Westchester Airport Found It Was Barking Up the Wrong Tree With Bark Air

Franz Ferdinand is happy that Westchester Airport will play ball.
The New York airport that objected to the use of its private jet area by new canine-friendly airline Bark Air, stating that such flights would be contrary to its terminal use procedures as they are operated by jets with more than nine seats, rolled over and voluntarily dismissed its action on Monday.
Westchester County, which operates Westchester County Airport in New York, which is located three miles (six km) from downtown White Plains, had sought an injunction against Bark Air that would have forced the carrier to move from the private jet area to the much busier passenger terminal.
Bark Air, which is a subsidiary of Bark, the company that also offers Bark Box, a subscription service for dog toys and treats, uses Gulfstream Aerospace GV jets which have 14 seats for humans. In a stipulation and settlement agreed to by both parties that will continue to allow the doggone carrier to use the private jet area, Bark Air agreed to limit the human passenger count to nine per flight.
As part of the settlement, Bark Air said it would provide the county with the number of human passenger seats sold to the public on each flight on a monthly basis.
A spokesman for Bark Air said that the carrier’s operations had not been affected at any point in time, adding that dogs will be able to continue to “fly first” along with their humans.
Westchester County Airport, which primarily serves Westchester County, Fairfield County, the Bronx, and parts of Manhattan and Queens, was built in 1942 as the location for an Air National Guard unit, opening as Westchester Air National Guard Base. In 1983, the unit relocated to Stewart International Airport in Orange County as the population of Westchester continued to expand.
American Airlines was the first carrier to serve the airport, starting in 1949. Other major carriers that served Westchester County Airport included Northwest Airlines, US Airways, and Republic Airlines. JetBlue Airways began service there in 2007 and is currently the major carrier operating at the aerodrome.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)