DRONE DELIVERY DEBATE

Do we really want drones flying over our homes, delivering packages for Amazon?  That’s the question being asked here in Connecticut as North Haven becomes the test site for long-promised delivery drones in our Connecticut skies.

Not a neighbor?  Read on as there are several other sites that Amazon might use to bring their deliveries (and drones) closer to you including Windsor, Cromwell, and eventually Naugatuck/Waterbury, though no formal plans have been disclosed.

It was back in 2013 that Amazon’s Jeff Bezos first talked of drone deliveries, promising they’d be dropping five pound packages at our homes within 30 minutes of an order being placed.  He said the drones would be flying in four or five years.  It took nine.  Bezos got himself to space faster. 

Amazon's MK30 Drone

The first real drone deliveries by Amazon didn’t start until 2022 in pilot programs in California and Texas, both since discontinued.

In North Haven’s case Amazon asked the town last May for its OK to build a drone-port and P&Z approved the plan unanimously.   There was no public hearing nor public comment. The issue of excessive noise never came up.  

Actually,  the town doesn’t really have much say as it’s the FAA that regulates drones.  Amazon is asking that agency to approve up to 1000 flights a day, each cruising at 250 feet and serving an area of about 7 ½ miles… roughly New Haven to Branford… with 300,000 residents.

Drones could fly from 6:00 am to 10:30 pm, hovering on delivery at about 13 feet before dropping their packages (up to five pounds) and flying back to their base. 

But what about the noise?

Amazon’s plan is to use MK30 drones, each with six rotors and a maximum speed of 73 mph.  On take-off each drone generates 90 decibels of noise…louder than a leaf blower at 50 feet.  On delivery it spends roughly a minute below cruise altitude.  Noise level on delivery, about as loud as a vacuum cleaner.

Amazon’s North Haven warehouse sits in an industrial area between the Wilbur Cross Parkway and I-91 but there are residences nearby.  The site is also close to a migratory bird flyway on the Quinnipiac River.  And it’s just 10 miles from Tweed airport.

Despite the North Haven Planning & Zoning Commission’s enthusiasm for the plan, when the details came out, the objections were heard as loud as those drones. 

The town’s First Selectman Michael Freda said this was “not the right way” and called for hearings by DEEP, the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  The FAA, as required, asked DEEP to confirm the project fits Connecticut’s coastal policies.  The state agency tells me they got over 1000 comments and a final ruling will come by mid-November.

Freda says Amazon has put the project on hold.  Amazon hasn’t said so, and hasn’t withdrawn its FAA application.  At Amazon, “on hold” may mean the same as “out for delivery”: it’s coming, just not yet.

You’ve got to remember that Amazon is a major employer in the North Haven area with 2500 people employed there when that warehouse first opened. The pols are posturing and promising on this issue as this is, you’ll remember, an election year.

We used to talk about NIMBYs, the “Not in My Back Yard” crowd.  Now we must think of a new constituency… the NOMHs (pronounced “nomes”), the “Not Over My House” folks who want peace and quiet more than half-hour deliveries.

 

THE FINAL BOARDING CALL

Planning a flight soon?  With fewer airlines to choose among (including newcomers Avelo and Breeze, both with bases in Connecticut), let’s take a moment of silence to remember the carriers that are no more.  Seatbacks and tray tables in their upright positions, please.  It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Do you remember PEOPLExpress Airlines?  How about NorthEast?  Or Mohawk?

These airlines of the past are what we call “fallen flags”, remembered, perhaps, but no longer in business, at least not under those names.  The US domestic airline industry is littered with such unclaimed baggage of our traveling past and each one brings back memories of a time when flying was fun and a middle seat came with a meal, not just a fee.

Newark-based PEOPLExpress was a favorite of mine, flying out of the ancient North Terminal and charging super-low fares which were collected in-flight.  Like many carriers they grew too big, too fast and were snapped up by aviation pariah Frank Lorenzo.

We also had Pan Am, Eastern, TWA, Northwest and Continental, each gobbled up or merged with much larger carriers leaving us with, some say, a much less competitive (and more expensive) travel industry.

Recent airline closures include ULCC (Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier) Spirit, the airline that taught us to pay for checked bags.  Hawaiian still flies, but under its acquirer Alaska Airlines' code.  Some of the lost carriers were airlines within an airline, like Song (Delta’s low cost carrier, targeted specifically at women) or Ted (a no-frills subset of United). 

Texas-based Braniff had the distinction of being the only US airline to fly the Concorde (albeit on a lease from Air France and British Airways and flown subsonic over US airspace). Braniff’s jets were painted in bold colors by Alexander Calder, their flight attendants uniforms designed by Emilio Pucci.

