People of America especially residents of Pennsylvania and New Jersey can expect to hear this statement, “Welcome aboard American Airlines to Atlantic City. We’ll be traveling at an average speed of 55 miles an hour at an altitude of 18 inches above the pavement.” It’s coming.
The Airline Weekly reported:
American Airlines is the latest carrier to contract Landline for connecting “flights” operated with buses. The move comes as U.S. airlines face the concurrent challenges from a pilot shortage primarily hitting regional operators and elevated fuel prices that together have forced many airlines to fly less than they would prefer.
Landline will connect American’s Philadelphia hub to Lehigh Valley airport near Allentown, Pa., and the airport in Atlantic City, N.J., beginning June 3. The destinations are 70 miles and 56 miles, respectively, distant from the Philadelphia airport, according to Google Maps. And while Atlantic City is a new addition to the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier’s map, it serves Allentown — with planes — from several of its other hubs, and flew Philadelphia-Allentown until suspending the route early in the pandemic, in May 2020.
The bus travel by the airlines could go beyond temporary and the solid logic beyond this can be seen with Amtrak, some freight carriage, and plane-train connections in Europe, it’s not a new idea.
Dallas News also added on their report:
Starting in June, the Landline buses, painted with an American Airlines logo, will pick up passengers at Lehigh International Airport in Allentown or Atlantic City International Airport and rumble down the road to Philadelphia, a major hub for American’s international connections.
Passengers will actually park at airports in Allentown or Atlantic City, check in, check luggage and go through security before loading onto one of the 35-seat buses to take them on the roughly 50-mile trip to Philadelphia. From the bus, they can go straight into the terminal as if they were transferring airplanes. Bags are transferred, too.
“For too long, travelers have been bothered by all of the ancillary parts of flying, including getting to and from the airport, parking, transporting their bags and navigating security,” said a statement from Landline CEO and co-founder David Sunde.
American Airlines Restarts Philadelphia Regional Routes With Landline Buses https://t.co/oWE1tkTnYX (via @ByERussell)
— Jon Ostrower (@jonostrower) April 7, 2022
The bus trips ticket will be sold by the airlines as “flights,” with a baggage transfer just like with the aircraft.
It’s a modification of a long-established European practice of connecting trains on-site at airports, as offered in Paris by Air France and in Frankfurt, Germany, by Lufthansa.
The lack of pilots due to COVID vaccines and the cost of fuel was the main reason why flights are now more put on the ground. Landline has benefited from the pandemic and now seems to be smiling for the foreseen profit for the coming months.
Sources: Western Journal, Airline Weekly, The Dallas Morning News
Leave a Comment