All posts by Tom

Tom is the Founder and Chief Blogger of LateDeparture.com. He is a very keen traveller and (obviously) loves to explore airports around the globe. He also enjoys feedback on his posts, so don't be shy and write a comment!

A day at the airport: refuelling planes

Most people never really think about what is involved in getting a plane ready before take-off. One of those important jobs is refuelling the aircraft. It’s something the general public doesn’t get much insight about, so clearly I jumped at the opportunity when offered to shadow the refuelling operation for a few hours at Melbourne Airport (IATA: MEL).

Continue reading A day at the airport: refuelling planes

This week: Heathrow angst, Schiphol innovation & the bikini girl

Unexpectedly no Thanksgiving horror stories hit us this week, but we did receive a long number of other stories coming all the way from Thailand and Amsterdam. Angst surrounding the United Kingdom’s largest airport also made it into our round-up this week. And finally we found a story that’s been waiting to be published from Los Angeles. Well, sort of.

Continue reading This week: Heathrow angst, Schiphol innovation & the bikini girl

How QR codes change your airport experience

Technology is a wonderful thing and I’m sure most readers would agree with me that technology has made a big impact on air travel. Think back a couple of years when you needed to treat your paper airline ticket like cash. You loose it and you weren’t able to fly. Think forward a few months and you will find your boarding pass to contain a lot more than just the flight departure details – thanks to QR codes and clever technology.

Continue reading How QR codes change your airport experience

This week: Thanksgiving plans, angry passengers and new technology

Okie dokie, let’s get this week’s news round-up going as we’ve got a lot to get through! Our tour will bring you to Singapore, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Moscow and London. It’s obviously been a news week from around the world!

Continue reading This week: Thanksgiving plans, angry passengers and new technology

Changi Airport helps students to get a real-world experience

Being a student can be a lot of fun but when it comes to applying the learnt it can be a different story altogether as students often fail to see the direct practical application or they are finding it hard getting jobs where they can apply the newly gained knowledge. Now the Singapore Polytech (SP) has found a clever way around this by partnering with long-time innovation centric Changi Airport (IATA: SIN) in Singapore. The two provide a real-world experience for students through SPELL, a retail store wholly run by students.

Continue reading Changi Airport helps students to get a real-world experience

This week: another Reagan and a sad ending

Boring, boring, boring – that’s how this week has been. At least you could have had that impression when you skimmed through the airport headlines that had come our way this week. But – and this is important now – you can always rely on LateDeparture to dig up something that’s worthwhile reading. And, oh boy, did we find a couple of jewels!

Continue reading This week: another Reagan and a sad ending

LAX first to showcase new American Airlines Flagship Check-in

Today American Airlines introduced the first Flagship Check-in experience at Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX). The new check-in process option expands American’s commitment to differentiate and customize the travel experience for its high-value customers.

Continue reading LAX first to showcase new American Airlines Flagship Check-in

This week: Qantas, east coast storm and stranded Everest tourists

Well, what can I say? For the first time in the history of the weekly LateDeparture airport news round-ups, I decide to take a leave of absence for a couple days. Plus – and this really was the big mistake – I decide to pre-write the news without a disclaimer of when it was written. Naively I thought, what can possibly shake up the airport world in the 3 days I’m away? Oh dearie-me, how wrong was I? One day into my leave (note, I didn’t even have any means of communication at all), the Australian carrier Qantas decides to ground its entire fleet worldwide. Thousands of passengers got stranded across the globe while Irish-born Alan Joyce – the airline’s CEO – bet on a solution to its ongoing, costly disputes with the unions. He got his way, even though they say it’s not yet entirely over, but further threats of future strikes from the unions are out of the way for the moment.

Continue reading This week: Qantas, east coast storm and stranded Everest tourists

This week: Two continued stories, Angola and the TSA

As another week comes to an end another weekly round-up of airport aviation news is due from us! There’s a bit of interesting follow up to do from last week’s news, news from a often forgotten continent and finally a three-letter-acronym that oftentimes makes news – this time it’s, well, juicy…

Continue reading This week: Two continued stories, Angola and the TSA