Airport Service

LAWRENCE, Mass. – The body of a US Marine killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan returned home Saturday in a solemn procession through Massachusetts on the 20th anniversary of the attacks that led to the longest war in the States- United.

Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo died in the August 26 bombing near Kabul airport, where people were evacuated amid the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. A dozen other US servicemen and 169 Afghans were killed as people struggled to enter the airport and on flights out of the country.

Dignitaries including Governor Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Kim Janey and US Senator Edward Markey paid tribute to his family as the body arrived at Boston’s Logan International Airport.

In Rosario Pichardo’s hometown of Lawrence, people lined highway overpasses and streets waving American flags as the motorcade passed through town near the New Hampshire state border.

A Navy honor guard carried the flag-draped casket to the Farrah Funeral Home as police, firefighters and others rose and saluted.

Military personnel and others salute as Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo returns to Logan Airport in Boston on Saturday, September 11, 2021 (Jonathan Wiggs, The Boston Globe / AP)

The hearse carrying the remains of US Marine Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo passes a line of bikers as she passes through his hometown of Lawrence, Massachusetts on Saturday, September 11, 2021 (Winslow Townson / AP)

Residents watch the funeral procession of Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, a US Navy who was among 13 servicemen killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, in Lawrence, Mass, on Saturday, September 11, 2021. (Robert F. Bukaty / AP)

Political representatives from Massachusetts are in attendance as US Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo arrives at Logan Airport on Saturday, September 11, 2021 in Boston. (Jonathan Wiggs, The Boston Globe / AP)

The coffin of Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, a U.S. Marine who was among 13 servicemen killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, is transported to Farrah’s funeral home in his hometown of Lawrence, Mass, on Saturday, September 11, 2021. (Robert F. Bukaty / PA )

“We will never forget his name,” said Lawrence Mayor Kendrys Vasquez. “We are proud to have him at home.”

Francisco Urena, a former state commissioner of veterans affairs who assisted Rosario’s family, said the importance of the fallen soldier’s return home on the anniversary of the attack that started the war which ultimately cost him his life is not lost on his family.

“You have to understand that Johanny was five years old, a kindergarten 20 years ago. She lived in a country at war,” he said. “She volunteered to serve our country and volunteered to participate in this mission.”

Saturday represents the real start of the family’s mourning, as many have recently arrived from Rosario Pichardo’s native Dominican Republic and elsewhere, Urena said.

“It has been a long time to come for this family. It has been very difficult days, sleepless nights,” he said. “But the town of Lawrence has come together to make sure this young Navy sergeant and his family are not alone during this time.”

The 25-year-old served in the Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51 / 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade. She and other Marines were killed as they helped filter Afghans and others at the gate of Kabul airport. They all received the Purple Heart last week.

A funeral mass will be held Monday morning at the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption for the family of Rosario Pichardo and other guests.

On Tuesday there will be a public vigil at the Veterans Memorial Stadium next to Lawrence High School, where Rosario Pichardo graduated. She will rest in the Bellevue cemetery in a section reserved for military veterans.

Airport lounges, the flyer’s respite for food, drink and unlimited Wi-Fi, closed when COVID-19 struck, one of the first victims of the pandemic. Now they’re reopening in the US, but experiences vary – many have returned to full capacity while others remain closed or lack full service.

Who is open?

There are about 250 lounges at U.S. airports, according to Zach Griff, who is researching the industry for The Points Guy travel website. Some are operated by airlines and others are independently owned and managed. American Express has its own set of clubs for premium credit card holders, and its competitors, Chase and Capital One, are entering the market with their own offerings.

A range of entry options greets travelers, depending on the lounge. Guests can pay a daily or annual fee to be admitted, or enter as a purchaser of a first class ticket, or receive access as a benefit provided with specific credit cards. Lounges vary from basic windowless spaces with Wi-Fi and snacks, like the Swissport Lounge at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, to beautifully decorated clubs showcasing work by local artists, area-inspired cuisine rotating and offering runway views, such as the Alaska Airlines Lounge at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Those aimed specifically at international travelers, such as the United Polaris and British Airways lounges, are more likely to be equipped with showers, nap cabins and other amenities to help travelers prepare or recover. long flights.

