JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Space-A travelers at Joint Base Charleston have a new option when looking for Space-A flights - Facebook.
The JB Charleston Passenger Terminal is now listing Space-A flights on their Facebook page to give customers a faster, more convenient way of getting flight information up to 72 hours in advance. Site administrators can post comments to the schedules with current updates to seat availability, which allows passengers to coordinate their travel plans much more expediently.
Space-A flights are flights that have available seating for passengers to travel and are broken down into six categories which determine the priority on available seats. The passengers must be active-duty military, Reserve, National Guard, eligible family members or retired military personnel.
JB Charleston is one of 11 terminals in the Air Mobility Command that are currently in the test phase of this new program which began Jan. 1 and continues until June 30. The other AMC bases in the program are JB Andrews, Md., Dover AFB, Del., JB Hickam - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, JB Lewis - McChord, Wash., Little Rock AFB, La., MacDill AFB, Fla., Osan Air Base, South Korea, Pope Field, N.C., Ramstein AB, Germany and Scott AFB, Ill., with more terminals expected to be online soon.
The Facebook page offers the ability to see the projected schedule for flights, as well as current seat availability. Site visitors can also post questions to the page which are answered within 24 hours, according to Master Sgt. Robert Kruger, 437th Aerial Port Squadron, 437th Airlift Wing's passenger service operations manager.
"Another added benefit of the page is that passengers can interact with one another," said Kruger. "Someone may ask about flight information from Germany to Italy and another passenger will reply with information that will help them out. However, only posts from the JB Charleston Passenger Terminal are official. We want to do whatever we can to assist our customers and this allows us one more tool to do that."
All previous options to find out about Space-A flights still exist, including the passenger service counter number which customers can call to speak directly to a passenger service agent or the flight recording number, a recording of all the outbound flights which is updated every four hours.
"From what we have seen with our page alone, people are thrilled with it," said Kruger. "We have many customers thanking us when they come into the terminal and on the Facebook page itself. Space-A travel is one of your benefits, please use it. We welcome you to call or come visit us in the passenger terminal."
For more information on the Space-A flights, call the passenger service counter at 963-3083 or visit the JB Charleston Passenger Terminal Facebook page.