Airports of the future?
What would the airport of the future look like? As this collection of links to past articles in Popular Science makes clear, from the 1930’s through the 1960’s, people have floated some pretty wild ideas, including floating airports. Other possibilities? Skyscraper airports, airports with cotton runways, and rotary airports. What’s your idea for the airport […]
Vintage movie posters at Atlanta International Airport
Movie fans: If you’re traveling to or through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) between April 23rd and May 23rd, make your way to the airport’s Atrium Gallery, where a collection of original, hand-painted, vintage movie posters featuring Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich and other stars will be on display. “Atlanta’s famed Loew’s Grand Theater […]
Tidbits for travelers: Junk to Funk at PDX; Dillinger at BWI
Here’s some fun stuff to look at airports on either side of the country: At Oregon’s Portland International Airport the Junk to Funk exhibit features couture fashion made from recycled and reused materials – and trash. “Kitty litter bags become a suit; vinyl records are reborn as sequins; coffee filters have an afterlife as the […]
Souvenir Sunday: musical treats at Austin-Bergstrom Int’l Airport
Nancy Coplin, the music coordinator at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, has an enviable and very important job. The airport has four performance venues and eleven live concerts each week and she’s the one in charge of the schedule. In Austin, of course, you can’t spit without hitting a Grammy-winner or two, so when Nancy drops […]
Have you seen an award-winning airport bathroom?
Been in any great airport bathrooms lately? If so, then take a moment nominate it for the 2010 America’s Best Restroom Award. This is the ninth year the Cintas Corporation has been running this wacky contest and there have been some pretty swanky loos among the contestants. But back in 2005, the grand prize winner […]
What’s there for you in DOT’s new tarmac-delay rule?
Yes, the Department of Transportation’s new rule taking effect April 29 promises stiff penalties for airlines that strand passengers inside idling airplanes for more than three hours. But look closer at the 81-page document detailing DOT’s new Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections rule, and you’ll find other regulations that apply more broadly. They require carriers to […]
Pay for carry-on bags? We’ll see about that.
We all knew this was coming – someday – right? Spirit Airlines announced that, come August 1st, you’ll need to pay a fee (up to $45 if you wait until the last minute) to stow a bag, a box, or that container holding our uncle’s cremains in the overhead bin. The alternatives? Check your bags […]
LAX art exhibit: Strangers’ Luggage
When you’re standing in line waiting to go through the security checkpoint at the airport, aren’t you just a little bit curious about what the TSA folks are seeing on those x-ray screens as everyone’s carry-on bag passes by? Los Angeles artist Juanita Meneses must have wondered, because she created a series of paintings, Strangers’ […]
Airport trend I applaud: ice-cream vending machines
Where I live, it’s been very cold and very rainy. But at the Nashville International Airport (BNA) they’re ready for summer and celebrating the season with the installation of a new vending machine that dispenses that popular ice-cream treat: Dippin’ Dots. The machine is located on the C Concourse (across from Burger King and The […]