
A Passenger's Wish List for Improving Airports - georgecmu
http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/travel/24prac.html?ex=1303185600&en=256480b71aa81415&ei=5087&WT.mc_id=TR-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M172-ROS-1010-L1&WT.mc_ev=click
======
tptacek
_But Foy Allen Edelman, a cookbook author from Raleigh, N.C., had another
suggestion: how about installing reclining chairs that have a compartment
underneath where you can stash a small carry-on bag?_

This would probably triple the number of lost bags at the airport, all of
which currently generate security events.

~~~
twitter_v2
The problem is space, reclining chairs will probably take up more space and
need maintenance, not to mention the cost per chair and how to justify it.
Airports and Airlines want to make the process of boarding more
streamlined...investing in chairs that comfort the wait due to delays are a
waste to them and a problem that needs fixing prior to the delay. Sure you
have the elements to deal with, bad weather etc. which we all accept. The
funny side of this post is that we all forget about when we eventually board
the plane and it takes 1 hour to get to the runway to take off. Then 8 hours
stuck in a chair that is less friendly than the one this post is complaining
about. ;-)

~~~
tptacek
I get that facilities are to a great extent an externality to the airlines,
but don't they compete and pay for airport gates? Can't facilities grants be
factored into the bidding process?

~~~
twitter_v2
I would think the gates are not airline specific due to flexibility for when
things go wrong such as aircraft docking requirements not working. Currently
they simply change the gate. Therefore this "Comfortability" issue would need
to be a Airport expenditure and would have to be rolled out across the entire
airport. Not sure all airports will want their landing rates increased for
this reason as not all are on the same rates or sizes / no gates etc. The
other problem is the more comfortable the waiting area chairs are the more
uncomfortable the aircraft will feel when they eventually board.

~~~
tptacek
If I understand correctly, the gates are _very much_ airline-specific.

------
Toucan
Reading this, my first thought was that it's certainly nice that Heathrow
Terminal 5 has faster than normal baggage reclaim and smoother security
procedures, and that Calgary International Airport has free wi-fi outside the
Tim Hortons, but it's never going to sway my decision. If I have to travel by
air, I have to travel by air.

Then I actually thought about recent times I've travelled by plane and I
realised that competition does exist in London at least. I have:

Spent £50 more (a 70% fare increase) to fly to and from London City Airport.
LCY is smaller and as such seems to be much more efficiently run. There's no
long walk/shuttle between security and the gate. Security takes all of 5
minutes at most. The check-in desks have no or very short queues and there's
seating nearby if you do have to wait. It's closer to the city centre so
there's a 20 minute transfer instead of an hour long transfer between the
airport and London. This extra expenditure netted me a nicer airline as well,
but the main justification was the airport. About £20 of the cost was
mitigated by not having to travel to another airport on the outskirts of
London (with the exception of the ~£8 journey to and from Heathrow)

Spent £50 more (a 10% fare increase) to fly to and from London Heathrow
Terminal 5. The terminal opened in 2008 and is very modern. Baggage reclaim
seems faster than other airports I've visited, the overall layout is more sane
and security tends to move quite fast for an international airport. It's
certainly worth a little extra in my opinion.

There's room for improvement. I still prefer the 4 hr 30 train journey from
London to Edinburgh v. the similar priced 1 hr plane journeys. Air travel
might win if it can beat the convenience of just turning up at the train
station 20 minutes before the train leaves, only paying a small extra fee if I
want the freedom of using any train that day instead of a specific train and
compete with the fact that the train stations are in city centres, whereas the
airports are on city outskirts. These problems are quite hard or impossible to
solve, so it's going to have to try harder in other ways. Oh, and the trains
have (somewhat spotty in parts) wifi as well.

~~~
com
I know what you mean about LCY - just a pleasure to use. It's a pain if you
have to head over to say, Richmond or Ruislip, but for the centre or east of
London, it's a dream. I choose it every time I go to London (which is always
short-haul).

I also choose to travel Porter whenever it's possible when I'm going to or
leaving Toronto - Toronto City airport is incrediby central (less than 1km
from the central business district?), with added bonus 2 minute ferry ride
from the city to the dinky little island.

Long haul from Europe into South-East Asia or the South Pacific/Australia from
Europe, there is almost always a plane change.

Choosing between Dubai, HK, KL, Bangkok or Singapore is a no-brainer: Changi
is hands-down winner. Long waits are handily dealt with by the free city tour
or the short MRT trip into town to pop into Little India or Chinatown or the
malls, or the beach or ... Airport facilities are generally awesome,
especially the (groundside) basement Hawker food hall in the fourth sub-
basement of Terminal 3. I love the rooftop pool on Terminal 1. And SQ is a
good reason to choose Changi all on its own.

So yeah, I choose airports and airlines based on facilities and pleasure of
use. For long-haul the differences can be a matter of only a couple of Euros,
but the difference in the experience, the amount of saved time etc is
significant.

Decent TGV services mean than I haven't had to use the god-awful CDG place for
many years. I hope the same sorts of services will be implemented in the UK at
some point.

------
barrkel
Airline passengers are captive audiences, as far as the airport management is
concerned. Anything that lets the passengers relax (for free) is only
grudgingly given: the goal is keep passengers moving, hopefully through the
shops, or if they must sit, hopefully in a restaurant, bar or cafe where
they'll spend some money before being shifted on, like the temporarily
homeless people they are.

------
mjcohen
As long as the airines/airports have no incentive to improve things, nothing
will be done. Real competition is needed, but I don't see where it might come
from - maybe people deciding to stop traveling by plane.

~~~
lachyg
Airports will never stop, due to the fact you can't take a train from
Australia to London.

------
ojbyrne
one idea I had - You're in an airport bar - watching tv (usually sports). Why
can't they customize the crawl at the bottom of the screen to show flight
status?

------
byoung2
The best airport amenity I've seen is the shower rooms at Tokyo Narita.
Remember to pack some clean clothes in your carryon!

~~~
com
My fave is the swimming pool and spa on the roof of Singapore Changi terminal
1. Pack your bathers - they provide a towel, lockers and showers.

~~~
stevenbedrick
Yeah, Changi takes the cake as far as I'm concerned for "best airport". In the
US, though, I think that award has to go to PDX- airport-wide free wifi,
plenty of microbrews, and three branches of Powell's Books.

