American Airlines is removing one of the biggest pain points for customers connecting from two smaller East Coast destinations.
Passengers connecting to Landline Buses from Allentown, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey, will no longer need to go through security in Philadelphia. Instead, they can go through security at the start of their journey and stay in “airspace” through their connection.
Landline, a bus service that sells “connections” on behalf of Americans from Allentown and Atlantic City, began arriving inside the secure area of the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) terminal Tuesday. .
Previously, Landline passengers from those cities had to go through airport security twice when connecting to US flights at PHL — once at the original airport and again upon arrival PHL.
Landline buses operate as if they were connecting flights to PHL, a hub for Americans. All airlines fly several short routes from their busiest hubs. However, some routes are particularly short — like AA flights between PHL and Allentown and Atlantic City, each slightly longer than 60 miles — can be a hard sell for customers who can only drive to the airport.
The Landline bus option provides a cheaper option for the airline to fly such routes while also giving customers a connecting experience without having to worry about on-time or canceled flights.
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Gerardo Spero, federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration at Philadelphia International Airport, said the agency has implemented security protocols for buses and airline personnel to allow connections. seamless.
“This program streamlines the passenger experience and enables travelers to move easily out of a major international airport with ease by implementing a check-in process,” Spero said in a statement. our security from a smaller international airport.
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The move is welcome news for Allentown and Atlantic City Landline customers. Those making a Landline connection from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, however, won’t be so lucky. Passengers departing from Lancaster Airport (LNS) using an AA Landline connection will still have to go through double security.
Americans are not alone in considering bus connectivity for some shorter transit routes.
Landlines also run services to Denver International Airport (DEN) for United Airlines and Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) for Sun Country Airlines.
For Americans, eliminating a second security check for passengers flying from Allentown and Atlantic City would make Landline connections more consistent with regular flight connections — potentially increasing passenger’s willingness to book itineraries when connecting through the airline’s PHL hub.
For the airline, that will help increase their feed of connecting flights there. For smaller airports like Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) and Allentown’s Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE), the unique link with PHL is likely to be a welcome one, as the airports flying has caught up with the broader trend that the major airlines have seen. cut flights in many of their smallest markets.
In addition to the bus service operated by American Landline to PHL, ACY is served by only one carrier: the ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines. At ABE, American’s fixed bus service to PHL will complement their existing service to the hub in Charlotte, the airline’s second-busiest hub. ABE is also served by Allegiant Air, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
Since American partnered with Landline in 2021, PHL CEO Atif Saeed said Landline has carried thousands of passengers for domestic and international flights in Philadelphia.
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