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 How Airports Are Improving the Travel Experience Not so long ago, the most a bored and hungry traveler could expect to find at an airport was a hotdog and soda, and only newspapers, magazines and a limited selection of paperbacks were available to fill the waiting time. Today, in many airports, that same traveler can select from a wide array of food from brand-name snacks and sweets to a sit-down meal. And the retail shops on premises are frequently numerous and diverse enough to constitute a mini-mall. Kyle Mastin, concessions manager at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, puts it this way: “We’re trying to be all things to the traveling public. So we have been expanding our facilities since the airport added space in the early 90s. We did research among our travelers to discover what they wanted. When we designed the atrium area and various concourses at Hartsfield, we tried to provide space for services, restaurants and retail establishments based on what that research told us.” Food Service Hartsfield has more than 150 concessions, among them restaurants whose names are familiar to out-of-towners, a sprinkling of ethnic eateries and a branch of one particular local establishment that played a role in the history of the civil rights movement: Paschal’s Southern Cuisine. Other large airports also invite travelers to taste “local” fare. Newark Liberty International Airport has its Garden State Diner, Chicago/O’Hare features branches of two of that city’s institutions, O’Brien’s and Berghoff’s, and Los Angeles’ LAX has a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. Some of the shopping has a hometown flavor as well. The Chicago Historical Society and Field Museum both have unusual gift shops at O’Hare, there’s a California Product Shop at San Francisco International, and Hartsfield has the Atlanta City Store. Shopping at the Airport Kyle Mastin’s retail tenants at Hartsfield include stores selling executive toys, music and books, men’s and women’s fashions and The Museum Company, which stocks reproduction jewelry and gifts based on favorites from top museums. “This establishment also has unique children’s toys and might be a good place to work on your holiday shopping list,” Mastin says. Travelers at O’Hare who have eaten and shopped their fill may want to look at local artist’s work on display there, visit the children’s museum aviation exhibit or stop in the athletic club for a workout or the spa for a soothing back rub. Finally, at Hartsfield, there’s In Motion Pictures, a service that allows you to rent a DVD movie and battery-operated equipment to view it while in the airport and enjoy it on the way to your destination, from which you can return it. Other Aids to Help Your Trip The American Express Web site offers a wealth of travel resources and tools to the traveler. One is a service named Flight Tracker that generates online reviews of the status of current flights – by airline, name and flight number, or by city and arrival/departure times. Another gives you the ability to develop details about your destination, looking at key categories such as restaurants, hotels, night life and the arts, shopping, sights to see and general information. November 14, 2002
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