Crown Sydney 'Tops Out'
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Crown Sydney ‘Tops Out’

Exclusive new shots as landmark $2.4bn building, Crown Residences at One Barangaroo, reaches new heights.

By Terry Christodoulou
Tue, May 26, 2020 5:22amGrey Clock 2 min

In a milestone for the Crown Sydney development, the already iconic Crown Residences at One Barangaroo has officially ‘topped out’ ahead of schedule – marking completion of its 275-metre vertical construction.

Designed by globally-renowned architects WilkinsonEyre, this is another impressive and on-time development for the project – that will this December see the planned opening of a 349-room hotel, 14 restaurants and bars and selected retail.

Crown Residences, located in the upper levels, are also on schedule for homeowners to move into the building in the first half of 2021.

Crown Towers Sydney Deluxe Villa bathroom.

While topping out normally means a large celebration, things were a little more subdued given Covid-19 restrictions – the milestone marked by a site visit from NSW Treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, alongside Crown Resorts Chair, Helen Coonan, Crown executives Ken Barton and Todd Nisbet and Group CEO of Lendlease, Steve McCann.

“Today marks a special moment in Crown’s history, which hopefully can also be a part of a new, positive outlook for Sydney after months of unprecedented challenges for many in our community,” offered Coonan. “This building was designed to be a tribute to Sydney and a landmark recognised around the world.”

The view from the top.

To date, 237,888 tonnes of concrete and approximately 20,000 tonnes of steel reinforcements have been fitted to the structure. To finalise the build, more than 1,300 workers will continue to work on the interior fit-out of across the remainder of the year.

Check out more photos of the project below.

Crownsydney.com.au

Crown Sydney Lobby

Crown Tower Sydney Deluxe Villa living and dining room.

Crown Towers Sydney Harbour Bridge King Room.



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11 ACRES ROAD, KELLYVILLE, NSW

This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan

35 North Street Windsor

Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.

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American Airlines Busts Travellers Who Cut the Boarding Line

Audible alerts at the gate call out travellers trying to board earlier than they should

By DAWN GILBERTSON
Thu, Oct 31, 2024 4 min

TUCSON, Ariz.—Passengers in Boarding Group 1 were filing onto American Airlines Flight 2721 to Dallas Friday when an ominous sound went off at Gate B11: dip-dip-dip-DOOP. The gate agent delivered the bad news. The passenger was in Group 4. She asked him to wait his turn.

The same sound—the last-gasp sound from AirPods running out of juice, or sad “Game Over” music for an old videogame—went off minutes later. Dip-dip-dip-DOOP.

“You’ll be boarding with Group 5, sir,” the agent said. Five more passengers were turned back before Group 2 was called.

American Airlines is cracking down on line jumpers. All major U.S. airlines do their best to maintain boarding order since priority boarding is a perk for frequent fliers , credit-card holders and big spenders, and is often available for purchase. But American is the first to develop an automated system that instantly flags offenders.

The airline is experimenting at gates in Tucson, Albuquerque, N.M., and Washington, D.C., as part of a broader upgrade to American’s boarding technology. The airline has tested the alerts on more than 4,500 flights this month and will expand to several more cities this year, with an eye to taking it systemwide if no major issues, such as slower boarding, arise at larger airports. The airline says early feedback from fliers and gate agents has been encouraging.

The idea for automated policing grew out of complaints from travellers fed up with line jumpers and the employees who feel their wrath. In particular, top-tier frequent fliers gripe about too many passengers in the first boarding group, says Preston Peterson, American’s managing director of customer experience.

Group 1 is reserved for travellers in first class, certain business-class tickets and American’s executive platinum status. Active duty military members with military I.D. are also allowed. Groups 2 and 3 are similarly elite.

“They’ve earned that [priority] boarding group and they want access to it,” Peterson says.

The biggest perks, of course: plenty of overhead bin space and no worries about the dreaded threat of gate-checking your bag.

A clear difference

The new system promises smoother boarding for passengers and gate agents. I flew to Tucson International Airport to try it out. I put the airline’s traditional boarding to the test at my departure gate in Phoenix. Could I slither into an earlier boarding group? I was in Group 4 but breezed right through with Group 2.

Gate agents tell me it’s hard to monitor passengers’ group numbers manually, big plane or small, especially with boarding-pass readers where travellers plunk their phones face down.

American isn’t telling passengers about the test before their flights, and that’s on purpose. It doesn’t want them to change their behaviour simply because they’re being watched.

Chad Vossen, a 46-year-old chief creative officer for a video-marketing company in Virginia, knew nothing of the test until he and a colleague tried to board in Group 6 instead of Group 8 for a flight to Phoenix. They had done it on other American flights and others, in hopes of avoiding gate-checking their camera equipment.

His first thought when the dip-dip-dip-DOOP went off: “Wow, that doesn’t sound good.”

Vossen says it triggered the sounds losers hear on “Hollywood Squares” or “ The Price is Right .” (American says the sound effects are generic videogame clips and is still testing different sounds.)

He stepped out of line and laughed about getting caught. Vossen says he sees the change mainly as a way to get travellers to pay up for priority boarding. He’s unlikely to pay, but says he will probably finally sign up for American’s loyalty program. Members get complimentary Group 6 boarding regardless of status. That’s one group ahead of regular Main Cabin customers without status.

Peterson, the American customer-experience executive, believes most passengers aren’t out to game the system.

“I think most people just see a line and go, ‘Oh, we’re boarding,’” he says.

Toot toot, hey, beep beep

About one in 10 passengers on American’s test flights have boarded out of order, the airline says. Not all want to cheat the system. Some are travel companions of those with better boarding positions. American’s policy allows them to board together if they’re on the same reservation but didn’t assign the same boarding group. (The alert still goes off, but the agent can easily override it.) And the airline says its system doesn’t flag pre-boarders, like those with wheelchairs.

Exceptions excluded, I counted as many as seven passengers on one flight boarding in the wrong group; on another, it was zero. That math no doubt changes at a busy hub like Chicago or Dallas. So does the potential for tension.

The passengers I saw seemed to take the ejection in stride, moving aside and waiting for their group. One even apologised to the gate agent.

The test is already having an impact beyond the walk of shame. Peterson says the airline has noticed some passengers jumping out of line after seeing fellow fliers turned away. He says he witnessed the same thing at a non-U.S. airline that began policing boarding groups.

Peterson’s ultimate goal: zero boarding group alerts. “I don’t want anyone to be dinged,” he says.

For now, passengers should expect a cacophony at American gates employing the new tech. Not all alerts will send you to the back of the line. Hear a slot-machine-like sound when you scan your boarding pass? You’re probably seated in an exit row.

Even if you get the dreaded you’re-in-the wrong-boarding-group alert, it could be a mistake. A passenger in Group 8 was taken aback Friday afternoon when it sounded on her flight to Phoenix.

“That did not sound good at all,” she said to the flight attendant.

“You failed at ‘Pac-Man,’” the agent joked.

She was in the right place. The agent hadn’t yet flipped the switch in the app to her group.

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11 ACRES ROAD, KELLYVILLE, NSW

This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan

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Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.

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