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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
I don't think folks can judge JFK unless you do it on an terminal by terminal basis--the new Terminal 9 is nice, although it takes FOREVER to get to the far gates (I think that is the legacy of leaving the old terminals 8 and 9 open while building the new one.
RDU is one of the most depressing airports (although I haven't been there since '04 or '05. Just comparing it to when it was an AA hub to now is pretty sad. Now it seems like a half-boarded up DFW.
Biggest improvement, in my opinion, is the new DFW train being INSIDE security. Why can't they have that at more airports? DFW's older terminals' security is annoying, however. I always think that I'm in the longest line in the terminal, but there is no way of knowing if you don't walk to the next one.
The worst thing about DTW, at least when I flew out of there regularly for a while in 2000, was that none of the restaurants stayed open late--this is Northworst we're talking about--none of the flights left within hours of when they were supposed to on a Thursday evening. Having the only food option a Burger King that took advantage of the situation by serving whoppers only to trapped travellers didn't make the experience any better (oh, there was also guessing which flight to LGA would be the one that went since they'd usually cancel all but one).
LGA is kind of dingy in the main terminal, but convenient. It'd be more convenient if you didn't have to go through security again between concourse C and D of the main terminal. The US Airways terminal is also kind of depressing since it seems like it was designed to be more than a hub for regional jets like it is now.
Actually Kansas City's code is MCI, although everybody, including the airport, calls it KCI. Not sure the origin (like ORD being from Orchard Field, for example).
It's surprising (or shocking) how many of the candidate airports in this list I've been to (here's another vote for Moscow Shermatyov!) but no list of bad airports would be complete without Cotonou, Benin (COO.) Tiny, old building, crammed with people pouring off A340's from Europe (how they land and take off there is a feat of airmanship I don't often want to consider.) I've also seen Belize City, Belize, and agree - charming, but about a quarter of the size and efficiency it ought to be (and here's an interesting tidbit - no runway lights of any kind, and of course no ILS; ergo, the place is VFR all the time. And it is the CAPITAL of Belize!) And CDG - just remembering the bus ride to get from the Air France terminal to the dank corner that United inhabits makes me shudder.
On the happy side, if you are in the greater Chicagoland area and only want to go to Las Vegas, Tampa or Sanford/Orlando on Allegiant or can stand connecting on United thru Denver, I offer the Rockford International Airport (RFD.) Small, not a lot of shops, bag claim is in the middle of the floor, but it offers two things that make a real difference:
Free wifi, and (I kid you not) FREE PARKING.
That makes a difference. Madison WI (MSN) just rebuilt it's terminal in a quasi-Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie style, and it is beautiful - but I refuse to pay $9 a day for parking when I can get to RFD for $9 in gas (and $2 for the tolls in Illinois.) Plus, if you are going to Orlando, Sanford (SFB) is out of the way but about a thousand times more manageable than MCO.
Keep sending back reports, Patrick. Great food for thought and discussion.
BAJ
I guess no one has been to Haiti. While waiting in line to check my bags the counter person told us the plane left and that the airport closed at 5. It was 4:40 pm. She went inside the terminal and the lights went off. While the lights were off I was grabbed by two guys who wanted my bags. This is inside the airport. Then the lights came back on and someone just shoved me in to the terminal and closed the door behind me. The plane did not leave (thank GOD) It was the most scariest fucking things I've ever experienced. They day before an american was kidnapped and killed. The airport had closed and he was looking for a cab to take him back to his hotel.
I guess no one has been to Haiti. While waiting in line to check my bags the counter person told us the plane left and that the airport closed at 5. It was 4:40 pm. She went inside the terminal and the lights went off. While the lights were off I was grabbed by two guys who wanted my bags. This is inside the airport. Then the lights came back on and someone just shoved me in to the terminal and closed the door behind me. The plane did not leave (thank GOD) It was the most scariest fucking things I've ever experienced. They day before an american was kidnapped and killed. The airport had closed and he was looking for a cab to take him back to his hotel.
It’s amazing to me that DKR is as bad as it is, and so disproportionately bad compared with the beauty of Dakar and the relative prosperity of Senegal. I would have expected Ouagadougou’s airport (which is eerily close to downtown) to be a catastrophe, but it’s great. Since most of Bamako looks like a bombed out ruin of a city, you’d think its airport would be worse than scenic Dakar’s. Somehow, Dakar beat out two of the poorest nations on the planet for worst airport ever.
If it weren’t enough to be fearing for your possessions as you repeatedly fend off the scores of bandits in DRK, the airport’s security makes you fear for you life. When traveling with my brother and father in 2002, we took a wrong turn and opened a door out onto the runway. We hadn’t even passed through security or presented a ticket. One could conceivably walk from the curb outside to the runway with no problem- other than the scores of bandits.
That broken ATM was great surprise as well when we were told we had to pay some sort of airport tax on our arrival and didn’t have enough cash to cover the bill. Luckily, someone found and woke up the sleeping currency exchange attendant before too much trouble started.
After a horrendous wait of several hours (with no place to sit), my father actually thought he made a clean get away when he was allowed to board his AirFrance flight. Boy was he wrong. As soon as he sat down, they cleared the plane to get rid of the rats and he was forced to do another 2 hours of penance in the terminal.
Needless to say, he would have preferred flying with the rats onboard.
When I traveled from Cape Verde back to Los Angeles via Dakar, Paris, and Montreal I got a real treat as I got to see security measures improve as I got closer to the US. In Cape Verde, the x-ray machine was under a blanket: presumably they didn’t risk wearing it out on such unimportant guests.
At the Dakar airport, I made all the x-ray machine lights and buzzers go off. I was allowed to pass through after telling them that though all the lights went off, I really didn’t have anything dangerous and should be let go rather than inconvenienced by further search. It didn’t take much effort to convince them not to expend any more effort than they had to. Just telling them you belonged on the plane and weren’t dangerous was enough to move right through.
Maybe that’s how the rats got onboard.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