A slew of regional carriers long ago made their final boarding calls:  Mohawk (taken over by Allegheny, itself subsumed into USAir which in turn was bought by American).  Piedmont was also grabbed by USAir.  North Central and Southern Airlines became Republic, which bought Hughes Airwest before getting picked up by Northwest, formerly known as Northwest Orient.

Air Florida flew for 13 years, even flying to seven European cities.  And you might remember ValuJet which merged with AirTran. Tower Air made a name for itself (and good money) flying charters for the Pentagon while also providing cheap transcon service from JFK to the West Coast.  Four other carriers, World Airways, Capitol, ONA (Overseas National) and Trans International, also became successful charter lines for civilians and the military.

Carnival Airlines, owned by the cruise ship line, funneled passengers to its own ships on charters and was later acquired by a reorganized Pan Am. 

Midwest was a favorite for many, offering fresh baked cookies inflight in comfy 2 by 2 seating on their DC-9s.  But there were also regional carriers Vanguard, Air South, Eastwind and McClain airlines.

For crossing the “pond” there were a number of failed airlines that offered business-class comfort at bargain fares:  Eos, MaxJet and SilverJet.  Still flying is one of my favorites, French airline La Compagnie which flies just 76 passengers on an A-321neo that can usually carry over 200, at less than traditional business-class fares.

Domestically MGM Grand Air was popular with the Hollywood crowd, flying from LAX to JFK in a lavishly equipped DC-8 with couches and such.

When smoking was banned on US flights starting in 1988, the Tobacco Institute talked about starting a smokers-only airline, but that never happened.

One airline that did fly, for a couple of years, was Hooters Air, owned by the restaurant chain.  In-flight cabin staff on the golfer-targeted flights to Myrtle Beach wore the same skimpy attire as the restaurant’s waitresses.  Hardly PC,  never profitable and, thankfully, short-lived.

Yes… flying used to be fun and cheap.  But now it’s neither.

YOUR NEXT CAR WILL BE A LUXURY

It’s been a busy week on the transportation beat. Not much of it good:

CHEAPER CARS?            The US Dept of Transportation is rolling back Biden-era plans to require automakers to increase their fleet’s MPG.  Rather than the goal of 50.4 mpg, the new rules will settle for 34.9 mpg by 2031.  The White House claims this may save you $1300 on the cost of a new car. 

But savings on the sticker price won’t be free.  Because the new cars won’t get the targeted mileage improvements, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates you’ll spend $1624 more for gas over the life of your vehicle.

By the way, according to the industry ‘bible’, Kelley Blue Book, the average new vehicle in the US now costs $50,089, up almost 2% in one year. 

That will puts new vehicle buyers in Connecticut into a higher tax bracket:  7.75% sales tax for “luxury cars” vs the usual 6.35%, meaning the average new set of wheels in Connecticut will now, legally, be a luxury.

ANOTHER CDOT DEATH:          For the second time in two years a CDOT highway worker has been killed doing his job.  Sixty-year-old Elvin Hernandez was doing road maintenance on I-95 when he was hit by a car that was driving on the grass on the right shoulder near exit 20.  

Elvin Hernandez

The driver of that car, Edward Myers, also age 60, was arrested and admitted to officers he’d just used heroin.  Myers was convicted of DUI this past April and has been on probation.  He’s now being held on $2 million bond, charged with manslaughter.

Working alongside our highways with cars zooming by at high speed is a challenging and dangerous job.  Recent efforts at placing speed cameras in work zones have seen some success.  A pilot test for eight months in 2023 saw 24,900 warning notices issued to drivers but only 750 violations. During testing this spring cameras clocked 8.4 million cars passing the work zones, 1.36 million of them exceeding the speed limit.  More than 150 drivers were clocked in excess of 100 mph.

TARIFFS & NEW RAIL CARS:    Metro-North parent MTA (the Metropolitan Transportation Authority) plans to spend $23 billion on new rail cars, subway cars and buses.  But the price tag is being inflated by $1 billion due to new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on imported components.  That’s enough money to buy 150 LIRR train cars, almost 1000 buses or more than 250 subway cars.

The White House tariffs on imported railroad gear “will not result in a [domestic US] railcar manufacturing boom; it will only raise costs for transit agencies at a time when other construction costs are skyrocketing” the MTA board was told this week.

That’s code for eventually “higher fares”.

BRIGHTLINE:         As I predicted weeks ago, this modern, stylish, for-profit passenger railroad in Florida has filed for bankruptcy.  Ridership and fares are not growing as fast as hoped… revenue is less than half of what was predicted… so the railroad has had to restructure $2.5 billion in debt. 

So much for the free market saving passenger rail, fueled by junk bonds.

Meanwhile, the railroad’s trains between Miami and Orlando will keep running.  However, Brightline’s plan for a high-speed line from Southern California to Las Vegas is already behind schedule and still hunting for money.

Brightline West Artist Rendering