Logan Airport Capital Projects

ra84970 said:
Every time I see larger and larger "clubhouses", I am so upset at the ongoing privatization of public facilities.
Click to expand...

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?
 
BosDevelop said:
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?
Click to expand...
You can in Pittsburgh!
 
jass said:
You can in Pittsburgh!
Click to expand...

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.
 
jklo said:
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.
Click to expand...

The checkpoint isn't too far back, but it's further back than Logan. There are some cafes and other gathering spaces in the pre-checkpoint main lobby, although I'd say the majority are still post-checkpoint and in the terminals.
 
Over Memorial day weekend, passenger travel, as measured by TSA, was about 6x the levels for the same weekend in 2020, and, eyeballing, about 30 percent lower than the comparable weekend in 2019. No data yet on individual airport volume.. But domestic travel seems to be coming back faster than expected. And with the EU introducing vaccine passports, I expect international travel to begin rebounding soon as well.
 
Is 12,000 sqf a competitive size in the world of airport lounges?
 
Maybe Massport will put a new lounge on top of the newer C gates over next to E?
 
jklo said:
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.
Click to expand...

Looks like its suspended due to COVID, but,


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.
Click to expand...
 
BosDevelop said:
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?
Click to expand...

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).
 
ra84970 said:
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).
Click to expand...

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.
 
Brattle Loop said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
ra84970 said:
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.
Click to expand...

I'll leave the issue of funding to one side because I don't actually have information on whether Massport-writ-large is actually getting taxpayer revenue or whether any of it is going to the Logan capital improvements.

The simple fact is that while it's a perfectly valid ideological position for a public-use facility to not have limited-access spaces (or that any such spaces should be fully-privately-funded), it is an ideological position. It seems logical that lounges and other first-class-style facilities provide some benefit to the airlines and other companies which operate them; unless you have some information to the contrary I assume that Massport isn't building, furnishing, and operating these things solely out of its own pocket. If that is in fact the case, then I presume the point of these things is that they (Massport) assume that spending money to build this thing will bring in more revenue to them than building something else in the space; as a perennial coach passenger I would entirely prefer there be more and better space for the general public, but general seating doesn't bring in any revenue, and if someone wants to rent space for a lounge, that's a revenue source. And to the potential argument that the public authority should just maintain a fully-public facility without upper-class spaces, the airlines that benefit from premium classes would pitch a fit because their premium customers would, rightfully, complain about being lumped in with the masses, and it does Massport no good if the airlines are either constantly complaining or, worse, decide to focus their efforts on places where their customers' desires are being better-met.
 
Texasian said:
Chase looking to get into the lounge game?
Click to expand...


"The first Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at Boston Logan International Airport will span 12,000-square-feet. It will be located in the Terminal B to C connector, which is currently under construction. The lounge is expected to open by 2022 after a $20.4 million capital investment.

The new lounge will include showers, a family room, a business lounge and rest and wellness areas. Chase Sapphire says that is has already activated lounges across the country at marquee events, serving as hubs for unique access at culinary, entertainment and cultural experiences. That same inspiration will come to life in airports, providing access to exceptional, authentic and regionally inspired food, drink, art, entertainment, and wellness."
 
These are revenue bonds. There is no obligation on the part of the Commonwealth to come to the rescue of the bondholders if Massport were to go belly up.

After 9/11, the Federal government indemnified Massport from potential, incalculable financial liabilities arising from two of the hijacked planes having departed from Logan. Those liabilities would have bankrupted Massport. The Federal government occasionally indemnifies, e.g., owners of nuclear power plants, because only it can legally print money.

For those easily bored:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top