahn.  Enjoy!

And remember -- visit us at our permanent home, www.aviationweek.com/wings

NCR Unveils DVD Vending Kiosks For Airports

And the hits from the Airports Council International (ACI) exhibit floor keep coming.  I had the chance to visit with NCR and see a demonstration of its new Xpress Entertainment kiosk, which allows travelers to rent DVDs right at the airport.

You can click here to see my amateur video demonstrating how the kiosk works.  One unique feature is that NCR places an RFID tag on all the DVDs that travelers rent, allowing the company to remotely perform a physical inventory of the kiosk to validate product inventory at anytime.

And speaking of movies, I also had the chance to see a demonstration from Fadow -- which stands for Fast Download.  Fadow can distribute digital content - movies, TV shows, travel guides, games and more -- to travelers directly onto a thumb drive using its Moviecles kiosk.  it takes only minutes for an 800 Meg file (the length of an average movie) to download.  You can use your own, or get one from Fadow.

The Moviecles is being tested for six months at Boston-Logan International Airport.  You can click here for Fadow's photo stream on Flickr.

And last, but certainly not least, I had the pleasure of meeting Harriet Baskas, USA Today and MSNBC travel columnist and keeper of the wonderful "Stuck At The Airport" blog, at the ACI conference.  It's nice to see that at least one other person shares my obsession with airports!  You can click here to see some of the things Harriet saw while she was on the ACI exhibit floor.

uWink Self-serve Technology Lands At Ft. Lauderdale Airport

I'm still trying to catch up from last week's Airports Conference International (ACI) conference.  I had the chance to see so many cool new concepts, it's hard to get them onto the blog while still doing my normal work.

One of those concepts is uWink. uWink is a self-service and entertainment touch-screen that has just been installed at the Chili's restaurant at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. uWink uses touch-screen terminals at tables that allow customers to order customized food and drinks directly from the kitchen, play dozens of different electronic games and pay the check when they are ready directly at the table. Some of the games allow interaction and competition among tables or even the entire restaurant.

And the screens offer menus in Spanish and English, and will add German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Hindi, Russian, and French in the future. uWink was founded by CEO Nolan Bushnell, who also launched video game pioneer Atari in the early 1970s and the Chuck E. Cheese family restaurant and entertainment center chain. 

Lucky you -- you can click here for my second attempt at video, which lasts 3:43 minutes.  I recorded Chief Technology Officer Brent Bushnell giving a demonstration of uWink. Please be gentle -- I'm still learning this stuff!

The Towers And Tarmacs Radio Show - Oct. 1

We've been gone awhile, but now Madhu and I are back.  Today we talk about two big airport-related stories -- the GAO report rejecting FAA's authority to impose slots and the city of Chicago taking a big leap forward on plans to privatize Midway Airport.  Click here to listen to this week's 10:19-minute podcast.  Enjoy!

And visit us at our permanent home -- www.aviationweek.com/tarmacs.