Your metro's airports, are you satisfied?

[JManc]

I flew though SNA on my way back from Hawaii. Wasn't SWA. Don't remember airline.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by JManc

I flew though SNA on my way back from Hawaii. Wasn't SWA. Don't remember airline.

I remember doing that too along time ago... it was either Aloha or Hawaiian (Aloha hadn't gone out of business yet). I didn't have to get out of the plane.

edit: based on some wikipedia-ing, it was Aloha Airlines. I remember when they went out of business and left a bunch of people stranded in Hawaii over Spring Break lol.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

I went to college in Orange County and flew to Phoenix out of SNA quite a bit. Not bad for convenience, but I absolutely hate the noise abatement takeoff over Newport Beach.

God. I'm not the biggest fan of flying (I'm 6'6 so planes are very uncomfortable) but I flew out of John Wayne to Tampa in 2007 and I was never more terrified when the plane took off nearly vertically for 20 seconds, leveled off, turned, then climbed again. It's pretty jarring to say the least.

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I've flown out of every major SoCal Airport (sans Burbank and Long Beach) and never really had any issues with any of them. Ontario is the closest to me and aside from blinding morning takeoffs, it's easy to handle.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Ontario usually had cheaper flights, but it was the same distance from the City of Orange to ONT as it was to LAX. Not counting the commute time (45 minutes without traffic), it was usually a little bit less of a hassle (gas/parking) just to fly out of SNA. Also, I hate LAX...

The only SoCal area airports I've not had the pleasure of flying out of are Burbank and San Diego.

[SFBruin]

How do people in Boston feel about Logan airport being so close to downtown?

I wrote a blog post once about how I thought that the airport should be moved elsewhere (to like Needham or West Roxbury-ish), so that the area near downtown could be developed, but I was wondering: is having an airport next to the CBD is a good thing?

[JManc]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

How do people in Boston feel about Logan airport being so close to downtown?

I wrote a blog post once about how I thought that the airport should be moved elsewhere (to like Needham or West Roxbury-ish), so that the area near downtown could be developed, but I was wondering: is having an airport next to the CBD is a good thing?

I've only flown into Logan once or twice but I recall the approach went over the city and then way out into the Bay and finally circled over back to the airport.

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by JManc

I've only flown into Logan once or twice but I recall the approach went over the city and then way out into the Bay and finally circled over back to the airport.

I read that San Francisco International and Logan are used to train new pilots from around the country.

[llamaorama]

You guys are just pussies, that takeoff looks awesome. Wheeeeee!

I was on an American Eagle turboprop(a Saab) flight once and while somewhere in Oklahoma we went through a big storm and hit really intense turbulence and it felt like I lifted out of my seat a few times.

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by JManc

I've only flown into Logan once or twice but I recall the approach went over the city and then way out into the Bay and finally circled over back to the airport.

Yeah, I've only flown into Logan once, but I remember that I was surprised at how close the plane came to houses on the harbor.

I was wondering if there was some benefit, though, to having an airport so close to downtown.

[Citylover94]

One benefit of Logan being so close to downtown Boston is that the time to get from a flight to many of the main destinations for tourists and business travelers is usually very short. Their are two different transit routes into Boston. One is a shuttle bus to the blue line subway and the other is the Silver Line BRT. Some intercity buses also stop at the airport as well as South Station so it is easy for people from all over the New England region to access even without a car. Those connections would likely not be possible without the airport being so close to downtown. On the other hand downtown and the central neighborhoods have very strict height limits for buildings.

[SFBruin]

Gotcha gotcha. So it sounds like a mixed bag.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Citylover94

One benefit of Logan being so close to downtown Boston is that the time to get from a flight to many of the main destinations for tourists and business travelers is usually very short. Their are two different transit routes into Boston. One is a shuttle bus to the blue line subway and the other is the Silver Line BRT. Some intercity buses also stop at the airport as well as South Station so it is easy for people from all over the New England region to access even without a car. Those connections would likely not be possible without the airport being so close to downtown. On the other hand downtown and the central neighborhoods have very strict height limits for buildings.

Yeah, although actually riding the Silver Line to/from the airport is usually an exercise in frustration if you realize how indirect the routing is.

[xzmattzx]

I flew into Logan once and didn't need to use a cab or rental car the entire time there, since it was so close to Downtown. There's a train that goes to the South Street Station that's free, so you get into Downtown from the airport pretty quickly and for no money.