Lounges at US airports for mainly domestic routes began to reopen in the spring and summer. American Airlines reopened 27 of its Admirals Clubs over Memorial Day weekend. All Delta Air Lines Sky Clubs reopened in early July. Thirty-two United Airlines clubs were due to be open by Labor Day, with the final six opening later this month. About 40 of the 52 independently owned and operated lounges of the US Priority Pass network have reopened. Hours of operation can be found on the company’s websites.

The majority of lounges serving international passengers remain closed due to ongoing travel restrictions and still sluggish cross-border demand.

How’s the food?

The meal situation varies, from prepackaged items to hot meal buffets with staff or self-service. Alaska lounges have reopened self-service buffets, with hourly serving utensil changes and hand sanitizing stations. Delta recently brought back hot and cold multi-course offerings such as Thai chicken dishes with rice and baked desserts. United Airlines currently offers individually wrapped items, including sausages and egg croissants in the morning.

The differences can seem glaring. Steve Newton, 32, sales manager for TripKit software, which helps manage business travel expenses, lives in Dallas and travels about three or four times a month. He has visited seven salons across the country since they began to reopen. Recently at the Centurion Lounge at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Newton said he was excited to discover egg frittata, bacon and blueberry pancakes, especially because the American Airlines Admirals Club qu ‘he had visited nearby “seemed to serve mostly yogurt and cheese cubes.”

What is the

virus changed?

All of the reopened lounges have announced operational changes due to the coronavirus, adding health and safety precautions such as hand sanitizing stations and more robust cleaning.

In its lounges, Alaska has stopped using biometric fingerprint scanners for entry, to reduce physical contact points. It has also suspended the acceptance of Priority Pass holders in most of its lounges to avoid overcrowding.

Escape Lounges, a company that operates facilities at 11 U.S. airports including Reno, Nevada, and Sacramento, Calif., Sells day passes for $ 45. Access is also available as a credit card benefit. To reduce contact between customers, salons replaced physical newspapers and magazines with digital publications accessible through a mobile app. Staff members now escort guests to specific seats in the lounge, as well as take and deliver food and drink orders. The menus are accessible via a QR code.

Can I get a refund for the length of the trade shows closed?

Passengers who paid several hundred dollars in advance to an airline for a year of lounge access, or to a credit card company that offered lounge access as a perk, were more likely to opt out. be granted an extension of lounge access, or a replacement benefit, rather than a refund.

Credit card companies offered temporary alternative perks like catering or streaming service credits, but sometimes it was up to the cardholder to sign up for them.

Airlines have generally extended lounge access, but not for all the time wasted.

Priority Pass, which provides access to a global network of more than 1,300 lounge, restaurant and retail offerings, said it offered no refunds to compensate annual pass holders who purchased directly through the company, but extended the membership for three months.

I travel. Are the lounges crowded?

As states have lifted domestic capacity restrictions, lounges have followed suit and customers are returning. Passenger volumes at clubs in Alaska, Delta and United are close to or equal to pre-COVID figures, according to these airlines.

This leads in some cases to the return of a pre-pandemic salon problem: overcrowding. Jenn Taylor, 58, an executive at Nexus, a software company, traveled once a week before the pandemic and found lounges to be “an absolute oasis”. Departing for a recent business trip from her hometown of Atlanta, she stopped at the Delta Sky Club before her flight. After a peek inside, she decided to grab a cookie and wait in the boarding area. “When every seat is full, there is no social distancing,” she said of the show.

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What do I need to know for the long term?

The popularity of salons has spurred construction. American Express recently opened clubs at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and at Denver International Airport. Delta opened one at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in June and will open more at Los Angeles International and New York LaGuardia in 2022. Alaska is opening a lounge at San Francisco International Airport.

New companies are entering the market. Capital One, whose owners had not yet benefited from lounge access as an advantage, is creating its own lounges equipped with breastfeeding rooms, showers and Peloton bicycles. By the end of 2022, its clubs will be open at airports in Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver and DC Dulles. Chase is building his very first Sapphire by The Club lounges, in Boston’s Logan, LaGuardia and Hong Kong International, but has not disclosed any details of what will be inside.

I’m flying soon. Anything else i need to know?

Travelers should look online before heading to the airport to see if their local lounge is open and bring extra snacks just in case, as company websites don’t list what they serve.

