Holiday Travel Tips
The holiday season is upon us, which means that people will be taking to the skies to visit family and friends. As you likely already know, flying during this season can be a source of additional stress, especially if you’re an inexperienced traveler.
If you will be traveling or have friends and family who are traveling these tips can help make your trip hassle-free:
1. Don’t try to take wrapped presents through security. TSA does not allow pre-wrapped presents through security, so make sure if you want to carry your gifts on, do not wrap them! Although if you’re considering carrying gifts on, keep in mind TSA carry-on restrictions. You can check wrapped gifts, however if screeners detect a suspicious package, they can open them.
2. Pack Light. The fewer bags you travel with, the less likely it is that one of your bags will be mishandled. If possible, I suggest taking carry-on bags only. This way, you won’t have to pay to check bags and there is zero chance that your bag will get lost if you’re changing flights.
3. Arrive earlier than usual and check in on-line. When traveling during the holiday season, not only are there more travelers, but weather could be a factor as well. You should arrive at the airport approximately 30 minutes earlier than you would during non-peak travel season, especially if your flight leaves between 6 and 8 a.m. During this time there are many flights departing, and more people on those flights – so get here a little early to avoid any snags! Checking in online and printing your boarding pass lets you avoid any line at the ticket counters.
4. Connect with your airline via social media and smart phone apps – Most airlines have a presence on social media (like Facebook and Twitter, i.e. Delta’s Twitter @DeltaAssist which is set up strictly for customer help) and have staff specifically designated to answer customer questions about flight delays and ticketing questions. I also suggest that you download your airline’s smart phone app for quick and easy access to the airline for schedule changes and push notifications. Instead of calling the airport or the airline to inquire about delays, these days it’s more convenient to connect through these sites; for example www.yeagerairport.com has live flight information on the website.
Another item to keep in mind when traveling at any time of the year is that it’s usually less stressful to travel from a smaller airport like Yeager because of the ease of navigating from parking to ticketing, through security and on to the gate. You can also expect those who work here to be more personable, friendly and willing to help than if you were flying from a large airport.
Keep these tips in mind when making your travel plans, have a great holiday season and happy travels!
Showing posts with label Yeager Airport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yeager Airport. Show all posts
Monday, December 5, 2011
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
When the Siren Sounds
The sound of the siren going off at the airport jolts one, no matter how long they have worked here. When the air traffic controllers activate the siren that means that a pilot has declared an emergency and everything else going on at the airport is going to take a back seat to the emergency until it is resolved. On Tuesday July 27, 2010, just before 9 am, the siren sounded. A commercial aircraft 757 with 179 souls on board had a report of smoke in the aircraft and was going to be on the ground in less than eight minutes.
At this point, the airport’s emergency plan goes from a bunch of words and charts in a book, to real life first responders and support personnel on the ground. Yeager Airport is a joint Civil/Military Airport, and the West Virginia Air National Guard maintains a full time professional Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Unit in place, and they are the unit that responds to all airfield emergencies. The Kanawha County Metro 911 Center handles the dispatch and communications with all other responding agencies and support personnel, and those calls go out instantly to all agencies either by radio communications, or via an automated telephone system to support personnel.
A pre-determined response for each type of incident is included in the emergency plan and each agency knows what equipment and personnel is needed to respond to the airport based on the size of the aircraft and the type of emergency. The Federal Aviation Administration also requires each commercial airport to complete an annual review of the plan and every three years to do a live drill of the plan to practice and identify any areas of the plan that need to be improved or changed.
The public has a right to know what is happening during an emergency and they depend upon the local press to provide information. A Public Information Officer is identified in the plan to provide regular updates and notices to the public at large and the press. Using the technology available, the PIO provides regular updates using The Airport’s Website, Facebook and Twitter which local media monitor and are able to receive timely factual and accurate information. If there is a need a press briefing will be held to answer questions and provide additional information.
Our response team, including, airlines serving Yeager, the Transportation Security Administration, Kanawha County Sheriff Department, Charleston Police, Fire and EMT, Kanawha County Ambulance, Pinch Fire Department, Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation, CAMC and Health Net, along with the other agencies mentioned above, work in accordance with the National Incident Management System protocols to establish a joint command and perform the functions outlined in the emergency plan.
Yeager Airport has experienced quite a few pilot declared emergencies of planes that are not bound for Charleston, but rather experience problems near our airspace and make a decision to land at CRW to safely deal with the problem. Each time the airport response team has handled the issues in a professional manner and in the after action reviews we have identified ways that our response can be improved.
I didn’t hear the siren on Tuesday because I was on vacation, and I was out of town last summer when a 737 declared an emergency due to a hole in its fuselage nor was I in town when an aircraft reject takeoff and was stopped by the Engineered Material Arresting System. I am thankful that through modern communications I can stay in contact with the airport response team via my cell phone during an emergency and offer any support that I can. The best part of the entire response team is that it is not dependent upon a person, but rather a group of organizations that know their jobs and have highly trained and dedicated personnel that have the safety of others as their highest priority.
At this point, the airport’s emergency plan goes from a bunch of words and charts in a book, to real life first responders and support personnel on the ground. Yeager Airport is a joint Civil/Military Airport, and the West Virginia Air National Guard maintains a full time professional Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Unit in place, and they are the unit that responds to all airfield emergencies. The Kanawha County Metro 911 Center handles the dispatch and communications with all other responding agencies and support personnel, and those calls go out instantly to all agencies either by radio communications, or via an automated telephone system to support personnel.
A pre-determined response for each type of incident is included in the emergency plan and each agency knows what equipment and personnel is needed to respond to the airport based on the size of the aircraft and the type of emergency. The Federal Aviation Administration also requires each commercial airport to complete an annual review of the plan and every three years to do a live drill of the plan to practice and identify any areas of the plan that need to be improved or changed.
The public has a right to know what is happening during an emergency and they depend upon the local press to provide information. A Public Information Officer is identified in the plan to provide regular updates and notices to the public at large and the press. Using the technology available, the PIO provides regular updates using The Airport’s Website, Facebook and Twitter which local media monitor and are able to receive timely factual and accurate information. If there is a need a press briefing will be held to answer questions and provide additional information.
Our response team, including, airlines serving Yeager, the Transportation Security Administration, Kanawha County Sheriff Department, Charleston Police, Fire and EMT, Kanawha County Ambulance, Pinch Fire Department, Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation, CAMC and Health Net, along with the other agencies mentioned above, work in accordance with the National Incident Management System protocols to establish a joint command and perform the functions outlined in the emergency plan.
Yeager Airport has experienced quite a few pilot declared emergencies of planes that are not bound for Charleston, but rather experience problems near our airspace and make a decision to land at CRW to safely deal with the problem. Each time the airport response team has handled the issues in a professional manner and in the after action reviews we have identified ways that our response can be improved.
I didn’t hear the siren on Tuesday because I was on vacation, and I was out of town last summer when a 737 declared an emergency due to a hole in its fuselage nor was I in town when an aircraft reject takeoff and was stopped by the Engineered Material Arresting System. I am thankful that through modern communications I can stay in contact with the airport response team via my cell phone during an emergency and offer any support that I can. The best part of the entire response team is that it is not dependent upon a person, but rather a group of organizations that know their jobs and have highly trained and dedicated personnel that have the safety of others as their highest priority.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)