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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Ok, so this is minor league, but it was still unfortunate.
I flew into New Bern, NC, on one of the last (if not the last) flight of the night. This is a tiny airport, but it's actually clean. Since it's small, though, the TSA and airport staff lock up the gate area behind large glass doors and go off somewhere between flights. That's where my problem came in. I got off the plane and walked into the gate area, but stopped at the ladies' room. Not a long visit and certain a typical behavior after being in one of those small regional commuter planes. I came out of the bathroom and found that I had been locked in gate area. Not another living soul was in sight. I swear I was just in the bathroom for a minute. I stood at the glass doors and looked for a courtesy phone. Of course not. I yelled to see if anyone would hear me. Of course not. I beat on the glass doors. Nothing. Twenty minutes later, someone wandered by and saw me waving and jumping around to get their attention. They let me out and when I got to the luggage area, an employee remarked that they'd wondered what had happened to me when they saw my suitcase was unclaimed.
I'm still amazed that it took that long to notice me in there. Aren't there security cameras?
If experiences are mostly informed by expectations, as Ask the Pilot proposes, then I can’t say I was disappointed by the Biratnagar airport. After a week of Jeeping east from Kathmandu across the Terai (the lowlands along the India border) in choking heat and enduring roadblock shakedowns, running sewage, bugs, stench, mild dysentery and other discomforts, I assumed the airport would hardly be deluxe. Even so, I had failed to fully imagine the dirt and squalor that passes for an airport in Nepal’s second largest city. Cramped, filthy, no food and one “bathroom” stall, an overflowing hole in the floor with no door. It made for a long day as we waited for a flight that never arrived due to Himalayan fog. We returned the next day to clear weather and a modest wait. Air Nepal is said to have the best pilots in the world, trained to fly in all mountain conditions. Whether or not that is still true, I was more than amply rewarded by my one and only sighting of Mt. Everest, glistening in the sunshine to our north, complete with jet plume streaming from its summit. Who cares if the airport stinks?
... but I think the Akron/Canton airport is absolutely adorable. Clean, tiny, polite staff, incredibly easy to park and move around.
Late (too late) into my last round of business travel, I discovered the joys of taking JetBlue to Long Beach instead of a major carrier to LAX. This little Art Deco jewel makes me feel like a 1930s movie star, beginning with deplaning directly onto the tarmac. A very short walk through the tiny terminal and you're picking up your luggage in an area open to the warm California breezes, just like in the Tropics. There are limited services, but the upstairs cafe, with its two-tier seating and vistas over the runways. Pick up your rental car and its an easy drive to anywhere in Orange County...see ya in LA, LAX suckers!
A couple of times, I have flown into small airports in downstate Illinois (where I grew up) and my favorite little notice was at the Decatur, IL airport which is run by the city's park district (go figure!).
There was a sign in the parking lot asking you not to park in the first row if you were going to be gone for more than a week. No charge for the parking, just leave your car there and it'll be there when you get back, perhaps covered in snow, but still there.
The tiny airport in my hometown of Champaign-Urbana, IL was until not too many years ago a 1940s era cinderblock building, but in the 90s they built a cute little terminal with four gates which is quite efficient and useful.
It’s great as a layover on the way to AND from Mumbai!
On the way there, when you might have energy: It's a party place, the casino is easier to find than the bathroom. Also: giant duty free mall, for time wasting and learning what’s new in the world of adult entertainment.
One the way back, when you are keeling over from exhaustion: They have canvas deck chairs, which, unlike coach seats, can be SLEPT in. Also, there are copious amounts of coffee, beer, and Texans in bolo ties that will buy a girl either at 6 AM.
I have to give a salute to my own airport, Little Rock National. It's small, clean, friendly, and easy to get to. The parking is inexpensive, and the new car rental area is fantastic. Even better, the airport is very close to the city itself, and easy to get into and out of. I have heard that there are plans to replace the terminal- they're going to build an entirely new one. That's too bad- the current one was just updated, but I guess that there's some unwritten law about airports constantly being under construction in some manner.
I try to avoid Atlanta Hartfield if at all possible. I'll even risk the boondock terminals of Dallas if it means avoiding ATL.
I do most of my traveling in-country, so I have memories of neat (and not so neat) little regional airports. Bakersfield CA's airport was one of the tiniest I've been to- tinier than pre-Katrina Gulfport MS.
I have never had an unpleasant experience with the Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The place is easy to navigate. Most of the TSA workers are friendly and helpful (a major plus for traveling parents - one helped me to set up our stroller after it came off the scanner while I was trying to juggle squirming 5 month old and other bags). Rather than being faced with a slew of McRestaurants, AUS has lots of local eateries to choose from. Take that Pizza Hut! And lastly, it's close in. Travel time from my doorstep to the ticketing counter is all of about 25 minutes.
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"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