Many flyers are just happy to be back, no matter what is on the menu. Nathan Love, 38, a Seattle-based business development manager at T-Mobile who has already racked up 60,000 airline miles since being vaccinated five months ago, recently spent time in the Alaska, Delta lounges. and Centurion. He said his favorite aspect was reconnecting with the bartenders, check-in staff and other crew members he recognized before closing, and chatting with other travelers. “It’s great to breathe, relax and share stories,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

(CNN) – Images of long queues with captions referring to several hours of waiting at London’s Heathrow Airport have surfaced on social media, prompting the airport’s press office to criticize the British Border Force Saturday.

“We are very sorry that the passengers faced unacceptable immigration queues last night (Friday) due to too few Border Force officers on duty,” a spokesperson said on Saturday. from Heathrow in a statement.

“The border forces were aware of the additional demand from the families and we were very disappointed that they did not provide sufficient resources,” the statement added.

The Border Force comes under the Interior Ministry, which responded on Saturday admitting that the situation was “unacceptable”.

“Throughout the pandemic we have made it clear that wait times may be longer as we make sure all passengers adhere to the health measures put in place to keep the UK public safe. very long wait times which we saw at Heathrow last night are unacceptable, “the Home Office said in a statement.

The airport experiences “the busiest weekends of the year for returning passengers, with a particularly high number of families with children under 12 who cannot use electronic gates,” the statement said. .

Electronic gates are automated self-service stations that use facial recognition technology, but people traveling with children 12 and under are not allowed to use them.

“Border Force is rapidly revising its rosters and capacity and flexibly deploying our staff across the airport to improve wait times,” the Home Office said.

The Heathrow press office said it has made its own staff available to help manage the lines, while stressing the need to staff each immigration office during peak hours.

The office said it escalated the matter to border forces so that they could “provide better service for the rest of the weekend.”

Ida’s remnants slammed all three states on Wednesday night with deadly results, producing historic amounts of precipitation that left millions of people under a flash flood emergency and triggering multiple tornado warnings throughout the night, including for New York City.

Most of New York City is subject to a flash flood emergency until 3 a.m. – the National Weather Service urging the 9.1 million people at risk to seek higher ground. The city’s mayor has declared a state of emergency, as has the governor of New Jersey.

The flooding was rapid and widespread; damage within hours. The streets of the tri-state were filled with inches, some over a foot, with floodwater.

In Queens, a popular road experienced flood levels that filled a number of city buses. A New Yorker documented his trip with a few other runners who were taken to higher ground by their bus driver.

The entire city metro system has closed. MTA’s top-to-bottom straphangers saw floodwaters hurtling down stairs and wagons as Ida’s additional infrastructure crippled.

In a rare move and a sign of Ida’s dangerous power, MTA officials ordered the suspension of every train line well before midnight as safety concerns grew. On CNN, Governor Kathy Hochul said she “cannot guarantee” that the system will be fully operational by Thursday morning.

Ida’s fury hit Newark Liberty Airport particularly hard. Water appeared to fill the floors of at least one of the airport’s terminals, eventually causing the entire airport to close at 10:30 p.m.

Nine local Marines and a local Marine Corps member were among 13 U.S. servicemen killed in a bomb explosion Thursday near the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, officials confirmed on Saturday.

Ten of the 13 soldiers were stationed here at Camp Pendleton.

Military families and San Diego residents say their feelings are still strong after the brutal attack.

Daniel Samuelson, who has friends in the military, says the attack is hitting hard.

“When something like what happened the other day, it’s fair, it hits you hard,” Samuelson said. “It’s very alive right now and it’s very scary, it’s just a difficult position and obviously worried about it.”

NBC 7 met Samuelson after leaving flowers at the Camp Pendleton Memorial in solidarity with the military community.

One by one, carefully placed along the sand, a total of 13 flags were planted near Rescue Tower 22 in Pacific Beach on Friday. NBC 7’s Amber Frias has more.

Some of the soldiers killed were only 20 years old. Military mom Sheri Kelley says the attack struck near her home.

“It is very emotional to be a mother knowing that it could have been the case and that a member of the Corps was killed alongside 12 Marines. I have another family who are also in the military, so even though these young men and women weren’t my children, it hits home, “Kelley says.

Kelley says this attack impacts everyone.

