Every time I see larger and larger "clubhouses", I am so upset at the ongoing privatization of public facilities.
You can in Pittsburgh!Are post-security airport facilities really public spaces? How can that be when I can't access those areas without first purchasing a ticket for travel that same day?
You can in Pittsburgh!
Do they have the checkpoint far back or something? I don't really fly that much (or at all) but I thought you couldn't get past the checkpoint anymore without a ticket post-TSA.
Is 12,000 sqf a competitive size in the world of airport lounges?
Do they have the checkpoint far back or something? I don't really fly that much (or at all) but I thought you couldn't get past the checkpoint anymore without a ticket post-TSA.
Pittsburgh International’s myPITpass program allows non-ticketed individuals access beyond the airport’s security checkpoints to shop, dine, and explore the Airside Terminal.
MyPITpass does not require advance sign-up. Interested users must bring a valid, government-issued identification, such as a driver’s license or passport. The myPITpass counter is located on the ticketing level in the Landside Terminal across from the Allegiant counter. The program is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Click here for more information.
Are post-security airport facilities really public spaces? How can that be when I can't access those areas without first purchasing a ticket for travel that same day?
Its a public facility purchased by the public's taxes regardless of the security theatre that we've been going through since 9/11. In addition to the MyPITPass which is the airlines equivalent of a platform ticket for rail operators, there are still others who get accompanyment passes for older, disabled, and younger travellers that need assistance.
The facilities being owned by the public is the key point that makes them places that shouldn't be trying to maximize privatization - especially of those of means or their agents (millionaires and the business people that serve them).
I don't know if the pandemic has changed anything, but my understanding was that Massport doesn't receive tax money. If that's still the case then presumably the Logan capital projects are funded by user fees and associated revenues, in which case it absolutely makes financial sense to maximize those revenues. If the airlines or others want to pay rent or whatever to fund a lounge because it will help their business, I don't see why Massport shouldn't gladly take their money, especially if the alternative is actually greater taxpayer funding of the airport.
The Massachusetts Port Authority is backed by the authority to issue government-backed bonds given by the General Courts. While our tax moneys don't often directly pay for the most of the day to day operations, MassPort is able to raise so much revenue from the bond market to improve its facilities because they sell bonds to investors with the backing of the state tax authority. Without that backing, Massport would likely be unable to raise the revenues necessary to have the facilities it does.
While it may be nice to think that the revenues generated from fees cover all the bases, Mass taxpayers are saying (and in the case of the pandemic, actually are) backing the authority with our money when push comes to shove. MassPort should steward the facilities well, but that does NOT mean auctioning off more and more of the facilities that taxpayers are backing to create private, pay-to-enter spaces in these facilities. It's a slippery slope of public facilities.
Chase looking to get into the lounge game?