[Shawn]

Logan International is generally ok. I'm almost always in Terminal E, which is new-ish and has decent food, like Legal Sea Foods. The other terminals are showing some age design and layout-wise. Rarely any delays. Quick, relaxed/friendly TSA. Great flight times for Europe, especially Ireland/UK and Iceland (under 5 hours in good conditions). Plus, it's right downtown.

Narita International is decidedly not downtown, and takes a sem-shinkansen express train 30 minutes to get to from some eastern-side Yamanote stations. Luckily for me, I'm a 10 minute taxi ride from one of these stations. But there's no getting around that Narita is a hike and goddamn you better land before the last train back into the city leaves; otherwise its an overpriced airport hotel or a $200+ taxi ride. The airport itself is Japanese-clean and efficient, but nondescript and uninspired architecturally (especially when compared to other APAC hubs like Changi or HKG). One big complaint: all the good food options are part of this faux Edo-period indoor shopping village, which looks cool and all, but for some asinine reason is BEFORE security. Once you're actually in the gate area, the food options are horrible and sparse.

Narita looks pretty crappy for foreign visitors; Immigrations usually doesn't have many foreign passport holder gates open and the lines for that can get into the hundreds. The Japanese passport holder lines can get pretty deep too, honestly. Again I somehow luck out here: there are always 2-3 lines at Immigrations just for foreign permanent residents, and 9 times out of 10 I'm the only person in this line.

Haneda on the other hand is great. Easy downtown access, great facilities throughout. The only issue is Haneda has limited international routes; it had been a domestic airport for decades (since Narita was built) and only recently started adding international routes to the most popular outbound destinations like Hawaii, Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong, LA, and NYC.

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

Newark:
I feel Newark gets an unjustified bad rap. Terminal C at Newark is world-class. I can't think of a terminal in North America that has the same quality of food, seating, and service options. The Ipad ordering at almost every seat at every gate is glorious. All airports need that. Sure, the lounges are always packed but when the regular gate-space is as nice as it is, I don't mind one bit. The only complaint I have about Newark is how it all goes to shit at the sight of bad weather. There just isn't enough runway / taxiway capacity to maintain hardly anything. So it's definitely a risky airport to connect through, even if it is fairly rare. (I think I got stuck on the tarmac twice in ~30 flights last year)

I think Newark's Terminal C is fantastic, maybe the best in the country. If I don't spring for JAL's direct Logan-Narita, I'll do a Logan-Newark transfer specifically because Terminal C is so convenient for this. My wife also says they have the best Immigrations she's experienced as a non-American citizen.

DFW is a great airport too. Terminals D and E especially.

I hate O'Hare. As a domestic-to-international transfer (and vice versa) spot, it's a lot of walking/train riding in what's often a short window of time. And the delays . . . god, the delays.

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

I flew into Logan once and didn't need to use a cab or rental car the entire time there, since it was so close to Downtown. There's a train that goes to the South Street Station that's free, so you get into Downtown from the airport pretty quickly and for no money.

That sounds awesome!

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

I flew into Logan once and didn't need to use a cab or rental car the entire time there, since it was so close to Downtown. There's a train that goes to the South Street Station that's free, so you get into Downtown from the airport pretty quickly and for no money.

Depends on your luggage. I lived in Boston for 5 years and the only time i ever took a cab was to go to the Airport. It was just annoying lugging a suitcase on a train, to a train to a train.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Haneda on the other hand is great. Easy downtown access, great facilities throughout. The only issue is Haneda has limited international routes; it had been a domestic airport for decades (since Narita was built) and only recently started adding international routes to the most popular outbound destinations like Hawaii, Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong, LA, and NYC.

All of Delta's flights have moved to Haneda from Narita. I look forward to seeing it on my next trip to Japan.

[JManc]

I flew into Narita, took a bus into Haneda and then flew to Hiroshima. I always assumed the later was the 'domestic' airport.

[Boisebro]

I hated the old Boise airport, but since it was rebuilt in 2005, I love the new one. Easy in, easy out, clean and modern, free wifi, and enough direct flights to major hubs that I can get anywhere I want with one layover.

[Dariusb]

Does Boston's Logan have a reputation for being foggy like San Francisco?