“Two of the Marines are from Norco, Calif. And another from Riverside or two, I believe, and this is our hometown, so even the people of Ohio no matter how patriotism is going by region or by state. , it affects us all, ”Kelley said. “I think any parent can sympathize and anyone who votes for the American people.”

As the military pullout continues until the Aug.31 release, Samuelson says he always keeps those in Afghanistan in his thoughts and prayers.

“For this problem, it’s still real, it still exists and it’s still war,” Samuelson said.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (WBRC) – On a sunny summer Tuesday afternoon, around 20 members of the Ralph Curtis Battles family gathered outside a southwest gate at Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, waiting for a moment of near 80 years old.

Battles was 25, enlisted in the Navy, and was serving as a second-class firefighter on the USS Oklahoma when it was attacked on December 7, 1941, becoming one of the first casualties of World War II.

Since then, his family has hoped and prayed that his remains will finally make it home. Tuesday, it finally happened.

His nephew Ralph Shell bursts into tears while waiting for the plane.

“Today… we’re here to welcome him home,” Shell said, fighting back tears. “This is what our family has always wanted and it is just a testament to our military and the country we live in that they would do it again after 80 years.”

The USS Oklahoma sank minutes after being hit by nine torpedoes in the attack on Pearl Harbor. 429 sailors and marines on board were killed. Battles’ family say he was among 388 men whose bodies remained in the ship’s hull on the ocean floor for 18 months after the attack.

Their remains were eventually transferred to a cemetery in Hawaii, but most were not identified.

For decades, the Battles family continued to hope that one day they could provide him with a proper funeral and say goodbye to him.

“My grandparents always reserved a place for him in the family cemetery in Boaz with a gravestone and a stone at the foot,” explains Shell. “My mother mourned her brother for the rest of her life. “

In 2015, the US Navy removed the remains and began DNA testing in an attempt to return the bodies to their loved ones. Shell says that in April the US Navy called him, saying they had identified his uncle.

“We can place his remains with the rest of the family in Boaz,” Shell says with a smile. He says the Navy has now identified more than 340 of those unidentified Sailors and Marines who were serving aboard the USS Oklahoma with him that day.

“My mother would be brought up. I remember my mom saying she wished they could take him home. he said, fighting back tears. “He died in the service of this country which is still the greatest country on this planet, and I think he would be proud.”

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, August 28, 2021 at 1 p.m. at Hillcrest Cemetery, with full military honors provided by the United States Navy.

Copyright 2021 WBRC. All rights reserved.

UNITED STATES. PHL Food & Shops, the manager of the Philadelphia International concession program, introduces SkySquad concierge service at the airport. Philadelphia is the sixth airport in the United States to offer SkySquad services, with dedicated on-site assistants assisting travelers with their journey.

SkySquad has also partnered with AtYourGate, the airport food delivery and retail service, which will also help customers deliver to their gate.

“We are delighted to bring SkySquad to Philadelphia,” said Mel Hannah, vice president and general manager of MarketPlace PHL. “We’re always looking for ways to improve the traveler experience, and SkySquad’s offerings will do just that.

SkySquad offers à la carte services including assistance from arrival at the airport to the ticket office, security; childcare and baggage assistance; contactless food delivery; and even monitor travelers’ luggage while they grab a snack or use the bathroom. These services start at US $ 49.

“We are delighted to bring SkySquad to Philadelphia International Airport,” said Julie Melnick, CEO and Founder of SkySquad. “Our mission is to reinvent the airport experience by helping travelers. Now travelers can experience the joy of traveling without worrying about the stress that comes with it. Our team of airport assistants will meet you at your car door and support you until the minute you step onto the catwalk.

Afghanistan Updates

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The Pentagon said it had ordered U.S. civilian airlines to help move Afghan refugees out of U.S. bases in the Middle East, as Western forces struggled to evacuate locals a week after regaining control by the Taliban.

Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense, activated the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet to provide commercial aircraft to support evacuation efforts from temporary shelters, allowing military aircraft to focus on flights to and from Kabul International Airport.

US carriers including American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta, United, Omni Air and Hawaiian Airlines will provide a combined total of 18 aircraft, the Pentagon said.

Thousands of Afghans desperate to leave the country were still crowded around Kabul International Airport on Sunday, but were unable to enter the area controlled by US forces.

The Taliban, who control the entry points on the civilian side of the airport, set up checkpoints leading to the transport hub and, according to witnesses cited by Reuters, fired in the air and used batons to try to manage the crowds. A NATO official said at least 20 people had died in and around the airport in the past seven days.

A person briefed on the evacuation process said it was nearly impossible for people to enter the airport unless they had a diplomatic escort provided by Qatar, which maintains relations with the United States and the United States. Taliban.

Qatar has transported thousands of people to the airport and resumed operations over the weekend after suspending them on Friday due to security concerns.

Christian Nellemann, executive director of the Rhipto-Norwegian Center for Global Analyzes in Norway, said that while the Taliban appeared to let Westerners pass through checkpoints, they were preventing Afghans from passing.

” They are looking for. . . especially for members of the Afghan security services, which means they are targeting high priority targets, ”he said.

“What we fear is that once the evacuation of Westerners is completed, they will begin to bring people together in a more systematic way.”

The United States issued a warning on Saturday telling its citizens not to travel to Kabul airport unless instructed otherwise. US officials have also warned of the growing risk of terrorist attacks launched by the Afghan branch of the terrorist group Isis, which launched a rocket attack on the presidential palace in Kabul last month.

The Taliban recaptured Kabul a week ago after a blitz across the country, regaining control for the first time since being ousted by the 2001 US invasion that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Afghans who were part of ousted President Ashraf Ghani’s government as well as security forces, activists and journalists said they were threatened by Taliban fighters, who went door to door looking for collaborators. Ghani fled the country before the Taliban took control.

Taliban leaders, including co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar, arrived in Kabul over the weekend with the aim of forming a new administration. Hamid Karzai, former Afghan president, and former peace negotiator Abdullah Abdullah pushed for an inclusive government that reflects the country’s ethnic diversity and for roles in the new administration.

Karzai and Abdullah met with senior Taliban officials, including those of the Haqqani Network, a Taliban affiliate closely linked to Pakistani intelligence services, with the aim of reaching a power-sharing deal.

Additional reporting by Andrew England and Helen Warrell in London

DALLAS – U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited North Texas on Wednesday and got to see some of the things the infrastructure bill will be used for.

Under the infrastructure bill, Texas would get more than $ 30 billion to spend on broadband, public transportation, and highway and bridge improvement projects.

Transport Secretary Buttigieg said a formula was being used to distribute the funds.

A SMU economist said he was worried about the high price.

There is a lot to be done on the $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

RELATED: Biparty Senate Passes $ 1T Infrastructure Package, Sends Bill to House

During a stopover in North Texas on Wednesday, Secretary Buttigieg said if the bill approved Congress and passed, Texas would receive $ 30 billion over five years.

“The answers don’t have to come from Washington, it does, that’s what we’re doing with this bill,” Buttigieg said.

Part of the money will help finance public transport, expand train and bus services in the region.

The funds will also go to DFW Airport, one of the busiest in the country.

“We are now 13th in the world in terms of our infrastructure. We get a C- in terms of our score for infrastructure,” said US representative Colin Allred.

Part of the DFW airport expansion includes prefabricated modular gates, a first at any airport.

Once completed, the 450-tonne structures will be moved to the aerodrome and installed at Terminal C.

“We need this investment to get people back to work and allow us to recover,” Allred added.

“There is a tendency to think of a lot of these projects as almost jobs projects, and that’s just plain wrong,” EMS economist Mike Davis.

Davis is skeptical of the expensive infrastructure bill.

“The most important thing to worry about is spending. We have record debt levels in this country right now. We’re talking about accumulating a lot more. And then we add these infrastructure spending. to that, ”he explained. “So the question for these infrastructure projects is not how many people will be hired? The question is: do we need the infrastructure and is it worth the money? “

RELATED: John Cornyn and Ted Cruz vote against infrastructure bill that could bring Texas over $ 30 billion

Buttigieg said his office will have a transparent, accountable and determined way to get those funds out.

Congressman Allred said north Texas was one of the fastest growing regions in the country and infrastructure projects were long overdue.

“Our growth is not going to decline, it is going to accelerate,” Allred added.

The House was scheduled to stay on vacation until September 20, but on Tuesday evening the House majority leader said the chamber would return on August 23 to consider the infrastructure bill.